Most of the examples on using Windows Batch For Loop is about using "IN".
FOR %%A IN (1 2 3 4) DO ECHO %%A
I need to use NOT IN instead. When I type something as:
FOR %%A NOT IN (1 2 3 4) DO ECHO %%A
It says "NOT was not expected at that time".
Thanks
for %%F in ('dir /b /a-d "somepath\*"^|findstr /vilxg:"exclusions.txt"') do echo %%F
Since in comments you say you want to move files not in a list, you should try using ROBOCOPY. Check out the /MOV and /XF options. It should allow you to do exactly what yo want in a more direct manner. Type robocopy /? from the command line for help. There are a ton of options to navigate, so it might take a while to get the exact result you want. But the command is extremely powerful and worthwhile.
Bill, this might do what you need, or give you a hint...
#echo off
for /f "delims=" %%a in (' type "file.txt" ') do (
if not exist "c:\target\%%a" move "%%a" "c:\target"
)
according to your comments above, you want to have a "DIR without those files"?
Then this should work:
> type donotuse.txt
alpha.txt
beta.exe
gamma.cmd
> type t.bat
#dir /b | findstr /b /e /v /i /l /g:donotuse.txt
> dir /b
albetade.txt
alpha.exe
alpha.txt
beta.exe
donotuse.txt
gamma.cmd
t.bat
> t
albetade.txt
alpha.exe
donotuse.txt
t.bat
>
edit: dbenham is right. Added /i /l to my code.
I had the same problem, but no solution.
So... that's my personal, simple, solution:
#echo off
rem set the path to check
set sourcePath=C:\Program Files (x86)\MySoftware
set destPath=c:\temp\MySoftware-StrangerFiles
set tempPath=c:\temp
set currentFilesListTxtFileName=MySoftware-allfiles.txt
set correctFilesListTxtFileName=MySoftware-correctFilesList.txt
set moveFilesListTxtFileName=MySoftware-moveFilesList.txt
echo Move not allowed files in a different path
cd "%sourcePath%"
mkdir %destPath%
call :correctFilesList
dir /B > c:\temp\MySoftware-allfiles.txt
findstr /V /G:%tempPath%\%correctFilesListTxtFileName% %tempPath%\%currentFilesListTxtFileName% > %tempPath%\%moveFilesListTxtFileName%
for /f "delims=" %%a in (' type "%tempPath%\%moveFilesListTxtFileName%" ') do move %%a %destPath%
pause
:correctFilesList
rem files whitelist
rem correctfiles can be changed with "dir /B path>>c:\temp\correctFilesList.txt" from a correct source. Or you can generate a list of correct files via command as below.
echo correctfile1.dll>> %tempPath%\%correctFilesListTxtFileName%.txt
echo correctfile2.log.xml>> %tempPath%\%correctFilesListTxtFileName%.txt
echo correctfile2.log.xml>> %tempPath%\MySoftware-correctFilesList.txt
Related
This question already has answers here:
Assign output of a program to a variable using a MS batch file
(12 answers)
How to set commands output as a variable in a batch file [duplicate]
(9 answers)
Closed 9 months ago.
I'm looking to get the result of a command as a variable in a Windows batch script (see how to get the result of a command in bash for the bash scripting equivalent). A solution that will work in a .bat file is preferred, but other common windows scripting solutions are also welcome.
The humble for command has accumulated some interesting capabilities over the years:
D:\> FOR /F "delims=" %i IN ('date /t') DO set today=%i
D:\> echo %today%
Sat 20/09/2008
Note that "delims=" overwrites the default space and tab delimiters so that the output of the date command gets gobbled all at once.
To capture multi-line output, it can still essentially be a one-liner (using the variable lf as the delimiter in the resulting variable):
REM NB:in a batch file, need to use %%i not %i
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
SET lf=-
FOR /F "delims=" %%i IN ('dir \ /b') DO if ("!out!"=="") (set out=%%i) else (set out=!out!%lf%%%i)
ECHO %out%
To capture a piped expression, use ^|:
FOR /F "delims=" %%i IN ('svn info . ^| findstr "Root:"') DO set "URL=%%i"
If you have to capture all the command output you can use a batch like this:
#ECHO OFF
IF NOT "%1"=="" GOTO ADDV
SET VAR=
FOR /F %%I IN ('DIR *.TXT /B /O:D') DO CALL %0 %%I
SET VAR
GOTO END
:ADDV
SET VAR=%VAR%!%1
:END
All output lines are stored in VAR separated with "!".
But if only a single-line console-output is expected, try:
#ECHO off
#SET MY_VAR=
FOR /F %%I IN ('npm prefix') DO #SET "MY_VAR=%%I"
#REM Do something with MY_VAR variable...
#John: is there any practical use for this? I think you should watch PowerShell or any other programming language capable to perform scripting tasks easily (Python, Perl, PHP, Ruby)
To get the current directory, you can use this:
CD > tmpFile
SET /p myvar= < tmpFile
DEL tmpFile
echo test: %myvar%
It's using a temp-file though, so it's not the most pretty, but it certainly works! 'CD' puts the current directory in 'tmpFile', 'SET' loads the content of tmpFile.
Here is a solution for multiple lines with "array's":
#echo off
rem ---------
rem Obtain line numbers from the file
rem ---------
rem This is the file that is being read: You can replace this with %1 for dynamic behaviour or replace it with some command like the first example i gave with the 'CD' command.
set _readfile=test.txt
for /f "usebackq tokens=2 delims=:" %%a in (`find /c /v "" %_readfile%`) do set _max=%%a
set /a _max+=1
set _i=0
set _filename=temp.dat
rem ---------
rem Make the list
rem ---------
:makeList
find /n /v "" %_readfile% >%_filename%
rem ---------
rem Read the list
rem ---------
:readList
if %_i%==%_max% goto printList
rem ---------
rem Read the lines into the array
rem ---------
for /f "usebackq delims=] tokens=2" %%a in (`findstr /r "\[%_i%]" %_filename%`) do set _data%_i%=%%a
set /a _i+=1
goto readList
:printList
del %_filename%
set _i=1
:printMore
if %_i%==%_max% goto finished
set _data%_i%
set /a _i+=1
goto printMore
:finished
But you might want to consider moving to another more powerful shell or create an application for this stuff. It's stretching the possibilities of the batch files quite a bit.
you need to use the SET command with parameter /P and direct your output to it.
For example see http://www.ss64.com/nt/set.html. Will work for CMD, not sure about .BAT files
From a comment to this post:
That link has the command "Set /P
_MyVar=<MyFilename.txt" which says it will set _MyVar to the first line
from MyFilename.txt. This could be
used as "myCmd > tmp.txt" with "set
/P myVar=<tmp.txt". But it will only
get the first line of the output, not
all the output
Example to set in the "V" environment variable the most recent file
FOR /F %I IN ('DIR *.* /O:D /B') DO SET V=%I
in a batch file you have to use double prefix in the loop variable:
FOR /F %%I IN ('DIR *.* /O:D /B') DO SET V=%%I
I would like to add a remark to the above solutions:
All these syntaxes work perfectly well IF YOUR COMMAND IS FOUND WITHIN THE PATH or IF THE COMMAND IS A cmdpath WITHOUT SPACES OR SPECIAL CHARACTERS.
But if you try to use an executable command located in a folder which path contains special characters then you would need to enclose your command path into double quotes (") and then the FOR /F syntax does not work.
Examples:
$ for /f "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %f in (
`""F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting\f2ko.de\folderbrowse.exe"" Hello '"F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting"'`
) do echo %f
The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
or
$ for /f "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %f in (
`"F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting\f2ko.de\folderbrowse.exe" "Hello World" "F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting"`
) do echo %f
'F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
or
`$ for /f "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %f in (
`""F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting\f2ko.de\folderbrowse.exe"" "Hello World" "F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting"`
) do echo %f
'"F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting\f2ko.de\folderbrowse.exe"" "Hello' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
In that case, the only solution I found to use a command and store its result in a variable is to set (temporarily) the default directory to the one of command itself :
pushd "%~d0%~p0"
FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (
`FOLDERBROWSE "Hello world!" "F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Layouts (print,display...)"`
) DO (SET MyFolder=%%F)
popd
echo My selected folder: %MyFolder%
The result is then correct:
My selected folder: F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\OS install, recovery, VM\
Press any key to continue . . .
Of course in the above example, I assume that my batch script is located in the same folder as the one of my executable command so that I can use the "%~d0%~p0" syntax. If this is not your case, then you have to find a way to locate your command path and change the default directory to its path.
NB: For those who wonder, the sample command used here (to select a folder) is FOLDERBROWSE.EXE. I found it on the web site f2ko.de (http://f2ko.de/en/cmd.php).
If anyone has a better solution for that kind of commands accessible through a complex path, I will be very glad to hear of it.
Gilles
Just use the result from the FOR command. For example (inside a batch file):
for /F "delims=" %%I in ('dir /b /a-d /od FILESA*') do (echo %%I)
You can use the %%I as the value you want. Just like this: %%I.
And in advance the %%I does not have any spaces or CR characters and can be used for comparisons!!
If you're looking for the solution provided in Using the result of a command as an argument in bash?
then here is the code:
#echo off
if not "%1"=="" goto get_basename_pwd
for /f "delims=X" %%i in ('cd') do call %0 %%i
for /f "delims=X" %%i in ('dir /o:d /b') do echo %%i>>%filename%.txt
goto end
:get_basename_pwd
set filename=%~n1
:end
This will call itself with the result of the CD command, same as pwd.
String extraction on parameters will return the filename/folder.
Get the contents of this folder and append to the filename.txt
[Credits]: Thanks to all the other answers and some digging on the Windows XP commands page.
#echo off
ver | find "6.1." > nul
if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 (
echo Win7
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('DIR "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\*Outlook.EXE" /B /P /S') do call set findoutlook=%%a
%findoutlook%
)
ver | find "5.1." > nul
if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 (
echo WinXP
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('DIR "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\*Outlook.EXE" /B /P /S') do call set findoutlook=%%a
%findoutlook%
)
echo Outlook dir: %findoutlook%
"%findoutlook%"
You can capture all output in one variable, but the lines will be separated by a character of your choice (# in the example below) instead of an actual CR-LF.
#echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
for /f "delims=" %%i in ('dir /b') do (
if "!DIR!"=="" (set DIR=%%i) else (set DIR=!DIR!#%%i)
)
echo directory contains:
echo %DIR%
Second version, if you need to print the contents out line-by-line. This takes advanted of the fact that there won't be duplicate lines of output from "dir /b", so it may not work in the general case.
#echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set count=0
for /f "delims=" %%i in ('dir /b') do (
if "!DIR!"=="" (set DIR=%%i) else (set DIR=!DIR!#%%i)
set /a count = !count! + 1
)
echo directory contains:
echo %DIR%
for /l %%c in (1,1,%count%) do (
for /f "delims=#" %%i in ("!DIR!") do (
echo %%i
set DIR=!DIR:%%i=!
)
)
#echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
FOR /F "tokens=1 delims= " %%i IN ('echo hola') DO (
set TXT=%%i
)
echo 'TXT: %TXT%'
the result is 'TXT: hola'
You should use the for command, here is an example:
#echo off
rem Commands go here
exit /b
:output
for /f "tokens=* useback" %%a in (`%~1`) do set "output=%%a"
and you can use call :output "Command goes here" then the output will be in the %output% variable.
Note: If you have a command output that is multiline, this tool will set the output to the last line of your multiline command.
Please refer to this http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490982.aspx which explains what you can do with command output.
I'm trying to list non-symbolic links in an specific directory and then delete them.
non-symbolic links definition: any file besides the ones that have been created using the command MKLINK /H
To identify those non-symbolic links I used the following approach:
#> fsutil hardlink list %file% | find /c /v ""
When the specified %file% is a symbolic link it returns a number bigger than 1, when it is just a simple file, it returns 1. So far so good!
My problem starts when I need to automate this process and get such return to compare if it is bigger than 1
That's is the code I'm trying to get running property:
#echo off
set some_dir=C:\TEMP\
for /f %%a in ('dir /b %some_dir%') do (
set count=fsutil hardlink list %%a | find /c /v ""
if %count% -EQU 1 del /Q %%a
)
Would someone explain me how such attribution and comparison on %count% variable could be done, please?
I'm trying to list non-symbolic links in an specific directory and then delete them.
There are some issues with your code.
for /f %%a in ('dir /b %some_dir%') do (
The dir /b doesn't work because it doesn't return a file name with a complete path (which is required as input for fsutil)
Use dir /b /s instead.
set count=fsutil hardlink list %%a | find /c /v ""
This doesn't set count to anything sensible.
Use another for /f and parse the output of fsutil so you can set a variable.
if %count% -EQU 1 del /Q %%a
This has two mistakes. You need to use delayed expansion to evaluate count correctly. Replace %count% with !count!. Also remove the -. Replace -EQU with EQU.
Try the following batch file.
test.cmd:
#echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set some_dir=C:\TEMP\
for /f %%a in ('dir /b /s %some_dir%') do (
for /f %%b in ('fsutil hardlink list %%a ^| find /c /v ""') do (
set count=%%b
if !count! EQU 1 echo del /Q %%a
)
)
endlocal
Notes:
Remove the echo when you happy with what the result will be.
Example usage and output:
I have used f:\test\folder1 as my test directory. hard is a hardlink to 1.txt.
F:\test>dir f:\test\folder1
Volume in drive F is Expansion
Volume Serial Number is 3656-BB63
Directory of f:\test\folder1
29/08/2016 21:40 <DIR> .
29/08/2016 21:40 <DIR> ..
21/08/2016 09:46 0 1.txt
21/08/2016 09:46 0 2.txt
21/08/2016 09:46 0 3.txt
21/08/2016 09:46 0 4.txt
21/08/2016 09:46 0 5.txt
29/08/2016 21:38 <SYMLINK> file [f:\d]
21/08/2016 09:46 0 hard
29/08/2016 21:38 <SYMLINKD> test [f:\d]
7 File(s) 0 bytes
3 Dir(s) 1,764,846,960,640 bytes free
F:\test>test
del /Q f:\test\folder1\2.txt
del /Q f:\test\folder1\3.txt
del /Q f:\test\folder1\4.txt
del /Q f:\test\folder1\5.txt
del /Q f:\test\folder1\file
del /Q f:\test\folder1\test
Further Reading
An A-Z Index of the Windows CMD command line - An excellent reference for all things Windows cmd line related.
dir - Display a list of files and subfolders.
enabledelayedexpansion - Delayed Expansion will cause variables to be expanded at execution time rather than at parse time.
for /f - Loop command against the results of another command.
There are some problems in your code:
you need delayed expansion because you are setting (writing) and expanding (reading) the variable count within the same parenthesised block of code (namely the for /F %%a loop);
in your for /F %%a loop you need to state options "eol=| delims=" in order not to run into trouble with files whose names begin with ; (such would be ignored due to the default eol=; option) and those which have white-spaces in their names (you would receive only the postion before the first white-space because of the default delims SPACE and TAB and the default option tokens=1 (see for /? for details about that);
dir /B returns file names only, so %%a actually points to files in the current directory rather than to C:\TEMP\; to fix that, simply change to that directory first by cd;
to capture the output of a command (line) and assign it to a variable, use another for /F loop and set; this loop is going to iterate once only, because find /C returns only a single line; note the escaped pipe ^| below, which is required to not execute it immediately;
there is no comparison operator -EQU, you need to remove the - to check for equality;
it is a good idea to use the quoted set syntax as it is most robust against poisonous characters;
file and directory paths should generally be quoted since they might contain token delimiters or other poisonous characters;
Here is the fixed script:
#echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
pushd "C:\TEMP\" || exit /B 1
for /F "eol=| delims=" %%a in ('dir /B "."') do (
for /F %%b in ('
fsutil hardlink list "%%a" ^| find /C /V ""
') do (
set "count=%%b"
)
if !count! EQU 1 del "%%a"
)
popd
endlocal
This can even be simplified:
#echo off
pushd "C:\TEMP\" || exit /B 1
for /F "eol=| delims=" %%a in ('dir /B "."') do (
for /F %%b in ('
fsutil hardlink list "%%a" ^| find /C /V ""
') do (
if %%b EQU 1 del "%%a"
)
)
popd
Since the inner for /F loop iterates always once only, we can move the if query inside, thus avoiding the definition of an auxiliary variable which is the only one we needed delayed expansion for.
Simplified method:
#Echo Off
PushD X:\YourDirectory
For %%a In (*.*) Do (
FSUtil HardLink List %%a|FindStr/VIC:"%%~pnxa">Nul||(Echo=Del "%%~a"))
Pause
When you're satisfied with the output Remove line 5 and also 'Echo=' from line 4
I try to improve an overview of my search and find memories for batch files in Windows XP command prompt environment.
In order to my previous sentence I am not happy with my search possibilities and have to post a question.
I try to compare the names of some text files and have written words in a text file that are by reading the same. With such a start environment I wrote following batch script to get an echo output.
The aim is
#echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for /f "delims=" %%b in ('dir "C:\A Folder"') do set var=%%~nb & echo !var!
rem The output is the name of the files without extension. Now my question:
rem Is it possible to compare the above file names with some input
rem from a text file, for example like:
for /f "delims=" %%b in ('dir "C:\A Folder"') do set var=%%~nb & for /f %%a in (Textfile.txt) do (if !var!==%%a echo good else echo search)
rem That returns no output. I would like to know if there are possibilities
rem to do that? And if it is possible, how to revise this batch file?
endlocal disabledelayedexpansion
pause
Have a nice day, wishes
Stefan
This should work with Latin characters - some foreign characters may not work:
#echo off
for /f "delims=" %%b in ('dir /b /a-d "C:\A Folder\*.*" ') do find /i "%%~nb" < "textfile.txt" >nul && (echo "%%~nb" found) || (echo "%%~nb" not found)
pause
proper formatting you code increases readabilty:
for /f "delims=" %%b in ('dir /b /a-d "C:\A Folder"') do (
for /f %%a in (textfile.txt) do (
if "%%~nb"=="%%a" ( echo good ) else ( echo search )
)
)
I added a /b to the dircommand (show name only, no date/time/attributes) and a /a-d to exclude directorynames.
You don't need to use a variable (!var!) here (but you can, it works fine).
OK, I apologize ahead of time for a) using an old, crappy technology (BAT files) and b) asking what seems to be a redundant question. I'm limited in the technology I'm allowed to use in this particular case and after looking at dozens of posts on the subject I can't find anything I can adapt to what I need.
I have a directory structure that looks like this:
A
B
C
D
etc...
XYZ
more folders
My BAT file is located outside this files system. I need to inspect it starting at level "C" and need to find the "XYZ" directory. The folders between C and XYZ can have variable names depending on the environment in which the files were created. I need to end up with a string that consists of the directory names from C through XYZ (i.e. "C\D\E\F....\XYZ") that I can put into a variable so when my BAT file is completed I can reference the variable and run another command.
I've looked at posts using FIND and FOR but I can't seem to figure out how to a) limit the string to the starting directory (for example when I combine FOR with DIR I get "A\B\C...") and how to stop when I get to "XYZ"...
Any help is greatly appreciated.
This should work in most situations:
#echo off
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
set "root=c:\a\b\c"
set "target=xyz"
for %%R in ("%root%") do for /f "delims=" %%F in (
'dir /b /s /ad "%root%\%target%"'
) do (
set "fullPath=%%F"
set "relpath=!fullPath:%%~dpR=!"
)
echo !relpath!
It can fail if any of your paths contain ! or =. There are solutions for this, but the code is significantly more complicated.
EDIT
Actually, there is a relatively simple solution using FORFILES that should work in all situations. (Assuming your version of Windows has FORFILES)
#echo off
setlocal disableDelayedExpansion
set "root=c:\a\b\c"
set "target=xyz"
for /f "delims=" %%F in (
'forfiles /p "%root%" /m "%target%" /s /c "cmd /c if #isdir==TRUE echo #relpath"'
) do set "relpath=%%~F"
for %%R in ("%root%") do set "relpath=%%~nxR%relpath:~1%"
echo %relpath%
The only restriction is the code has to change slightly if your result contains poison characters like &. In that case you need to add quotes to the final ECHO statement, or else enable delayed expansion at the end and use echo !relpath!
For a) question:
FOR /F "TOKENS=*" %%d IN ('DIR A\B\C\XYZ /S /AD /B') DO SET variable=%%d
For a) and b) question:
FOR /D /R "A\B\C" %%d IN (*.*) DO IF /I "%%~nxd"=="XYZ" (SET variable=%%d& GOTO :EOF)
but this will exit batch script, so you need:
... your batch code
CALL :GET_XYZ
... your batch code
GOTO :EOF
:GET_XYZ
FOR /D /R "A\B\C" %%d IN (*.*) DO IF /I "%%~nxd"=="XYZ" (SET variable=%%d& GOTO :EOF)
ECHO XYZ not found!
GOTO :EOF
This question already has answers here:
Assign output of a program to a variable using a MS batch file
(12 answers)
How to set commands output as a variable in a batch file [duplicate]
(9 answers)
Closed 9 months ago.
I'm looking to get the result of a command as a variable in a Windows batch script (see how to get the result of a command in bash for the bash scripting equivalent). A solution that will work in a .bat file is preferred, but other common windows scripting solutions are also welcome.
The humble for command has accumulated some interesting capabilities over the years:
D:\> FOR /F "delims=" %i IN ('date /t') DO set today=%i
D:\> echo %today%
Sat 20/09/2008
Note that "delims=" overwrites the default space and tab delimiters so that the output of the date command gets gobbled all at once.
To capture multi-line output, it can still essentially be a one-liner (using the variable lf as the delimiter in the resulting variable):
REM NB:in a batch file, need to use %%i not %i
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
SET lf=-
FOR /F "delims=" %%i IN ('dir \ /b') DO if ("!out!"=="") (set out=%%i) else (set out=!out!%lf%%%i)
ECHO %out%
To capture a piped expression, use ^|:
FOR /F "delims=" %%i IN ('svn info . ^| findstr "Root:"') DO set "URL=%%i"
If you have to capture all the command output you can use a batch like this:
#ECHO OFF
IF NOT "%1"=="" GOTO ADDV
SET VAR=
FOR /F %%I IN ('DIR *.TXT /B /O:D') DO CALL %0 %%I
SET VAR
GOTO END
:ADDV
SET VAR=%VAR%!%1
:END
All output lines are stored in VAR separated with "!".
But if only a single-line console-output is expected, try:
#ECHO off
#SET MY_VAR=
FOR /F %%I IN ('npm prefix') DO #SET "MY_VAR=%%I"
#REM Do something with MY_VAR variable...
#John: is there any practical use for this? I think you should watch PowerShell or any other programming language capable to perform scripting tasks easily (Python, Perl, PHP, Ruby)
To get the current directory, you can use this:
CD > tmpFile
SET /p myvar= < tmpFile
DEL tmpFile
echo test: %myvar%
It's using a temp-file though, so it's not the most pretty, but it certainly works! 'CD' puts the current directory in 'tmpFile', 'SET' loads the content of tmpFile.
Here is a solution for multiple lines with "array's":
#echo off
rem ---------
rem Obtain line numbers from the file
rem ---------
rem This is the file that is being read: You can replace this with %1 for dynamic behaviour or replace it with some command like the first example i gave with the 'CD' command.
set _readfile=test.txt
for /f "usebackq tokens=2 delims=:" %%a in (`find /c /v "" %_readfile%`) do set _max=%%a
set /a _max+=1
set _i=0
set _filename=temp.dat
rem ---------
rem Make the list
rem ---------
:makeList
find /n /v "" %_readfile% >%_filename%
rem ---------
rem Read the list
rem ---------
:readList
if %_i%==%_max% goto printList
rem ---------
rem Read the lines into the array
rem ---------
for /f "usebackq delims=] tokens=2" %%a in (`findstr /r "\[%_i%]" %_filename%`) do set _data%_i%=%%a
set /a _i+=1
goto readList
:printList
del %_filename%
set _i=1
:printMore
if %_i%==%_max% goto finished
set _data%_i%
set /a _i+=1
goto printMore
:finished
But you might want to consider moving to another more powerful shell or create an application for this stuff. It's stretching the possibilities of the batch files quite a bit.
you need to use the SET command with parameter /P and direct your output to it.
For example see http://www.ss64.com/nt/set.html. Will work for CMD, not sure about .BAT files
From a comment to this post:
That link has the command "Set /P
_MyVar=<MyFilename.txt" which says it will set _MyVar to the first line
from MyFilename.txt. This could be
used as "myCmd > tmp.txt" with "set
/P myVar=<tmp.txt". But it will only
get the first line of the output, not
all the output
Example to set in the "V" environment variable the most recent file
FOR /F %I IN ('DIR *.* /O:D /B') DO SET V=%I
in a batch file you have to use double prefix in the loop variable:
FOR /F %%I IN ('DIR *.* /O:D /B') DO SET V=%%I
I would like to add a remark to the above solutions:
All these syntaxes work perfectly well IF YOUR COMMAND IS FOUND WITHIN THE PATH or IF THE COMMAND IS A cmdpath WITHOUT SPACES OR SPECIAL CHARACTERS.
But if you try to use an executable command located in a folder which path contains special characters then you would need to enclose your command path into double quotes (") and then the FOR /F syntax does not work.
Examples:
$ for /f "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %f in (
`""F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting\f2ko.de\folderbrowse.exe"" Hello '"F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting"'`
) do echo %f
The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
or
$ for /f "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %f in (
`"F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting\f2ko.de\folderbrowse.exe" "Hello World" "F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting"`
) do echo %f
'F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
or
`$ for /f "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %f in (
`""F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting\f2ko.de\folderbrowse.exe"" "Hello World" "F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting"`
) do echo %f
'"F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Shells and scripting\f2ko.de\folderbrowse.exe"" "Hello' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
In that case, the only solution I found to use a command and store its result in a variable is to set (temporarily) the default directory to the one of command itself :
pushd "%~d0%~p0"
FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (
`FOLDERBROWSE "Hello world!" "F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\Layouts (print,display...)"`
) DO (SET MyFolder=%%F)
popd
echo My selected folder: %MyFolder%
The result is then correct:
My selected folder: F:\GLW7\Distrib\System\OS install, recovery, VM\
Press any key to continue . . .
Of course in the above example, I assume that my batch script is located in the same folder as the one of my executable command so that I can use the "%~d0%~p0" syntax. If this is not your case, then you have to find a way to locate your command path and change the default directory to its path.
NB: For those who wonder, the sample command used here (to select a folder) is FOLDERBROWSE.EXE. I found it on the web site f2ko.de (http://f2ko.de/en/cmd.php).
If anyone has a better solution for that kind of commands accessible through a complex path, I will be very glad to hear of it.
Gilles
Just use the result from the FOR command. For example (inside a batch file):
for /F "delims=" %%I in ('dir /b /a-d /od FILESA*') do (echo %%I)
You can use the %%I as the value you want. Just like this: %%I.
And in advance the %%I does not have any spaces or CR characters and can be used for comparisons!!
If you're looking for the solution provided in Using the result of a command as an argument in bash?
then here is the code:
#echo off
if not "%1"=="" goto get_basename_pwd
for /f "delims=X" %%i in ('cd') do call %0 %%i
for /f "delims=X" %%i in ('dir /o:d /b') do echo %%i>>%filename%.txt
goto end
:get_basename_pwd
set filename=%~n1
:end
This will call itself with the result of the CD command, same as pwd.
String extraction on parameters will return the filename/folder.
Get the contents of this folder and append to the filename.txt
[Credits]: Thanks to all the other answers and some digging on the Windows XP commands page.
#echo off
ver | find "6.1." > nul
if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 (
echo Win7
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('DIR "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\*Outlook.EXE" /B /P /S') do call set findoutlook=%%a
%findoutlook%
)
ver | find "5.1." > nul
if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 (
echo WinXP
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('DIR "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\*Outlook.EXE" /B /P /S') do call set findoutlook=%%a
%findoutlook%
)
echo Outlook dir: %findoutlook%
"%findoutlook%"
You can capture all output in one variable, but the lines will be separated by a character of your choice (# in the example below) instead of an actual CR-LF.
#echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
for /f "delims=" %%i in ('dir /b') do (
if "!DIR!"=="" (set DIR=%%i) else (set DIR=!DIR!#%%i)
)
echo directory contains:
echo %DIR%
Second version, if you need to print the contents out line-by-line. This takes advanted of the fact that there won't be duplicate lines of output from "dir /b", so it may not work in the general case.
#echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set count=0
for /f "delims=" %%i in ('dir /b') do (
if "!DIR!"=="" (set DIR=%%i) else (set DIR=!DIR!#%%i)
set /a count = !count! + 1
)
echo directory contains:
echo %DIR%
for /l %%c in (1,1,%count%) do (
for /f "delims=#" %%i in ("!DIR!") do (
echo %%i
set DIR=!DIR:%%i=!
)
)
#echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
FOR /F "tokens=1 delims= " %%i IN ('echo hola') DO (
set TXT=%%i
)
echo 'TXT: %TXT%'
the result is 'TXT: hola'
You should use the for command, here is an example:
#echo off
rem Commands go here
exit /b
:output
for /f "tokens=* useback" %%a in (`%~1`) do set "output=%%a"
and you can use call :output "Command goes here" then the output will be in the %output% variable.
Note: If you have a command output that is multiline, this tool will set the output to the last line of your multiline command.
Please refer to this http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490982.aspx which explains what you can do with command output.