How do I echo and send console output to a file in a bat script?

I have a batch script that executes a task and sends the output to a text file. Is there a way to have the output show on the console window as well?

For Example:

c:\Windows>dir > windows-dir.txt

Is there a way to have the output of dir display in the console window as well as put it into the text file?

Solution 1:

No, you can't with pure redirection.
But with some tricks (like tee.bat) you can.

I try to explain the redirection a bit.

You redirect one of the ten streams with > file or < file
It is unimportant, if the redirection is before or after the command, so these two lines are nearly the same.

dir > file.txt
> file.txt dir

The redirection in this example is only a shortcut for 1>, this means the stream 1 (STDOUT) will be redirected.
So you can redirect any stream with prepending the number like 2> err.txt and it is also allowed to redirect multiple streams in one line.

dir 1> files.txt 2> err.txt 3> nothing.txt

In this example the "standard output" will go into files.txt, all errors will be in err.txt and the stream3 will go into nothing.txt (DIR doesn't use the stream 3).
Stream0 is STDIN
Stream1 is STDOUT
Stream2 is STDERR
Stream3-9 are not used

But what happens if you try to redirect the same stream multiple times?

dir > files.txt > two.txt

"There can be only one", and it is always the last one!
So it is equal to dir > two.txt

Ok, there is one extra possibility, redirecting a stream to another stream.

dir 1>files.txt 2>&1 

2>&1 redirects stream2 to stream1 and 1>files.txt redirects all to files.txt.
The order is important here!

dir ... 1>nul 2>&1
dir ... 2>&1 1>nul

are different. The first one redirects all (STDOUT and STDERR) to NUL,
but the second line redirects the STDOUT to NUL and STDERR to the "empty" STDOUT.

As one conclusion, it is obvious why the examples of Otávio Décio and andynormancx can't work.

command > file >&1
dir > file.txt >&2

Both try to redirect stream1 two times, but "There can be only one", and it's always the last one.
So you get

command 1>&1
dir 1>&2

And in the first sample redirecting of stream1 to stream1 is not allowed (and not very useful).

Hope it helps.

Solution 2:

Just use the Windows version of the UNIX tee command (found from http://unxutils.sourceforge.net) in this way:

mycommand > tee outpu_file.txt

If you also need the STDERR output, then use the following.
The 2>&1 combines the STDERR output into STDOUT (the primary stream).

mycommand 2>&1 | tee output_file.txt

Solution 3:

If you don't need the output in real time (i.e. as the program is writing it) you could add

type windows-dir.txt

after that line.

Solution 4:

The solution that worked for me was: dir > a.txt | type a.txt.

Solution 5:

Yes, there is a way to show a single command output on the console (screen) and in a file. Using your example, use...

@ECHO OFF
FOR /F "tokens=*" %%I IN ('DIR') DO ECHO %%I & ECHO %%I>>windows-dir.txt

Detailed explanation:

The FOR command parses the output of a command or text into a variable, which can be referenced multiple times.

For a command, such as DIR /B, enclose in single quotes as shown in example below. Replace the DIR /B text with your desired command.

FOR /F "tokens=*" %%I IN ('DIR /B') DO ECHO %%I & ECHO %%I>>FILE.TXT

For displaying text, enclose text in double quotes as shown in example below.

FOR /F "tokens=*" %%I IN ("Find this text on console (screen) and in file") DO ECHO %%I & ECHO %%I>>FILE.TXT

... And with line wrapping...

FOR /F "tokens=*" %%I IN ("Find this text on console (screen) and in file") DO (
  ECHO %%I & ECHO %%I>>FILE.TXT
)

If you have times when you want the output only on console (screen), and other times sent only to file, and other times sent to both, specify the "DO" clause of the FOR loop using a variable, as shown below with %TOECHOWHERE%.

@ECHO OFF
FOR %%I IN (TRUE FALSE) DO (
  FOR %%J IN (TRUE FALSE) DO (
    SET TOSCREEN=%%I & SET TOFILE=%%J & CALL :Runit)
)
GOTO :Finish

:Runit
  REM Both TOSCREEN and TOFILE get assigned a trailing space in the FOR loops
  REM above when the FOR loops are evaluating the first item in the list,
  REM "TRUE".  So, the first value of TOSCREEN is "TRUE " (with a trailing
  REM space), the second value is "FALSE" (no trailing or leading space).
  REM Adding the ": =" text after "TOSCREEN" tells the command processor to
  REM remove all spaces from the value in the "TOSCREEN" variable.
  IF "%TOSCREEN: =%"=="TRUE" (
      IF "%TOFILE: =%"=="TRUE" (
          SET TEXT=On screen, and in "FILE.TXT"
          SET TOECHOWHERE="ECHO %%I & ECHO %%I>>FILE.TXT"
        ) ELSE (
          SET TEXT=On screen, not in "FILE.TXT"
          SET TOECHOWHERE="ECHO %%I"
      )
    ) ELSE (
      IF "%TOFILE: =%"=="TRUE" (
          SET TEXT=Not on screen, but in "FILE.TXT"
          SET TOECHOWHERE="ECHO %%I>>FILE.txt"
        ) ELSE (
          SET TEXT=Not on screen, nor in "FILE.TXT"
          SET TOECHOWHERE="ECHO %%I>NUL"
      )
  )
  FOR /F "tokens=*" %%I IN ("%TEXT%") DO %TOECHOWHERE:~1,-1%
GOTO :eof

:Finish
  ECHO Finished [this text to console (screen) only].
  PAUSE