The Command Console and the Clipboard

It's also possible to copy text from the Command Prompt window to the Clipboard for use in other applications. Doing so can be useful if you want output generated by a command to be manipulated further in another program.

For example, your text formatting options are limited at best in the Command Prompt. Not so with Microsoft Word. Therefore, if you want to apply special formatting, you need to get the text from the Command window to Word. To do that, you employ the XP Clipboard. As another example, you might have a command sent in an email, which you can cut and paste into the command window.

Either way, just follow these steps:


Right-click the title bar of the Command Prompt window, point to Edit, and then click Mark.


The cursor changes from a blinking underscore to a blinking box. Click the beginning of the text you want to copy. You can also navigate using the arrow keys.


Now, just click and drag to select the text you want to work with. You can also hold down the Shift key and click the end of the text or use the arrow keys.


Right-click the title bar, point to Edit, and then click Copy. Alternatively, you could just hit Enter after highlighting the desired text.

The text is now on the Clipboard, and you can insert it in another application using that application's Paste command. In Word, for example, use Edit | Paste or the Ctrl+V keyboard combination.

You can use this method to transfer a command from one Command window to another, thus eliminating redundant typing. If you are inserting Command Prompt text into another MS-DOS window, right-click the title bar, point to Edit, and then click Paste.

The reverse processcopying a line from a Word document into the Command Prompt, for exampleis even easier. To paste Clipboard text into the Command Prompt:

  1. Position the mouse somewhere in the active Command Prompt window and right-click.

  2. Choose Paste from the shortcut menu.

That's it! The text is inserted at the Command Prompt's insertion point (wherever the blinking cursor is).

Actually, Don't Bother with That After All

There is an option in the Command Prompt Properties that can make copying and pasting in the Command Prompt even easier still. It's called QuickEdit Mode, and when it's enabled, you can select text by simply clicking and dragging over it instead of using the Mark command first.

QuickEdit Mode is not enabled by default. To turn it on, just open the Command Prompt's Properties dialog box, as outlined earlier, and then turn on QuickEdit with a single click, as shown in Figure 6-4.

Figure 6-4. Enabling QuickEdit mode.

Notice, too, that the Insert Mode is enabled by default. It lets you insert text at the insertion point (where the blinking cursor is), pushing any existing characters to the right instead of performing an overwrite. You can have both the Insert Mode and QuickEdit Mode enabled at the same time.

Spring Into Windows XP Service Pack 2
Spring Into Windows XP Service Pack 2
ISBN: 013167983X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 275
Authors: Brian Culp

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