Move (command)

In various command-line shells From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Move (command)

In computing, move is a command in various command-line interpreters (shells) such as COMMAND.COM, cmd.exe,[1] 4DOS/4NT, and PowerShell. It is used to move one or more files or directories from one place to another.[2] The original file is deleted, and the new file may have the same or a different name. The command is analogous to the Unix mv command and to the OpenVOS move_file and move_dircommands.[3]

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Implementations

The command is available in DOS,[4] IBM OS/2,[5] Microsoft Windows and ReactOS.[6] On MS-DOS, the command is available in versions 6 and later.[7] In Windows PowerShell, move is a predefined command alias for the Move-Item Cmdlet which basically serves the same purpose. The FreeDOS version was developed by Joe Cosentino.[8] DR DOS 6.0 includes an implementation of the move command.[9] The open-source MS-DOS emulator DOSBox has no MOVE command. Instead, the REN command can be used to move files.[10]

Syntax

Summarize
Perspective

To move one or more files:

MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]filename1[,...] destination

To rename a directory:

MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]dirname1 [destination\]dirname2

To move a directory:

MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]dirname1 destination

Parameters

  • [drive:][path]filename1: Specifies the location and name of the file or files you want to move.
  • destination: Specifies the new location of the file or directory. Destination can consist of a drive letter and colon, a directory name, or a combination, and must already exist. If you are moving only one file, you can also include a filename if you want to rename the file when you move it.
  • [drive:][path]dirname1: Specifies the directory you want to rename or move.
  • dirname2: Specifies the new name of the directory.
  • /Y: Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file.
  • /-Y: Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file.

The switch /Y may be present in the COPYCMD environment variable. This may be overridden with /-Y on the command line. Default is to prompt on overwrites unless MOVE command is being executed from within a batch script.

Notes

  • When moving a directory, dirname1 and its contents wind up as a subfolder beneath destination. Caution is advised - if the final subfolder of the destination path does not exist, dirname1 will be both moved and renamed.

See also

References

Further reading

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