MTOOLS

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: local
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NAME

Mtools - a collection of tools for manipulating MSDOS files

SYNOPSIS

mattrib - change MSDOS file attribute flags
mcd - change MSDOS directory
mcopy - copy MSDOS files to/from Unix
mdel - delete an MSDOS file
mdir - display an MSDOS directory
mformat - add an MSDOS filesystem to a low-level formatted diskette
mlabel - make an MSDOS volume label
mmd - make an MSDOS subdirectory
mrd - remove an MSDOS subdirectory
mread - low level read (copy) an MSDOS file to Unix
mren - rename an existing MSDOS file
mtype - display contents of an MSDOS file
mwrite - low level write (copy) a Unix file to MSDOS

DESCRIPTION

Mtools is a public domain collection of programs to allow Unix systems to read, write, and manipulate files on an MSDOS filesystem (typically a diskette). Each program attempts to emulate the MSDOS equivalent command as closely as practical.

MSDOS filenames are optionally composed of a drive letter followed by a colon, a subdirectory, and a filename. Subdirectory names can use either the '/' or '\' separator. The use of the '\' separator or wildcards will require the names to be enclosed in quotes to protect them from the shell.

The regular expression "pattern matching" routines follow the Unix-style rules. For example, '*' matches all MSDOS files in lieu of '*.*'. The archive, hidden, read-only and system attribute bits are ignored during pattern matching.

All options use the '-' (minus) flag, not '/' as you'd expect in MSDOS.

The mcd command is used to establish the device and the current working directory (relative to the MSDOS filesystem), otherwise the default is assumed to be A:/.

BUGS

An unfortunate side effect of not guessing the proper device (when multiple disk capacities are supported) is an occasional error message from the device driver. These can be safely ignored.