Content

MS DOS Command: REPLACE.EXE
 Description
 Syntax
 Parameters
 Switches
 Related Command
 Examples

MS DOS Command: REPLACE.EXE

Reference from Microsoft MS-DOS cmd help

Description

Replaces files in a destination directory with files in a source directory that have the same name. You can also use REPLACE to add unique filenames to the destination directory.

Syntax

REPLACE [drive1:][path1]filename [drive2:][path2] [/A] [/P] [/R] [/W] REPLACE [drive1:][path1]filename [drive2:][path2] [/P] [/R] [/S] [/W] [/U]

Parameters

[drive1:][path1]filename	Specifies the location and name of the source file or set of files.
[drive2:][path2]	Specifies the location of the destination file. You cannot specify a filename for files you replace. If you specify neither a drive nor a directory, REPLACE uses the current drive and directory as the destination.

Switches

/A	Adds new files to the destination directory instead of replacing existing files. You cannot use this switch with the /S or /U switch.
/P	/PPrompts you for confirmation before replacing a destination file or adding a source file.
/R	Replaces read-only files as well as unprotected files. If you do not specify this switch but attempt to replace a read-only file, an error results and stops the replacement operation.
/S	Searches all subdirectories of the destination directory and replaces matching files. You cannot use the /S switch with the /A switch. The REPLACE command does not search subdirectories specified in path1.
/W	Waits for you to insert a disk before REPLACE begins to search for source files. If you do not specify /W, REPLACE begins replacing or adding files immediately after you press ENTER.
/U	Replaces (updates) only those files on the destination directory that are older than those in the source directory. You cannot use the /U switch with the /A switch.

Related Command

For information about changing file attributes, see the ATTRIB command.

Examples

Suppose that several directories on drive C contain different versions of a file named PHONES.CLI, which contains client names and phone numbers. To replace all of these files with the latest version of the PHONES.CLI file from the disk in drive A, type the following command:

replace a:\phones.cli c:\ /s

Suppose you want to add new printer device drivers to a directory on drive C named TOOLS, which already contains several printer device-driver files for a word processor. To do this, type the following command:

replace a:*.prd c:\tools /a

This command searches the current directory on drive A for any files that have the extension .PRD and then adds these files to the TOOLS directory on drive C. Because the /A switch is included, REPLACE adds only those files from drive A that do not exist on drive C.

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ID: 110700248 Last Updated: 7/29/2011 Revision: 0

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