Appending a Line to a File with COPY Con or ECHO (68787)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.1
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.2
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.21
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3a
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.0
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.01
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0a
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.0
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.2
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.21
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.22
This article was previously published under Q68787

SUMMARY

You can add a line to the end of a file, such as your CONFIG.SYS file, without using an editor if you use the COPY command in the following form:

copy filename.ext + con

MORE INFORMATION

Copy echoes FILENAME.EXT as it is copied, then it echoes CON and the cursor to show that it is now copying from the CONsole. For example:

C:\>copy config.sys + con
config.sys
con
_

This causes MS-DOS to echo CONFIG.SYS and CON, with the cursor. Enter the text to be added to the file, then press CTRL+Z and ENTER to end your modification. The following example adds a line to the end of CONFIG.SYS:

C:\>copy config.sys + con
config.sys
con
shell=c:\command.com c:\ /p /e:512
^z

1 File(s) copied

If only one line is to be added and that line doesn't contain any redirection, you can also use the ECHO command as follows:

C:\>echo shell=c:\command.com c:\ /p /e:512 >> config.sys

NOTE: If the last line of the text file does not contain a carriage return, the line being added is appended to the end of the last line.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:5/12/2003
Keywords:KB68787
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