need help: How to write a batch to combine more 100 text files to one text file?

[netsking]

Hi, there,

I am new comer in here.
Could anybody help me to write a batch to combine more than 100 text files to one text file?
I knew I can do it by copy command like: file1.txt+file2.txt.... file all.txt. however it is not efficient way.
Thanks a lot in advance.

[Helpmeh]

Are the files all sequential? Are the names basically the same? Are they in the same location? Can you give a list of SOME of the names?

[netsking]

Yes. They are all in the same directory and the file names are sequential.

[Helpmeh]

Put this in a batch file.

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,ENDNUMBER) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt

That should do it.

[netsking]

Put this in a batch file.

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,ENDNUMBER) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt

That should do it.

I make a batch file like:

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,50)
songci_%%a.txt>>endresult.txt

the file name is songci_#.txt,
But run this batch, nothing happened. I am freshman. Could you tell me more? Thanks a lot.

[Helpmeh]

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,50) do type songci_%%a.txt >> endresult.txt
That should work.

[Salmon Trout]

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,50) do type songci_%%a.txt>>endresult.txt

[netsking]

I got it. I rewrite it  as you mentioned. This time it works. Thank you very much for your help.

[billrich]

Write a batch to combine more than 100 text files to one text file?

C:\batch\backup>type  combine.bat

Code: [Select]

@echo off
echo. > c:\tmp2\endresult.txt
cd c:\batch\backup\

for /f %%a in ('dir /b  *.txt') do type %%a >> c:\tmp2\endresult.txt

echo  type  endresult.txt

type c:\tmp2\endresult.txt
C:\batch\backup>

OUTPUT:

C:\batch\backup>combine.bat
 type  endresult.txt

 hello liz
 hello liz


C:\batch\backup>

[Salmon Trout]

note that by adding more switches  to dir /b you can govern the order in which the files are added

Code: [Select]

/O          List by files in sorted order.
 sortorder    N  By name (alphabetic)       S  By size (smallest first)
              E  By extension (alphabetic)  D  By date/time (oldest first)
              - Prefix to reverse order
the case does not matter.

for example dir /b /on would sort by name a - z and dir /b /o-n would sort z - a

[Helpmeh]

C:\batch\backup>type  combine.bat

Code: [Select]

@echo off
echo. > c:\tmp2\endresult.txt
cd c:\batch\backup\

for /f %%a in ('dir /b  *.txt') do type %%a >> c:\tmp2\endresult.txt

echo  type  endresult.txt

type c:\tmp2\endresult.txt
C:\batch\backup>

OUTPUT:

C:\batch\backup>combine.bat
 type  endresult.txt

 hello liz
 hello liz


C:\batch\backup>

The problem was solved. We've made a dollar already, so we don't need the extra $0.10.

[ghostdog74]

I knew I can do it by copy command like: file1.txt+file2.txt.... file all.txt. however it is not efficient way.

if you can, download GNU tools(see my sig) and use cat

Code: [Select]

c:\test> cat file*txt > newfile.
that's it.

[billrich]

The problem was solved. We've made a dollar already, so we don't need the extra $0.10.

Casper had a better way:

"Download GNU tools(see my sig) and use cat

Code:
c:\test> cat *.txt >  newfile.txt"

We saw no output for:

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,ENDNUMBER) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt

Will it work?  You must modify ENDNUMBER  each time the program is run?

Casper's  code and my code are much better.  We showed  the output. Proof the code works.


 
 
 

[billrich]

C:\batch\backup>dir
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is F4A3-D6B3

 Directory of C:\batch\backup

12/14/2009  10:24 PM    <DIR>          .
12/14/2009  10:24 PM    <DIR>          ..
12/14/2009  06:08 PM               192 combine.bat
12/13/2009  12:25 PM                13 liz1212.txt
12/13/2009  12:25 PM                13 liz1213.txt
12/14/2009  10:25 PM                26 newfile
               4 File(s)            244 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  305,526,177,792 bytes free

C:\batch\backup>type  *.txt > newfile.

liz1212.txt



liz1213.txt



C:\batch\backup>cat newfile
 hello liz
 hello liz

C:\batch\backup>cat *.txt > newfile.txt


C:\batch\backup>

[Salmon Trout]

bill, you may only have a small b in your "name", and not a big one, these days, but man you sure are a *censored*.

[ghostdog74]

what happened?? did i miss anything??

[Salmon Trout]

what happened?? did i miss anything??

bill said hi to some chick called Liz. Twice.

[billrich]

Code: [Select]

c:\test> cat *.txt > newfile.txt


We all have gone around the barn instead of directly through the barn.

The following one line by Casper is the solution:

cat *.txt > newfile.txt

or the batch equivilant :

type *.txt > newfile.txt

p.s.  Try it; it works.

[Geek-9pm]

I knew I can do it by copy command like: file1.txt+file2.txt.... file all.txt. however it is not efficient way.

OK. Glad to see you got a cool answer.Neat
Now I have a question.
In what way is the more efficient?
 

[billrich]

OK. Glad to see you got a cool answer.Neat
Now I have a question.
In what way is the more efficient?
 

I agree copy, cat   and  type are all efficient. 

More than one way to skin a cat.

[Helpmeh]

We all have gone around the barn instead of directly through the barn.

The following one line by Casper is the solution:

cat *.txt > newfile.txt

or the batch equivilant :

type *.txt > newfile.txt

p.s.  Try it; it works.

But there could be other .txt files in the folder.

[Salmon Trout]

billrich totally missed the point once again.

[billrich]

But there could be other .txt files in the folder.

dir /s  *.txt or type *.txt or cat *.txt finds all the text (.txt ) files in the folder.

Test the above commands in any folder with text (.txt ) files.

_______________________________________ ________

The following code found nothing and/or many duplicates:

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,ENDNUMBER) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt

The Casper code works:

cat *.txt > newfile.txt

-------------------------------------
Dias de verano  who now calls her/himself Salmon Trout is confused and lost as usual.

[Geek-9pm]

The Casper code works:
cat *.txt > newfile.txt

OK. That is True.
What I do not understand is why he ended to put all hte TXT files into one. Any pratical application can get to all the files anyway.
What real application is the out there that has to have all hte TXT files in a directory merged into just one?

I think the right answer is You don't have too!

It is like asking an Eagle if he ...
knows how to hike in to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite.


He would say "I don't have too!"

[Helpmeh]

Good point geek. And bill, the op already said that the problem was solved, so I don't understand why there are other solutions that don't function as properly poster after the fact.

[ghostdog74]

We all have gone around the barn instead of directly through the barn.

The following one line by Casper is the solution:

cat *.txt > newfile.txt

or the batch equivilant :

type *.txt > newfile.txt

p.s.  Try it; it works.

no, they are not equivalent. You should try it yourself and see. type will give you the file name as well.

[ghostdog74]

OK. Glad to see you got a cool answer.Neat
Now I have a question.
In what way is the more efficient?
 

i think he meant that if he has 100 text files, he is not going to type file1+file2+.....file100 on the command line like that. the more convenient way, which i think he missed out,

Code: [Select]

c:\test> copy file*txt output.txt


[billrich]

And bill, the op already said that the problem was solved, so I don't understand why there are other solutions that don't function as properly poster after the fact.

The following code does not work:

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,ENDNUMBER) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt

------------------------------------------------

Casper did nothing wrong by offering  a simple one line solution.  The readers of this board  enjoy more than one solution.

Please thank Casper for his insight:

The Casper code works:
cat *.txt > newfile.txt

______________________________
Geek,

I have no idea what Netsking, the original poster, intentions are.  

Why does  Netsking, OP, need all the text files in a folder in one large file?

Perhaps for his Boss?

Thanks Ceek for your insight.   A few people understood the problem and the solutions.  It was really quite a simple problem.  Casper showed us the simple solution.

Thanks Casper.

[ghostdog74]

OK. That is True.
What I do not understand is why he ended to put all hte TXT files into one. Any pratical application can get to all the files anyway.

well, if you have not encountered this scenario, it doesn't mean other's won't. Say for example, you have many text log files which you generate each day and its cluttering up your screen when you do dir listings. And they are many years old. Then you might want to concat them according to each month and each year to get rid of these pieces to reduce the amount of files you have. this is just an example, but there certainly are uses for concatenation of files.

[Helpmeh]

Hey bill, try reading next time.

I got it. I rewrite it  as you mentioned. This time it works. Thank you very much for your help.

[billrich]

Hey bill, try reading next time.

I meant to say I could not get the following code to work on my machine:

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,ENDNUMBER) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt

The solutions offered here on the Hope Board are not just for the Original poster.  Many readers can often use the information.

I wonder if Helpme can show us the output for:

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,ENDNUMBER) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt

Must we offer a new "ENDNUMBER" each time we run the code?

I use XP.  Will the above code run for XP?

An example of the Output of all code offered will help the OP plus the readers.

Thank you Helpmeh  for your time and effort.

[Helpmeh]

You replace ENDNUMBER with the number in the last file. The OP perfectly understood, and it seemed very obvious to replace it.
And no, I can not run it, as I am not on a computer.

[ghostdog74]

what bill (or joan or liz or mike or ??) meant is OP won't know the ENDNUMBER before hand unless he can find out from dir *.txt and change the code. Its probably better not to use the for loop range + step method, but just use the output from dir file*.txt

Code: [Select]

for .... (dir file*.txt) do (
  type .... >> output.txt
)


[BatchFileBasics]

how about this? counts txt files. i found this code somewhere off the forums a while ago, it was in my batch bank

replace the "set I=1" for the number the file sequence starts

Code: [Select]

@echo off
:recurse
set I=1

cd
FOR /f "tokens=*" %%P IN ('dir /A-d /b *.txt') do (call :showfiles "%%P")
echo.
echo Filecount: %I%

for /l %%a in (0,1,%I%) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt
:showfiles
echo %1
set /a I+=1
goto :eof

[ghostdog74]

how about this? counts txt files. i found this code somewhere off the forums a while ago, it was in my batch bank

replace the "set I=1" for the number the file sequence starts

Code: [Select]

@echo off
:recurse
set I=1

cd
FOR /f "tokens=*" %%P IN ('dir /A-d /b *.txt') do (call :showfiles "%%P")
echo.
echo Filecount: %I%

for /l %%a in (0,1,%I%) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt
:showfiles
echo %1
set /a I+=1
goto :eof

why not just do dir file*txt ? there's no need to call another loop to count total files. Of course, unless there other files with names like filetest.txt , fileblahblah.txt and you want to isolate those that have numbers following "file", which you could do that with dir file*txt | findstr /I "file[0-9]*.txt"

[billrich]

how about this? counts txt files. i found this code somewhere off the forums a while ago, it was in my batch bank

replace the "set I=1" for the number the file sequence starts

Code: [Select]

@echo off
:recurse
set I=1

cd
FOR /f "tokens=*" %%P IN ('dir /A-d /b *.txt') do (call :showfiles "%%P")
echo.
echo Filecount: %I%

for /l %%a in (0,1,%I%) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt
:showfiles
echo %1
set /a I+=1
goto :eof

Where is Output?

[Helpmeh]

Where is Output?

Why don't YOU run it and put out any output it makes, instead of "Where is output?" over and over again. Sometimes you really sound like a broken record.

[Salmon Trout]

Why don't YOU run it and put out any output it makes, instead of "Where is output?" over and over again. Sometimes you really sound like a broken record.

I don't think I would have bought that record in the first place, let alone played it after it was broken. Anyhow, wasn't he banned? Why is he now unbanned?

[Helpmeh]

I don't think I would have bought that record in the first place, let alone played it after it was broken. Anyhow, wasn't he banned? Why is he now unbanned?

New name...lowercase b is all it takes.

[billrich]

New name...lowercase b is all it takes.

-------------------------------------

Show your code and show output and stop faking it.

[Helpmeh]

-------------------------------------

Show your code and show output and stop faking it.

1. I've shown my code, heck, YOU've even used it in your posts.
2. As I've said before, I don't have access to a computer. I am on my iPod.
3. How am I faking? Read the OP's post. The code worked great for him.

[billrich]

Read the OP's post. The code worked great for him.

The problem is on my end.  I could not get the code to work on my machine.
I thought I could look at your code and output  and figure what I was doing wrong.

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,ENDNUMBER) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt

I might try again.

[Helpmeh]

The problem is on my end.  I could not get the code to work on my machine.
I thought I could look at your code and output  and figure what I was doing wrong.

@echo off
for /l %%a in (0,1,ENDNUMBER) do type file%%a.txt >> endresult.txt

I might try again.

Did you change ENDNUMBER? You haven't posted anything but a copypasta of my code. Post the code in YOUR batch file.

[BatchFileBasics]

Where is Output?

why do i need output?

[Helpmeh]

I think bill is just frustrated because the code doesn't work for him. That happens to the best of us. We get impatient and angry.