Getting rid of extensions in variables (CMD) - windows

CMD Q: I want to remove the extension of a filename.
It is actually a complete path, like C:/Me/My/Path/filename.xxxx
i know that the extension has 4 chars, like shown in example above.
How can i get rid of the extension?
Thanks.

In terminal:
set file=C:/Me/My/Path/filename.1234
for /F "tokens=*" %A IN ("%file%") DO #echo variable ^%file^%: %~dpnA
In batch file:
#echo off
set file=C:/Me/My/Path/filename.1234
echo If called with path as batch parameter: %~dpn1
for /F "tokens=*" %%A IN ("%file%") DO echo variable %%file%%: %%~dpnA

This does the trick:
#echo off
set fullpath= C:/Me/My/Path/filename.xxxx
set withoutext=%fullpath:~0,-5%
echo %withoutext%
The result is:
c:\>test
C:/Me/My/Path/filename
In this example script the last 5 characters are removed from the variable %fullpath%.
The syntax is explained here: http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php?topic=78901.0
In cases where the length of the extension is unknown this would not work.

ren C:/Me/My/Path/filename.xxxx filename.
this should do it (the "." at the end is important)

Related

How to expand env var in command in for loop

I have a simple for loop and want to run a command for each file in dir in a script below. Whenever I run it I get this error "INST_PATH\bin\testBin.exe was unexpected at this time."
I can see it cant expand the env var. Also seems like there are problems in expanding %%i.
Also if I want to give a default value to a variable IF, not provided at command line, how do I do that? For e.g. if the user doesn't give the Dir and I want to assume it to be current dir how do I do that in the script?
set Dir=%1
set OutDir=%2
pushd %Dir%
for %i in (*.*) do %INST_PATH%\bin\testBin.exe -I=. --cpp_out=. %%i
popd
Thanks in advance for your help.
Two questions, two answers:
within batchfiles, you have to use double percent-signs for the for variables:
for %%i in (*.*) do echo %%i
to set a default value, check if the variable is empty:
if "%1%=="" (set "dir=Z:\DefaultDir") else (set "dir=%1")
or as an alternative:
set dir=%1
if not defined dir set "dir=Z:\DefaultDir"

String replacement within FOR /F into batch file

There are a handful of questions on SO that look similar, but I cannot figure out some behaviour and I am looking for help.
Below is a snippet from a batch file I am trying to write which will load in a set of directories and potentially replace letter substitutions with an expanded path, e.g. the properties file might look like:
location1=C:\Test
location2=[m]\Test
Where location1 points to C:\Test and location2 points to C:\Program Files(x86)\MODULE\Test, because [m] is a shorthand to C:\Program Files(x86)\MODULE.
The batch script, to this point, is simply trying to read in the list of file paths and expand/replace the [m].
SET build.dir=%~dp0%
SET progfiles=%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%
IF "%progfiles%"=="" SET progfiles=%ProgramFiles%
SET local.properties=%build.dir%local.properties
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
FOR /F "tokens=1* delims==" %%i IN (%local.properties%) DO (
SET local.dir=%%j
SET local.dir=!local.dir:[m]=%progfiles%\MODULE!
echo !local.dir!
)
ENDLOCAL
Running this kicks out an error:
\MODULE was unexpected at this time.
If I replace the FOR with the following instead:
set test="[m]\Proj\Dir"
set test=!test:[m]=%progfiles%\MODULE!
echo %test%
I get the desired C:\Program Files(x86)\MODULE\Proj\Dir printed out...so I'm confused why it works fine outside of the FOR loop.
My understanding about delayed expansion is that it 'expands' at runtime...which you get to happen using !! instead of %% wrapped around the variable. Furthermore, as I'm creating the local.dir variable inside the FOR loop scope, I must use delayed expansion in order to access it with the updated value for the iteration.
I feel like the problem is using %progfiles%, like there's some special syntax I need to use in order to make it work but nothing is adding up for me. When I echo %progfiles%, it prints out as C:\Program Files(x86 -- note the missing trailing ).
Any ideas? Thanks
Tested suggestion:
D:\Projects\Test\Build>test
*** "D:\Projects\Test\Build\local.properties"
*** "","C:\Program Files (x86)"
[m]=C:\Program Files (x86)\MODULE
Adding quotes around the whole expression makes it work -- can't use other characters for some reason (like []) -- and since I want to append to the path later, we can safely remove the quotes afterwards:
SET local.dir="!local.dir:[m]=%progfiles%\MODULE!"
SET local.dir=!local.dir:"=!
Test this to see if you can nut out the issue:
The double quotes are to provide robust handling in a system with long file/path names.
The () are unquoted which are a problem in a batch script, when inside a loop.
#echo off
SET "build.dir=%~dp0%"
SET "progfiles=%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%"
IF "%progfiles%"=="" "SET progfiles=%ProgramFiles%"
SET "local.properties=%build.dir%local.properties"
echo *** "%local.properties%"
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1* delims==" %%i IN ("%local.properties%") DO (
SET "local.dir=%%j"
echo *** "!local.dir!","%progfiles%"
SET "local.dir=!local.dir:[m]=%progfiles%\MODULE!"
echo !local.dir!
)
ENDLOCAL
pause
It has to do with the () characters that end up in your progfiles string. If you take them out, the substitution seems to work fine.
My suggestion is to ditch command for this particular purpose and use one of the other standard tools that Windows comes with. While my personal preference would be Powershell (since it's so much more powerful and expressive), you may just need something quick that you can integrate into existing cmd.exe stuff.
In that case, try the following VBScript file, xlat.vbs:
set arg = wscript.arguments
wscript.echo Replace(arg(0),arg(1),arg(2))
Your batch file then becomes something like, noting the inner for /f which captures the output of the VBS script and assigns it to the variable:
#echo off
SET build.dir=%~dp0%
set progfiles=%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%
if "%progfiles%"=="" set progfiles=%ProgramFiles%
set local.properties=%build.dir%local.properties
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for /f "tokens=1* delims==" %%i in (%local.properties%) do (
set local.dir=%%j
for /f "delims=" %%x in ('cscript.exe //nologo xlat.vbs "!local.dir!" "[m]" "%progfiles%\MODULE"') do set local.dir=%%x
echo !local.dir!
)
endlocal
Running that, I get the output:
C:\Test
C:\Program Files (x86)\MODULE\Test
which I think is what you were after.

windows cmd enabledelayedexpansion not working

I'm having trouble running !var! examples ad described here http://ss64.com/nt/delayedexpansion.html
Instead of the expected variable content output as the example describes, I get the literal "bang V A R bang" output, any idea?
C:\>Setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
C:\>Set _var=first
C:\>Set _var=second& Echo %_var% !_var!
first !_var!
thanks.
You are getting an unexpected result because you are issuing the commands at the command prompt. Create a batch file by putting the following commands in a file with a .bat extension then run the batch file.
#echo off
Setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
Set _var=first
Set _var=second& Echo %_var% !_var!
E.g., if I created a batch file named delayedexp.bat with the above contents, I would see the following when I run it:
C:\Users\JDoe\Documents\>delayedexp
first second
setlocal only works within the confines of a command script:
help setlocal
If you have access to the parameters of the cmd call, you can set parameter /v. Must be first. And use ! instead % for variables.
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /v /c set a=10&echo a=!a!&echo My Path is %CD%&pause
This is how, for example, you can get the date in the Russia-France format directly in the Windows shortcut, where a simple percentage is impossible due to its doubling. In std queries with the /v parameter, both a percentage and an exclamation mark will work fine, but single % for cicles.
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /v /c echo off&for /F "tokens=1-6 delims=:., " %A In ("!date! !time!") Do (Echo %A.%B.%C %D:%E:%F)&pause

Evaluate an expression and send the result to another program in Windows Batch

I don't know how can i make this clear in a short sentence, so i give this example
Bash :
./foo $(ls -a)
First, "ls -a" is evaluated and converts to its output. So we 've got this line
./foo some_script Downloads
and then that's executed.
How can i achieve the same by using the windows command line?
P.S. : I need to use it when my IDE makes a build, so using PowerShell or CygWin is not an option
Assuming that the filenames contain no embedded spaces:
#echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set "args="
for /f "delims=" %%i in ('dir /a /b') do set "args=!args!%%i "
.\foo %args%

Get file name and append to beginning of line

I'm trying to get a side-by-side file path and file name in a text file so I can make inserting into a database easier. I've taken a look at other examples around SO, but I haven't been able to understand what is going on. For instance, I saw this batch file to append file names to end of lines but figured that I shouldn't ask for clarification because it's 1.5 years old.
What I have is a text file of file paths. They look like this:
\\proe\igi_files\TIFFS\AD\1_SIZE_AD\1AD0019.tif
What I want it to look like is this:
1AD0019.tif \\proe\igi_files\TIFFS\AD\1_SIZE_AD\1AD0019.tif
so that I can insert it into a database. Is there an easy way to do this on Windows via Batch files?
No batch file required. From the command line:
>"outputFile.txt" (for /f "usebackq eol=: delims=" %F in ("inputFile.txt") do #echo %~nxF %~dpF)
But that output format is risky because file and folder names can contain spaces, so it may be difficult to determine where the file name ends and the path begins. Better to enclose the file and path within quotes.
>"outputFile.txt" (for /f "usebackq eol=: delims=" %F in ("inputFile.txt") do echo "%~nxF" "%~dpF")
if done within a batch file, then percents must be doubled.
#echo off
>"outputFile.txt" (
for /f "usebackq eol=: delims=" %%F in ("inputFile.txt") do echo "%%~nxF" "%%~dpF"
)
You should read the built in help for the FOR command. Type help for or for /? from a command prompt to get help. That strategy works for pretty much for all commands.
In powershell, this little script should do the trick. In the first line, just specify the name of the text file that contains all the file paths.
$filelist="c:\temp\filelist.txt"
foreach($L in Get-Content $filelist) {
$i = $L.length - $L.lastindexof('\') -1
$fname=$L.substring($L.length - $i, $i)
echo ($fname + ' ' + $L)
}
If you don't have powershell installed on your machine, check out http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh847837.aspx.
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
(
FOR /f "delims=" %%i IN (yourfile.txt) DO ECHO %%~nxi %%i
)>newfile.txt
GOTO :EOF
No big drama - all on one active line, but spaced for clarity

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