Contents |
Effect
Displays data from one file, several files or all files from a device.
Syntaxes
Under MSX-DOS 1
TYPE <Device>:<Filename>
Under MSX-DOS 2 / Nextor
- TYPE /S /H /P /B <Device>:\<Path>\<Filename> + <Device>:\<Path>\<Filename>...
- TYPE /S /H /P /B <Device>:\<Path>\ + <Device>:\<Path>\...
Notes:
- Character backslash (\) serves as a separator between the folders and the file name in MSX-DOS2. You don't have to put it after the colon of the device name. Backslash is replaced by the character yen (¥) on Japanese MSX or the character won (₩) on Korean MSX.
- Character slash (/) serves to declare an option. You can put the options after the command or behind all other parameters.
Parameters
<Device> is the name for used device. It can only be a disk drive when used with a <filename>.
If you don't specify the drive, the computer will read and display the file from the currently active drive (by default, it's drive A:)
| Device type | Device name | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| Disk drive | A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H | A floppy disk interface can control until 2 drives. |
Under MSX-DOS 2 / Nextor, you can also use devices not followed by the : character, without specifying a <filename>. In this case, data will be read from this device (for example, an RS-232 serial device if you use AUX) up to the first end-of-file character and displayed on the screen.
| Device type | Device name |
|---|---|
| Auxiliary device | AUX |
| Console | CON |
| Printer | LST |
| BIt heaven | NUL |
| Printer | PRN |
<Path> is used to specify the location in folders of file to type. Each folder name in path are separate by a backslash (\). This parameter is only available under MSX-DOS 2 / Nextor.
<Filename> is the file name to type. You need to specify the complete file name, in the format 8 characters followed by a point and an extension with 3 characters.
Wildcards are not recommended under MSX-DOS 1, because TYPE will display only the first file corresponding to the specification and will stop after that.
The wildcards can be used under MSX-DOS 2 / Nextor to display data from several files. The asterisk (*) and question mark (?) are used as wildcard characters. The asterisk matches any sequence of characters, whereas the question mark matches any single character.
Under MSX-DOS2 / Nextor, it is also possible to read and display all the files of a folder or directory.
/S is used to type also the system files. This parameter is available only since COMMAND2.COM 2.40.
/H is used to type also the hidden files. This parameter is only available under MSX-DOS2 / Nextor.
/P is used to allow a pause at the end of the screen when displaying the data until a key is pressed. This parameter is only available under MSX-DOS 2 / Nextor.
/B is used to read data from the file and display them without modification on the screen, until the end of file is reached. This may have strange effect on the screen if the file contains control characters. This parameter is only available under MSX-DOS 2 / Nextor.
If you don't use the /B parameter, TYPE will look for the end-of- file character (CTRL-Z) and stop when it finds it. Also control characters except carriage return, line feed and tab will be converted into a '^' symbol followed by that control letter so that they will be visible on the screen.
MSX-DOS 2 / Nextor allows to type simultaneously several specified (series of) files with the + part of the mentioned syntaxes. In this case, the /H, /P and /B parameters will apply to all these files when they precede all the other parameters.
Examples
Under MSX-DOS 1 and higher
A>TYPE TEST.TXTA>TYPE B:STORY.TXTUnder MSX-DOS 2 / Nextor
A>TYPE AUXA>TYPE B:\DIR1\SAGA.DOCA>TYPE *.BAT/H/P
A>TYPE /B DIR1
A>TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT + REBOOT.BAT
Related to
Compatibility
MSX-DOS 1 with COMMAND.COM, MSX-DOS 2 / Nextor with COMMAND2.COM v2.20 and higher