I have a program shortcut on my desktop with the target set to:
"c:\folder\program.exe"
When drag'droping a folder on to this I get:
"c:\folder\program.exe" d:\myfolder
This used to work well for many years, but a newer version of the program only excepts paths with quotes like:
"c:\folder\program.exe" "d:\myfolder"
Windows automatically adds the quotes for paths with spaces, but not if the paths do not contain any spaces.
How can I force Windows to add the quotes or is there any easy way to change the target to enclose drag'dropped paths with quotes?
Thanx for reading, Needly
You can try to add an explicit parameter placeholder %1 in the target field:
"c:\folder\program.exe" "%1"
This should work since Windows does nothing else than to fill the drag&dropped file or folder path into %1 ("parameter one") or %2 etc. if a list of files/folders was dropped.
HTH, GL, HF :)
Related
I have 2 projects for which I am trying to create a generic Post-Build event batch file.
Here is the command in Visual Studio:
Post-Build event
if $(ConfigurationName) == Release ("$(ProjectDir)PostBuildRelease.bat" "$(TargetDir)" #(VersionNumber) "$(TargetFileName)" "$(TargetName)")
So I am calling the file PostBuildRelease.bat with 4 parameters:
Bin\Release Directory
Project Version
File Name With Extension
File Name Without Extension
Project 1
This works perfectly with this batch script:
CMD
SET parameter=%1 REM Full path to new bin\release\
SET parameter=%2 REM Full Version Number
SET parameter=%3 REM File name + extension
SET parameter=%4 REM File name - extension
SET "productionpath=Z:\Unused\Apps\LyncVdiChecker\"
MOVE %productionpath%%3 %productionpath%"_archive\"%4"."%DATE:~0,2%%DATE:~3,2%%DATE:~6,4%"-"%2
XCOPY %3 %productionpath%
Where the assembly is copied to Z:\Unused\Apps\LyncVdiChecker\ and the existing version copied to _archive in the same folder. The archived version also has the date and version number replace the file extension.
Project 2
This batch script also works perfectly (it does the same thing but in a different folder and for a different project):
CMD
SET parameter=%1 REM Full path to new bin\release\
SET parameter=%2 REM Full Version Number
SET parameter=%3 REM File name + extension
SET parameter=%4 REM File name - extension
SET "productionpath=Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App\"
MOVE "Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App\"%3 "Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App\_archive\"%4"."%DATE:~0,2%%DATE:~3,2%%DATE:~6,4%"-"%2
XCOPY %3 "Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App"
However, if I try using the same script from Project1 (the more generic version) in Project2, I get errors, even though the 2 scripts are equivalent:
Errors
The command "if Release == Release ("C:\Users\Seb.Kotze\Source\Repos\Applications\ITSelfHelp\ITHelp\PostBuildRelease.bat" "C:\Users\Seb.Kotze\Source\Repos\Applications\ITSelfHelp\ITHelp\bin\Release\" 2.0.6100.20905 "IT Self Help.exe" "IT Self Help")" exited with code 4.
Output Window:
The syntax of the command is incorrect.
Invalid number of parameters
This error is rather unhelpful, so I tried commenting out the 2 lines MOVE and XCOPY and build again:
Removed MOVE
Same error as above.
Output window:
Invalid number of parameters
Remove XCOPY
No Visual Studio Error, but this appears in the output window:
The syntax of the command is incorrect.
Parameter Output
When I echo out the parameters being used in Project2, everything seems to be in order:
"Path\to\Bin\Release"
2.0.6100.21082
"IT Self Help.exe"
"IT Self Help"
Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App\
How can I debug this issue? How is it possible that my script runs fine without any issues, but when run against a different project none of the commands are recognised? Any help with this is much appreciated!
You should normalize all your arguments, so they don't contain outer quotes.
Then you can use them in a reliable way.
The syntax set "variable=%~1" avoids outer quotes in the variable itself.
set "TargetDir=%~1"
set "VersionNumber=%~2"
set "TargetFileName=%~3"
set "TargetName=%~4"
SET "productionpath=Z:\IT Support App\"
set "dateStamp=%DATE:~0,2%%DATE:~3,2%%DATE:~6,4%"
MOVE "Z:\IT App\%TargetFileName%" "Z:\IT App\_archive\%TargetName%.%dateStamp%-%VersionNumber%"
XCOPY "%TargetFileName%" "Z:\IT App"
The problem is that the script is messing with the double quotes resulting in invalid paths and invalid number of arguments passed. When dealing with paths built dynamically, it's best to strip any existing " from the parts, and after the path is complete, surround it in ".
Dealing with batch arguments is explained on MSDN. Same thing for variables can be found on SS64.
I've played a bit with the file, and I was able to run it (from command line). The changes you should make in your (Project1) file:
SET productionpath="Z:\Unused\Apps\LyncVdiChecker\"
MOVE "%productionpath:"=%%~3" "%productionpath:"=%_archive\%~4.%DATE:~0,2%%DATE:~3,2%%DATE:~6,4%-%~2"
XCOPY "%~3" "%productionpath:"=%"
I moved the " from the productionpath line to the beginning of its contents. That way will work with paths that contain SPACE s.
In the MOVE and XCOPY lines, I did what I explained above: even if the syntax is not that clear, it's more robust (the last "%productionpath:"=%" could be simple written as %productionpath%, but I left it in the the 1st form for consistency).
Note: You could remove the CMD command at the beginning of your batch, since it starts a new cmd instance(process) that doesn't end.
I found a solution to this, but I am still not sure what the cause was.
I suspect it has something to do with either one of:
Spaces in productionpath causing the command parameter declaration to escape
Quotes around one or more of the parameters creating a non-existent file path
After trying out a few changes to the script, I found that changing the productionpath declaration to SET productionpath="Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App\" solved the issue:
CMD
SET parameter=%1 REM Full path to new bin\release\
SET parameter=%2 REM Full Version Number
SET parameter=%3 REM File name + extension
SET parameter=%4 REM File name - extension
SET productionpath="Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App\"
MOVE "Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App\"%3 "Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App\_archive\"%4"."%DATE:~0,2%%DATE:~3,2%%DATE:~6,4%"-"%2
XCOPY %3 "Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App"
Making the same change to the Project1 script did not cause that to break either, so this seems safe.
Update
After reading some of the other answers, I amended the script once again to the following:
CMD
SET "TargetDir=%~1"
SET "VersionNumber=%~2"
SET "TargetFileName=%~3"
SET "TargetName=%~4"
SET "ProductionPath=Z:\Unused\Apps\IT Support App\"
SET "ArchivePath=%ProductionPath%_archive\"
SET "DateStamp=%DATE:~0,2%%DATE:~3,2%%DATE:~6,4%"
MOVE "%ProductionPath%%TargetFileName%" "%ArchivePath%%TargetName%.%DateStamp%-%VersionNumber%"
XCOPY "%TargetFileName%" "%ProductionPath%"
Notice the "normalisation" of the paramaters - this removes all quotation marks from their values.
Also now using named parameters.
Hello stackoverflowers,
i'm afraid i can't figure out how to open an UNC path with spaces within Windows Explorer in perl.
Purpose is, i want the user to put a file within the path. To make it more comfortable, the path should open in explorer automatically. Which it does for any local drives.
The UNC path that should open is: \\srvr1\mean space dir
My code so far:
use strict
use warnings
my $sourceDir = "\\\\srvr1\\mean space dir";
system("start $sourceDir");
Which gives the error: "Win can't access \\srvr1\mean."
Ok, so i tried to quote the string:
my $sourceDir = "\\\\srvr1\\\"mean space dir\"";
Which lead to: "Win can't access \\srvr1\"mean space dir"."
Next thing i tried was:
my $sourceDir = q{"\\\srvr1\\mean space dir"}
Which lead to an cmd window being opened with the correct path within the title?!
Is maybe the system call itself wrong?
I really appreciate any help. Thanks.
The second form is correct, but then you have to account for the fact that the start command treats its first quoted argument as a window title. If you want to start a quoted path, you need to give a window title argument too (the empty string is fine).
Like so:
my $sourceDir = q{\\\\srvr1\\mean space dir};
system(qq{start "" "$sourceDir"});
For this kind of thing the array style system call is a good fit. You don't need to worry about quoting the path or escaping as much.
$path = '\\\\srvr1\mean space dir';
system('start', '', $path);
Quoting (or forgetting to quote) paths in system calls is a significant source of bugs where I've worked. A habit of doing it as above means you never need to worry about it.
I am writing a batch script which will copy a file from a folder into the C:\ drive:
#ECHO ON
COPY C:\RANDOMFILES\Weekly Reprort_Hew*.xls C:\Weekly Reprort_Hew???????????.xls
The filename in the RANDOMFILES folder is: Weekly Reprort_Hew, 6-29-2014 10-30-00 PM-642.xls (The date and time and the number at the end will always change so I used the * in the filename being copied in the script)
When I run the batch script, I get the following message:
c:\RANDOMFILES>COPY C:\RANDOMFILES\Weekly Reprort_Hewlett*.xls C:\Weekly Reprort
_Hewlett???????????.xls
The system cannot find the file specified.
How can I fix the issue?
You need double quotes to handle spaces etc. Double check the spelling too.
#ECHO ON
COPY "C:\RANDOMFILES\Weekly Reprort_Hew*.xls" "C:\Weekly Reprort_Hew???????????.xls"
Don't know why it is not working - is it hidden? Maybe the spaces in the name?
The following will work though:
FOR %%I in (C:\RANDOMFILES\Weekly Reprort_Hew*.xls) DO COPY "%%I" C:\
The destination file name isn't necessary; if not otherwise specified, it will remain unchanged provided the destination is different. That may be why the plain COPY command isn't working.
Also:
"It is an not-so-well-known fact that the question mark wildcard will match exactly one character only when the wildcard does not appear at the end of a file name. " from http://www.thefriendlycoder.com/2011/11/24/batch-file-gotcha-question-mark-wildcard/
Where should the trailing semicolon in the Windows PATH environment variable be placed when adding a new folder?
Is it
[oldPATH];C:\My Folder
[oldPATH]C:\My Folder;
[oldPATH];C:\My Folder;
?
I saw different practices.
This is not really a syntax thing, actually. The correct answer here is: Place the semicolon so the result is a valid PATH.
This usually means one of the following:
set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Foo\Bar
set PATH=C:\Foo\Bar;%PATH%
because usually PATH doesn't end in a semicolon, so you have to add one appropriately to not mangle an existing path in it.
Just look at how PATH looks like and consider what you need to do if you add another path. This means you have to add a separator (the semicolon) and the path itself.
The first one. At least thats what Windows does on mine, so if Windows does it that way then that will probably be best :)
The first one:
[oldPATH]; C:\My Folder.
If you want to be sure, you can use the formula:
"%PATH%;C:\My Folder".
If it is only to execute something in, for example, a BAT script, use:
SET PATH "%PATH%;C:\My Folder".
(this one will be working just as a temporal variable)
To add a permanent User Enviroment Variable through command line:
SETX PATH "%PATH%;C:\My Folder".
Your oldPATH may end with semicolon, so when using fourth style [newPath];[OldPath] you don't add double semicolons.
path=%cd%;%path%
Note that windows doesn't care whether you write commands upper- or lowercase.
I am trying to use an autorun.inf to run my executable file under a sub-folder with space in its folder name. Like this:
H:\
autorun.inf
FOLDER NAME 1
file.exe
FOLDER NAME 2
some other stuffs
If there's no space in the folder name, it works well. But if there are some, it's not work for me.
Is this a restrict? or I am doing something wrong?
My autorun.inf:
[autorun]
open=FOLDER NAME 1\Setup.exe
icon=FOLDER NAME 1\Setup.exe
With some trials I have found that pairs of double quotes are needed. Sounds strange though.
open=""FOLDER NAME 1\Setup.exe""
Expanding on from Sanjay's answer of using two sets of quotes, like
open=""FOLDER NAME 1\Setup.exe""
If you want your icon from the folder, you need to put a single set of quotes around the whole line. E.g.
icon="FOLDER NAME 1\Setup.exe,0"
My uninformed guess: use quotes.
[autorun]
open="FOLDER NAME 1\Setup.exe"
icon="FOLDER NAME 1\Setup.exe"
In addition to doing as Thomas suggests and using quotes, you can also use the short/"DOS" style names. Which are the first 6 letters of the name followed by a tilde (~) and then a number. So "FOLDER NAME 1" would usually become "FOLDER~1".
This also works:
open=.\FOLDER NAME 1\Setup.exe
edit: works for icon, NOT for open command...a bit strange!