How to use tasklist command with an array? - windows

Question

I'm working on a cmd script and want to find some processes in the tasklist. So what I have is an array like "prog[0]=devcpp.exe, prog[1]=notepad.exe..."
And to find these processes I'm using FOR command. Ok, but when I execute the command "tasklist /fi" it seems won't recognize the array, and don't give me the expected result.
The code is:
set prog[0]=devcpp.exe
set prog[1]=notepad.exe
set prog[2]=calc.exe
FOR /l %%a IN (0,1,2) DO (
tasklist /fi "IMAGENAME eq %prog[%%a]%"
)
But the result is:
error: the search filter cannot be recognized
And of course I am running these processes...
So, any suggestions?

Answer 1

First, remove the trailing QUOTATION MARK character on the prog[2] setting.
Secondly, when invoking tasklist, the PERCENT character must be doubled to retain one. And, use the command line interpreter. %ComSpec%, to interpret the variable.
set prog[0]=devcpp.exe
set prog[1]=notepad.exe
set prog[2]=powershell.exe
FOR /l %%a IN (0,1,2) DO (
"%ComSpec%" /C tasklist /fi "IMAGENAME eq %%prog[%%a]%%"
)
You have given no clue as to what the end goal is about. It would likely be easier to code this in PowerShell as #Bill_Stewart suggested.

Answer 2

Here is my suggestion for this task with a commented batch file.
#echo off
setlocal EnableExtensions DisableDelayedExpansion
rem Delete all environment variables of which name starts with prog[.
for /F "delims==" %%I in ('set prog[ 2^>nul') do set "%%I="
rem Define environment variables with the executables to get listed.
set "prog[0]=devcpp.exe"
set "prog[1]=notepad.exe"
set "prog[2]=calc.exe"
rem Run TASKLIST in a loop to get output a list of those processes
rem from the list defined above which are currently running with the
rem header output on English Windows just on first running process.
set "Header=1"
for /F "tokens=1* delims==" %%I in ('set prog[') do if defined Header (
%SystemRoot%\System32\tasklist.exe /FI "IMAGENAME eq %%J" 2>&1 | %SystemRoot%\System32\findstr.exe /B /I /L /V /C:"INFO:"
if not errorlevel 1 set "Header="
) else (
%SystemRoot%\System32\tasklist.exe /NH /FI "IMAGENAME eq %%J" 2>nul
)
endlocal
To understand the commands used and how they work, open a command prompt window, execute there the following commands, and read the displayed help pages for each command, entirely and carefully.
echo /?
endlocal /?
findstr /?
for /?
if /?
rem /?
set /?
setlocal /?
tasklist /?