| Purpose | Display a text file, with forward and backward paging and scrolling |
| Format | LIST [range...] [/8 /A:[[-|+]rhsadecijopt /B[-]n /C /Etext" /F /H /I /L[-]n /N /O:[-]adegnrstu /R /S /T"text" /U /W /X[s]] [@file] [file...] |
| file | A file or list of files to display. |
| @file | A text file containing the names of the files to view, one per line (see @file lists for details). |
See also: HEAD, TAIL, and TYPE.
File Selection
Supports attribute switches, extended wildcards, ranges, multiple file names, and include lists.
Internet
Can be used with FTP/HTTP Servers.
Usage
LIST provides a fast and flexible way to view a file, without the overhead of loading and using a text editor.
For example, to display a file called MEMO.DOC:
list memo.doc
Note: LIST is primarily intended for displaying the contents of ASCII and Unicode text files (i.e. alphanumeric characters arranged in lines separated by CR/LF). It can be used for other files which contain non-alphabetic characters or unusual line separators, but you may need to use hexadecimal mode (see below) to display or search these files. Lines longer than 32,767 characters will be truncated unless you're in Wrap or Hex modes.
LIST displays files in the TCC window. If you resize the TCC window or the Take Command window when TCC is running in a tab window, LIST will automatically resize its display.
You can define all of the LIST keys using the OPTION / Keyboard dialog.
| Directive | Default Description |
| ListBack | B Return to the previous file. |
| ListClipboard | Ctrl-B Copy the current filename to the clipboard. |
| ListContinue | C Continue with the next file. |
| ListDelete | Del Delete the current file. |
| ListDown | Down Scroll down one row. |
| ListEdit | E Edit the file with the editor associated with that filetype. If there is no association, LIST will use the editor defined in the Editor configuration option. If no editor is defined, LIST will use Notepad. If LIST is displaying a pipe, the contents are saved to the clipboard and the editor is started. (You will need to manually paste the clipboard contents.) |
| ListEnd | End Go to the end of the file. |
| ListExit | Esc Exit the current file. |
| ListFind | F Prompt and search for a string or a sequence of hexadecimal values. |
| ListFindPrevious | Ctrl-N Find previous matching string in the file. |
| ListFindRegex | R Prompt and search for a regular expression. |
| ListFindRegexReverse | Ctrl-R Search backwards for a regular expression. |
| ListFindReverse | Ctrl-F Prompt and search for a string, searching backward from the end of the file. |
| ListGoto | G Display a dialog to jump to a specific line. |
| ListHelp | F1 Display help for LIST. |
| ListHex | X Toggle the hex mode (/X) option. |
| ListHexSpace | S Toggle display of nonprintable characters (space or .) when in hex mode. |
| ListHighBit | H Toggle the "strip high bit" (/H) option. |
| ListHome | Home Go to the beginning of the file. |
| ListInfo | I Displays information about the current file. |
| ListLeft | Left Scroll left one column. |
| ListNext | N Find next matching string. |
| ListNumber | L Number the lines. |
| ListOpen | O Display the "Open File" dialog. |
| ListPageLeft | Ctrl-Left Scroll left 40 columns. |
| ListPageRight | Ctrl-Right Scroll right 40 columns. |
| ListPgUp | PgUp Scroll up one page. |
| ListPgDn | PgDn Scroll down one page. |
| ListPrint | P Print all or part of the file (displays the Windows "Print" dialog). |
| ListRefresh | F5 Refresh the display. |
| ListRight | Right Scroll right one column. |
| ListSave | Ins Save to a file. |
| ListTabSize | Tab Display a dialog to set the tab size. |
| ListUnicode | U Toggle the Unicode display mode. |
| ListUp | Up Scroll up one row. |
| ListWrap | W Toggle the "line wrap" (/W) option. |
Text searches performed with F, N, Ctrl-F, and Ctrl-N are not case-sensitive unless you check the Match case box in the search dialog. LIST remembers the search strings you have used in the current session; to select a previous string, use the drop-down arrow to the right of the string entry field (the N key and the Next button search for the top item in this drop-down list).
When the search string is found LIST displays the line containing the string at the top of the window, and highlights the string it found. Any additional occurrences of the string on the same display page are also highlighted. Highlighting is intended for use with text files. In binary files, the search string will be found but may not be highlighted properly.
If the display is currently in hexadecimal mode and you press F or Ctrl-F, you will be prompted for whether you want to search in hexadecimal mode. If so, you should then enter the search string as a sequence of 2-digit hexadecimal numbers separated by spaces, for example 41 63 65 (ASCII values for the string "Ace"). Hexadecimal searches are case-sensitive, and search for exactly the string you enter.
LIST saves the search string used by F, N, Ctrl-F, and Ctrl-N so you can LIST multiple files and search for the same string simply by pressing N in each file, or repeat your search the next time you use LIST.
You can use extended wildcards in the search string. For example, you can search for the string to*day to find the next line which contains the word to followed by the word day later on the same line, or search for the numbers 101 or 401 with the search string [14]01. If you begin the search string with a back-quote `, or enclose it in back-quotes, wildcard characters in the string will be treated as normal text with no special wildcard meaning.
You can use the /T switch to specify search text for the first file. When you do so, LIST begins a search as soon as the file is loaded. Use /I to ignore wildcards in the initial search string, and /R to make the initial search go backwards from the end of the file. When you LIST multiple files with a single LIST command, these switches affect only the first file; they are ignored for the second and subsequent files.
You can also search using Regular Expressions using the R and Ctrl-R keys. See Regular Expression Syntax for supported expressions.
You can use the G key to go to a specific line number in the file (or to a specified hexadecimal offset in hex mode). LIST numbers lines beginning with 1. A new line is counted for every CR or LF character (LIST determines automatically which character is used for line breaks in each file), or when line length reaches 32,767 characters, whichever comes first.
LIST normally allows long lines in the file to extend past the right edge of the screen. You can use the horizontal scrolling keys (see above) to view text that extends beyond the screen width. If you use the W command or /W switch to wrap the display, each line is wrapped when it reaches the right edge of the screen, and the horizontal scrolling keys are disabled.
To view output from another command simply pipe the output of the command to LIST, for example:
dir | list
Normally LIST will detect input from a pipe automatically, but if it does not, use /S to explicitly specify piped input. Your ability to navigate backward through the displayed output (e.g. with PgUp) may be limited when viewing a very large amount of data through a pipe, due to the way Windows handles piped output.
To view text from the clipboard, use CLIP: as the file to be listed. CLIP: will not return any data unless the clipboard contains text. See Redirection for more information on CLIP:.
If you print the file which LIST is displaying, the print format will match the display format. If you have switched to hexadecimal or wrapped mode, that mode will be used for the printed output as well. If you print in wrapped mode, long lines will be wrapped at the width of the display. If you print in normal display mode without line wrap, long lines will be wrapped or truncated by the printer, not by LIST. Regardless of the display mode, LIST will bring up a standard Windows print dialog which allows you to print selected text, the current page, or the entire file.
•FTP/HTTP Usage
LIST can display files on FTP servers as well as the contents of HTTP/HTTPS URLs. For example:
list ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/index
list https://jpsoft.com/notfound.htm
You can also use the IFTP command to start an FTP session on a server, and then use an abbreviated syntax to specify the files and directories you want. For more information, see Using FTP/HTTP Servers and IFTP.
•NTFS File Streams
LIST supports file streams on NTFS drives. You can list an individual stream by specifying the stream name, for example:
list streamfile:s1
If no stream name is specified the file's primary data is displayed.
See NTFS File Streams for additional details.
•Advanced Features
If you specify a directory name instead of a filename as a parameter, LIST will display each of the files in that directory.
If no filename is specified (and stdin is not redirected), LIST will open the common Windows "open file" dialog.
Most of the LIST keystrokes can be reassigned with key mapping directives.
By default, LIST sets tab stops every 8 columns. You can change this behavior with the Tabs Width configuration option.
Options
| /A: | Select only those files that have the specified attribute(s) set. See Attribute Switches for information on the attributes which can follow /A:. Do not use /A: with @file lists. See @file lists for details. |
You can specify /A:= to display a dialog to help you set individual attributes.
| /C | Display the file in a separate screen buffer and restore the original buffer upon exiting LIST. /C only works in stand-alone TCC windows, not in Take Command tab windows. |
| /E | Search for a regular expression in the first file. This option is the same as pressing R, but it allows you to specify the search text on the command line. The regular expression must be contained in double quotes if it contains spaces, punctuation, or wildcard characters. See also /T. |
| /I | Only meaningful when used in conjunction with the /T "text" option. Directs LIST to interpret characters such as *, ?, [, and ] as literal characters instead of wildcard characters. /I affects only the initial search started by /T, not subsequent searches started from within LIST. |
| /I"text" | Select files by matching text in their descriptions. See Description Ranges for details. |
You may use any combination of the sorting options below. If multiple options are used, the listing will be sorted with the first sort option as the primary key, the next as the secondary key, and so on:
| n | Sort by filename and extension, unless e is explicitly included. This is the default. |
| - | Reverse the sort order for the next sort key |
| a | Sort names and extensions in standard ASCII order, instead of numerically when numeric substrings are included in the name or extension. |
| d | Sort by date and time (oldest first); also see /T:acw |
| e | Sort by extension |
| g | Group subdirectories first, then files |
| r | Reverse the sort order for all options |
| s | Sort by size |
| t | Same as d |
| u | Unsorted |
| /R | Only meaningful when used in conjunction with the /T "text" option. Directs LIST to search for text from the end of the file instead of from the beginning of the file. Using this switch can speed up searches for text that is normally near the end of the file, such as a signature. /R affects only the initial search started by /T, not subsequent searches started from within LIST. |
| /S | Read from standard input rather than a file. This allows you to redirect command output and view it with LIST. Normally, LIST will detect input from a redirected command and adjust automatically. However, you may find circumstances when /S is required. For example, to use LIST to display the output of DIR you could use either of these commands: |
dir | list
dir | list /s
list /t"Take Command" readme.doc
The search text may include wildcards and extended wildcards. For example, to search for the words Hello and John on the same line in the file LETTER.DAT:
list /t"Hello*John" letter.dat
When you display multiple files with a single LIST command, /T only initiates a search in the first file. It is ignored for the second and subsequent files. See also: /I and /R.
You can display spaces rather than periods for non-printable characters by specifying the /XS option. You can also toggle between spaces and periods with the S key while displaying a file in hex mode.
