Batch Echo Style: write two files at once [duplicate] - batch-file

I am trying to use the tee code written for a bat file but am having trouble implementing it in my code. I don't want to use any third party installs to solve the tee problem as I want the code to work if I format my computer in a year and want to run the program again.
I have it setup in this fashion:
mycommand.exe | tee.bat -a output.txt
I've tried with a seperate .bat file and tried including as a function (preffered) in the original .bat to no avail with:
myprogram.exe | call tee -a output.txt
echo.
echo.
echo.
SET /P restart="Do you want to run again? (1=yes, 2=no): "
if "%restart%"=="1" GOTO LoopStart
::--------------------------------------------------------
::-- Function section starts below here
::--------------------------------------------------------
:tee
:: Check Windows version
IF NOT "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" GOTO Syntax
|
:: Keep variables local
SETLOCAL
:: Check command line arguments
SET Append=0
IF /I [%1]==[-a] (
SET Append=1
SHIFT
)
IF [%1]==[] GOTO Syntax
IF NOT [%2]==[] GOTO Syntax
:: Test for invalid wildcards
SET Counter=0
FOR /F %%A IN ('DIR /A /B %1 2^>NUL') DO CALL :Count "%%~fA"
IF %Counter% GTR 1 (
SET Counter=
GOTO Syntax
)
:: A valid filename seems to have been specified
SET File=%1
:: Check if a directory with the specified name exists
DIR /AD %File% >NUL 2>NUL
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 (
SET File=
GOTO Syntax
)
:: Specify /Y switch for Windows 2000 / XP COPY command
SET Y=
VER | FIND "Windows NT" > NUL
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 SET Y=/Y
:: Flush existing file or create new one if -a wasn't specified
IF %Append%==0 (COPY %Y% NUL %File% > NUL 2>&1)
:: Actual TEE
FOR /F "tokens=1* delims=]" %%A IN ('FIND /N /V ""') DO (
> CON ECHO.%%B
>> %File% ECHO.%%B
)
:: Done
ENDLOCAL
GOTO:EOF
:Count
SET /A Counter += 1
SET File=%1
GOTO:EOF
:Syntax
ECHO.
ECHO Tee.bat, Version 2.11a for Windows NT 4 / 2000 / XP
ECHO Display text on screen and redirect it to a file simultaneously
ECHO.
IF NOT "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" ECHO Usage: some_command ¦ TEE.BAT [ -a ] filename
IF NOT "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" GOTO Skip
ECHO Usage: some_command ^| TEE.BAT [ -a ] filename
:Skip
ECHO.
ECHO Where: "some_command" is the command whose output should be redirected
ECHO "filename" is the file the output should be redirected to
ECHO -a appends the output of the command to the file,
ECHO rather than overwriting the file
ECHO.
ECHO Written by Rob van der Woude
ECHO http://www.robvanderwoude.com
ECHO Modified by Kees Couprie
ECHO http://kees.couprie.org
ECHO and Andrew Cameron
I am trying to split the output so I can save the console output to a file while still being able to interact with the program that is running.
How can I get the Tee command to work properly with my .bat so I can split the output to both a file and the console.

Your attempt to call a batch function within a pipe will always fail because of how Windows pipes work - Windows instantiates both sides of the pipe via new CMD shells. See https://stackoverflow.com/a/8194279/1012053 for more info.
That Rob van der Woude version of a batch tee cannot possibly work for you because it uses a FOR /F to read the results of a command - the command must execute to completion before any lines are read. That won't work if you need user interaction during the execution of the command. With that version of tee you might as well simply redirect output to a file and then TYPE the file when finished. Obviously not what you want.
There are pure batch tricks that can get you closer, but I think there is still one problem that can't be solved with pure batch. Your executable may put a prompt on a line without issuing a new line. I believe pure native batch always reads entire lines (except when at end of stream). I'm not aware of a batch method to read character by character.
Slight correction - SET /P can read partial lines of piped input, but it has limitations that prevent it from being used for a robust batch tee solution: There is no way to know for sure when each line ends. It is limited to 1021 characters per "line". It strips control characters from the end of each "line". There is no way to tell when it has reached the end of the input stream.
But there is a simple solution - JScript or VBScript works like a champ, and doesn't require any special installs. Here is a hybrid JScript/batch script that should work for you. The JScript is poorly written with lots of room for improvement. For example, there is no error checking.
I save the script as tee.bat. The first required argument specifies the name of the file to write to. By default, the file is over-written if it already exists. If a second argument is provided (value doesn't matter), then the output is appended to the file instead.
#if (#X)==(#Y) #end /* Harmless hybrid line that begins a JScript comment
::--- Batch section within JScript comment that calls the internal JScript ----
#echo off
cscript //E:JScript //nologo "%~f0" %*
exit /b
----- End of JScript comment, beginning of normal JScript ------------------*/
var fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
var mode=2;
if (WScript.Arguments.Count()==2) {mode=8;}
var out = fso.OpenTextFile(WScript.Arguments(0),mode,true);
var chr;
while( !WScript.StdIn.AtEndOfStream ) {
chr=WScript.StdIn.Read(1);
WScript.StdOut.Write(chr);
out.Write(chr);
}
Usage is pretty much like you would expect.
command.exe | tee.bat output.txt 1
The last 1 argument forces append mode. It could be any value besides 1
It is possible to put everything in one batch script as you seem to prefer.
#if (#X)==(#Y) #end /* Harmless hybrid line that begins a JScript comment
::--- Batch section within JScript comment ----------------------------
#echo off
::This block of code handles the TEE by calling the internal JScript code
if "%~1"=="_TEE_" (
cscript //E:JScript //nologo "%~f0" %2 %3
exit /b
)
::The rest of your batch script goes here
::This pipes to TEE in append mode
mycommand.exe | "%~f0" _TEE_ output.txt 1
exit /b
----- End of JScript comment, beginning of normal JScript ------------------*/
var fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
var mode=2;
if (WScript.Arguments.Count()==2) {mode=8;}
var out = fso.OpenTextFile(WScript.Arguments(0),mode,true);
var chr;
while( !WScript.StdIn.AtEndOfStream ) {
chr=WScript.StdIn.Read(1);
WScript.StdOut.Write(chr);
out.Write(chr);
}
Update
For anyone with an academic interest in batch scripting, I've posted a pure native batch version of tee at Asynchronous native batch tee script over at DosTips. But this hybrid approach is my preferred scripting solution.

Related

Remove empty lines and spaces from .txt-File with Batch [duplicate]

What is the Windows batch equivalent of the Linux shell command echo -n which suppresses the newline at the end of the output?
The idea is to write on the same line inside a loop.
Using set and the /p parameter you can echo without newline:
C:\> echo Hello World
Hello World
C:\> echo|set /p="Hello World"
Hello World
C:\>
Source
Using: echo | set /p= or <NUL set /p= will both work to suppress the newline.
However, this can be very dangerous when writing more advanced scripts when checking the ERRORLEVEL becomes important as setting set /p= without specifying a variable name will set the ERRORLEVEL to 1.
A better approach would be to just use a dummy variable name like so:
echo | set /p dummyName=Hello World
This will produce exactly what you want without any sneaky stuff going on in the background as I had to find out the hard way, but this only works with the piped version; <NUL set /p dummyName=Hello will still raise the ERRORLEVEL to 1.
The simple SET /P method has limitations that vary slightly between Windows versions.
Leading quotes may be stripped
Leading white space may be stripped
Leading = causes a syntax error.
See http://www.dostips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4209 for more information.
jeb posted a clever solution that solves most of the problems at Output text without linefeed, even with leading space or = I've refined the method so that it can safely print absolutely any valid batch string without the new line, on any version of Windows from XP onward. Note that the :writeInitialize method contains a string literal that may not post well to the site. A remark is included that describes what the character sequence should be.
The :write and :writeVar methods are optimized such that only strings containing troublesome leading characters are written using my modified version of jeb's COPY method. Non-troublesome strings are written using the simpler and faster SET /P method.
#echo off
setlocal disableDelayedExpansion
call :writeInitialize
call :write "=hello"
call :write " world!%$write.sub%OK!"
echo(
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
set lf=^
set "str= hello!lf!world^!!!$write.sub!hello!lf!world"
echo(
echo str=!str!
echo(
call :write "str="
call :writeVar str
echo(
exit /b
:write Str
::
:: Write the literal string Str to stdout without a terminating
:: carriage return or line feed. Enclosing quotes are stripped.
::
:: This routine works by calling :writeVar
::
setlocal disableDelayedExpansion
set "str=%~1"
call :writeVar str
exit /b
:writeVar StrVar
::
:: Writes the value of variable StrVar to stdout without a terminating
:: carriage return or line feed.
::
:: The routine relies on variables defined by :writeInitialize. If the
:: variables are not yet defined, then it calls :writeInitialize to
:: temporarily define them. Performance can be improved by explicitly
:: calling :writeInitialize once before the first call to :writeVar
::
if not defined %~1 exit /b
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
if not defined $write.sub call :writeInitialize
set $write.special=1
if "!%~1:~0,1!" equ "^!" set "$write.special="
for /f delims^=^ eol^= %%A in ("!%~1:~0,1!") do (
if "%%A" neq "=" if "!$write.problemChars:%%A=!" equ "!$write.problemChars!" set "$write.special="
)
if not defined $write.special (
<nul set /p "=!%~1!"
exit /b
)
>"%$write.temp%_1.txt" (echo !str!!$write.sub!)
copy "%$write.temp%_1.txt" /a "%$write.temp%_2.txt" /b >nul
type "%$write.temp%_2.txt"
del "%$write.temp%_1.txt" "%$write.temp%_2.txt"
set "str2=!str:*%$write.sub%=%$write.sub%!"
if "!str2!" neq "!str!" <nul set /p "=!str2!"
exit /b
:writeInitialize
::
:: Defines 3 variables needed by the :write and :writeVar routines
::
:: $write.temp - specifies a base path for temporary files
::
:: $write.sub - contains the SUB character, also known as <CTRL-Z> or 0x1A
::
:: $write.problemChars - list of characters that cause problems for SET /P
:: <carriageReturn> <formFeed> <space> <tab> <0xFF> <equal> <quote>
:: Note that <lineFeed> and <equal> also causes problems, but are handled elsewhere
::
set "$write.temp=%temp%\writeTemp%random%"
copy nul "%$write.temp%.txt" /a >nul
for /f "usebackq" %%A in ("%$write.temp%.txt") do set "$write.sub=%%A"
del "%$write.temp%.txt"
for /f %%A in ('copy /z "%~f0" nul') do for /f %%B in ('cls') do (
set "$write.problemChars=%%A%%B  ""
REM the characters after %%B above should be <space> <tab> <0xFF>
)
exit /b
As an addendum to #xmechanix's answer, I noticed through writing the contents to a file:
echo | set /p dummyName=Hello World > somefile.txt
That this will add an extra space at the end of the printed string, which can be inconvenient, specially since we're trying to avoid adding a new line (another whitespace character) to the end of the string.
Fortunately, quoting the string to be printed, i.e. using:
echo | set /p dummyName="Hello World" > somefile.txt
Will print the string without any newline or space character at the end.
A solution for the stripped white space in SET /P:
the trick is that backspace char which you can summon in the text editor EDIT for DOS. To create it in EDIT press ctrlP+ctrlH.
I would paste it here but this webpage can't display it. It's visible on Notepad though (it's werid, like a small black rectangle with a white circle in the center)
So you write this:
<nul set /p=.9 Hello everyone
The dot can be any char, it's only there to tell SET /P that the text starts there, before the spaces, and not at the "Hello".
The "9" is a representation of the backspace char that I can't display here. You have to put it instead of the 9, and it will delete the "." , after which you'll get this:
Hello Everyone
instead of:
Hello Everyone
I hope it helps
Here is another method, it uses Powershell Write-Host which has a -NoNewLine parameter, combine that with start /b and it offers the same functionality from batch.
NoNewLines.cmd
#ECHO OFF
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 1 - ';Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 2 - ';Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 3 - '"
PAUSE
Output
Result 1 - Result 2 - Result 3 - Press any key to continue . . .
This one below is slightly different, doesn't work exactly like the OP wants, but is interesting because each result overwrites the previous result emulating a counter.
#ECHO OFF
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 1 - '"
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 2 - '"
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 3 - '"
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 4 - '"
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 5 - '"
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 6 - '"
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 7 - '"
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 8 - '"
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "Write-Host -NoNewLine 'Result 9 - '"
PAUSE
You can remove the newline using "tr" from gnuwin32 (coreutils package)
#echo off
set L=First line
echo %L% | tr -d "\r\n"
echo Second line
pause
By the way, if you are doing lots of scripting, gnuwin32 is a goldmine.
I made a function out of #arnep 's idea:
echo|set /p="Hello World"
here it is:
:SL (sameline)
echo|set /p=%1
exit /b
Use it with call :SL "Hello There"
I know this is nothing special but it took me so long to think of it I figured I'd post it here.
DIY cw.exe (console write) utility
If you don't find it out-of-the-box, off-the-shelf, you can DIY. With this cw utility you can use every kind of characters. At least, I'd like to think so. Please stress-test it and let me know.
Tools
All you need is .NET installed, which is very common nowadays.
Materials
Some characters typed/copy-pasted.
Steps
Create .bat file with the following content.
/* >nul 2>&1
#echo off
setlocal
set exe=cw
for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%v in ('dir /b /s /a:-d /o:-n "%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\*csc.exe"') do set "csc=%%v"
"%csc%" -nologo -out:"%exe%.exe" "%~f0"
endlocal
exit /b %errorlevel%
*/
using System;
namespace cw {
class Program {
static void Main() {
var exe = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()[0];
var rawCmd = Environment.CommandLine;
var line = rawCmd.Remove(rawCmd.IndexOf(exe),exe.Length).TrimStart('"');
line = line.Length < 2 ? "\r" : line.Substring(2) ;
Console.Write(line);
}
}
}
Run it.
Now you have a nice 4KB utility so you can delete the .bat.
Alternatively, you can insert this code as a subroutine in any batch, send the resulting .exe to %temp%, use it in your batch and delete it when you're done.
How to use
If you want write something without new line:
cw Whatever you want, even with "", but remember to escape ^|, ^^, ^&, etc. unless double-quoted, like in "| ^ &".
If you want a carriage return (going to the beginning of the line), run just
cw
So try this from command line:
for /l %a in (1,1,1000) do #(cw ^|&cw&cw /&cw&cw -&cw&cw \&cw)
From here
<nul set /p =Testing testing
and also to echo beginning with spaces use
echo.Message goes here
Maybe this is what your looking for, it's a old school script... :P
set nl=^& echo.
echo %nl%The%nl%new%nl%line%nl%is%nl%not%nl%apparent%nl%throughout%nl%text%nl%
echo only in prompt.
pause
or maybe your trying to replace a current line instead of writing to a new line?
you can experiment with this by removing the "%bs%" after the "." sign and also by spacing out the other "%bs%" after the "Example message".
for /f %%a in ('"prompt $H&for %%b in (1) do rem"') do set "bs=%%a"
<nul set /p=.%bs% Example message %bs%
pause
I find this really interesting because it uses a variable for a purpose other than what it is intended to do. as you can see the "%bs%" represents a backspace. The second "%bs%" uses the backspace to add spaces after the "Example message" to separate the "Pause command's output" without actually adding a visible character after the "Example message". However, this is also possible with a regular percentage sign.
Sample 1: This works and produces Exit code = 0. That is Good.
Note the "." , directly after echo.
C:\Users\phife.dog\gitrepos\1\repo_abc\scripts #
#echo.| set /p JUNK_VAR=This is a message displayed like Linux echo -n would display it ... & echo %ERRORLEVEL%
This is a message displayed like Linux echo -n would display it ... 0
Sample 2: This works but produces Exit code = 1. That is Bad.
Please note the lack of ".", after echo. That appears to be the difference.
C:\Users\phife.dog\gitrepos\1\repo_abc\scripts #
#echo | set /p JUNK_VAR=This is a message displayed like Linux echo -n would display it ... & echo %ERRORLEVEL%
This is a message displayed like Linux echo -n would display it ... 1
Inspired by the answers to this question, I made a simple counter batch script that keeps printing the progress value (0-100%) on the same line (overwritting the previous one). Maybe this will also be valuable to others looking for a similar solution.
Remark: The * are non-printable characters, these should be entered using [Alt + Numpad 0 + Numpad 8] key combination, which is the backspace character.
#ECHO OFF
FOR /L %%A in (0, 10, 100) DO (
ECHO|SET /P="****%%A%%"
CALL:Wait 1
)
GOTO:EOF
:Wait
SET /A "delay=%~1+1"
CALL PING 127.0.0.1 -n %delay% > NUL
GOTO:EOF
You can suppress the new line by using the set /p command. The set /p command does not recognize a space, for that you can use a dot and a backspace character to make it recognize it. You can also use a variable as a memory and store what you want to print in it, so that you can print the variable instead of the sentence. For example:
#echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for /f %%a in ('"prompt $H & for %%b in (1) do rem"') do (set "bs=%%a")
cls
set "var=Hello World! :)"
set "x=0"
:loop
set "display=!var:~%x%,1!"
<nul set /p "print=.%bs%%display%"
ping -n 1 localhost >nul
set /a "x=%x% + 1"
if "!var:~%x%,1!" == "" goto end
goto loop
:end
echo.
pause
exit
In this way you can print anything without a new line. I have made the program to print the characters one by one, but you can use words too instead of characters by changing the loop.
In the above example I used "enabledelayedexpansion" so the set /p command does not recognize "!" character and prints a dot instead of that. I hope that you don't have the use of the exclamation mark "!" ;)
Use EchoX.EXE from the terrific "Shell Scripting Toolkit" by Bill Stewart
How to suppress the linefeed in a Windows Cmd script:
#Echo Off
Rem Print three Echos in one line of output
EchoX -n "Part 1 - "
EchoX -n "Part 2 - "
EchoX "Part 3"
Rem
gives:
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
{empty line}
d:\Prompt>
The help for this usage is:
Usage: echox [-n] message
-n Do not skip to the next line.
message The text to be displayed.
The utility is smaller than 48K, and should live in your Path. More things it can do:- print text without moving to the next line- print text justified to the left, center, or right, within a certain width- print text with Tabs, Linefeeds, and Returns- print text in foreground and background colors
The Toolkit includes twelve more great scripting tricks.
The download page also hosts three other useful tool packages.
I found this simple one-line batch file called "EchoPart.bat" to be quite useful.
#echo | set /p=%*
I could then write something like the line below even on an interactive CMD line, or as part of a shortcut. It opens up a few new possibilities.
echopart "Hello, " & echopart "and then " & echo Goodbye
And if you're using it in batch files, the texts can be got from parameter variables instead of immutable strings. For instance:
#echopart Hello %* & #echo , how are you?
So that executing this line in "SayHello.bat" allows:
or even...
Have a play, and have fun!
I believe there's no such option. Alternatively you can try this
set text=Hello
set text=%text% world
echo %text%
Echo with preceding space and without newline
As stated by Pedro earlier, echo without new line and with preceding space works (provided "9" is a true [BackSpace]).
<nul set /p=.9 Hello everyone
I had some issues getting it to work in Windows 10 with the new console but managed the following way.
In CMD type:
echo .◘>bs.txt
I got "◘" by pressing [Alt] + [8]
(the actual symbol may vary depending upon codepage).
Then it's easy to copy the result from "bs.txt" using Notepad.exe to where it's needed.
#echo off
<nul set /p "_s=.◘ Hello everyone"
echo: here
With jscript:
#if (#X)==(#Y) #end /*
#cscript //E:JScript //nologo "%~nx0" %*
#exit /b %errorlevel%
*/if(WScript.Arguments.Count()>0) WScript.StdOut.Write(WScript.Arguments.Item(0));
if it is called write.bat you can test it like:
call write.bat string & echo _Another_String_
If you want to use powershell but with cmd defined variables you can use:
set str=_My_StrinG_
powershell "Write-Host -NoNewline ""%str%"""" & echo #Another#STRING#
Late answer here, but for anyone who needs to write special characters to a single line who find dbenham's answer to be about 80 lines too long and whose scripts may break (perhaps due to user-input) under the limitations of simply using set /p, it's probably easiest to just to pair your .bat or .cmd with a compiled C++ or C-language executable and then just cout or printf the characters. This will also allow you to easily write multiple times to one line if you're showing a sort of progress bar or something using characters, as OP apparently was.

Writing to a file in batch

I've set up an app for a couple of friends and me in batch with a auto-updating system, but I need to add a line of code in the auto-updating system. I decided to completely rewrite the file, it takes a long time to add 'echo' in from to every line and, '>>text.txt' at the end of every line and added '^' when needed, so I was wondering if there was an easier way of writing lot's of code to a file in batch.
Example:
#echo off
rem I need a way to do the following without adding 'echo' and '>>text.txt'
echo echo Checking for updates... >text.txt
echo echo 1.4 ^>^>new.txt >>text.txt
echo ping localhost -n 2 ^>nul >>text.txt
rem and so on and so on.
Or if there is a way to simply add a new line of code in a specific place in the file, that would also help!
Thanks in advance!
The following is how you can more easily and efficiently do what your current code does, by removing all of those individual write processes.
#( Echo #Echo Checking for updates...
Echo #(Echo 1.4^)^>^>"new.txt"
Echo #(%__AppDir__%ping.exe LocalHost -n 2^)^>NUL
)>"text.txt"
There are other possibilities, but at this time, based on the lack of information in your question, I'm reluctant to expand further at this time.
If I understand correctly, then you could do the following:
in the batch file, prepend each line of text that you want to output with :::: (this constitutes an invalid label that is going to be ignored);
then use the following code:
rem // Redirect to file:
> "text.txt" (
rem // Find all lines that begin with `::::` and loop over them:
for /F "delims=" %%T in ('findstr "^::::" "%~f0"') do (
rem // Store currently iterated line:
set "TEXT=%%T"
rem // Toggle delayed expansion to avoid loss of `!`:
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
rem // Remove `::::` prefix and output remaining line:
echo(!TEXT:*::::=!
endlocal
)
)
replace set "TEXT=%%T" by call set "TEXT=%%T" if you want to enable percent expansion within the returned text (so it could, for example, contain %~nx0, which would then be expanded to the file name of the script).
I am using this technique a lot (without the output redirection) for help systems in my batch files (/?).
Your asked
I need a way to do the following without adding echo and >>text.txt
The script takes advantage of the line continuation character, the caret ^.
The first character after the caret ^ is always escaped, so do linefeed characters:
#echo off
SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
call :init
>text.txt (
echo #echo off%NL%
Checking for updates...%NL%
>^>new.txt echo 1.4%NL%
>NUL ping localhost -n 2
)
ENDLOCAL
exit /b
:init
( set LF=^
%= 0X0D FORM FEED =%
)
::0X0A Carriage Return
FOR /F %%a in ('copy /Z "%~f0" nul') do set "CR=%%a"
::Create newline/line continuation character
set ^"NL=^^^%LF%%LF%^%LF%%LF%^^" %= Unix-Style Endings \n =%
::set ^"NL=%CR%^^^%LF%%LF%^%LF%%LF%^^" %= Windows-Style Endings \r\n =%
exit /b
The variable %LF% is a escaped linefeed, and %NL% is a escaped %LF% plus a escaped caret ^ for line continuation.
The code
>^>new.txt echo 1.4%NL%
>NUL ping localhost -n 2
might seem strange. Why isn't the first caret ^ escaped?
Because %NL% already escaped it.
Sources:
Explain how Windows batch newline variable hack works
https://stackoverflow.com/a/5642300/12861751
https://www.dostips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6369

My Batch file loop stops because of open file

I am trying to build a batch file that pings multiple devices on our network and continues logging ping results data in an output file in an infinite loop. However, the infinite loop gets hung up because the output file is open. Once I manually close the output file, the loop begins another iteration and logs more data. How do I automate this step? I've gone through so many options with taskkill, but none of them will close the output file for some reason. Other Notepad files close, but not the output file running on notepad.
Thanks for you help! Code is below:
#echo off
if exist C:\Users\Tsgadmin\Desktop\data\computers.txt goto Label1
echo.
echo Cannot find C:\Users\Tsgadmin\Desktop\data\computers.txt
echo.
Pause
goto :eof
:Label1
:loop
echo ================================================= >> C:\Users\Tsgadmin\Desktop\ping_firepanels_output.txt
echo PingTest executed on %date% at %time% >> C:\Users\Tsgadmin\Desktop\ping_firepanels_output.txt
for /f %%i in (C:\Users\Tsgadmin\Desktop\data\computers.txt) do call :Sub %%i
notepad C:\Users\Tsgadmin\Desktop\ping_firepanels_output.txt
choice /n/t:c,<10>/c:cc
echo ================================================= >> C:\Users\Tsgadmin\Desktop\ping_firepanels_output.txt
echo. >> C:\Users\Tsgadmin\Desktop\ping_firepanels_output.txt
start notepad.exe
for /f "tokens=2" %%x in ('tasklist ^| findstr notepad.exe') do set PIDTOKILL=%%x
taskkill /F /IM notepad.exe > nul
goto loop
goto :eof
:Sub
echo Testing %1
ping -n 1 %1 >> C:\Users\Tsgadmin\Desktop\ping_firepanels_output.txt | find /i "(0% loss)"
echo %1 Testing done
echo %1 Testing done >> C:\Users\Tsgadmin\Desktop\ping_firepanels_output.txt
Here is your batch code rewritten for this task:
#echo off
setlocal EnableExtensions DisableDelayedExpansion
set "LogFile=%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\ping_firepanels_output.txt"
set "ListFile=%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\data\computers.txt"
if exist "%ListFile%" goto PrepareForPings
echo/
echo Cannot find file: "%ListFile%"
echo/
endlocal
pause
goto :EOF
rem Delete existing log file before running the echo requests.
rem Get just file name with file extension without path from
rem log file name with path specified at top of the batch file.
:PrepareForPings
del "%LogFile%" 2>nul
for /F %%I in ("%LogFile%") do set "LogFileName=%%~nxI"
rem Always terminate (not kill) running Notepad instance with having
rem the log file opened for viewing before running first/next test run.
:PingLoop
%SystemRoot%\System32\taskkill.exe /FI "WINDOWTITLE eq %LogFileName% - Notepad" >nul 2>nul
echo =================================================>>"%LogFile%"
>>"%LogFile%" echo PingTest executed on %DATE% at %TIME%
echo/>>"%LogFile%"
for /F "usebackq" %%I in ("%ListFile%") do (
echo Testing %%I ...
%SystemRoot%\System32\ping.exe -n 1 -w 500 %%I>nul
if errorlevel 1 (
echo %%I is not available in network (no reply^).>>"%LogFile%"
) else echo %%I is available.>>"%LogFile%"
echo %%I testing done.
)
echo =================================================>>"%LogFile%"
echo/>>"%LogFile%"
start "" %SystemRoot%\notepad.exe "%LogFile%"
echo/
%SystemRoot%\System32\choice.exe /C NY /N /T 10 /D Y /M "Run again (Y/n): "
echo/
if errorlevel 2 goto PingLoop
endlocal
In general it is advisable to define environment variables with names of files specified multiple times in the batch file at top to make it easier to modify them in future.
On referencing those file environment variables it is strongly recommended to enclose the name in double quotes to get a working batch file also when file name with path contains a space character or one of these characters: &()[]{}^=;!'+,`~
If a file name enclosed in double quotes is specified as text file of which lines to read in a for /F command line, it is necessary to use option usebackq to get interpreted the file name enclosed in double quotes as file name and not as string to process by FOR.
The DosTips forum topic ECHO. FAILS to give text or blank line - Instead use ECHO/ explains why it is better to use echo/ instead of echo. to output an empty line.
The TASKKILL command used to send Notepad the terminate signal for a graceful termination should be send only to the Notepad instance having the log file opened and not any other perhaps running Notepad instance.
An ECHO line redirected to a file with > or >> with a space left to redirection operator results in having this space also written as trailing space into the file. For that reason there should be no space between text to write into the file and redirection operator. A space right to > or >> would be no problem as not written into the file.
When a variable text is output on an ECHO line redirected into a file which could end with 1, 2, 3, ... 9, it is necessary to specify the redirection from STDOUT into the file with >> at beginning of the line as otherwise 1>>, 2>>, ... would be interpreted different as expected on execution of the ECHO command line. Read also the Microsoft article about Using Command Redirection Operators.
There is no subroutine necessary for this task. A command block starting with opening parenthesis ( and matching ) can be used here too. That makes the execution of the loop a bit faster, not really noticeable faster, but nevertheless faster.
There is a text written with echo into the log file containing also a closing parenthesis ) not within a double quoted string. This ) would be interpreted as matching ) for opening ( of true branch of IF condition. It is necessary to escape ) with caret character ^ to get ) interpreted as literal character by Windows command interpreter.
PING exits with exit code 1 if the echo request was not replied. Otherwise on successful reply the exit code is 0. It is better to evaluate the exit code via errorlevel than filtering the language dependent output.
New instance of Notepad with the log file to view is started by this batch file using command start to run Notepad in a separate process running parallel to command process executing the batch file. Otherwise the execution of the batch file would be halted as long as the started Notepad instance is not closed by the user. That different behavior can be easily seen on removing start "" at beginning of the command line starting Notepad.
The command CHOICE gives the user of the batch file the possibility to exit the loop by pressing key N (case-insensitive) within 10 seconds. Otherwise the user prompt is automatically answered with choice Y and the loop is executed once again by first terminating running Notepad.
For understanding the used commands and how they work, open a command prompt window, execute there the following commands, and read entirely all help pages displayed for each command very carefully.
choice /?
del /?
echo /?
endlocal /?
for /?
goto /?
if /?
pause /?
ping /?
set /?
setlocal /?
start /?
taskkill /?
See also Windows Environment Variables for details on environment variables USERPROFILE and SystemRoot as used in this batch file.

Batch %1 get path with whitespace

I have set up a batch file to be default to open .txt files. In an earlier question I found out that %1 gives me the path of the file which was actually calling the batch file. The Problem is: if the file name contains white space, it gets interpreted as multiple parameters.
Example:
opening file "C:\Users\Desktop\space true.txt"
%1 gives:"C:\Users\Desktop\space" and then %2 gives: "true.txt"
How could I get just the full file path with the name and white space without trying to do a loop to attempt to get the full path by combining %1%2%3%4...
UPDATE-----------------------
Sorry there was a miss communication. The code below is working. The trick was to put "%*" instead of "%1"
here the code:
#echo on
set var= "%*"
c:
cd "C:\Users\MyText Editor"
start javaw -jar "MyTextEditor.jar"%var%
pause
I do the whole changing the path, because the file which I double click and the the the batch file are in different directories. I had to change it to this.
UPDATE 2 --------------------------
The solution which worked best for me was from this fine gentlemen dbenham.
#echo off
pushd "C:\Users\MyText Editor"
start javaw -jar "MyTextEditor.jar" %*
The only complain I have is, that there is a case, where %* does not return the path with quotes. So I am searching for a final solution. Something like this "%~*" But this doesn't work.
Thanks in advance
The following is not quite correct - I thought the file associations would put quotes around the file name like drag and drop does. But I was mistaken
This line is the source of your problem:
set var= "%*"
When files are dragged onto your batch script, or if a text file is double clicked, any file name(s) containing space will automatically be enclosed within quotes.
When you add your own additional quotes, it defeats the purpose of the quotes - the space is no longer quoted.
For example, a string like "name with space.txt" is treated as a single arg, but with added quotes, ""name with space.txt"" becomes three arguments.
There is no need for your var variable. You can use %* directly in your START command.
#echo on
pushd "C:\Users\MyText Editor"
start javaw -jar "MyTextEditor.jar" %*
pause
I'm not sure the above works properly if multiple files are passed. I suspect you may want the following:
#echo on
pushd "C:\Users\MyText Editor"
for %%F in (%*) do start javaw -jar "MyTextEditor.jar" %%F
pause
There is one potential problem. Windows has a bug in that file names containing & are not automatically quoted as they should. See "Droplet" batch script - filenames containing ampersands for more info.
EDIT - The following should work
OK, I did some tests and I believe your best bet is to modify the command associated with .txt files.
I tested association changes via the command line. This must be done via an elevated command prompt with admin rights. On my machine I go to the Start menu, click on "All Programs", click on "Accessories" folder, right click "Command Prompt", and select "Run as administrator", then click "Yes" to allow the program to make changes to the system.
The following command will show which file type needs to be modified
assoc .txt
On my machine it reports .txt=txtfile, so txtfile is what must be modified using FTYPE.
I believe the following should work for you:
ftype txtfile="C:\pathToYourScrpt\yourScript.bat" "%1"
Obviously you would need to fix the path to your batch script :-)
Once you have made the change, the filename will automatically be quoted every time your script is invoked via a file association.
Your batch script can then look like the following, and it should work no matter how it is invoked (excepting drag and drop with file name containing & but no space):
#echo off
pushd "C:\Users\MyText Editor"
for %%F in (%*) do start javaw -jar "MyTextEditor.jar" %%F
It seems to me you should be able to eliminate the batch script and configure FTYPE TXTFILE to open your java editor directly. I should think something like the following:
ftype txtfile="c:\pathToJava\javaw.exe" -jar "C:\Users\MyText Editor\MyTextEditor.jar" "%1"
When calling your batch file, you must enclose your parameter in quotes if there is spaces in it.
E.g.: Batch.cmd "C:\Users\Desktop\space true.txt"
Eric
%*
Here's a list of characters.
& seperates commands on a line.
&& executes this command only if previous command's errorlevel is 0.
|| (not used above) executes this command only if previous command's errorlevel is NOT 0
> output to a file
>> append output to a file
< input from a file
| output of one command into the input of another command
^ escapes any of the above, including itself, if needed to be passed to a program
" parameters with spaces must be enclosed in quotes
+ used with copy to concatinate files. E.G. copy file1+file2 newfile
, used with copy to indicate missing parameters. This updates the files modified date. E.G. copy /b file1,,
%variablename% a inbuilt or user set environmental variable
!variablename! a user set environmental variable expanded at execution time, turned with SelLocal EnableDelayedExpansion command
%<number> (%1) the nth command line parameter passed to a batch file. %0 is the batchfile's name.
%* (%*) the entire command line.
%<a letter> or %%<a letter> (%A or %%A) the variable in a for loop. Single % sign at command prompt and double % sign in a batch file.
Your problem is really that the syntax of your set command is wrong. In a batch
file, a set command looks like this:
set "var=%1"
That will give you your variable exactly as received. If the user quoted it,
then the variable's value will have quotes around it. To remove the quotes,
you'd put a ~ in front of the number:
set "var=%~1"
Notice how the quotes go around the entire assignment, and not just around the
value you are assigning. It is not set var="%1".
If you use set var= "%*", you haven't really fixed the fundamental problem
that your syntax is wrong. Plus, often you really do want %1 and not the
entire command line.
Here is an example script to test various quoting behaviors:
#echo off
set var="%*"
echo 1. var="%%*" --^> [%var%] (wrong)
set "var=%*"
echo 2. "var=%%*" --^> [%var%]
set "var=%1"
echo 3. "var=%%1" --^> [%var%]
set "var=%~1"
echo 4. "var=%%~1" --^> [%var%]
set "var=%~2"
echo 5. "var=%%~2" --^> [%var%]
set "var=%~3"
echo 6. "var=%%~3" --^> [%var%]
And here is the output of that script. Note how arg1, arg2, and arg3 are all
quoted:
C:\batch> all_args.cmd "arg 1" "this is arg 2" "arg 3"
1. var="%*" --> [""arg 1" "this is arg 2" "arg 3""] (wrong)
2. "var=%*" --> ["arg 1" "this is arg 2" "arg 3"]
3. "var=%1" --> ["arg 1"]
4. "var=%~1" --> [arg 1]
5. "var=%~2" --> [this is arg 2]
6. "var=%~3" --> [arg 3]
You can see that numbers 4, 5, and 6 correctly pulled out their quoted arguments
and saved the value into var. You typically want to save the argument without quotes, and then quote it when you use it in your script. In other words, your script should look like this:
#echo on
set "var=%~1"
c:
cd "C:\Users\MyText Editor"
start javaw -jar "MyTextEditor.jar" "%var%"
pause
#echo on
set var= "%*"
c:
cd "C:\Users\MyText Editor"
start javaw -jar "MyTextEditor.jar"%var%
pause
Becomes removing redundant commands
start "" javaw -jar "C:\Users\MyText Editor\MyTextEditor.jar" "%*"
pause
Echo is already on unless turned off by you.
We don't put things into variables for no reason, and it's already in %*. It just makes convoluted code and removes meaning from the name of the variable.
When programming (unlike typing) we don't change paths (and cd /d C:\Users\MyText Editor does drive and folder anyway).
We specify full path on the command line. This makes your meaning quite clear.
The main problem was there was no space between .jar and %var% and start command the first quotes on the line are assumed to the CMD's window title. I would code the path to javaw and not use start. Start is asking the Windows' graphical shell to start the file, not CMD.
Here's a batch file that starts vbs files. I don't specify path to cscript as it's a Windows' command.
It's complexity is to make use fairly idiot proof and easy for others.
#echo off
Rem Make sure filter.vbs exists
set filter=
set filterpath=
Call :FindFilter filter.vbs
Rem Add filter.bat to the path if not in there, setx fails if it's already there
setx path %~dp0;%path% 1>nul 2>nul
Rem Test for some command line parameters
If not "%1"=="" goto main
echo.
echo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
echo.
echo Filter.bat
echo ==========
echo.
echo The Filter program is a vbs file for searching, replacing, extracting, and
echo trimming console output and text files.
echo.
echo Filter.bat makes Filter.vbs easily usable from the command line. It
echo controls unicode/ansi support and debugging.
echo.
echo Type Filter Help or Filter HTMLHelp for more information.
echo.
cscript //nologo "%filter%" menu
Goto :EOF
:Main
echo %date% %time% %~n0 %* >>"%~dp0\FilterHistory.txt"
rem echo Batch file ran
rem echo %*
Rem /ud Unicode and Debug
If %1==/ud FOR /F "tokens=1*" %%i IN ("%*") DO cscript "%filter%
" //nologo //u //x %%j&Goto :EOF
Rem /u Unicode
If %1==/u FOR /F "tokens=1*" %%i IN ("%*") DO cscript "%filter%
" //nologo //u %%j&Goto :EOF
Rem /d Ansi Debug
If %1==/d FOR /F "tokens=1*" %%i IN ("%*") DO cscript "%filter%
" //nologo //x %%j&Goto :EOF
Rem -ud Unicode and Debug
If %1==-ud FOR /F "tokens=1*" %%i IN ("%*") DO cscript "%filter%
" //nologo //u //x %%j&Goto :EOF
Rem /u Unicode
If %1==-u FOR /F "tokens=1*" %%i IN ("%*") DO cscript "%filter%
" //nologo //u %%j&Goto :EOF
Rem -d Ansi Debug
If %1==-d FOR /F "tokens=1*" %%i IN ("%*") DO cscript "%filter%
" //nologo //x %%j&Goto :EOF
Rem ANSI
cscript "%filter%
" //nologo %*&Goto :EOF
Goto :EOF
:FindFilter
If Exist "%~dpn0.vbs" set filter=%~dpn0.vbs&set filterpath=%~dp0&goto :EOF
echo find filter 1
If Not "%~dpnx$PATH:1" == "" set filter=%~dpnx1&set filterpath=%~dp1&goto :EOF
echo find filter 2
If Exist "%temp%\filter.vbs" set filter=%temp%\filter.vbs&set filterpath=%temp%&goto :EOF
copy "%~dpnx0" "%~dpn0.bak"
if not errorlevel 1 (
echo creating "%~dpn0.vbs"
goto :EOF
)
copy "%~dpnx0" "%temp%\filter.bak"
echo Error %errorlevel%
if not errorlevel 1 (
echo creating "%temp%\filter.bak"
Goto :EOF
)
Goto :EOF

CMD.EXE batch script to display last 10 lines from a txt file

Any ideas how to echo or type the last 10 lines of a txt file?
I'm running a server change log script to prompt admins to state what they're doing, so we can track changes. I'm trying to get the script to show the last 10 entries or so to give an idea of what's been happening recently. I've found a script that deals with the last line, as shown below, but can't figure out what to change in it to display the last 10 lines.
Script:
#echo off
setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
for /f "tokens=* delims= " %%a in (c:\log09.txt) do (
set var=%%a
)
echo !var!
Example of log file:
06/02/2009, 12:22,Remote=Workstation-9,Local=,
mdb,bouncing box after updates,CAS-08754,
=================
07/02/2009, 2:38,Remote=,Local=SERVER1,
mdb,just finished ghosting c drive,CAS-08776,
=================
07/02/2009, 3:09,Remote=,Local=SERVER1,
mdb,audit of server,CAS-08776,
Any thoughts?
The script works great, just need it to pipe more lines to the screen.
Hopefully this will save Joel's eyes :)
#echo OFF
:: Get the number of lines in the file
set LINES=0
for /f "delims==" %%I in (data.txt) do (
set /a LINES=LINES+1
)
:: Print the last 10 lines (suggestion to use more courtsey of dmityugov)
set /a LINES=LINES-10
more +%LINES% < data.txt
This answer combines the best features of already existing answers, and adds a few twists.
The solution is a simple batch implementation of the tail command.
The first argument is the file name (possibly with path information - be sure to enclose in quotes if any portion of path contains spaces or other problematic characters).
The second argument is the number of lines to print.
Finally any of the standard MORE options can be appended: /E /C /P /S /Tn. (See MORE /? for more information).
Additionally the /N (no pause) option can be specified to cause the output to be printed continuosly without pausing.
The solution first uses FIND to quickly count the number of lines. The file is passed in via redirected input instead of using a filename argument in order to eliminate the printout of the filename in the FIND output.
The number of lines to skip is computed with SET /A, but then it resets the number to 0 if it is less than 0.
Finally uses MORE to print out the desired lines after skipping the unwanted lines. MORE will pause after each screen's worth of lines unless the output is redirected to a file or piped to another command. The /N option avoids the pauses by piping the MORE output to FINDSTR with a regex that matches all lines. It is important to use FINDSTR instead of FIND because FIND can truncate long lines.
:: tail.bat File Num [/N|/E|/C|/P|/S|/Tn]...
::
:: Prints the last Num lines of text file File.
::
:: The output will pause after filling the screen unless the /N option
:: is specified
::
:: The standard MORE options /E /C /P /S /Tn can be specified.
:: See MORE /? for more information
::
#echo OFF
setlocal
set file=%1
set "cnt=%~2"
shift /1
shift /1
set "options="
set "noPause="
:parseOptions
if "%~1" neq "" (
if /i "%~1" equ "/N" (set noPause=^| findstr "^") else set options=%options% %~1
shift /1
goto :parseOptions
)
for /f %%N in ('find /c /v "" ^<%file%') do set skip=%%N
set /a "skip-=%cnt%"
if %skip% lss 0 set skip=0
more +%skip% %options% %file% %noPause%
You should probably just find a good implementation of tail. But if you really really insist on using CMD batch files and want to run on any NT machine unmolested, this will work:
#echo off
setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
for /f "tokens=* delims= " %%a in (c:\tmp\foo.txt) do (
set var9=!var8!
set var8=!var7!
set var7=!var6!
set var6=!var5!
set var5=!var4!
set var4=!var3!
set var3=!var2!
set var2=!var1!
set var1=!var!
set var=%%a
)
echo !var9!
echo !var8!
echo !var7!
echo !var6!
echo !var5!
echo !var4!
echo !var3!
echo !var2!
echo !var1!
echo !var!
There are several windows implementations of the tail command. It should be exactly what you want.
This one sounds particularly good:
http://malektips.com/xp_dos_0001.html
They range from real-time monitoring to the last x lines of the file.
Edit: I noticed that the included link is to a package It should work, but here are some more versions:
http://www.lostinthebox.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3801
http://sourceforge.net/projects/tailforwin32
If file is too large it can take too long to get count of lines
another way is to use find and pass it a nowhere string
$find /v /c "%%$%!" yourtextfile.txt
this would result an output like this
$---------- yourtextfile.txt: 140
then you can parse output using for like this
$for /f "tokens=3" %i in ('find /v /c "%%$%!" tt.txt') do set countoflines=%i
then you can substract ten lines from the total lines
After trying all of the answers I found on this page none of them worked on my file with 15539 lines.
However I found the answer here to work great. Copied into this post for convenience.
#echo off
for /f %%i in ('find /v /c "" ^< C:\path\to\textfile.txt') do set /a lines=%%i
set /a startLine=%lines% - 10
more /e +%startLine% C:\path\to\textfile.txt
This code will print the last 10 lines in the "C:\path\to\textfile.txt" file.
Credit goes to OP #Peter Mortensen
using a single powershell command:
powershell -nologo "& "Get-Content -Path c:\logFile.log -Tail 10"
applies to powershell 3.0 and newer
I agree with "You should use TAIL" answer. But it does not come by default on Windows. I suggest you download the "Windows 2003 Resource Kit" It works on XP/W2003 and more.
If you don't want to install on your server, you can install the resource kit on another machine and copy only TAIL.EXE to your server. Usage is sooooo much easier.
C:\> TAIL -10 myfile.txt
Here's a utility written in pure batch that can show a lines of file within a given range.To show the last lines use (here the script is named tailhead.bat):
call tailhead.bat -file "file.txt" -begin -10
Any ideas how to echo or type the last
10 lines of a txt file?
The following 3-liner script will list the last n lines from input file. n and file name/path are passed as input arguments.
# Script last.txt
var str file, content ; var int n, count
cat $file > $content ; set count = { len -e $content } - $n
stex -e ("["+makestr(int($count))) $content
The script is in biterscripting. To use, download biterscripting from http://www.biterscripting.com , save this script as C:\Scripts\last.txt, start biterscripting, enter the following command.
script last.txt file("c:\log09.txt") n(10)
The above will list last 10 lines from file c:\log09.txt. To list last 20 lines from the same file, use the following command.
script last.txt file("c:\log09.txt") n(20)
To list last 30 lines from a different file C:\folder1\somefile.log, use the following command.
script last.txt file("C:\folder1\somefile.log") n(30)
I wrote the script in a fairly generic way, so it can be used in various ways. Feel free to translate into another scripting/batch language.

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