Using FOR loop to copy code between to labels in batch file - for-loop

Question

Ok so I write in batch files a lot. A while back I asked a question user:cmd on how to copy one part of a running batch file into a new batch file,
Well it works if your going to use it one time in a batch file. My goal is to create multiple large batch files from within a single setup batch. What happens is if they choose to install, then the batch file runs the following.
cls
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
color e
::Start of embedded code
set Begin=
for /F "delims=:" %%a in ('findstr /N "^:EMBEDDED_CODE" "%~F0"') do (
if not defined Begin (
set Begin=%%a
) else (
set End=%%a
)
)
::*****************************************************************************
(for /F "skip=%Begin% tokens=1* delims=[]" %%a in ('find /N /V "" "%~F0"') do (
if %%a equ %End% goto :Build-file2
echo(%%b
)) > file1.bat & goto :Build-file2
)
goto :Build-file2
:EMBEDDED_CODE Begin
CODE TO PUT INTO "file1.bat"
:EMBEDDED_CODE End
:Build-file2
cls
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
color e
::Start of embedded code
set Begin=
for /F "delims=:" %%a in ('findstr /N "^:EMBEDDED_CODE" "%~F0"') do (
if not defined Begin (
set Begin=%%a
) else (
set End=%%a
)
)
::*****************************************************************************
(for /F "skip=%Begin% tokens=1* delims=[]" %%a in ('find /N /V "" "%~F0"') do (
if %%a equ %End% goto :EOF
echo(%%b
)) > file2.bat & goto :EOF
)
goto :EOF
:EMBEDDED_CODE Begin
CODE TO PUT INTO "file2.bat"
:EMBEDDED_CODE End
The problem that is occurring is instead of it just copying the code between labels EMBEDDED_CODE Begin and EMBEDDED_CODE End in the first FOR loop it copies from EMBEDDED_CODE Begin down to the very bottom of the script puts it in the file I want and then goes to the next FOR loop which repeats the process with different code between the to labels. so file1.bat and file2.bat both contain the exact same code but with the desired file names of file1.bat AND file2.bat.

Answer 1

Why would you expect anything different than the results you are getting? The FINDSTR will search the entire file, so Begin is set to the first occurrence of :EMBEDDED_CODE in the first block of code, and End is set to the last occurrence in the last block of code (last value set wins). You replicate the code, so of course you get the same faulty result two times.
Simply change the labels in your second block of code, perhaps :EMBEDDED_CODE2, and adjust your 2nd FINDSTR accordingly. All should work then.
I often use a slightly different approach that minimizes the amount of file reading. Simply modify all lines from a given embedded block of code with the same unique prefix. Then FINDSTR can directly output the desired lines, and a FOR /F is used to strip off the prefix. You just need the prefix to end with a character that never matches the beginning of your code.
You should be careful about enabling delayed expansion when reading a file with FOR /F. Your embedded code will be corrupted if it contains ! and delayed expansion is enabled. (unless the ! is escaped, but that can be a pain)
#echo off
for %%C in (1 2) do (
for /f "tokens=1* delims=}" %%A in ('findstr /bl ":%%C}" "%~f0"') do echo(%%B
)>file%%C.bat
:1}Your first code block goes here
:1}
:1} Blank lines and indents are preserved
:1}And so are exclamation points!
:2}And here is your second code block
:2}...
echo file1.bat
echo ---------
type file1.bat
echo(
echo(
echo file2.bat
echo ---------
type file2.bat

Answer 2

This will almost do what you need.
This code needs to read twice the input file, first to locate the range of lines to process (findstr line numbering), and second to extract them. In second loop findstr numbering is used again to avoid for /f to compress blank lines and alter line numbering.
On the other hand, the problem with special characters inside extacted text is handled, enabling and disabling delayed expansion as needed.
Maybe not the best performance, but it seems to work. Adapt as needed.
#echo off
setlocal enableextensions enabledelayedexpansion
call :extractEmbedded "Section1" extracted.txt
if not errorlevel 1 (
cls
type extracted.txt
)
exit /b
:extractEmbedded id outputFile
rem prepare environment
setlocal enableextensions enabledelayedexpansion
rem asume failure on execution
set "_return=1"
rem find embedded zone in current file
set "_start="
set "_end="
for /f "tokens=1 delims=:" %%l in ('findstr /n /b /c:":EMBEDDED %~1" "%~f0"') do (
if not defined _start ( set "_start=%%l" ) else ( set "_end=%%l" )
)
rem adjust lines to process
set /a "_start+=0"
set /a "_end-=1"
rem if nothing found, task done
if %_start% GEQ %_end% goto endExtractEmbedded
rem prepare file extraction
if "%_start%"=="0" (set "_skip=" ) else ( set "_skip=skip^=%_start%" )
rem extract proper area of file to output file
(for /f tokens^=^*^ %_skip%^ eol^= %%l in ('findstr /n "^" "%~f0"') do if !_start! LSS !_end! (
setlocal disabledelayedexpansion
set "_line=%%l"
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
echo(!_line:*:=!
endlocal & endlocal
set /a "_start+=1"
))>"%~2"
rem everything ok
set "_return=0"
:endExtractEmbedded
rem exit with errorlevel
endlocal & exit /b %_return%
:EMBEDDED Section1
This is a section; of embedded!!! code
that needs to be extracted to generate
a new file to be processed.
TEST: !""$%&/()=?¿^*[];,:-\|
:EMBEDDED Section1