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Command-Line Interface: CopyFilenamesCL

CopyFilenamesCL is a command-line tool that provides CopyFilenames functionality from the terminal, PowerShell, batch scripts, or any automation pipeline. It processes file and folder paths and outputs formatted text according to saved CopyFilenames commands.

This tool requires a CopyFilenames Pro license.

Usage

CopyFilenamesCL [-c <command_name>] [-utf8|-utf16|-utf32|-ansi] [path ...]
CopyFilenamesCL -l
CopyFilenamesCL -h

Options

Option Description
-c <command_name> Apply a saved CopyFilenames command to format the output
-l List all available saved CopyFilenames command names
-utf8 Output as UTF-8 (this is the default)
-utf16 Output as UTF-16
-utf32 Output as UTF-32
-ansi Output as ANSI using the current system code page
-h, --help, -? Show usage information
path ... One or more file/folder paths to process

Input

  • Command-line arguments: Pass one or more file/folder paths directly. Wildcards (* and ?) are supported and expanded automatically.
  • Standard input (stdin): If no paths are given on the command line, CopyFilenamesCL reads paths from stdin, one per line (UTF-8 encoded). This allows piping from other commands.

Output

  • Without -c: outputs just the filename portion of each path (one per line)
  • With -c <command_name>: applies the named command's formatting (parts, separators, sort order, etc.) to the input paths and outputs the result

Examples

List available commands: 

CopyFilenamesCL -l

Copy filenames from specific files: 

CopyFilenamesCL C:\Documents\report.pdf C:\Documents\data.xlsx

Apply a saved command to all .txt files in a folder: 

CopyFilenamesCL -c "Copy Paths (Quoted)" C:\Documents\*.txt

Pipe paths from another command: 

dir /b /s C:\Project\*.cpp | CopyFilenamesCL -c "Copy Filenames (Comma-Separated)"

Output as UTF-16: 

CopyFilenamesCL -utf16 -c "Copy Paths" C:\Documents\*.*

Notes

  • Only one encoding option can be specified at a time
  • -c and -l cannot be used together
  • Paths are resolved to absolute paths before processing
  • Available on both x64 and ARM64
  • The tool uses the same license as the main CopyFilenames application — no separate license purchase is needed

If no valid Pro license is found, the tool exits with:

"Error: A CopyFilenames Pro license is required to use this tool."