In computing, type is a command in various command-line interpreters (shells) such as, , 4DOS/4NT and Windows PowerShell used to display the contents of specified files on the computer terminal. The analogous Unix command is cat.

Implementations

The command is available in the operating systems DEC RT-11, OS/8, RSX-11, TOPS-10, TOPS-20, VMS, Digital Research CP/M, MP/M, MetaComCo TRIPOS, Heath Company HDOS, AmigaDOS, DOS, FlexOS, TSL PC-MOS, SpartaDOS X, IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows, ReactOS, AROS, and SymbOS. The command is supported by Tim Paterson's SCP 86-DOS. On MS-DOS, the command is available in versions 1 and later. DR DOS 6.0 also includes an implementation of the TYPE command. It is also available in the open source MS-DOS emulator DOSBox and the EFI shell. In Windows PowerShell, type is a predefined command alias for the Get-Content Cmdlet which basically serves the same purpose. TYPE originated as an internal command in 86-DOS. The command-syntax and feature set between operating systems and command shell implementations can differ as can be seen in the following examples.

DEC RT-11

In Digital Equipment Corporation's RT-11, the command accepts up to six input file specifications. Multiple file specifications are separated with commas. The default filetype is .LST. Wildcards are accepted in place of filenames or filetypes.

Syntax

The command-syntax on RT-11 is: TYPE[/options] filespecs

Examples

TYPE/COPIES:3 REPORT TYPE/NEWFILES *.LST

DR CP/M, MP/M, FlexOS

In Digital Research CP/M, the command expands tabs and line-feed characters (CTRL-I), assuming tab positions are set at every eighth column. The command does not support wildcard characters on FlexOS.

Syntax

The command-syntax on CP/M is: TYPE ufn Note: ufn = unambiguous file reference In MP/M, the command has a pause mode. It is specified by entering a 'P' followed by two decimal digits after the filename. The specified number of lines will be displayed and then the command will pause until a carriage return is entered.

Examples

TSL PC-MOS

The Software Link's PC-MOS includes an implementation of. Like the rest of the operating system, it is licensed under the GPL v3. It supports an option to display the file content in hexadecimal form.

Syntax

The command-syntax on PC-MOS is: .TYPE filename [/h]

Examples

Microsoft Windows, OS/2, ReactOS

The command supports wildcard characters. In Microsoft Windows and OS/2 it includes the filename in the output when typing multiple files.

Syntax

The command-syntax on Microsoft Windows and ReactOS is: type [Drive:][Path]FileName

Examples