Echo first three characters of filenames in CMD Windows - windows

for /r %g in (*.html) do echo %~ng:~0,3%
This does not work. I have tested a lot, but could not find the answer.
How do you echo the first three characters of all HTML-filenames?

#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
:: first way:
FOR /r %%g IN (*.html) DO (
SET "var=%%~ng"
CALL ECHO %%var:~0,3%%
)
pause
:: second way:
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
FOR /r %%g IN (*.html) DO (
SET "var=%%~ng"
ECHO !var:~0,3!
)
GOTO :EOF
The fundamental issue is that substringing must be applied to an ordinary environment variable, not to a metavariable.

Related

Count the number of lines of each text file in a given directory and store it in a variable

I want to count the number of lines of each text file in a given directory and store them in a variable.
Here is my code:
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
FOR /R "temp\textpipe_tmp\" %%U in (*.txt) DO (
set "cmd=findstr /R /N "^^" "%%U" | find /C ":""
for /f %%a in ('!cmd!') do set number=%%a
echo %number%
)
:eof
pause
I'm not sure why it does not work but if I get rid of SET, it works:
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
FOR /R "temp\textpipe_tmp\" %%U in (*.txt) DO (
findstr /R /N "^" "%%U" | find /C ":"
)
:eof
pause
I need the result stored in a variable.
Another version, which does the same thing but is slightly better readable:
#echo off
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
FOR /R "C:\Users\Gebruiker\Documents\ICT" %%U in (*.txt) DO (
set lines=0
for /f %%A in (%%U) do (set /a lines+=1)
echo !lines!
)
pause
As #wOxxOm stated in his comment, find is the perfect choice for this task.
Supposing there is a file test.txt containing 12 lines, find /V /C "" "C:test.txt" will output something like:
---------- C:TEST.TXT: 12
So let us use a for /F loop to capture such an output and string substitution to get the text portion after :SPACE:
#echo off
setlocal EnableExtensions EnableDelayedExpansion
for /R "temp\textpipe_tmp\" %%U in ("*.txt") do (
rem capturing the output of `find` here:
for /F "delims=" %%A in ('find /V /C "" "%%~U"') do (
set "NUMBER=%%~A"
rem substituting substring `: ` and everything before by nothing:
set "NUMBER=!NUMBER:*: =!"
)
rem at this point, variable `NUMBER` is available
rem for the currently processed file in `%%~U`:
echo !NUMBER!
)
endlocal
Note that find /V /C "" will return unexpected reslts if there are empty lines at the end of the file (one of such might not be included in the count). However, empty lines at the beginning or in between non-empty ones will be counted.
Update:
Using redirection like > "C:test.txt" find /V /C "" rather than find /V /C "" "C:test.txt" avoids the prefix ---------- C:TEST.TXT: and just returns the number of lines (like 12). With this modification no string substitution is necessary and so the code looks like this:
#echo off
setlocal EnableExtensions EnableDelayedExpansion
for /R "temp\textpipe_tmp\" %%U in ("*.txt") do (
rem capturing the output of `find` here:
for /F "delims=" %%A in ('^> "%%~U" find /V /C ""') do (
set "NUMBER=%%~A"
)
rem at this point, variable `NUMBER` is available
rem for the currently processed file in `%%~U`:
echo !NUMBER!
)
endlocal
The redirection mark < needs to be escaped like ^< when being used after in in for /F.

Why doesn't this batch script work? Reading lines from file

ok, I give up. Why doesn't this work?
setlocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
FOR /F %%I in (myfile.txt) do (
echo I: %%i
set LINE=%%i
echo LINE: %LINE%
)
"echo I:" displays the lines correctly, but "echo LINE:" is empty
I have tried different variations with the same results, such as
set LINE=%i
set LINE=%i%
set LINE=!i!
Obviously there is something simple I am not understanding.
you enabled delayed expansion, so the only thing you have to do is: use it.
replace echo LINE: %LINE% with echo LINE: !LINE!
EDIT: solution without delayed extension
FOR /F %%I in (myfile.txt) do ( call DoIt %%I )
exit /b
:DoIt
echo I: %1
set LINE=%1
echo LINE: %LINE%
goto :eof

Windows CMD FOR loop

I'm trying to make a code which will get first words from all lines of HELP's output to a variable and echo this variable. Here is my code:
#echo off
set a=
for /F "tokens=1,*" %%i in ('help') do (
set a=%a% %%i
)
echo %a%
But it returns first word from only last line. Why?
Bali C solved your problem as stated, but it looks to me like you are trying to get a list of commands found in HELP.
Some of the commands appear on multiple lines, so you get some extraneous words. Also there is a leading and trailing line beginning with "For" on an English machine that is not wanted.
Here is a short script for an English machine that will build a list of commands. The FINDSTR command will have to change for different languages.
#echo off
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
set "cmds="
for /f "eol= delims=." %%A in ('help^|findstr /bv "For"') do (
for /f %%B in ("%%A") do set "cmds=!cmds! %%B"
)
set "cmds=%cmds:~1%"
echo %cmds%
EDIT
Ansgar Wiechers came up with a more efficient algorithm to extract just the command names at https://stackoverflow.com/a/12733642/1012053 that I believe should work with all languages. I've used his idea to simplify the code below.
#echo off
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
set "cmds="
for /f %%A in ('help^|findstr /brc:"[A-Z][A-Z]* "') do set "cmds=!cmds! %%A"
set "cmds=%cmds:~1%"
echo %cmds%
You need to use delayed expansion in your for loop
#echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set a=
for /F "tokens=1,*" %%i in ('help') do (
set a=!a! %%i
)
echo %a%
Instead of using %'s around the a variable, you use !'s to use delayed expansion.
Because the echo is outside the do ( ...... )
#echo off
for /F "tokens=1,*" %%i in ('help') do (
echo %%i
)
and no need to print a, you can use directly %%i.
Another very simple example could be a batch like this saved as help1.cmd
#echo off
for /F "tokens=1,*" %%i in ('help') do (
if /I "%%i" EQU "%1" echo %%j
)
and you call this batch like
help1 MKDIR
to get the short help text for the MKDIR command

Batch to remove duplicate rows from text file

Is it possible to remove duplicate rows from a text file? If yes, how?
Sure can, but like most text file processing with batch, it is not pretty, and it is not particularly fast.
This solution ignores case when looking for duplicates, and it sorts the lines. The name of the file is passed in as the 1st and only argument to the batch script.
#echo off
setlocal disableDelayedExpansion
set "file=%~1"
set "sorted=%file%.sorted"
set "deduped=%file%.deduped"
::Define a variable containing a linefeed character
set LF=^
::The 2 blank lines above are critical, do not remove
sort "%file%" >"%sorted%"
>"%deduped%" (
set "prev="
for /f usebackq^ eol^=^%LF%%LF%^ delims^= %%A in ("%sorted%") do (
set "ln=%%A"
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
if /i "!ln!" neq "!prev!" (
endlocal
(echo %%A)
set "prev=%%A"
) else endlocal
)
)
>nul move /y "%deduped%" "%file%"
del "%sorted%"
This solution is case sensitive and it leaves the lines in the original order (except for duplicates of course). Again the name of the file is passed in as the 1st and only argument.
#echo off
setlocal disableDelayedExpansion
set "file=%~1"
set "line=%file%.line"
set "deduped=%file%.deduped"
::Define a variable containing a linefeed character
set LF=^
::The 2 blank lines above are critical, do not remove
>"%deduped%" (
for /f usebackq^ eol^=^%LF%%LF%^ delims^= %%A in ("%file%") do (
set "ln=%%A"
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
>"%line%" (echo !ln:\=\\!)
>nul findstr /xlg:"%line%" "%deduped%" || (echo !ln!)
endlocal
)
)
>nul move /y "%deduped%" "%file%"
2>nul del "%line%"
EDIT
Both solutions above strip blank lines. I didn't think blank lines were worth preserving when talking about distinct values.
I've modified both solutions to disable the FOR /F "EOL" option so that all non-blank lines are preserved, regardless what the 1st character is. The modified code sets the EOL option to a linefeed character.
New solution 2016-04-13: JSORT.BAT
You can use my JSORT.BAT hybrid JScript/batch utility to efficiently sort and remove duplicate lines with a simple one liner (plus a MOVE to overwrite the original file with the final result). JSORT is pure script that runs natively on any Windows machine from XP onward.
#jsort file.txt /u >file.txt.new
#move /y file.txt.new file.txt >nul
you may use uniq http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniq from UnxUtils http://sourceforge.net/projects/unxutils/
Some time ago I found an unexpectly simple solution, but this unfortunately only works on Windows 10: the sort command features some undocumented options that can be adopted:
/UNIQ[UE] to output only unique lines;
/C[ASE_SENSITIVE] to sort case-sensitively;
So use the following line of code to remove duplicate lines (remove /C to do that in a case-insensitive manner):
sort /C /UNIQUE "incoming.txt" /O "outgoing.txt"
This removes duplicate lines from the text in incoming.txt and provides the result in outgoing.txt. Regard that the original order is of course not going to be preserved (because, well, this is the main purpose of sort).
However, you sould use these options with care as there might be some (un)known issues with them, because there is possibly a good reason for them not to be documented (so far).
The Batch file below do what you want:
#echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set "prevLine="
for /F "delims=" %%a in (theFile.txt) do (
if "%%a" neq "!prevLine!" (
echo %%a
set "prevLine=%%a"
)
)
If you need a more efficient method, try this Batch-JScript hybrid script that is developed as a filter, that is, similar to Unix uniq program. Save it with .bat extension, like uniq.bat:
#if (#CodeSection == #Batch) #then
#CScript //nologo //E:JScript "%~F0" & goto :EOF
#end
var line, prevLine = "";
while ( ! WScript.Stdin.AtEndOfStream ) {
line = WScript.Stdin.ReadLine();
if ( line != prevLine ) {
WScript.Stdout.WriteLine(line);
prevLine = line;
}
}
Both programs were copied from this post.
set "file=%CD%\%1"
sort "%file%">"%file%.sorted"
del /q "%file%"
FOR /F "tokens=*" %%A IN (%file%.sorted) DO (
SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
if not [%%A]==[!LN!] (
set "ln=%%A"
echo %%A>>"%file%"
)
)
ENDLOCAL
del /q "%file%.sorted"
This should work exactly the same. That dbenham example seemed way too hardcore for me, so, tested my own solution. usage ex.: filedup.cmd filename.ext
Pure batch - 3 effective lines.
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
:: remove variables starting $
FOR /F "delims==" %%a In ('set $ 2^>Nul') DO SET "%%a="
FOR /f "delims=" %%a IN (q34223624.txt) DO SET $%%a=Y
(FOR /F "delims=$=" %%a In ('set $ 2^>Nul') DO ECHO %%a)>u:\resultfile.txt
GOTO :EOF
Works happily if the data does not contain characters to which batch has a sensitivity.
"q34223624.txt" because question 34223624 contained this data
1.1.1.1
1.1.1.1
1.1.1.1
1.2.1.2
1.2.1.2
1.2.1.2
1.3.1.3
1.3.1.3
1.3.1.3
on which it works perfectly.
Did come across this issue and had to resolve it myself because the use was particulate to my need.
I needed to find duplicate URL's and order of lines was relevant so it needed to be preserved. The lines of text should not contain any double quotes, should not be very long and sorting cannot be used.
Thus I did this:
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
type nul>unique.txt
for /F "tokens=*" %%i in (list.txt) do (
find "%%i" unique.txt 1>nul
if !errorlevel! NEQ 0 (
echo %%i>>unique.txt
)
)
Auxiliary: if the text does contain double quotes then the FIND needs to use a filtered set variable as described in this post: Escape double quotes in parameter
So instead of:
find "%%i" unique.txt 1>nul
it would be more like:
set test=%%i
set test=!test:"=""!
find "!test!" unique.txt 1>nul
Thus find will look like find """what""" file and %%i will be unchanged.
I have used a fake "array" to accomplish this
#echo off
:: filter out all duplicate ip addresses
REM you file would take place of %1
set file=%1%
if [%1]==[] goto :EOF
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set size=0
set cond=false
set max=0
for /F %%a IN ('type %file%') do (
if [!size!]==[0] (
set cond=true
set /a size="size+1"
set arr[!size!]=%%a
) ELSE (
call :inner
if [!cond!]==[true] (
set /a size="size+1"
set arr[!size!]=%%a&& ECHO > NUL
)
)
)
break> %file%
:: destroys old output
for /L %%b in (1,1,!size!) do echo !arr[%%b]!>> %file%
endlocal
goto :eof
:inner
for /L %%b in (1,1,!size!) do (
if "%%a" neq "!arr[%%b]!" (set cond=true) ELSE (set cond=false&&goto :break)
)
:break
the use of the label for the inner loop is something specific to cmd.exe and is the only way I have been successful nesting for loops within each other. Basically this compares each new value that is being passed as a delimiter and if there is no match then the program will add the value into memory. When it is done it will destroy the target files contents and replace them with the unique strings

How can I edit this so it works with files that have spaces?

#echo off
set /A Counter=0
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for %%D in ("e:\test test\") do (
for /f %%F in ('dir /a-d /b %%D*.*') do (
ECHO.
ECHO Current file is: %%F
set src=%%F
set dest="e:\test test\space locate\%%F"
if not exist !dest! move !src! !dest!
if exist !dest! (
ECHO.
ECHO ERROR: "%%F" already exists
set /A Counter+=1
)
ECHO source file is !src!
ECHO destination is !dest!
)
)
echo.
echo %Counter% files not moved.
You probably just need to put quotes (") around all your filenames.
I'm talking about this sort of thing:
if not exist "!dest!" move "!src!" "!dest!"
That's just a suggestion, I don't have time to actually try to debug it right now.
Edit in response to comment:
for by default uses spaces as delimiters. You should say for /f "delims=" instead of just for /f in order to tell it not to do that.

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