how do i copy content lists?

[critter444]

hey there,
i have about five thousand mp3 that i have just burned using my new dvd burner. i burned them in alphabetical order and was wondering if someone knew a way to quickly import/ copy/ or somehow get all the mp3 file names into a word processing document or into notepadn so that they could be printed. simple cut and paste hasn't worked for me. i can't ssem to find anything on the web, and a forum search hasn't come up with anything. i use nero but couldn't find anything in it that would allow me to do this. thanks for your help in advance (whoever you are) . -critter

[HillJack]

From a command prompt, type:

dir /s x:\*.mp3 >> listing.txt

where x: is your dvd-rom drive letter. The /s will recurse subdir's (if there are any mp3's in subdirectories). That will output to the regular text file listing.txt, everything you would normally see when typing dir.

Once it's done, simply load that listing.txt file into Notepad or Word or whatever.

[GbMedusa]

For the benefit of DOS lightweights (like myself), where will the "listing.txt" file be found?

Can the output be directed to a specific location such as "C:\Data Files\Listing.txt"?

[critter444]

hey there again,
thanks a ton for the quick reply. like the person above me, i am also a dos lightweight. i can get the dos prompt up but don't know where to go from there (the mp3 list of files is on one of my hard drives (the dvds were already burned and set aside for safe keeping)). is there anyway to do what you are talking about on windows xp, and if not, could you please describe the steps in a bit of more detail for the beginners (i.e. how to get the list of files from a folder in a harddrive and transfer those to notepad or whatever for printing). thanks so much, and again, i appreciate your time. -critter

[GbMedusa]

I think I got it.

From HillJack's original post

From a command prompt, type:

dir /s x:\*.mp3 >> listing.txt

Replace the "x:\" with the specific directory you wanted listed, be it hard drive, removable disc, etc.
F:\Music & Stuff\

To put the list in a certain location, use the full path name in quotation marks.
"C:\Documents and Settings\ABC User\Desktop\SongList.txt"

If you don't put a specific path, it will default to the location the DOS prompt is using.

By the way, HillJack, thanks for the info. I was trying to find a way to do this.

[HillJack]

For the benefit of DOS lightweights (like myself), where will the "listing.txt" file be found?

Can the output be directed to a specific location such as "C:\Data Files\Listing.txt"?

You can direct the output anywhere you want (to a writable drive of course) just as you have above.

As for step by step (this works in Win2K and XP):

We'll assume the mp3's are in d:\my_files\mp3 for this...

1. Start Menu --> Run --> type cmd.exe
2. In the black window that appears, type cd x: where x is your drive (dvd or hard drive) where the files are you want listed. So if my files are in d:\my_files\mp3, I would type cd d:
3. Now type cd my_files\mp3
4. Now type dir /s *.mp3 > listing.txt This will result in all mp3 files in the durrent directory AND subdirectories (using the /s switch) being listed to the listing.txt file.
5. Now if you want to load that listing.txt file into Notepad for cut'n paste purposes, from the same command prompt, you can just type notepad listing.txt and in Win2K and XP it will automagically launch Notepad

If you want to redirect the output to, say to c:\mymp3s.txt, then type dir /s *.mp3 > c:\mymp3s.txt

In my original post, I said use >> and now I'm saying use > The >> will actually append (add to) the listing.txt file (so if you want to do this a bunch of times and keep all the results), whereas a single > will overwrite listing.txt each time.

I hope that makes it a bit more clear?

[GbMedusa]

Oops. Guess I was too slow to the draw...

[critter444]

hey there,

just wanted to thank everyone who has helped. i was able to solve my delima/question by following the instructions above. take care and again, i appreciate it very much. -critter.