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.
I'm writin on a batch-file for windows with colored output using ANSII colors like
echo <ESC>[1m Some bold text <ESC>[0m
echo <ESC>[1;32m Some bold green text <ESC>[0m
From this answer and this table I know I have to use the ANSII code 27 character for <ESC> and I could copy it from the file the user linked.
This is working fine but I'm wondering if there is any option in batch to "hardcode" this sequence using "normal" (readable) characters as you do e.g in bash on linux
echo -e "\033[1;32m Red Bold Text \033[0m"
On this page I found some options how to insert the escape sequence. And I also read one can use
cmd /c exit 65
echo %=exitcodeAscii%
to print an A, but this seems not to work for
cmd /c exit 27
echo %=exitcodeAscii%[31m This would be supposed to be red, right?
How can I produce the escape sequence using code in a batchfile instead of inserting it by pressing certain key-combinations?
You can build your own echo-e.bat file echo -e equivalent in Windows?.
Or use a batch function instead.
call :echo-e "\x1b[1;31m Red Bold Text \x1b[0m"
exit /b
:echo-e
setlocal
set "arg1=%~1"
set "arg1=%arg1:\x=0x%"
forfiles /p "%~dp0." /m "%~nx0" /c "cmd /c echo(%arg1%"
exit /b
Creating a single escape character (27) you can use FORFILES or PROMPT
Like this sample
for /F "delims=#" %%a in ('prompt #$E# ^& for %%a in ^(1^) do rem') do set "esc=%%a"
echo %ESC%[1;31m Red Bold Text %ESC%[0m
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
I've always hated batch and I still do, even for the most simple things I prefer C or PHP/Perl. But this time I could not go without it, ****sigh****.
I wanted to redirect an echo command to an other command. For example:
echo example | more
but I also wanted to be able to use special characters in the echo part of the pipe:
echo & | more
Which of course did not work. So I tried:
echo ^& | more
Which did not work either. Then by trial-and-error I found:
echo ^^^& | more
and that worked. But as interested programmer I wonder why. Why did ^& not work and ^^^& did?
The reason has to do with how Windows implements pipes - Each side of the pipe is executed in its own CMD shell. Your command echo ^& | more actually attempts to execute
C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /S /D /c" echo & "
on the left and
C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /S /D /c" more "
on the right. You can see why the left hand side fails - trying to echo an unescaped &. The escape was consumed by the initial parsing phase before the actual left side is executed.
It is also easy to see why your solution works. The left side of echo ^^^& | more becomes
C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /S /D /c" echo ^& "
There are many subtle complications when working with Windows pipes. Refer to Why does delayed expansion fail when inside a piped block of code? for more info. The selected answer has the best info, but I recommend reading the question and all answers to get the context of the selected answer.
The first ^ is escaping the ^ character itself (the second ^) and the third ^ is escaping the &.
When you run a command like ECHO ^& | MORE, the ^& is replaced with & by the shell before the output is piped to MORE.
So, when you run ECHO ^^^& | MORE, the shell replaces ^^ with ^ and the ^& with & and then pipes the output to MORE.
I have some files that contain some of if not all of the following:
Program RxBIN RXPCN RxGroup MemberID
not all files will have all of those headers but the ones that do I will need to replace so it looks like this:
#Program #RxBIN #RXPCN #RxGroup #MemberID
Thanks in Advance,
Joe
I'd still be inclined to go with a tool built for this purpose: Batch Replacer seems to fit the bill perfectly.
But if you're dead set on it... something using the old repl.bat with a multi arg parser... this becomes a bit of a monster that using the DEBUG command but here's the final masterpiece:
Source code: mmrepl.bat
#ECHO OFF
setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
::: mmrepl - Replaces one or more strings with others, in file(s)
:::
::: syntax: mmrepl.bat $file $find $replace [$find $replace] ...
::: $file [in] - file to be parsed
::: $find [in] - string to find
::: $replace [in] - string to replace with
:::
::: * $find & $replace should be supplied in pairs, n multiples allowed
::: * $file can be a single file (eg.txt) or a file filter (*.txt)
::: you can supply any command that works with 'dir /b $file'
::: so paths and drives are also valid.
::: * $find,$replace strings can be single words, or strings enclosed
::: in quotes (which will be stripped)
if "%~1"=="" findstr "^:::" "%~f0"&GOTO:EOF
if not exist %1 echo No files matching %1 found&GOTO:EOF
::Creates the following log file:
set log=%0.log
::Temporarily creates the following files but cleans up
set replscr=TEMPDEBUG.SCR
set cmplsrc=TEMPEDLN.SCR
echo To see the work of %0.bat view the log file %log%
echo Multi-Multi Replacement (%0.bat)>%log%
echo.>>%log%
set "files=%1"
shift
set mmreplcmd=
:: Pair up find/replaces
:strippairs
set p1=%1
set p1=!p1:"=!
set p2=%2
set p2=!p2:"=!
SET mmreplcmd=%mmreplcmd%'1R%p1%' 1A '%p2%' 0D 0A
echo Replacing "%p1%" with "%p2%" >> %log%
shift
shift
if "%~1" neq "" goto:strippairs
::Build script
echo N%cmplsrc% > %replscr%
echo E CS:100 %mmreplcmd%'E' 0D 0A>> %replscr%
echo RCX >> %replscr%
echo 40 >> %replscr%
echo W >> %replscr%
echo Q >> %replscr%
DEBUG < %replscr% > NUL
::Execute on files
for /f %%a IN ('dir /b %files%') do (
echo.>>%log%
echo *** File: %%a >> %log%
EDLIN %%a < %cmplsrc% >> %log%
)
DEL %replscr%
DEL %cmplsrc%
NOTE: I had to remove the "is contained" within searching of repl.bat because you're adding an ampersand to each title so it's always containing... my testing shows this works fine, but YMMV (test).
This can be done trivially with sed (the stream editor) which is available for Windows in several places.
It could be done with something like
sed -e "s/\(Program\|RxBIN\|RXPCN\|RxGroup\|MemberID\)/#\1/g" myfile.txt > newfile.txt
This is a regular expression that basically says "substitute for the word 'Program' or 'RxBIN' or 'RXPCN' or 'RxGroup' or 'MemberID', an at-sign and whatever word was matched."
There are a lot of great Unix commands which have been ported to Windows that can be extremely helpful.