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Comparing CMD, Take Command, and TCC

CMD.EXE. is the Windows command processor that runs the commands you enter at the command prompt, and simple batch scripts (files with a .CMD or .BAT extension). CMD hasn’t changed much since its first appearance in Windows NT 3.1 in 1993.

Take Command combines the best features of the GUI and character-mode interfaces. You can have multiple console applications open in tabbed windows, with a Windows Explorer-like interface available for those times when you need a visual look at your folders and files.

Take Command is composed of four pieces which work closely together:

Take Command Environment - A rich development and operations environment that allows you to:

  • Run multiple console and GUI applications simultaneously in tabbed windows, including our own Take Command Console (TCC), CMD, PowerShell and bash. Take Command will display output much faster (up to 5x) than running the application in a standard Windows console window.
  • Cut and paste text.
  • Drag and drop files into tab windows from an Explorer-like environment, other applications, or the desktop.
  • Create and edit command scripts with a full featured editor, including syntax highlighting.
  • Debug batch scripts with a sophisticated debugger, including single-stepping and conditional breakpoints.

Take Command Language - A mature scripting language based on and compatible with CMD, but massively enhanced. It includes:

  • 265+ internal commands (CMD in Windows 11 has about 42)
  • 440+ functions (CMD has 0)
  • 340+ variables (CMD has 6)
  • Hundreds of additional options for CMD commands
  • Additional underlying capabilities, such as the ability to send email and access FTPS and HTTPS servers

Take Command Console (TCC) - A Windows command processor compatible with CMD (the default command processor in Windows 10 / 11 / 2016 / 2019 / 2022) but substantially enhanced with hundreds of new commands and thousands of additional features. TCC is included with Take Command, and is also available separately if you don't need the Take Command tabbed consoles interface. TCC provides the ability to:

  • Edit the command line with a powerful editor, tab completion, command history, directory history, and command dialogs.
  • Interactively run commands, such as DIR, COPY, etc.
  • Run batch script files, such as .CMD, .BAT or .BTM files.
  • Run batch scripts as background processes based on timed schedules or operational triggers, such as changes in the system environment.

And an Integrated IDE with tabbed edit windows and a batch file debugger (compatible with TCC or CMD batch files), that provides:

  • Variable, alias, call stack, breakpoint, environment, and watch windows
  • Tooltips that display command syntax or the current variable value
  • Single stepping - step into, step over, step out
  • Conditional breakpoints
  • Syntax coloring (commands, variables, aliases, comments, operators, etc.)
  • Bookmarks

      Comparing CMD, TCC, and Take Command Features

      Features CMD TCC Take Command
      Extensive interactive help -
      Tabbed console windows - -
      Tabbed configurable toolbar - -
      Integrated Windows Explorer - -
      Batch editor & debugger -
      Command dialogs -
      Internal commands 42 268 268
      Internal variables 6 780+ 780+
      Filename wildcards Limited (* and ?) *, ?, [], and regular expressions *, ?, [], and regular expressions
      File ranges -
      Command line editing Limited Extensive and configurable Extensive and configurable
      Command line syntax coloring -
      Configurable tab completion -
      Directory history -
      Command completion -
      Aliases Limited command aliases only Extensive - command, directory, and keystroke aliases Extensive - command, directory, and keystroke aliases
      Scripting *.CMD only *.CMD, Python,PowerShell, Lua, Tcl/tk, REXX *.CMD, Python, PowerShell, Lua, Tcl/tk, REXX
      User-defined functions and libraries -
      V File Viewer -
      Internet connectivity -
      Automation (macro recorder, keystack) -
      Logging -
      Support ? Web forums Web forums

      Comparing CMD and TCC Commands

      TCC gives you more than 265 internal commands. (By contrast, Microsoft's Windows 11 CMD has about 42 internal commands.) The best way to learn about commands is to read the extensive TCC help, and experiment with them. 

      You can replace any internal command with an ALIAS or LIBRARY command or plugin. You can disable an internal command with COMMANDS or OPTION / Commands.

      In the list below, commands that also exist in CMD (usually in a much more limited form) are marked with a +. Commands that are internals in TCC but externals in CMD are marked with a *.

      Click on any of the command names to display the TCC online help for that command.

      ?

      Display a list of internal and plugin commands

      ACTIVATE

      Activate a window, set its state, or change its title

      ALIAS

      Define or display command and keystroke aliases

      ASSOC +

      Windows file associations

      ASSOCIATE

      Combines ASSOC and FTYPE

      ATTRIB *

      Change or display file attributes

      BATCOMP

      Batch file compression

      BDEBUGGER

      Batch file editor and debugger

      BEEP

      Beep the speaker

      BREAK +

      Define or display Ctrl-C state

      BREAKPOINT

      Set a batch debugger breakpoint

      BTMONITOR

      Monitor Bluetooth connections

      BZIP2

      Create bz2 archives

      CALL +

      Call another batch file

      CANCEL

      End batch file processing

      CAPTURE

      Video and/or audio capture

      CD / CHDIR +

      Display or change directory

      CDD

      Change drive and directory

      CHCP +

      Display or change code page

      CHRONIC

      Run command and hide STDOUT & STDERR

      CLIP

      Display or modify TCC clipboards

      CLIPMONITOR

      Monitor Windows clipboard

      CLS +

      Clear the display window

      COLOR +

      Change the display colors

      COMMANDS

      Enable, disable, or display internal commands

      COMMENT

      Enter multiline comments

      COPY +

      Copy files and/or directories

      COPYDIR

      Copy directory tree

      DATE +

      Display or change date

      DATEMONITOR

      Monitor the current date and time

      DEBUGMONITOR

      Monitor OutputDebugString calls

      DEBUGSTRING

      Send text to system debugger

      DEDUPE

      Search for duplicate files

      DEFER

      Defer a command until batch file exit

      DEL / ERASE +

      Delete files and/or directories

      DELAY

      Wait for specified time

      DESCRIBE

      Display or change descriptions

      DESKTOP

      Create or switch desktops

      DETACH

      Start app detached

      DIFFER

      Show directory differences

      DIR +

      Display files and/or directories

      DIRENV

      Configure environment per directory

      DIRHISTORY

      Display directory history list

      DIRS

      Display directory stack

      DISKMONITOR

      Monitor disk usage

      DNS

      Display DNS records

      DO

      Create batch file loops

      DRAWBOX

      Draw a box

      DRAWHLINE

      Draw a horizontal line

      DRAWVLINE

      Draw a vertical line

      ECHO +

      Echo a message

      ECHOERR

      Echo a message to STDERR

      ECHOS

      Echo a message with no CR/LF

      ECHOSERR

      Echo with no CR/LF to STDERR

      ECHOX

      Echo with no expansion to STDOUT

      ECHOXERR

      Echo with no expansion to STDERR

      EJECTMEDIA

      Eject a removable drive

      ENDLOCAL +

      Restore from a SETLOCAL

      ENUMPROCESSES

      Enumerate child processes

      ENUMSERVERS

      Enumerate network servers

      ENUMSHARES

      Enumerate network sharenames

      ESET

      Edit variables or aliases

      EVENTLOG

      Write Windows event log

      EVENTMONITOR

      Monitor event log

      EVERYTHING

      Search for files and/or directories

      EXCEPT

      Exclude files from a command

      EXIT +

      Exit TCC

      EXPR

      Evaluate expressions

      FFIND

      Search for files or text

      FILELOCK

      Show file locks

      FIREWIREMONITOR

      Monitor FireWire devices

      FOLDERMONITOR

      Monitor folders and/or files

      FONT

      Change console font

      FOR +

      Repeat a command

      FREE

      Display disk space

      FTYPE +

      Display or edit file types

      FUNCTION

      Create or edit user variable functions

      GLOBAL

      Run command in subdirectories

      GOSUB

      Call batch subroutines

      GOTO +

      Branch in a batch file

      GZIP

      Compress files to .gz archive

      HASH

      Display file hash values

      HEAD

      Display beginning of file

      HELP *

      Help for internal commands

      HISTORY

      Display or change history

      IDE

      Batch editor / debugger

      IF +

      Conditional command execution

      IFF

      Conditional command execution

      IFTP

      Open FTP connection

      INKEY

      Get a single keystroke

      INPUT

      Get a text string

      INSTALLED

      Show installed applications

      JABBER

      Send an IM

      JAR

      Create Java JAR archive

      JOBMONITOR

      Monitor Windows job activity

      JOBS

      Create Windows jobs and attach processes

      JOINDOMAIN

      Join a computer to a domain or workgroup

      JUMPLIST

      Create taskbar jumplists

      KEYBD

      Set keyboard toggles

      KEYS +

      Enable or disable history list

      KEYSTACK

      Send keystrokes to app

      LIBRARY

      Load, display, or delete library functions

      LINKS

      Display the hard links for the specified file(s)

      LIST

      Display content of files

      LOADBTM

      Load batch file as .BTM

      LOADMEDIA

      Close CD-ROM / DVD drive door

      LOCAL

      Local variables for batch files & library functions

      LOCKMONITOR

      Monitor session locking / unlocking

      LOG

      Save log of commands

      LUA

      Call the internal Lua interpreter

      MD / MKDIR +

      Create subdirectories

      MEMORY

      Display memory statistics

      MKLINK +

      Create NTFS symbolic links

      MKLNK

      Create NTFS hard or soft link

      MONITOR

      Get / set monitor settings

      MOUNTISO

      Mount ISO disk

      MOUNTVHD

      Mount VHD or VHDX disk

      MOVE +

      Move files or directories

      MOVEDIR

      Move directory tree

      MSGBOX

      Popup message box

      NETMONITOR

      Monitor networks

      ODBC

      SQL database query

      ON

      Batch file error trapping

      OPTION

      Configure the TCC console

      OSD

      Display floating text

      PATH +

      Set or display PATH

      PAUSE +

      Wait for input

      PDIR

      User-formatted DIR

      PEE

      Redirect STDOUT to multiple pipes

      PLAYAVI

      Display an .AVI file

      PLAYSOUND

      Play a sound file

      PLUGIN

      Load or unload plugin DLL

      POPD +

      Restore from directory stack

      POSTMSG

      Send a message to a Window

      POWERMONITOR

      Monitor system power

      PRINT

      Print a file

      PRINTF

      Formatted output

      PRIORITY

      Set process priority

      PROCESSMONITOR

      Monitor processes

      PROMPT +

      Change command line prompt

      PSHELL

      Execute Powershell script or command

      PSUBST

      Persistent SUBST

      PUSHD +

      Save directory to stack

      QUERYBOX

      Popup input box

      QUIT

      Exit batch file

      RD / RMDIR +

      Remove subdirectory

      REBOOT

      Reboot system

      RECORDER

      Macro recorder / playback

      RECYCLE

      Display or empty recycle bin

      REGDIR

      Display the specified Windows Registry tree

      REGMONITOR

      Monitor Windows Registry keys

      REM +

      Remark

      REN / RENAME +

      Rename files or directories

      RESOLUTION

      Change the resolution of the specified display

      RESTOREPOINT

      Create, remove, or list Windows system restore points

      RETURN

      Return from GOSUB

      REXEC

      Remotely execute commands

      RSHELL

      Remotely execute commands

      SAVECONSOLE

      Save console screen buffer to file

      SCREEN

      Position cursor

      SCREENMONITOR

      Monitor screen saver

      SCRIPT

      Run a script using an Active Scripting engine

      SCRPUT

      Write directly to screen

      SELECT

      Select files for a command

      SENDHTML

      Send HTML email

      SENDMAIL

      Send email

      SERVICEMONITOR

      Monitor Windows services

      SERVICES

      Display, stop, or start system services

      SET +

      Set or display environment variables

      SETARRAY

      Define array variable

      SETDOS

      Set or display console options

      SETERROR

      Set the ERRORLEVEL value

      SETLOCAL +

      Save environment, aliases & functions

      SETP

      Set environment variable in another process

      SHIFT +

      Shift batch file parameters

      SHORTCUT

      Create a Windows shortcut

      SHRALIAS

      Share aliases

      SMPP

      Simple message transfer

      SNMP

      Send SNMP traps

      SNPP

      Send message to pager

      SPONGE

      Read STDIN and write to file

      SREPLACE

      Search and replace in files

      SSHEXEC

      SSH to remote host & run shell

      START +

      Start a new session

      STATUSBAR

      Display text on status bar

      SWITCH

      Batch file switch / case

      SYNC

      Synchronize directories

      TABCOMPLETE

      TCC tab completion scripts

      TAIL

      Display end of file

      TAR

      Add files to .tar archive

      TASKBAR

      Call Windows Taskbar functions

      TASKDIALOG

      Popup Windows task dialog

      TASKEND

      End a task

      TASKLIST

      Display Windows task list

      TCDIALOG

      Display command dialogs

      TCFILTER

      Filter Take Command File Explorer window

      TCFONT

      Set font in Take Command tab window

      TCTOOLBAR

      Edit Toolbar

      TEE

      Pipe "tee-fitting"

      TEXT

      Display text in batch file

      THREAD

      Run command in a separate thread

      TIME +

      Set or display time

      TIMER

      Stopwatch

      TITLE +

      Set window title

      TOAST

      Display Windows Toast notification

      TOUCH

      Change file timestamps

      TPIPE

      Text filtering and substitution

      TRANSIENT

      Toggle shell transient mode

      TREE +

      Display directory tree

      TRUENAME

      Display true pathname

      TS

      Timestamp pipe output

      TYPE +

      Display files

      UNALIAS

      Remove aliases

      UNBZIP2

      Uncompress bz2 archives

      UNFUNCTION

      Remove user-defined functions

      UNGZIP

      Extract files from .gz archive

      UNLIBRARY

      Remove library functions

      UNMOUNTISO

      Unmount ISO

      UNMOUNTVHD

      Unmount VHD or VHDX

      UNQLITE

      NoSQL database

      UNSET

      Remove environment variable

      UNSETARRAY

      Remove array variable

      UNSETP

      Remove environment variable in another process

      UNTAR

      Extract files from .tar archive

      UNZIP

      Unzip files from zip archive

      UPTIME

      Display the time since startup and the active time

      USBMONITOR

      Monitor USB devices

      UUID

      Create UUIDs in different formats

      VBEEP

      Flash the screen and beep

      VDESKTOP

      Manage Windows 10 / 11 virtual desktops

      VER +

      Display version

      VERIFY +

      Display or set disk verification

      VIEW

      Display file contents

      VOL +

      Display or set disk volume label

      VSCRPUT

      Write text vertically

      WAITFOR

      Wait for app exit or input idle

      WAKEONLAN

      Send "Wake-On-LAN" packet

      WEBFORM

      Post data to web forms

      WEBSOCKET

      Connect to Websocket and send string

      WEBUPLOAD

      Upload files to web servers

      WHICH

      Display command information

      WINDOW

      Window management

      WINSTATION

      Show the window stations and desktops on your system

      WMIQUERY

      WMI queries

      WMIRUN

      Run WMI methods

      WSETTINGS

       Display a Windows settings dialog

      WSHELL

       Open a Windows Explorer window

      WSHORTCUT

       Call a Windows Explorer shortcut

      Y

       Pipe "y-fitting"

      ZIP

       Zip files to zip archive

      ZIPSFX

       Create self-extracting executable

      7UNZIP

       Extract files from 7Zip archive

      7ZIP

       Compress files to 7Zip archive