I have a variable with html code (having major, minor symbols)
and I need it to be exported and appended to a txt
set WORD1=^<p^>^<strong^>PROBLEM^</strong^> with something;n^</p^>
I can't echo the variable like this
echo %WORD1%
And I need to export it/append it to a file. I used:
echo %WORD1% >body.txt
But this generates an error as the variable has minor/Major symbol
If I double quote the variable, the exported text is exported with double quotes (and obviusly this is not what i need)
To define the variable, use:
set "WORD1=<p><strong>PROBLEM</strong> with something;n</p>"
To "export" the variable, use:
(
set /P "=%WORD1%"
echo/
) > body.txt < NUL
To define a variable in a safe way you need to enclose the whole assignment expression in quotation marks:
set "WORD1=<p><strong>PROBLEM</strong> with something;n</p>"
This avoids the need of escaping, unless the string itself contains quotation marks on its own.
Note that this syntax only works with command extensions enabled, but this is the default in Command Prompt anyway.
To return/expand an arbitrary string in a safe manner, even when it contains quotation marks on its own, is to use delayed variable expansion:
echo(!WORD1!
To safely write the output to a file, place the redirection expression at the front:
> "body.txt" echo(!WORD1!
You can also do this on one line:
set "WORD1=<p><strong>PROBLEM</strong> with something;n</p>"&&>body.txt cmd/v/cecho.!WORD1!
rem :: Or, without defining a previous variable, if it is not necessary:
>body.txt <nul set/P "=<p><strong>PROBLEM</strong> with something;n</p>"
Related
I need to escape the % character in interactive Command Prompt (NOT in a batch file). How do I echo the text a %pathext% b; %pathext% expands to the environment variable; ^, %, \ and "quotes" all do not work. Please base the answer on: echo a %pathext% b.
Many thanks in advance.
There is one simple solution, but it's not 100% bullet proof
echo a %path^ext% b
The position of the caret can be moved to any position.
This works, because the variable expansion on the command line works different than in batch files.
If an undefined variable should be expanded, in a batch file it results in an empty text, but on the cli the percent expression will be used unchaged.
The caret will be removed in a later step of the parser.
But it can still fail when there exists a variable named path^ext
For a bullet proof solution, you need to create a percent sign and expand it.
for /F "delims==" %# in ("%=%=") do echo a %#pathext%# b
echo a %^pathext% b
Use a caret inside the variable (it can be anywhere inside the % signs) to prevent the parser from recognizing and substituting the variable.
I define variable like:
set LOGGING_MANAGER=-Djuli-logback.configurationFile=file:"%CATALINA_HOME%\conf\logback.xml"
Notice, that I wrap %CATALINA_HOME%\conf\logback.xml in double quotes, because path may contain spaces. And at execution step this variable will substitute to java program.
Example of substitution:
path_to_jre/java.exe %LOGGING_MANAGER%
Next code I can't change: (it's from catalina.bat file from Apache Tomcat)
if not "%LOGGING_MANAGER%" == "" ...
This if statement will fail, because variable contains quotes.
There I have one of 2 problems:
if statement fail (error occured).
without quotes when substitute to java program have problems (space is delimiter).
How can I change variable definition so that the path may contain spaces and if statement will work fine?
note: Not tested, but after reading the catalina.bat this is a way to deal with the problem.
If you are running this from a batch file, you can use
set LOGGING_MANAGER_FILE="%CATALINA_HOME%\conf\logback.xml"
set LOGGING_MANAGER=-Djuli-logback.configurationFile=file:%%LOGGING_MANAGER_FILE%%
set _RUNJAVA=CALL "%JRE_HOME%\bin\java.exe"
call catalina.bat
What it does is
Save the file name with quotes in a separate variable
Set the LOGGING_MANAGER variable using a escaped reference of the previous variable. As it will not be expanded, the final content of the LOGGING_MANAGER variable is -Djuli-logback.configurationFile=file:%LOGGING_MANAGER_FILE%
That way, when the if "%LOGGING_MANAGER%"=="" ... is executed, there will be not any problematic quote.
And now the set _RUNJAVA line. Inside catalina.bat, the contents of the _RUNJAVA are used to initialize the _EXECJAVA variable that will launch the server. _RUNJAVA is initialized in setclasspath.bat IF it has not been initialized by the user (code from setclasspath.bat).
rem Don't override _RUNJAVA if the user has set it previously
if not "%_RUNJAVA%" == "" goto gotRunJava
rem Set standard command for invoking Java.
rem Also note the quoting as JRE_HOME may contain spaces.
set _RUNJAVA="%JRE_HOME%\bin\java.exe"
The default value is "%JRE_HOME%\bin\java.exe", we just add a CALL batch command before to force a second iteration of the batch parser that will expand the quoted %LOGGING_MANAGER_FILE% variable in the final command line.
for %%a in ("%CATALINA_HOME%\conf\logback.xml") do set "LOGGING_MANAGER=-Djuli-logback.configurationFile=file:%%~sa"
should set logging_manager appropriately so that you don't have to "quote the filename"
for %%a in ("%CATALINA_HOME%\conf") do net use o: "\\%userdomain%\sharenameforthedrivewherecatalina_homeisresident%%~pa"
set "LOGGING_MANAGER=-Djuli-logback.configurationFile=file:o:\conf\logback.xml"
may also work - if you know the share name for the drive where catalina_home is resident and assuming o: is an unused drive.
Special characters in batch files are a pain, but I haven't found the right workaround for properly escaping the first two characters of this particular string I'm trying to pass the application.
SET pass=^&AntiBatchfileString
A_Program.exe /pass=%pass%
Things I have tried:
:: Escaping the escape twice, first for ^, second for &.
SET pass=^^^^&AntiBatchfileString
echo %pass%
:: Combining escapes.
SET first=^^
SET second=^^&AntiBatchfileString
SET pass=%first%%second%
echo %pass%
:: Preventing expansion
SET first=^^
SET second=^^&AntiBatchfileString
SET pass=!first!%second%
echo %pass%
:: I got this to print correctly
SET "pass=^&AntiBatchfileString"
echo ^^%pass%
Still when passing the last one it doesn't accept the login, I don't know what the final output is. That got me thinking maybe it was trying to do another expansion when passing the parameter to the application, so I quoted that as well.
SET "pass=^&AntiBatchfileString"
A_Program.exe "/pass=^^%pass%"
It's still not working, I'm not sure what I'm missing at this point.
Supposing you want the string ^&AntiBatchfileString literally, this is the best set syntax, as most special characters (^ & ( ) < > | and also the standard delimiters , ; = SPACE TAB) lose their particular meaning as soon as ther are placed in between "", and the "" themselves do not become part of the variable value:
set "pass=^&AntiBatchfileString"
This works only as long as the command extensions are on, which is the Windows default anyway (type cmd /? and see the /E option).
When expanding (reading) a variable like "%pass%" (with enclosing ""), special characters are still treated literally.
However, as soon as you expand it like %pass% (no ""), they get back their special meaning. So you have the following options:
Use set "pass=^^^&AntiBatchfileString", where ^^ escapes the literal ^ and ^& the literal & when reading like %pass%.
Enable delayed expansion (see set /? about how it works and setlocal /? or cmd /? about how to enable it), where the variable value is expanded (read) at a point of time where parsing of special characters has already been completed.
I prefer the latter approach, because no special escaping is necessary, and it can also deal with " appearing in the string value (even if unsymmetrically present).
By the way, " can also be escaped by ^", as long as this does not appear within unescaped "".
Nevertheless, % signs cannot be escaped like ^% in a batch file, because percent expansion happens before escaping, but you need to double them like %% to get one literal one each, independent whether or not the string is in between "".
Note that on the console, %% does not work.
Finally, literal ! are consumed by the delayed expansion feature when enabled, therefore you need to pay particular attention to those in case, by escaping them like ^!, or also by intelligently toggling delayed expansion (hence to enable it only when it is actually needed and to disable it otherwise, when a literal string is provided, like in a set command line, for instance, when expanding a standard variable like %pass% and when reading a for variable like %%I (batch file) or %I (console), for example). Of course this is also not the ultimate solution, because you need setlocal and endlocal to enable/disable delayed expansion, which are intended to localise environment changes, so any variable changes since the most recent setlocal command are lost as soon as endlocal is executed (there are some tricks for passing a variable value over the endlocal barrier though).
If you want to use % as a string without escaping in a batch file:
Like %20, you can use %%%20.
git clone "https:// abc.com /D%%%220an"
I have a batch file that I call with something like this
call do.cmd "one two"
In do.cmd I am launching a program and pass to it first parameter from above:
#echo off
some_program.exe -name='%1'
The value to some_program.exe for name variable must be passed inside single quotes without surrounding double quotes. To get rid of double quotes in passed parameter I make a temporary variable like this:
set v_tmp=%1
set v_tmp=%v_artist:"=%
And then launch my program by
some_programm.exe -name='%v_tmp%'
The problem start when with do.cmd some text having & sign is passed. If I leave batch file code as is, variaable setting will fail because & will act as a divider. If I escape & sign by
set v_tmp=%1
set v_tmp=%v_tmp:&"=^^^&%
set v_tmp=%v_tmp:"=%
then some_program will output text having ^&..
The question is how do I get from call do.cmd "one & two" line to the correct & sign escaping and double quote removal so that to have in result some_program.exe -name='one & two'?
You could try to use delayed expansion here.
#echo off
set "arg1=%~1"
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
some_program.exe -name='!arg1!'
This works, as %~1 removes enclosing quotes, if present.
And !arg1! always expands the variable in a safe manner.
Let I have a batch program:
SET FOO=C:\temp\%1
bar.exe %FOO%
When I call it with double quoted file name as an argument I get these quotes in the middle; and that fact prevents other programs from working correctly:
> fail.bat "aa bb.jpg"
SET FOO=C:\temp\"aa bb.jpg"
> bar.exe C:\temp\"aa bb.jpg"
cannot find file
How to get variable containing correct value "C:\temp\aa bb.jpg"?
You can use %~1 instead, this removes the quotes from the parameter.
Then your code should look like
SET FOO="C:\temp\%~1"
bar.exe %FOO%
Try removing the drive letter as I have had issues with that in the past. Also does it work if the entire path name is in quotes not just the single item with spaces?