How do I echo and send console output to a file in a bat script

Question

I have a batch script that executes a task and sends the output to a text file   Is there a way to have the output show on the console window as well   For Example   c  Windows gt dir  gt  windows-dir txt   Is there a way to have the output of dir display in the console window as well as put it into the text file

User · Accepted Answer

No  you can t with pure redirection  But with some tricks  like tee bat  you can   I try to explain the redirection a bit   You redirect one of the ten streams with   file or  lt  file It is unimportant  if the redirection is before or after the command  so these two lines are nearly the same   dir  gt  file txt  gt  file txt dir   The redirection in this example is only a shortcut for 1   this means the stream 1  STDOUT  will be redirected  So you can redirect any stream with prepending the number like 2  err txt and it is also allowed to redirect multiple streams in one line   dir 1 gt  files txt 2 gt  err txt 3 gt  nothing txt   In this example the  standard output  will go into files txt  all errors will be in err txt and the stream3 will go into nothing txt  DIR doesn t use the stream 3   Stream0 is STDIN Stream1 is STDOUT Stream2 is STDERR Stream3-9 are not used  But what happens if you try to redirect the same stream multiple times   dir  gt  files txt  gt  two txt    There can be only one   and it is always the last one  So it is equal to dir   two txt  Ok  there is one extra possibility  redirecting a stream to another stream   dir 1 gt files txt 2 gt  amp 1    2  amp 1 redirects stream2 to stream1 and 1 files txt redirects all to files txt  The order is important here   dir     1 gt nul 2 gt  amp 1 dir     2 gt  amp 1 1 gt nul   are different  The first one redirects all  STDOUT and STDERR  to NUL  but the second line redirects the STDOUT to NUL and STDERR to the  empty  STDOUT   As one conclusion  it is obvious why the examples of Ot  vio D  cio and andynormancx can t work   command  gt  file  gt  amp 1 dir  gt  file txt  gt  amp 2   Both try to redirect stream1 two times  but  There can be only one   and it s always the last one  So you get  command 1 gt  amp 1 dir 1 gt  amp 2   And in the first sample redirecting of stream1 to stream1 is not allowed  and not very useful    Hope it helps

User · Answer

If you don t need the output in real time  i e  as the program is writing it  you could add  type windows-dir txt   after that line

User · Answer

I like atn s answer  but it was not as trivial for me to download as wintee  which is also open source and only gives the tee functionality  useful if you just want tee and not the entire set of unix utilities    I learned about this from davor s answer to Displaying Windows command prompt output and redirecting it to a file  where you also find reference to the unix utilities

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My option was this   Create a subroutine that takes in the message and automates the process of sending it to both console and log file   setlocal set logfile logfile log  call  screenandlog   DATE   TIME  This message goes to the screen and to the log       goto  eof   screenandlog set message   1 echo  message   amp  echo  message   gt  gt   logfile  exit  b   If you add a variable to the message  be sure to remove the quotes in it before sending it to the subroutine or it can screw your batch  Of course this only works for echoing

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If you don t need the output in real time  i e  as the program is writing it  you could add  type windows-dir txt   after that line

User · Answer

I made a simple C  console which can handle real-time output to both cmd screen and log  class Tee       static int Main string   args                try                       string logFilePath   Path GetFullPath args 0                 using  StreamWriter writer   new StreamWriter logFilePath  true                                 for  int value   value   Console In Read       -1                                         var word   Char ConvertFromUtf32 value                       Console Write word                       writer Write word                                                     catch  Exception                        return 1                    return 0            The batch file usage is the same as how you use Unix tee  foo   tee xxx log   And here is the repository which includes the Tee exe in case you don t have tool to compile https   github com iamshiao Tee

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Yes  there is a way to show a single command output on the console  screen  and in a file   Using your example  use      ECHO OFF FOR  F  tokens      I IN   DIR   DO ECHO   I  amp  ECHO   I gt  gt windows-dir txt   Detailed explanation   The FOR command parses the output of a command or text into a variable  which can be referenced multiple times   For a command  such as DIR  B  enclose in single quotes as shown in example below   Replace the DIR  B text with your desired command   FOR  F  tokens      I IN   DIR  B   DO ECHO   I  amp  ECHO   I gt  gt FILE TXT   For displaying text  enclose text in double quotes as shown in example below   FOR  F  tokens      I IN   Find this text on console  screen  and in file   DO ECHO   I  amp  ECHO   I gt  gt FILE TXT       And with line wrapping     FOR  F  tokens      I IN   Find this text on console  screen  and in file   DO     ECHO   I  amp  ECHO   I gt  gt FILE TXT     If you have times when you want the output only on console  screen   and other times sent only to file  and other times sent to both  specify the  DO  clause of the FOR loop using a variable  as shown below with  TOECHOWHERE     ECHO OFF FOR   I IN  TRUE FALSE  DO     FOR   J IN  TRUE FALSE  DO       SET TOSCREEN   I  amp  SET TOFILE   J  amp  CALL  Runit    GOTO  Finish   Runit   REM Both TOSCREEN and TOFILE get assigned a trailing space in the FOR loops   REM above when the FOR loops are evaluating the first item in the list    REM  TRUE    So  the first value of TOSCREEN is  TRUE    with a trailing   REM space   the second value is  FALSE   no trailing or leading space     REM Adding the       text after  TOSCREEN  tells the command processor to   REM remove all spaces from the value in the  TOSCREEN  variable    IF   TOSCREEN        TRUE          IF   TOFILE        TRUE              SET TEXT On screen  and in  FILE TXT            SET TOECHOWHERE  ECHO   I  amp  ECHO   I gt  gt FILE TXT            ELSE             SET TEXT On screen  not in  FILE TXT            SET TOECHOWHERE  ECHO   I                ELSE         IF   TOFILE        TRUE              SET TEXT Not on screen  but in  FILE TXT            SET TOECHOWHERE  ECHO   I gt  gt FILE txt            ELSE             SET TEXT Not on screen  nor in  FILE TXT            SET TOECHOWHERE  ECHO   I gt NUL                FOR  F  tokens      I IN    TEXT    DO  TOECHOWHERE  1 -1  GOTO  eof   Finish   ECHO Finished  this text to console  screen  only     PAUSE

User · Answer

If you don t need the output in real time  i e  as the program is writing it  you could add  type windows-dir txt   after that line

User · Answer

command  gt  file  gt  amp 1

User · Answer

The solution that worked for me was  dir  gt  a txt   type a txt

User · Answer

command  gt  file  gt  amp 1

User · Answer

If you want to append instead of replace the output file  you may want to use  dir 1 gt  gt  files txt 2 gt  gt  err txt   or  dir 1 gt  gt  files txt 2 gt  gt  amp 1

User · Answer

Yes  there is a way to show a single command output on the console  screen  and in a file   Using your example  use      ECHO OFF FOR  F  tokens      I IN   DIR   DO ECHO   I  amp  ECHO   I gt  gt windows-dir txt   Detailed explanation   The FOR command parses the output of a command or text into a variable  which can be referenced multiple times   For a command  such as DIR  B  enclose in single quotes as shown in example below   Replace the DIR  B text with your desired command   FOR  F  tokens      I IN   DIR  B   DO ECHO   I  amp  ECHO   I gt  gt FILE TXT   For displaying text  enclose text in double quotes as shown in example below   FOR  F  tokens      I IN   Find this text on console  screen  and in file   DO ECHO   I  amp  ECHO   I gt  gt FILE TXT       And with line wrapping     FOR  F  tokens      I IN   Find this text on console  screen  and in file   DO     ECHO   I  amp  ECHO   I gt  gt FILE TXT     If you have times when you want the output only on console  screen   and other times sent only to file  and other times sent to both  specify the  DO  clause of the FOR loop using a variable  as shown below with  TOECHOWHERE     ECHO OFF FOR   I IN  TRUE FALSE  DO     FOR   J IN  TRUE FALSE  DO       SET TOSCREEN   I  amp  SET TOFILE   J  amp  CALL  Runit    GOTO  Finish   Runit   REM Both TOSCREEN and TOFILE get assigned a trailing space in the FOR loops   REM above when the FOR loops are evaluating the first item in the list    REM  TRUE    So  the first value of TOSCREEN is  TRUE    with a trailing   REM space   the second value is  FALSE   no trailing or leading space     REM Adding the       text after  TOSCREEN  tells the command processor to   REM remove all spaces from the value in the  TOSCREEN  variable    IF   TOSCREEN        TRUE          IF   TOFILE        TRUE              SET TEXT On screen  and in  FILE TXT            SET TOECHOWHERE  ECHO   I  amp  ECHO   I gt  gt FILE TXT            ELSE             SET TEXT On screen  not in  FILE TXT            SET TOECHOWHERE  ECHO   I                ELSE         IF   TOFILE        TRUE              SET TEXT Not on screen  but in  FILE TXT            SET TOECHOWHERE  ECHO   I gt  gt FILE txt            ELSE             SET TEXT Not on screen  nor in  FILE TXT            SET TOECHOWHERE  ECHO   I gt NUL                FOR  F  tokens      I IN    TEXT    DO  TOECHOWHERE  1 -1  GOTO  eof   Finish   ECHO Finished  this text to console  screen  only     PAUSE

User · Answer

If you don t need the output in real time  i e  as the program is writing it  you could add  type windows-dir txt   after that line

User · Answer

I made a simple C  console which can handle real-time output to both cmd screen and log  class Tee       static int Main string   args                try                       string logFilePath   Path GetFullPath args 0                 using  StreamWriter writer   new StreamWriter logFilePath  true                                 for  int value   value   Console In Read       -1                                         var word   Char ConvertFromUtf32 value                       Console Write word                       writer Write word                                                     catch  Exception                        return 1                    return 0            The batch file usage is the same as how you use Unix tee  foo   tee xxx log   And here is the repository which includes the Tee exe in case you don t have tool to compile https   github com iamshiao Tee

User · Answer

I like atn s answer  but it was not as trivial for me to download as wintee  which is also open source and only gives the tee functionality  useful if you just want tee and not the entire set of unix utilities    I learned about this from davor s answer to Displaying Windows command prompt output and redirecting it to a file  where you also find reference to the unix utilities

User · Answer

If you want to append instead of replace the output file  you may want to use  dir 1 gt  gt  files txt 2 gt  gt  err txt   or  dir 1 gt  gt  files txt 2 gt  gt  amp 1

User · Answer

command  gt  file  gt  amp 1

User · Answer

My option was this   Create a subroutine that takes in the message and automates the process of sending it to both console and log file   setlocal set logfile logfile log  call  screenandlog   DATE   TIME  This message goes to the screen and to the log       goto  eof   screenandlog set message   1 echo  message   amp  echo  message   gt  gt   logfile  exit  b   If you add a variable to the message  be sure to remove the quotes in it before sending it to the subroutine or it can screw your batch  Of course this only works for echoing

User · Answer

The solution provided by  Tomas R  works perfect for the OP s question and it natively available   Try  chkdsk c    output txt   type output txt  The output is of this command involves a completion percentage that gets serially output to the file hence it will look a bit messy  i e  the text will be appended as it progress   This does not happen to the bits that gets output to STDOUT  the screen   It is how it would be if you just do the same command without redirection

User · Answer

I think you want something along the lines of this   echo Your Msg gt  YourTxtFile txt   Or if you want a new line   echo Your Msg gt  gt  YourTxtFile txt   These commands are great for logs   Note  This will sometimes glitch and replace the whole text file on my computer   Another Note  If the file does not exist  it will create the file

User · Answer

I think you want something along the lines of this   echo Your Msg gt  YourTxtFile txt   Or if you want a new line   echo Your Msg gt  gt  YourTxtFile txt   These commands are great for logs   Note  This will sometimes glitch and replace the whole text file on my computer   Another Note  If the file does not exist  it will create the file

User · Answer

Just use the Windows version of the UNIX tee command  found from http   unxutils sourceforge net  in this way   mycommand  gt  tee outpu file txt   If you also need the STDERR output  then use the following  The 2 gt  amp 1 combines the STDERR output into STDOUT  the primary stream    mycommand 2 gt  amp 1   tee output file txt

User · Answer

The solution that worked for me was  dir  gt  a txt   type a txt

User · Answer

The solution provided by  Tomas R  works perfect for the OP s question and it natively available   Try  chkdsk c    output txt   type output txt  The output is of this command involves a completion percentage that gets serially output to the file hence it will look a bit messy  i e  the text will be appended as it progress   This does not happen to the bits that gets output to STDOUT  the screen   It is how it would be if you just do the same command without redirection

User · Answer

command  gt  file  gt  amp 1

User · Answer

Just use the Windows version of the UNIX tee command  found from http   unxutils sourceforge net  in this way   mycommand  gt  tee outpu file txt   If you also need the STDERR output  then use the following  The 2 gt  amp 1 combines the STDERR output into STDOUT  the primary stream    mycommand 2 gt  amp 1   tee output file txt

[windows] How do I echo and send console output to a file in a bat script?

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