XCOPY still asking (F = file, D = directory) confirmation

Question

My batch script xcopy is still asking F = file, D = directory confirmation even though I have added /F in the script, the log is showing as below. Please help on how to avoid asking confirmation.

Script:

net use p: /delete  
net use p: "\\200clan\F_Drive" /USER:adm /PERSISTENT:NO-1111
set source=%1
set target=p:/%2

echo %source% %target%

xcopy /S /I /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%"

Log:

C:\test\foldera>xcopy /S /I /Q /Y /F "C:/test/folder1/folder2/logs/154/compareReport_177.html" "p:/Services/WSDLCompare/177_20151116/compareReport_177.html"
Does P:\Services\WSDLCompare\177_20151116\UIReport_177.html specify a file name
or directory name on the target
(F = file, D = directory)? 

Solution 1

The /I switch (not /F as you mentioned in your question) prevents xcopy from asking whether the destination is a file or a directory only if multiple source files are given, so if the source is a directory, or if wildcards ? or * are used. If the destination already exists, such prompt does never appear.

There are the following scenarios (depending on the provided values of %source% and %target%):

• a single source file, the destination is a file:

  the /I switch is useless, so you need to pipe F into the xcopy command line:

  echo F|xcopy /S /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%"
  

  provided that the /Y switch is given (to force overwriting), you could also create the target file in advance (empty file):

  >> "%target%" rem/
  xcopy /S /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%"
  

• a single source file, the destination is a directory:

  the /I switch is useless too; you can pipe D into the xcopy command line:

  echo D|xcopy /S /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%"
  

  or you can simply append a \ to the destination:

  xcopy /S /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%\"
  

  although this causes trouble when %target% specifies the current directory of a drive like D: for instance, because D: means the current directory of this drive whereas D:\ means the root directory of it;

  or you create the destination directory in advance:

  2> nul mkdir "%target%"
  xcopy /S /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%"
  

  the 2> nul portion suppresses the error message in case the directory already exists;

• multiple source files, the destination is a file:

  this is usually a senseless situation, because you tell xcopy to copy each source file to the same destination file, thus attempting to overwrite it;

• multiple source files, the destination is a directory:

  the /I switch makes sense here:

  xcopy /S /I /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%"
  

  the pipe option also works here:

  echo D|xcopy /S /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%"
  

  so does appending a \ to the destination (regarding the limitation as mentioned above):

  xcopy /S /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%\"
  

  or you create the destination directory in advance:

  2> nul mkdir "%target%"
  xcopy /S /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%"
  

Conclusion

The most flexible and secure solution is to pipe the desired selection (F or D) into the xcopy command line. (Note that the query is locale-dependent.)

---

Supplement

There are some minor issues in your code fragment I want to mention here:

• you should generally use the \ as a path separator as this is the Windows standard character for that purpose (although / works too in most cases);
• there is -1111 appended to your second net use command line; if this constitutes the password for the resource, it should be moved before the /USER option; otherwise just remove it;
• your set command lines introduce problems with some special characters (like &, ^, (, )); to avoid such, state set "source=%~1" and set "target=p:/%~2"; the ~ removes potential surrounding "" from the arguments (which are required if they contain SPACE, ,, ;, =);

Here is the code with the all of the above things reworked:

net use P: /DELETE
rem supposing `-1111` constitutes the password for the resource:
net use P: "\\200clan\F_Drive" -1111 /USER:adm /PERSISTENT:NO

set "source=%~1"
set "target=P:\%~2"

echo "%source%" "%target%"

rem supposing the destination is a directory:
echo D|xcopy /S /I /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%"


rem actually you do not need any interim variables:
REM echo D|xcopy /S /I /Q /Y /F "%~1" "P:\%~2"

Solution 2

Put a \ behind the target to suppress the question and specify it as a folder:

xcopy src dest\

Put a * behind the target to suppress the question and specify it as a file:

xcopy src dest*

Note: The second command is a hack that relies on wildcard matching (will match any item starting with "dest") so use it at your own risk!

Solution 3

xcopy doesn't know the target is a directory. You clarify this by putting a backslash at the end:

xcopy /S /I /Q /Y /F "%source%" "%target%\"

Solution 4

When copying a single file with XCOPY, there is no option to indicate if the destination is a filename or a directory (with the filename defaulting to that of the source file). In such cases XCOPY will prompt with a (locale specific) message like:

C:> xcopy foo.txt bar.txt

it prompts Does foo.txt specify a file name or directory name on the target (F = file, D = directory)?

Adding a wildcard (*) to the end of the destination will suppress this prompt and default to copying as a file:

C:> xcopy foo.txt bar.txt* 1 File(s) copied

This requires the source and target file extensions to be the same length, typically 3 characters.

for more information: https://ss64.com/nt/xcopy.html

View more solutions

Comments

[mchar]

In case you don't bother to go through all the details and options of xcopy add a back-slash at the end of your target path %target\%

[aschipfl]

@mchar, but then you have to move it one place beack like %target%\ (so behind the closing %)...

[Mofi]

Very good answer. I just want to add that F for file and D for directory are only the right characters on English Windows. For example on a German Windows D is for a file (German: Datei) and V is for a directory (German: Verzeichnis). If an OS language independent solution is needed for copying a single file with xcopy which can't be copied with copy, look on batch code on this answer on BATCH file asks for file or folder.

[Mark]

This helped my situation, even though it is technically not the correct answer for the original post. The example target variable included the full path plus filename, so adding a backslash at the end will only confuse things for the original poster. If the source is a single file and the target is a folder, as it is in my case, adding the backslash to the target and using the /i switch made the File/Directory question go away and the directory was then correctly presumed.

[dyslexicanaboko]

I keep seeing this as a suggestion and I have to say after testing it, it doesn't work as advertised. The wildcard (*) is still a wildcard so it will try to match anything that starts with file2 (using the same example above). I recommend using the piping method instead which is kind of silly, but it works. I wish that there was a switch that just said "It's always a file" or "It's always a directory".

[Josh P]

Adding the slash to the end of the target directory fixed it for me. It no longer asks if the path is a file or directory. Thanks!

[Jhollman]

My Solution was simple: Replace XCOPY for COPY command, ejem: COPY "%source%" "%target%" /Y

[aschipfl]

Sure, @Jhollman, copy doesn't prompt for file/dir.; it has way less options though, so it might not be adequate for some situations…

[Matt]

Very good answer. But be aware there is a localization issue with that - it works for englisch Windows versions, but for example on a German Windows it will be "d = file (datei), v = directory (verzeichnis)", so you would write echo d | xcopy 23.txt 24.txt instead.

[Adam Mester]

The help (xcopy /?) shows that /Q and /F are opposites: /Q: Does not display file names while copying; /F: Displays full source and destination file names while copying.