Batch File delete newest file - windows

How do you all delete the newest file in a folder using batch script?
All results I have found ONLY show how to delete the oldest files or delete them after N days.
Links are : Batch file to delete files older than N days and Batch Script to delete oldest folder in a given folder
Thank you

for /F %%a in ('dir /B /O-D /A-D %the_directory%') do echo("%the_directory%\%%a"&goto deldone
:deldone
would be my approach. It rudely escapes from the for loop having deleted the first filename encountered in a sorted-in-reverse-date-order (/o-d) list.
This saves having to read the entire list. Not such a problem with a few files, but can be a pain with thousands.
The required DEL command is merely ECHOed for testing purposes. After you've verified that the command is correct, change ECHO(DEL to DEL to actually delete the files.

I would do this:
#echo off
set latest=
set the_directory=your_directory
for /F %%a in ('dir /B /OD /A-D %the_directory%') do set latest=%%a
del %the_directory%\%latest%
run dir on files only, with sorting on modification date. Then loop and keep last echoed file. Delete it (replace by echo to test!)

The following code snippet does what you want:
set "FILE="
pushd "\path\to\folder" || exit /B 1
for /F "eol=| delims=" %%F in ('
dir /B /A:-D /O:D /T:C "*.*"
') do (
set "FILE=%%F"
)
if defined FILE del "%FILE%"
popd
The dir command returns files only (/A:-D) sorted by date in ascending order (/O:D) using the creation date (/T:C), which are located in \path\to\folder and match the pattern *.*.
The for /F loop walks through all the files returned by dir and assigns its name to variable FILE, overwriting it in each iteration, hence the final value is the name of the newest file.
The del command finally deletes the found file. The if query covers the case when no files are found in the given location.
Here is a slightly modified variant as recommended by Magoo's comment, which might be a bit more performant than the aforementioned one:
set "FILE="
pushd "\path\to\folder" || exit /B 1
for /F "eol=| delims=" %%F in ('
dir /B /A:-D /O:-D /T:C "*.*"
') do (
if not defined FILE set "FILE=%%F"
)
if defined FILE del "%FILE%"
popd
This avoids multiplicately overwriting of variable FILE by querying whether it has already been defined. Note the reversed sort order of dir here.
However, the approach shown in Magoo's answer is still better in performance.

Related

~t returning blank instead of time

I'm trying to get the name and time of the oldest file in a folder (By modification date).
I can get the name without any problem using this code
for /f "delims=" %%x in ('dir /b /o-d /a-d %currentfolder% ^| grep -v / ') do (SET FILEINFO=%%x )
From my understanding swapping the %%x for %%~tx should return the modified time instead of the filename. But I get a blank instead.
for /f "delims=" %%x in ('dir /b /o-d /a-d %currentfolder% ^| grep -v / ') do (SET FILEINFO=%%~tx )
The following code returns the time of a file in the folder but not the oldest one.
for %%a in (%currentfolder%\*) do (set LAST_TIME=%%~ta)
I tried to combine the first and last code to get the time of the oldest file but it also returns a blank.
for %%b in (%currentfolder%\%FILEINFO%) do (set MAXDATE=%%~tb)
What is the error here ? How can I solve this ?
Thank you very much for the help
You are almost there:
#echo off
set "currentfolder=D:\some directory\"
pushd "%directory%"
for /f "delims=" %%i in ('dir /b /a-d /od') do (
set "file=%%i"
set "moddate=%%~ti"
goto :done
)
popd
:done
echo %file% %moddate%
So we sort by date (oldest first) then set the first filename as %file% and it's date to %moddate% then we exit the loop so it does not do the same for the other files in the folder.
The problem is caused by the fact that your current working directory referred to by for /F is not the same as the directory you are searching files in by dir.
This can be fixed like this (omitting grep as I do not understand its purpose here):
rem // Temporarily change to the directory containing the files of interest:
pushd "%currentfolder%"
rem /* The current working directory is now the target directory;
rem thus both `dir` and `for /F` work in the same directory: */
for /F "delims=" %%x in ('dir /B /A:-D /O:-D') do (set "FILEINFO=%%~tx")
rem // Restore the former working directory:
popd
rem // Just output the gathered information:
echo/%FILEINFO%
Alternatively, the pushd command line could be replaced by cd /D "%currentfolder%" when popd is removed, given that you do not need the original working directory to be restored.
To understand what was going on in your original code, let us assume:
the current working directory is C:\TEST;
the content of variable currentfolder is D:\DATA;
the directory C:\TEST contains nothing but the batch file;
the directory D:\DATA contains a file called some.txt;
The command line dir /b /o-d /a-d %currentfolder% returns only pure file names (due to its option /B), so based on the predefined sample data, the output would be:
some.txt
Now this text is captured by the for /F loop. Now the last modification date/time is queried by %%~tx, which of course requires access to the file system. Remember that the current working directory is C:\TEST, so the for /F loop tries to gather the information from the following file:
C:\TEST\some.txt
Since such a file does not exist, the output is blank.
To prove that, simply place a new file some.txt into the directory C:\TEST, then you would receive the last modification date/time of that file.

BATCH - Use FOR loop on directory files, ordered on Creation date/time

I'm wanting to order files in a directory based on date of creation (or at least, last modified).
I have this code:
FOR /R "directory" %%F IN (*.filetype) DO echo "command" "%%F" > "another\directory\%%~nF.tsv"
...which runs a for loop on files in no particular order (alphabetically?).
What I want to be able to do is:
FOR /R "direcotry\*.filetype" %%F IN ('dir /o-d /b "directory"') DO echo "command" "%%F" > "another\directory\%%~nF.tsv"
The lower code doesn't work, but you may see what I mean.
I'm proficient in BASH but not in BATCH
The key is dir /o-d /b "drive:\directory\*.filetype", which orders by creation date (reverse order), and then spits out only the file name -- but I don't know how to work this into a for loop for taking file names, and then running a command on them.
FOR /F "delims=" %%F IN ('dir /o-d /tc /b /s "directory\*.filetype"') DO echo "command" "%%F" >> "another\directory\%%~nF.tsv"
for/f to process a "file" of text.
"delims=" to turn tokenising off so the entire line of "output" from the dir is assigned.
/tc to use creation date (o/[-]d omitted = alphabetical order from an NTFS drive, storge-order on FAT)
/s to add subdiectories
>> to append to output file.
OR
...DO "command" "%%F"
to execute the command directly without creating the file.
Due to the limitation mentioned in the comment to the other answer, here is a potential workaround leveraging PowerShell:
#For /F "Delims=" %%A In (
'Powershell "(GCI "directory" -R *.filetype|Sort CreationTime -Des)|%%{$_.Fullname}"'
) Do #"command" "%%A">"another\directory\%%~nA.tsv"
Obviously adjusting directory, filetype, "command" and another\directory as required

How to return the newest file from each sub-directory in Windows command line using batch

I am using batch script for windows command line on windows 7. I am currently trying to get the newest file from each sub directory and print them to the screen. For example, if I have:
C:\Home\Hi\Folder1\a 01/05/2016
C:\Home\Hi\Folder1\b 01/10/2016
C:\Home\Hi\Folder2\x 03/05/2016
C:\Homeh\Hi\Folder2\y 03/1/2016
It would return: folders b and x.
I have written some script to attempt this, but it only returns the newest file in the last directory which in my example would be x. The script is:
FOR /R "C:\Users\Maxx\Desktop\tools" %%G in (.) DO (
Pushd %%G
FOR /F %%I IN ('DIR %%G /B /O:D') DO SET NEWEST=%%I
ECHO %NEWEST%
Popd )
Echo "back home"
If anyone knows how to get the newest file from each subdirectory that would be great.
Note: I have looked at various other examples such as: Generate a list of the newest file in each subdirectory in windows batch, which has been very helpful in building what I have now, but ultimately it did not work.
You need to apply delayed expansion as you are writing and reading variable NEWEST within the same block of code:
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
for /R "C:\Users\Maxx\Desktop\tools" %%G in (.) do (
pushd "%%~G"
for /F %%I in ('dir "%%~G" /B /O:D') do set "NEWEST=%%I"
echo !NEWEST!
)
popd
echo back home
endlocal
Alternatively, replace echo %NEWEST% by call echo %%NEWEST%%:
for /R "C:\Users\Maxx\Desktop\tools" %%G in (.) do (
pushd "%%~G"
for /F %%I in ('dir "%%~G" /B /O:D') do set "NEWEST=%%I"
call echo %%NEWEST%%
)
popd
echo back home
In addition, I improved quoting.
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
FOR /R "C:\106x" %%G in (.) DO (
Pushd "%%G"
SET "first="
FOR /F "delims=" %%I IN ('DIR . /a-d /B /O:-D 2^>nul') DO IF NOT DEFINED first SET first=Y&ECHO %%~dpI
Popd
)
Echo "back home"
GOTO :EOF
For each directory, go to the directory, clear a flag first, scan the directory for files (not directories), basic format, reverse-date order, suppressing any "file not found" reports from empty directories.
On finding the first (ie youngest) file set the flag first and report the filename - or parts of the filename you require.
Once first has been set, the report mechanism will not be invoked as if defined works on the current value of the variable.
Please note that when specifying dates, it's advisable to state the format that you are using - or at least use a date where the day number is >12, which should be adequate. For instance, your date "01/10/2016" may be interpreted as Jan 10th or Oct 1st, depending on the respondent's locale. "13/10/2016" or "10/13/2016" would make the issue obvious.

What's wrong with my batch script that moves the newest file from one folder to another?

I'm trying to put together a Windows batch script that moves the most recent file to a different directory. Here's my batch script mostly stolen from here:
FOR /F "tokens=*" %%G IN ('dir /b *.*') DO move %%G C:\Users\jrobinson\Desktop\ & exit /b
When I run this it moves every file in the folder. Interestingly, when I replace the MOVE command with a COPY command, the script copies only one file:
FOR /F "tokens=*" %%G IN ('dir /b *.*') DO copy %%G C:\Users\jrobinson\Desktop\ & exit /b
REM ---------------------------------------^^^^
Why is the move script moving every file while the copy script is only copying one file? Is it possibly because my script file is also in that folder and because of my edits, it is the most recent file?
Edit: Here are the contents of my source folder:
myBatchFile.bat
newest.txt
oldest.txt
second.txt
Of the *.txt files, newest.txt has the most recent modified date. Of all of the files regardless of extension, myBatchFile.bat has the most recent modified date given that I keep making edits to it to try to get it to work.
Edit #2: Here's a screenshot of my command window after running the first command above. This shows that all of the files in my source folder are copied when I only expect the newest file to be copied.
I'd use dir /b /o:-d /a:-d *.*, so the items are sorted by date (newest first) and directories are excluded. Otherwise the sort order is not clear, and directories like . (current) or .. (parent) might be returned unintentionally.
Instead of %%G I recommend using "%%~fG" to provide the full path, surrounded by doublequotes. Also the destination path should be enclosed in "" to avoid troubles with whitespaces.
The FOR /F should be changed to "delims=" in case the file name starts with a space (which I think is valid in Windows). "tokens=*" removed them.
Furthermore, I'd put parenthesis () around the code after do (so it is guaranteed and obvious that both commands move and exit /b are part of the loop context).
So all in all this leads to the following code:
FOR /F "delims=" %%G IN ('dir /b /o:-d /a:-d *.*') DO (move "%%~fG" "C:\Users\jrobinson\Desktop\" & exit /b)
Since the newest file is enumerated first and the for body contains exit /b (exit batch file), only that file is moved.
If you need to execute some other code after this line, replace exit /b by goto :SKIP (or any other valid label), and state the label (:SKIP) immediately after the FOR command block.
If the batch script containing the code herein is located in its working directory, moving it (in case it is the newest file) most likely results in unexpected behaviour. You can exclude the batch script itself by filtering it out using find like this:
FOR /F "delims=" %%G IN ('dir /b /o:-d /a:-d *.* ^| find /v /i "%~nx0"') DO (move "%%~fG" "C:\Users\jrobinson\Desktop\" & exit /b)
%~nx0 therein expands to the file name and extension of this script (see call /?).
I'm not sure I believe what you say. Because when I type the same command, is a file that I see first followed by the PAUSE command (or exit)
FOR /F "tokens=*" %G IN ('dir /b *.*') DO #echo %G & pause
So it always goes first action on the first file and the script will stop.
See this 5 secs gifv: http://i.imgur.com/kyHdN1Y.gifv with the following code:
#echo off
if exist ..\destination-test-folder\nul rd /s /q ..\destination-test-folder
if not exist ..\destination-test-folder\nul md ..\destination-test-folder
copy nul newest.txt>nul
copy nul oldest.txt>nul
copy nul second.txt>nul
dir /b .
pause>nul
echo: &echo For loop command: &echo:
for /f "tokens=*" %%g in ('dir /b "*.*"') do if "%%g" neq "%~nx0" move %%g ..\destination-test-folder>nul & echo pause is stated after each iteration & echo 1 file(s) moved. &pause>nul
echo: &echo list destination:
dir /b "..\destination-test-folder" &echo: &echo list source: &echo:
dir /b .
Just wanted to say thanks person: aschipfl
You are my hero.
here is the command I used to move all read only files to a sub folder "temp"
md temp
FOR /F "delims=" %%G IN ('dir /b /o:-d /a:R *.*') DO (move "%%~fG" "temp" )

Copying files with name containing just numbers using a batchfile

I have a Directory with a deep Directory->Sub-directory tree structure. I need to write a batch file to copy all the numbered files (files with names as digits and no alphabetic characters) from all the sub-directories.
For example, a sub-directory might contain the following files:
WR10091.txt
AX10091.htm
10091.txt
AX10091.xml
10091.xml
I need to copy 10091.txt and 10091.xml to another location. I can copy files like AX10091.xml and AX10091.htm by specifying AX*.*. But I cannot figure out how to copy just numbered files with no alphabetic characters. There are thousands of directories and the directory structure does not have any pattern (the depth of a tree branch can vary considerably).
Any help will be appreciated.
#echo off
setlocal enableextensions disabledelayedexpansion
set "source=%cd%"
set "target=x:\target\folder"
for /r "%source%" %%a in (*) do (
(for /f "delims=0123456789" %%b in ("%%~na") do (
break
)) || echo copy "%%~fa" "%target%"
)
In this code the for %%a will iterate over all the files under the indicated folder. For each of them, the for /f %%b will try to tokenize the file name (%%~na) using numbers as delimiters. If the file name only contains numbers, there will be nothing to process (only delimiters) and the inner for raises errorlevel. This is checked with conditional execution (the code after the || is executed if the previous command fails) and if errorlevel was raised the copy operation is echoed to console.
If the output is correct, remove the echo to perform the copy.
note: the break in the inner for loop is included just to have a command that does nothing when files with non numeric names are found.
#echo off
for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%a in ('dir /b /s /a:-d "*"') do (
echo %%~na|findstr /e /b /r "[1-9]*" >nul 2>nul && (
copy %%~fa c:\somewhere\
)
)
should be executed in the same directory as the files.
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('dir /b/s/a-d ^| findstr /reic:"\\[0-9][0-9]*\..*" /c:"\\[0-9][0-9]*"') do copy "%%~a" "targetDir"
This might not work with XP and/or Vista, but this can be fixed if needed (see What are the undocumented features and limitations of the Windows FINDSTR command).

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