Batch file put folders into other folders depending on name - batch-file

A very similar question to this has been asked (Put files automatically in folders) however I am struggling to convert the answer in the aforementioned question to suit my needs.
My problem is that I need to move folders into other folders using a section of their name, the question that was answered before was about moving files.
My folders have date and time stamps on them 2016-08-23 15.23.45. I need to move these folders to another folder that has just the date on them 2016-08-23.
As another small request, since I'm not very skilled with windows batch files, could someone please tell me where I will need to put my file paths into the batch file.

I need to move folders into other folders using a section of their name
My folders have date and time stamps on them 2016-08-23 15.23.45. I need to move these folders to another folder that has just the date on them 2016-08-23
Use the following batch file (test.cmd):
#echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for /f "tokens=1,2" %%d in ('dir /a:d /b') do (
if not exist %%d md %%d
if [%%e] neq [] move "%%d %%e" %%d >nul 2>&1
)
endlocal
Example usage:
F:\test>dir /a:d /b /s
F:\test\2016-08-23 15.23.45
F:\test\2016-08-23 15.23.46
F:\test\2016-08-23 15.23.47
F:\test\2016-08-23 15.23.48
F:\test>test
F:\test>dir /a:d /b /s
F:\test\2016-08-23
F:\test\2016-08-23\2016-08-23 15.23.45
F:\test\2016-08-23\2016-08-23 15.23.46
F:\test\2016-08-23\2016-08-23 15.23.47
F:\test\2016-08-23\2016-08-23 15.23.48
F:\test>
Further Reading
An A-Z Index of the Windows CMD command line - An excellent reference for all things Windows cmd line related.
for /f - Loop command against the results of another command.
dir - Display a list of files and subfolders.
if - Conditionally perform a command.
md - Make Directory - Creates a new folder.
move - Move a file from one folder to another.
redirection - Redirection operators.

Related

how to zip all files individually in all subfolders and remove original file after

what im looking for is a .bat file code to zip files individually in all subfolders in the current folder and then delete the of files after, to exclude already zipped/compressed files, what i dont want is folders to be zipped and i want the files to keep there name when zipped
i have a bunch of folders/files and the only code i found
#ECHO OFF
FOR %%i IN (*.*) DO (
ECHO "%%i" | FIND /I "batch zip files.bat" 1>NUL) || (
"c:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" a -tzip "%%~ni.zip" "%%i"
if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 del "%%i"
)
)
zips all files in the current directory and doesnt touch subfolders
i'd appreciate it if anyone can do this for me as i can save a ton of space with all files zipped
The first issue you have with your provided code is that your For loop is only parsing files in the current directory, there is no recursion into subdirectories. To parse files within the subdirectories, I'd advise that you use a For /F loop, with the Dir command using its /B and /S options. I would also advise that you include the attribute option, /A, which will include every item, then omit those which you're not interested in. For instance, it's unlikely that you want to zip the directories, hidden files, reparse points, or system files. You can do that by excluding those attributes, /A:-D-H-L-S. To learn more about the For command, and the Dir command, open a Command Prompt window, type for /?, and press the ENTER key. You can then do the same for the Dir command, i.e for /?. As you have not defined a working directory at the start of your script, it will run against every file and directory in whatever is current at the time you run it. Because your code has a line excluding a file named batch zip files.bat, I'm going to assume that is the name of your running script, and that your intention is to therefore run the script against everything in the tree rooted from the same location as the batch file itself. To ensure that is always the case, for safety, I've defined that directory as the current directory from the outset, using the CD command, CD /D "%~dp0". %0 is a special batch file argument reference to itself, to learn more about this please take a look at the output from both call /?. You can also learn about the CD command entering cd /?, in a Command Prompt window too. To also omit your batch file, as you don't want it to be zipped and deleted, I've piped the results from the Dir command through FindStr, printing only items which do not exactly match the case insensitive literal string %~f0 (expanding to the full path of the batch file itself). Additionally, I've piped those results through another findstr.exe command to omit any files already carrying a .zip extension, as there's no point in zipping files which already zip files. (Please note however, that for more robust code, you should really check that those are zip archives and not just files carrying a misleading extension). The results from those commands are then passed one by one to the Do portion which includes your 7z.exe command. I've assumed at this stage, that your intention was to save the zipped archives to the same location as the originating files. To do that I've used variable expansion on %%G to stipulate its directory, path, and name, %%~dpnG, (see the usage information under for /? to recap). Upon successful completion of the archiving process, the original file will be deleted, to do that I appended the -sdel option to your original command string. Please be aware that you may want to include additional options, should you wish to update existing zip files etc. (use "%ProgramFiles%\7-Zip\7z.exe" -? in a Command Prompt window to see them). As I've not mentioned it previously, at the beginning of the script, I made sure that extensions were enabled. Whilst it is the default option, it's safer to be sure, as variable expansion and the commands CD, and For can be affected, if they're not.
Here's the code as explained above:
#Echo Off
SetLocal EnableExtensions
CD /D "%~dp0"
For /F "EOL=? Delims=" %%G In ('Dir "*" /A:-D-H-L-S /B /S 2^> NUL ^|
%SystemRoot%\System32\findstr.exe /I /L /V /X "%~f0" ^|
%SystemRoot%\System32\findstr.exe /E /I /L /V ".zip"'
) Do "%ProgramFiles%\7-Zip\7z.exe" a -tzip "%%~dpnG.zip" "%%G" -sdel
Looking at your question, which has changed from what you'd asked initially, you appear to not be interested in the files of the batch file directory any more, "zip files individually in all subfolders in the current folder". For that reason, I've provided the following alternative, methodology.
The difference is that I first of all use a For loop to include only directories in the current working location, /A:D-H-L-S, before running the same method used in my previous example, but with one difference. As we're now no longer zipping files in the current working directory, we can remove the findstr.exe command filtering out the running batch file:
#Echo Off
SetLocal EnableExtensions
CD /D "%~dp0"
For /F "EOL=? Delims=" %%G In ('Dir "*" /A:D-H-L-S /B 2^> NUL'
) Do For /F "EOL=? Delims=" %%H In ('Dir "%%G" /A:-D-H-L-S /B /S 2^> NUL ^|
%SystemRoot%\System32\findstr.exe /E /I /L /V ".zip"'
) Do "%ProgramFiles%\7-Zip\7z.exe" a -tzip "%%~dpnH.zip" "%%H" -sdel
Please be aware, that my answers above are to essentially correct your code attempt, and not a personal recommendation for speed, or in performing the task laid out in your question. Additionally, I have no idea what will happen if any of those files are in use/locked, and have made no attempt at checking for such scenarios.

Script batch copy from subfolder to main folder filtering extension

I have this schema
SOURCE
FOLDER_A
---FOLDERA1
------file1.abc
------file2.abc
------file2.txt
---FOLDERB1
------file3.abc
------file4.abc
------file.txt
I want to create a batch script which copies in a new folder only
DESTINATION
FOLDER_A1
---file1.abc
---file2.abc
FOLDERB1
---file3.abc
---file4.abc
putting in the destination only the second level (FOLDER_A should be deleted) and filtering only files with .abc extension
I wrote this code
#echo off
set SOURCE_DIR=C:\Users\%username%\Desktop\SCRIPT\source2
set DEST_DIR=C:\Users\%username%\Desktop\SCRIPT\dest
pause
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for /f "delims=" %%a In ('dir /ad/b %SOURCE_DIR% ') do (
set current_folder=%SOURCE_DIR%\%%a\
mkdir "dest\%%a"
for /r %SOURCE_DIR% %%f in (*.abc) do (
#copy "%%f" "dest\%%a"
)
pause
)
#pause
The problem is that in the destination I have the folder with the right name but inside of them everytime the 4 files file1.abc, file2.abc, file3.abc and file4.abc.
The goal is to have inside the first folder only file1.abc and file2.abc, and in the second folder file3.abc and file4.abc.
Where is the mistake?
Why are you using batchfiles and for-loops for this? Both xcopy and robocopy commands have exclusion features. Just type xcopy /? and robocopy /? for more information, and on the internet, you might find plenty of examples on how to do this.
Edit after first comment
It's indeed not that simple to work with the /Exclude switch, as you can see in following example:
C:\Temp_Folder\Folder_A>echo .txt>patterns.txt
// in this file, I mention that filenames, containing .txt, should not be copied
C:\Temp_Folder\Folder_A>xcopy /F /S C:\Temp_Folder\Folder_A\*.* C:\Temp_Folder\Destination\ /Exclude:C:\Temp_Folder\Folder_A\patterns.txt
// here I refer to the file, containing the patterns, not to copy
C:\Temp_Folder\Folder_A\FolderA1\file1.abc -> C:\Temp_Folder\Destination\FolderA1\file1.abc
C:\Temp_Folder\Folder_A\FolderA1\file2.abc -> C:\Temp_Folder\Destination\FolderA1\file2.abc
C:\Temp_Folder\Folder_A\FolderB1\file3.abc -> C:\Temp_Folder\Destination\FolderB1\file3.abc
C:\Temp_Folder\Folder_A\FolderB1\file4.abc -> C:\Temp_Folder\Destination\FolderB1\file4.abc
4 File(s) copied

Batch file to rename folders with wildcard or create a new folder and move contents?

I'm trying to tidy up a data folder and have written a batch file to take care of a lot of preliminary work (delete empty folders, delete junk files, etc), but I'm falling over when trying to deal with files within duplicate folders.
This is an example of the current situation:
w:\Data\Corporations\555\20130101\Concat_000001\555_20130101_data.zip
w:\Data\Corporations\555\20130101\Concat_000002\555_20130101_data.zip
w:\Data\Corporations\555\20130101\Concat_000003\555_20130101_data.zip
w:\Data\Corporations\555\20130101\Concat_000004\555_20130101_data.zip
There should only be one Concat folder per YYYYMMDD folder, and should look like this:
w:\Data\Corporations\555\20130101\Concat\555_20130101_data.zip
There are hundreds of folders in w:\Data\Corporations to be processed, so I figure I need to first of all find any folder named Concat_*, make a folder named Concat within the same parent folder, and then move any zip from Concat_ to Concat.
I have tried various combinations of FOR /D in (Concat_*) with MD and MOVE commands, but with no luck so far. I've also tried calling a subroutine from the FOR statement that would jump back a level in the tree, create a folder named Concat, go back to Concat_* and move the .zip files, but again with no luck.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Pete
try this:
for /r "w:\Data\Corporations\555" %%a in (*.zip) do for %%b in ("%%~dpa.") do md "%%~dpbConcat" 2>nul & move /y "%%~fa" "%%~dpbConcat"
The following does what you asked. If you uncomment the last line, then empty config_* folders will be removed. Non-empty config_* folders will be preserved.
#echo off
for /f "delims=" %%F in ('dir /b /ad /s concat_*') do (
if not exist "%%~dpFconcat\" mkdir "%%~dpFconcat\"
if exist "%%F\*.zip" move /y "%%F\*.zip" "%%~dpFconcat\" >nul
REM uncomment line below if you want to remove empty concat_* folders
REM dir /b "%%F"|findstr "^" >nul || rd "%%F"
)

Windows batch move (or copy) PDF file by name to corresponding folder

I am trying to find a way to create a Windows batch script that will look at a target folder full of .pdf files and move (or copy) them to another directory with existing subfolders based on the filename.
The files and folders are names of actual people. I want to be able to get that person's pdf into their existing folder using a script.
Say I have 2 files in my folder; smithJohn015.pdf and thomasBill030.pdf.
I would like to be able to put smithJohn015.pdf into folder SmithJohn and thomasBill030.pdf into folder ThomasBill.
I don't want the script to create new folders or overwrite existing files if there's a duplicate filename.
I'm not necessarily looking for anyone to write a script for me, but if anyone can just get me started in the right direction it would be appreciated.
Try modifying this answer for your evil purposes.
#echo off
setlocal
pushd "c:\path\to\PDFs"
for /d %%I in (c:\Path\To\People\*) do (
for %%F in (*) do (
for /f %%A in ('echo %%~nF ^| find /i "%%~nI"') do (
set /p a="Moving %%F to %%I... "<NUL
move "%%F" "%%I" >NUL
echo Done.
)
)
)
popd
You'll need to add a check for if not exist pdffile before the move, but there's a starting direction for you anyway.
The following assumes the target subfolders' location contains only the subfolders where the PDFs may go and that every PDF that you want to move has a name formatted as the corresponding subfolder's name followed by exactly three characters (same as in your examples):
#ECHO OFF
FOR /D %%D IN ("D:\path\to\subfolders\*") DO (
MOVE "D:\path\to\PDFs\%%~nD???.pdf" "%%D"
)
Or as a one-liner to execute directly at the command prompt:
FOR /D %D IN ("D:\path\to\subfolders\*") DO (MOVE "D:\path\to\PDFs\%~nD???.pdf" "%D")
folderlist.txt contains all names of folders in which you want to copy respective PDFs.
xcopy is copy command. format xcopy "source" "destination" /parameters.
pause is just to keep command window on
for /F "tokens=*" %%A in (folderlist.txt) do (
xcopy "E:\path\to\source folder\<prefix>%%A<suffix>.pdf" "E:\path\to\destination folder\<prefix>%%A<suffix>\" /s)
pause
You can use wildcards in source & destination paths.

How do I copy a directory that has a date stamp

I'm trying to copy the contents of a directory using a DOS batch file that begins with the computer name followed by an underscore and a date stamp. My first impulse was some variation of:
copy D:\%Computername%_\*\\*.* C:\WhateverPath
Of course I could not get this to work. Seems like a simple problem but I don't have much experience with batch files or DOS.
Try:
FOR /d %d IN (D:\%COMPUTERNAME%_*) DO xcopy %d C:\WhateverPath /E
This iterates over all directories (hence the /d) with the pattern %COMPUTERNAME%_* under D:\, and copies the contents of these directories into C:\WhateverPath. /Eis for copying all files and directories, also the empty ones.
For documentation of xcopy, type xcopy /? in a DOS shell (cmd).
Note: If you put this in a batch-file (something.bat), you must replace %d with %%d in the code above.
If you have multiple folders labeled C:\%computername%_%random_time_stamp%\ and you need to access each of them then move all of their contents to a single folder, you can do this:
Given the only underscore in the path is the one between %computername% and your timestamp
FOR /F "USEBACKQ tokens=*" %%F IN (`DIR /b /a:d "C:\" ^| FIND /I "%computername%_"`) DO (
COPY /y "%%~fF\*" "C:\WhateverPath\"
)
That states for every result that comes from the command DIR, /b switch meaning no header information, /a:d meaning only returning directories, I want to find only folders with the computername_ in it, and I want to copy the contents of each of those folders to C:\WhateverPath\ folder.

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