TYPE ... ?

[vefatica]

The file C:\Windows\Tasks\SA.DAT has 6 bytes: 06 00 00 00 02 03 (from LIST /X).

When I TYPE it several times I'd expect the same (perhaps nonsense) result each time but I get the likes of this.

c:\windows\tasks> type SA.DAT
*sY
c:\windows\tasks> type SA.DAT
.DAT
c:\windows\tasks> type SA.DAT
*sT
c:\windows\tasks> type SA.DAT
*si
c:\windows\tasks> type SA.DAT
.DAT
c:\windows\tasks> type SA.DAT
pe
c:\windows\tasks> type SA.DAT
\AT

 

[Charles Dye]

I think the NUL byte is interpreted as the end of a string, and past the end of the string... is just whatever happens to be in memory.

TYPE /X works as I would expect.

 

[rconn]

Why are you trying to TYPE a binary file? What did you expect as a result?

 

[vefatica]

Why are you trying to TYPE a binary file? What did you expect as a result?

I wasn't expecting any particular garbage but I was expecting the same garbage each time.

 

[ohenryx]

A corollary to GIGO (Garbage in Garbage out) says "unexpected input gives unpredictable output". If memory serves, I first heard that from a computer science professor in 1968.