Perform action on first file in each subdirectory - batch-file

Question

I'm trying to perform a command on the alphabetically first file in a set of subdirectories using
for /R "parentfolder" %%a in (*.doc) do "%winword%" /mRTF "%%a"
in a batch file. The actual command and macro work fine, but it performs the action on each file in the directories instead of just the ones I want.
Is there a way to set the -on flags in this context?
Any help will be highly appreciated.
Thank you that got me a good bit further.
Currently I'm struggling with opening word and running the Macro through powershell. My code looks like this now:
$word = new-object -comobject word.application
$path = 'C:\Users\---\Desktop\Download\'
$folders = Get-ChildItem -Path $path -recurse | SELECT Attributes, Name | where-Object{ $_.Attributes -eq 'Directory'} | ForEach-Object{$_.name}
foreach ($folder in $folders){
Get-ChildItem -Path $path$folder |
Select-Object -First 1 |
ForEach-Object { notepad $_.FullName }
}
I try to change notepad to word and call the macro but so far no luck

Answer 1

Here is a way to do it in PowerShell. I used notepad.exe, but you can use whatever you want.
Get-ChildItem -Path '../' -Filter '*.doc' |
Select-Object -First 1 |
ForEach-Object { notepad "$_.FullName" }
If you -must- do this from a cmd shell .bat script, you could:
powershell -NoProfile -Command Get-ChildItem -Path '../' -Filter '*.doc' ^| ^
Select-Object -First 1 ^| ^
ForEach-Object { notepad \"$($_.FullName)\" }
HT to mklement0 for the escape.

Answer 2

Based upon your example code and subsequent comments, the below example may run your Word macro on each of the files you require:
SetLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
For /D %%A In ("parentfolder\*") Do (Set "_="
For /F "Delims=" %%B In ('Dir/B/A-D-S-L/O-N "%%A\*.doc" 2^>Nul'
) Do Set "_=%%B"
If Defined _ "%winword%" /mRTF "%%A\!_!")