for deleting files, I will be using the code below to remove the oldest file in the directory and run it every day. It came from the question of mine.
Applying to the original batch script:
SET BACKUPDIR=C:\PATH\TO\BACKUPS
FOR /F %%i IN ('DIR /B /O-D %BACKUPDIR%') DO SET OLDEST=%%i
DEL %BACKUPDIR%\%OLDEST%
Something such as that checks if the file amount is 21, if so delete the latest one:
SET BACKUPDIR=C:\test
SET countfiles = dir BACKUPDIR /b | find /v /c "::"
if countfiles > 21
FOR /F %%i IN ('DIR /B /O-D %BACKUPDIR%') DO SET OLDEST=%%i
DEL %BACKUPDIR%\%OLDEST%
EDIT: Sorry for forgetting the question, my attempt was failing, I would be greatful for any way to direct how to make it work.
first, it seems set does not like spaces between the variable and the = sign: if you put a space, the variable name will include a space. so you must remove the space to properly define the variable name.
plus, your syntax for capturing the output of the command into a variable is wrong. the only way i am aware of (after desperately searching stackoverflow for the answer) is to use a for loop trick to use a temporary variable (see this question for more details). actually, you also need to escape the pipe for the command to be parsed correctly.
then, when the variable tested in the if expression does not exists, the results is always true, so make sure the variable exists. by removing the space as said above, the name in the if expression will match your variable name, and the test will execute properly.
then you forgot to make a block around the 2 last commands. actually, you are testing if you have more than 21 files and compute the oldest if it is true, then you ALWAYS delete the oldest.
also, the greater than operator > may be understood as a redirection. you may need to use the GTR operator.
SET BACKUPDIR=C:\test
FOR /F %%i in ('dir BACKUPDIR /b ^| find /v /c "::"') DO SET countfiles=%%i
if countfiles GTR 21 (
FOR /F %%i IN ('DIR /B /O-D %BACKUPDIR%') DO SET OLDEST=%%i
DEL %BACKUPDIR%\%OLDEST%
)
That's not working...you can't set 'normal' variables within a for-loop. I had the same problem some days ago and solved it with this blog entry.
Basically, you need to set SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION and then use ! instead of %...
set FILES=
for /f %%a IN (‘dir /b *.txt’) do set FILES=!FILES! %%a
echo %FILES%
So, this should work for you:
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
SET OLDEST=
FOR /F %%i IN ('DIR /B /O-D %BACKUPDIR%') DO SET OLDEST=%%i
DEL %BACKUPDIR%\%OLDEST%
Related
I have some files that I would like to sort through and keep the newest file.
I cannot do it by file attributes date modified or created, which I could do no problem.
Here is the naming convention of the files. FileABC_YYYYMMDD.txt
FileABC_20190201.txt
FileABC_20190125.txt
FileABC_20190118.txt
FileABC_20190111.txt
FileABC_20190104.txt
You can see that the date stamp is in the filename itself. These files are generated weekly. So I'd like to have a batch file loop through them and delete all but most currently dated file. I have really searched for how to do this best and I'm not finding much so I need ideas. I prefer a pure cmd solution but I'm open to powershell solutions as well.
What I am trying on my own is to parse out the date with...
#echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for /f "tokens=* delims= " %%G IN ('dir/b /a-d "C:\Users\thomas.maus\Documents\Tom\dev\Test Batch Files\dev\sortbyFileDateName\FileABC_*.txt"') do (
set fileName=%%G
Set theDate=!fileName:~8,8!
echo !theDate!
)
Then I want to take those dates somehow from the results of the loop and do something like
if "%theDate%" GEQ "*****not sure what to put here*****" (
del *all the old files, also not sure what to put here*
)
How about this?
#echo off
for /f "skip=1" %%i in ('dir /o-n /b *.txt') do del %%i
If you just want to test it (see what it would delete) first, do:
#echo off
for /f "skip=1" %%i in ('dir /o-n /b *.txt') do echo %%i
If you do not care about the file dates but only the dates in the file names, you could do the following, given that the part FileABC is always the same and does not contain any _ on its own:
pushd "C:\Users\thomas.maus\Documents\Tom\dev\Test Batch Files\dev\sortbyFileDateName" && (
for /F "skip=1 delims= eol=|" %%F in ('
dir /B /A:-D "FileABC_????????.txt" ^
^| sort /R
') do (
del "%%F"
)
popd
)
Although sort /R does alphabetic sorting, this works because of your chosen date format, which ensures that alphabetic order equals alphanumeric one.
We just loop through the files, sorted by date in decending order, then skip the first file, now being the latest:
#for /f "skip=1" %%a in ('dir /b /o-d *.txt') do #echo #del %%a
Important!
This example will only echo the delete command as a safe measure so you do not delete files you should not have. To perform the actual delete, remove #echo from the line.
To understand more about the functions we used, run the following from cmd.exe
for /?
dir /?
As an additional option, just in case the filename prefix changes throughout and only the _YYYYMMDD.txt remains constant, you can still peform the task using that date as it is already alphabetically sortable.
Here's an example:
#Echo Off
Set "SrcDir=%UserProfile%\Documents\Tom\dev\Test Batch Files\dev\sortbyFileDateName"
For /F "Delims==" %%A In ('Set $ 2^>Nul') Do Set "%%A="
Set "_="
For /F Delims^=^ EOL^= %%A In ('Where "%SrcDir%":*_????????.txt 2^>Nul'
) Do Set "_=%%~nA" & Call Set "$%%_:~-8%%=%%A"
If Not Defined _ Exit /B
For /F "Tokens=1* Delims==" %%A In ('Set $ 2^>Nul') Do Set "_=%%B"
For /F Delims^=^ EOL^= %%A In ('Where "%SrcDir%":*_????????.txt^|Find /V "%_%"'
) Do Del /A /F "%%A"
This uses the fact that the Set command will output variables in alphabetical order.
Lines 2 to 4 just define and undefine the variables we will be using.
Lines 5 and 6 is a single line split over two lines for readability. This will set variables using the last eight characters of the files basenames, to the value of the full filename.
Line 7 is included to exit the script, just in case no .txt files with a basename ending with an underscore followed by eight characters were found in the directory set at line 2.
Line 8 is the special one here, it outputs each variable and corresponding value in alphabetical order. The output is set to a variable, which overwrites itself until the loop ends. This means that the newest file, last one alphabetically, is held with the value of the file named with the newest date.
Lines 9 & 10 are once again a single line split over two for readability. This loops over all matching files in the directory again and uses the Find command to exclude outputting the one which matches that held in the variable as the file with the newest date. Each file output is simply deleted using the Del command.
Please note that this script assumes you only have a single file with each date, as you've only stated that the files are generated weekly.
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.
I would like to keep the X latest files from a folder and delete the rest. Is this possible with FORFILES? If it's not I can fallback to another solution I seen here. Thanks for help.
I did this but it takes by dates: EDIT
forfiles /p [path] /s /d -5 /c "cmd /c echo #file"
(echo file for testing purpose)
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
SET "targetdir=U:\destdir"
SET /a retain=10
FOR /f "skip=%retain%delims=" %%a IN (
'dir /b /a-d /o-d "%targetdir%\*" '
) DO ECHO (DEL "%targetdir%\%%a"
GOTO :EOF
You would need to change the setting of targetdir to suit your circumstances. Equally, this procedure targets all files - change the filemask to suit.
The required DEL commands are merely ECHOed for testing purposes. After you've verified that the commands are correct, change ECHO(DEL to DEL to actually delete the files.
method is to simply execute a dir in basic form without directories, sorted in reverse-date order.
Skip the first 10 entries, and delete the rest.
With forfiles I see no chance to accomplish your task of returning the newest (most recent) number of files.
So my idea for this approach is this:
to use dir /B /A:-D /T:C /O:-D to retrieve a bare list (/B) of files (no directories, /A:-D), sorted by creation date (/T:C; if you want to use the last modification date, simply remove the /T:C portion) in decending order (/O:-D), meaning newest items first;
to put over a for /F "eol=| delims=" loop to gather and parse the dir output line by line, meaning file by file, not excluding file names beginning with ; (eol=|, | is illegal for file names) and not splitting file names containing white-spaces like SPACE or TAB (delims=);
to establish a variable that constitutes a counter, incremented per each loop iteration;
to place an if condition inside of the loop to check if the counter reached the desired limit number and in case it is fulfilled, to break the for /F loop by goto;
Here is the related code:
#echo off
setlocal EnableExtensions DisableDelayedExpansion
rem Define global constants here:
set "TARGETPATH=\path\to\files\*.*"
set /A "TOTAL=10"
set /A "COUNT=0"
for /F "eol=| delims=" %%F in ('
dir /B /A:-D /T:C /O:-D "%TARGETPATH%"
') do (
echo(%%F
set /A COUNT+=1
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
if !COUNT! GEQ %TOTAL% (
endlocal
goto :NEXT
) else (
endlocal
)
)
:NEXT
endlocal
exit /B
I toggled the delayed variable expansion within the for /F loop to avoid trouble in case file names contain exclamation marks !, which would get lost in the line echo(%%F in case it is on.
Update
The following code accomplishes the original task of your question, namely to delete files in a given directory but to keep the most recent number of files:
#echo off
setlocal EnableExtensions DisableDelayedExpansion
rem Define global constants here:
set "TARGETPATH=\path\to\files\*.*"
set /A "TOTAL=10"
set "SKIPOPT=" & if %TOTAL% GTR 0 set "SKIPOPT=skip=%TOTAL% "
for /F "%SKIPOPT%eol=| delims=" %%F in ('
dir /B /A:-D /T:C /O:-D "%TARGETPATH%"
') do (
del /P "%%F"
)
endlocal
exit /B
Since for /F supports a skip= to skip the given number of lines, and so files in our situation, let us make use of it. It is given indirectly here via variable SKIPOPT, which holds the entire option string like skip=10 (given that TOTAL is set to 10). The if %TOTAL% GTR 0 query is implemented for the script not to fail in case TOTAL is 0, because for /F does not accept the option skip=0.
The /P switch at the del command lets appear a prompt Delete (Y/N)? for testing purposes. If you do not want any prompts, simply remove it.
Can someone please help me understand command file syntax
IF "%INPUT_PATH%"=="" (
echo Searching for latest test results in: %TEST_RESULTS%
FOR /F "delims=" %%i in ('dir /O-D /B "%TEST_RESULTS%\*.trx"') DO (
SET INPUT_PATH=%TEST_RESULTS%\%%~ni
GOTO :DoneInputPath
) )
I get that it first checks if INPUT_PATH variable is empty and if it is empty then enters into an inner for loop, I am lost otherwise
specifically
FOR /F "delims=" %%i in ('dir /O-D /B "%TEST_RESULTS%\*.trx"')
SET INPUT_PATH=%TEST_RESULTS%\%%~ni
Most of the information you need is available in the built-in help, though it can be daunting if you are new to batch programming. For example, type HELP FOR or FOR /? from the command prompt to get help on the FOR command.
Explanation:
FOR /F "delims=" %%i in ('dir /O-D /B "%TEST_RESULTS%\*.trx"') ...
The DIR command lists all of the *.TRX files within the %TEST_RESULTS% path. The /B option gives the brief format (file names only). The /O-D option sorts the files by last modified date descending (newest first).
The FOR /F command has three modes, depending on the format of the IN() clause. The fact that the IN() clause is enclosed in single quotes means that FOR /F treats the contents as a command, and processes the output of the command, one line at a time. The "delims=" option means do not parse into tokens (preserve each entire line). So each line is iteratively loaded into the %%i variable. The %%i variable only exists within the context of the FOR command.
SET INPUT_PATH=%TEST_RESULTS%\%%~ni
I think you know what most of this command does. The only "unusual" aspect is the %%~ni syntax. That syntax expands the value of %%i into the base file name only, without any extension.
GOTO :DoneInputPath
The GOTO causes the FOR loop to abort after the first iteration. This means that INPUT_PATH will be set to the name of the most recently modified *.trx file, since it sorted to the top.
If the GOTO were not there, then the end result would be the oldest *.trx file instead.
try this, explanation is in the comment:
IF NOT DEFINED INPUT_PATH (
echo Searching for latest test results in: %TEST_RESULTS%
REM dir /OD means older files first and the youngest last, the last remains in INPUT_PATH; use "%%~nxi" for file name + file extension
FOR /F "delims=" %%i in ('dir /OD /B "%TEST_RESULTS%\*.trx"') DO SET "INPUT_PATH=%TEST_RESULTS%\%%~ni"
)
I have a series of files that have names like this:
CHART_LOAN_6516_20130502.PDF
CHART_LOAN_2158_20130502.PDF
CHART_LOAN_78986_20130502.PDF
Each file always starts with CHART_LOAN_ but the next number is different and the last number is the date it was created.
I would like to insert an 0_ after CHART_LOAN_number_ for each file. As listed below:
CHART_LOAN_6516_0_20130502.PDF
CHART_LOAN_2158_0_20130502.PDF
CHART_LOAN_78986_0_20130502.PDF
Through my research I've found out to insert the char but not when the name is changing with each file.
#echo off
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
SET old=CHART_LOAN_
SET new=CHART_LOAN_0_
for /f "tokens=*" %%f in ('dir /b *.jpg') do (
SET newname=%%f
SET newname=!newname:%old%=%new%!
move "%%f" "!newname!"
)
The above code will change the static portion of the file to something I want, but I don't know how to modify the code to compensate for the changing loan number.
try this:
#echo off &setlocal
for /f "tokens=1-3*delims=_" %%i in ('dir /b /a-d *.pdf ^| find /i /v "_0_"') do ren "%%i_%%j_%%k_%%l" "%%i_%%j_%%k_0_%%l"
for /f "tokens=*" %%f in ('dir /b /a-d %old%*.pdf^|find /i /v "%new%"') do (
should see you right – but I'd add an ECHO temporarily before the MOVE to check it's working properly.
Interesting that you'd use *.jpg in your original though. Rather unlikely to work, I'd guess.
The renamed files will match the pattern ..._0_... but the originals won't – the closest they'll come is with CHART_LOAN_0.pdf. Hence, you find all the filenames that don't match the new mask (/v) case-insensitive (/i). The /a-d guards against the remote possibility of a directory name that matches the old mask. The caret before the pipe tells CMD that the pipe is part of the command to be executed by the for.