Folder List .. Please Help - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

J-DaWg · 01-02-2005, 08:24 AM

okay, I have folder on my computer that has my whole cd collection in it. There is 697 albums, each in their own folder. How would I make a txt/Word or Excel document of the entire list without having to type it out??

Thanx in advance

neekap · 01-02-2005, 09:31 AM

Haha, this question is right up my alley!

Get to a command prompt, get to the folder that has your whole CD collection in it. Then type the following command:

dir /b /s > songs.txt

This will list every file in every folder underneath your current working directory in "bare" format (basically just the file/path names) and output it to the songs.txt file instead of the screen. It may look like it locked up, but let it sit there for a bit until you're taken back to a command prompt. Then you can open songs.txt in Notepad.

Let me know if you need anymore help!

J-DaWg · 01-02-2005, 11:10 AM

that was perfect .. thanks!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by neekap

Haha, this question is right up my alley!

Get to a command prompt, get to the folder that has your whole CD collection in it. Then type the following command:

dir /b /s > songs.txt

This will list every file in every folder underneath your current working directory in "bare" format (basically just the file/path names) and output it to the songs.txt file instead of the screen. It may look like it locked up, but let it sit there for a bit until you're taken back to a command prompt. Then you can open songs.txt in Notepad.

Let me know if you need anymore help!

glytch · 01-02-2005, 02:20 PM

Hey great trick neekap! I wasn't aware of the /b and /s switches. Thank you for bringing this up.

cyrnel · 01-02-2005, 02:22 PM

dir /?

------

glytch · 01-02-2005, 04:34 PM

I realize what /? does, but I hadn't thought to look because I'd never wanted dir to do anything but, well, list the contents of a directory. But, yes, I am apparently an idiot. Thanks for pointing that out.

cyrnel · 01-02-2005, 05:02 PM

Heh, sorry.

Windows cli tools are minimalist but the manpages can be a surprise if you learned on pre-NT versions.

bubbagump · 01-02-2005, 07:15 PM

Thanks for the cool tip

fallsauce · 01-04-2005, 02:01 AM

what's a command prompt?

glytch · 01-04-2005, 08:17 AM

To get to a command prompt, you can click start, then run (or Windows key + r) and type in cmd. Hope that helped.

fallsauce · 01-04-2005, 05:36 PM

I got the txt file working, but I can't seem to get it to do the write folder. Right now it's c:\documents and settings no matter which folder I run the command prompt from. Not totally sure that's what I should be doing...

skaven · 01-04-2005, 10:31 PM

once you're in a command prompt window, use the cd command to change directories, e.g.

cd "My Music"

then

cd "All Albums"

or whatever.

If you're already using cd and it's not working, it might be the quotes. The quotes are a hack windows had to put in to make long filenames work in DOS.

fallsauce · 01-04-2005, 11:06 PM

I feel like a dumbass here... but it's not working. Right now it says: "The system cannot find the path specified"

Can you just tell me exactly what I need to enter if my folder is "D:\mp3"
and right now the first thing I see when I open the command prompt window is C:\documents and settings\Yang Yang

glytch · 01-05-2005, 09:03 AM

Don't feel bad, this is stuff I'm sure quite alot of people don't know how to do. Afterall, you have to start somewhere right?
Anyway, from your command prompt type D:
This should bring you do a prompt for your d: partition. After that, you can do cd mp3 which will bring you into your mp3 folder. From there you can enter the file list redirection listed above.

hoosier52 · 01-07-2005, 09:25 PM

Here's how I do it. First, download and install Karen Kenworthy's Power Tool: "Directory Printer". It becomes a right click option in windows explorer and lets you do several things; for instance you can print a list of all files in a folder, filter (in almost anyway you can imagine) the list and print and you can save your list to a text file which can be copy and pasted into a spreadsheet and sorted/printed. Here's the url to her power tools list, all free for personal use and highly recommended:
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/powertools.asp

spindles · 01-07-2005, 11:06 PM

Actually the cool thing with command prompt in the later versions of windows is you can type cd beginning of directory then hit the tab key and it will match the first directory name with those matching letters. Subsequent tabs gets the next matching name.

This matching also works if you want to run a file in the current directory - type the first letter, then tab.

So to change to the "my music" directory you could type cd My[TAB]

Also, you could do the dir of the d:\mp3 from the default by typing

dir d:\mp3\*.* /s /b > songs.txt

This way the songs.txt file will end up in c:\Documents and Settings\...

/end of command prompt nerdiness.

01-02-2005, 08:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
J-DaWg Tilted Location: Ontario	Folder List .. Please Help okay, I have folder on my computer that has my whole cd collection in it. There is 697 albums, each in their own folder. How would I make a txt/Word or Excel document of the entire list without having to type it out?? Thanx in advance

01-02-2005, 02:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
glytch I am not permanent. Location: Tennessee	Hey great trick neekap! I wasn't aware of the /b and /s switches. Thank you for bringing this up. __________________ If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit. - Mitch Hedberg

01-02-2005, 04:34 PM	#6 (permalink)
glytch I am not permanent. Location: Tennessee	I realize what /? does, but I hadn't thought to look because I'd never wanted dir to do anything but, well, list the contents of a directory. But, yes, I am apparently an idiot. Thanks for pointing that out. __________________ If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit. - Mitch Hedberg

01-02-2005, 07:15 PM	#8 (permalink)
bubbagump Tilted	Thanks for the cool tip __________________ s3x p1z

01-04-2005, 02:01 AM	#9 (permalink)
fallsauce Insane	what's a command prompt? __________________ "Hey little kitty with your tail dragging on the floor You could have a following in every town that you go" Electric Six - I Invented The Night

01-02-2005, 09:31 AM	#2 (permalink)
neekap Tilted Location: Central OH	Haha, this question is right up my alley! Get to a command prompt, get to the folder that has your whole CD collection in it. Then type the following command: dir /b /s > songs.txt This will list every file in every folder underneath your current working directory in "bare" format (basically just the file/path names) and output it to the songs.txt file instead of the screen. It may look like it locked up, but let it sit there for a bit until you're taken back to a command prompt. Then you can open songs.txt in Notepad. Let me know if you need anymore help!

01-02-2005, 02:22 PM	#5 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	dir /? ------

01-02-2005, 05:02 PM	#7 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	Heh, sorry. Windows cli tools are minimalist but the manpages can be a surprise if you learned on pre-NT versions.

01-04-2005, 08:17 AM	#10 (permalink)
glytch I am not permanent. Location: Tennessee	To get to a command prompt, you can click start, then run (or Windows key + r) and type in <b>cmd</b>. Hope that helped. __________________ If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit. - Mitch Hedberg

01-04-2005, 05:36 PM	#11 (permalink)
fallsauce Insane	I got the txt file working, but I can't seem to get it to do the write folder. Right now it's c:\documents and settings no matter which folder I run the command prompt from. Not totally sure that's what I should be doing... __________________ "Hey little kitty with your tail dragging on the floor You could have a following in every town that you go" Electric Six - I Invented The Night

01-04-2005, 10:31 PM	#12 (permalink)
skaven Insane Location: Austin, TX	once you're in a command prompt window, use the <i>cd</i> command to change directories, e.g. cd "My Music" then cd "All Albums" or whatever. If you're already using cd and it's not working, it might be the quotes. The quotes are a hack windows had to put in to make long filenames work in DOS.

01-04-2005, 11:06 PM	#13 (permalink)
fallsauce Insane	I feel like a dumbass here... but it's not working. Right now it says: "The system cannot find the path specified" Can you just tell me exactly what I need to enter if my folder is "D:\mp3" and right now the first thing I see when I open the command prompt window is C:\documents and settings\Yang Yang __________________ "Hey little kitty with your tail dragging on the floor You could have a following in every town that you go" Electric Six - I Invented The Night

01-05-2005, 09:03 AM	#14 (permalink)
glytch I am not permanent. Location: Tennessee	Don't feel bad, this is stuff I'm sure quite alot of people don't know how to do. Afterall, you have to start somewhere right? Anyway, from your command prompt type<b> D:</b> This should bring you do a prompt for your d: partition. After that, you can do <b>cd mp3</b> which will bring you into your mp3 folder. From there you can enter the file list redirection listed above. __________________ If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit. - Mitch Hedberg

01-07-2005, 09:25 PM	#15 (permalink)
hoosier52 Upright Location: Indiana	Here's how I do it. First, download and install Karen Kenworthy's Power Tool: "Directory Printer". It becomes a right click option in windows explorer and lets you do several things; for instance you can print a list of all files in a folder, filter (in almost anyway you can imagine) the list and print and you can save your list to a text file which can be copy and pasted into a spreadsheet and sorted/printed. Here's the url to her power tools list, all free for personal use and highly recommended: http://www.karenware.com/powertools/powertools.asp

01-07-2005, 11:06 PM	#16 (permalink)
spindles Mine is an evil laugh Location: Sydney, Australia	Actually the cool thing with command prompt in the later versions of windows is you can type cd beginning of directory then hit the tab key and it will match the first directory name with those matching letters. Subsequent tabs gets the next matching name. This matching also works if you want to run a file in the current directory - type the first letter, then tab. So to change to the "my music" directory you could type cd My[TAB] Also, you could do the dir of the d:\mp3 from the default by typing dir d:\mp3\. /s /b > songs.txt This way the songs.txt file will end up in c:\Documents and Settings\... /end of command prompt nerdiness. __________________ who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?