Windows script to rename and move files with arguments - batch-file

Question

I have been trying to create a script that check file name, if positive, then rename it and move it to a folder in a server, then check for next argument and do the same thing.
The complete idea is that, I have a system that produces CSV files, the name of the file is generated depending of the area, if I am in Nursing, it will generate a file with the word "Nursing" somewhere, so this will help me for scripting purposes to recognise where to put this file using scripts. It will have to read 3 more arguments but I have just mentioned 2 below.
Filename : testing.bat (I am creating a loop)
This is my code so far.
if exist "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\sim_blitzv15_MSSQL\CSV\*Nursing*.csv" (
ren "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\sim_blitzv15_MSSQL\CSV\*Nursing*.csv" names.csv
move /y "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\sim_blitzv15_MSSQL\CSV\names.csv" \\10.10.10.10\scenarios\Nursing
)
else if exist "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\sim_blitzv15_MSSQL\CSV\*Midwifery*.csv" (
ren "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\sim_blitzv15_MSSQL\CSV\*Midwifery*.csv" names.csv
move /y "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\sim_blitzv15_MSSQL\CSV\names.csv" \\10.10.10.10\scenarios\Midwifery
)
else (
echo. Not files detected!
)
timeout /t 1
testing.bat
Any help is welcome.

Answer 1

You have a syntax problem : the locations of the else clauses. It MUST be placed (when used) in the same line that the closing parenthesis of the if command. If you place it in the next line, the parser will take it as another command, not the continuation of the previous if
if exist .... (
....
) else if exist .... (
....
) else (
....
)
Also, while not being a problem, it is easier to place the paths you are using inside variables and use the variables instead of the literals
set "sourceFolder=E:\inetpub\wwwroot\sim_blitzv15_MSSQL\CSV"
set "targetFolder=\\10.10.10.10\scenarios"
if exist "%sourceFolder%\*Nursing*.csv" (
ren "%sourceFolder%\*Nursing*.csv" names.csv
move /y "%sourceFolder%\names.csv" "%targetFolder%\Nursing"
) else if exist ""%sourceFolder%\*Midwifery*.csv" (
ren "%sourceFolder%\*Midwifery*.csv" names.csv
move /y "%sourceFolder%\names.csv" "%targetFolder%\Midwifery"
) else (
echo. Not files detected!
)
And once we are using variables to store the fixed data, we can start to use variables to hold the changing data. As the code being executed is always the same, identify the changing parts in the executed code and use for commands to iterate over the changing information and files on folders
#echo off
setlocal enableextensions disabledelayedexpansion
set "sourceFolder=E:\inetpub\wwwroot\sim_blitzv15_MSSQL\CSV"
set "targetFolder=\\10.10.10.10\scenarios"
for /l %%z in (0) do (
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
echo(!time! - Searching files ....
endlocal
set "found="
for %%a in ( Nursing Midwifery XXXX YYYY ) do (
for %%b in ("%sourceFolder%\*%%~a*.csv") do (
move /y "%%~fb" "%targetFolder%\%%~a\names.csv"
set "found=1"
)
)
if not defined found echo(.... No file detected !
timeout /t 1
echo(
)
for /l %%z defines an infinite loop (just to avoid the self call in the batch file or a goto command to a label)
for %%a will iterate over the list of "arguments". For each element in the list, the replaceable parameter %%a will hold its value and expose it to the code in the do clause, where %%~a (the value inside the replaceable parameter without quotes if present) is used to search files and determine target folder.
for %%b will search files. In this case the replaceable parameter %%b will hold a reference to the found file. This reference is later used to move the file (%%~fb is the full path to the file being referenced by %%b)

Answer 2

Maybe something like this. You can expand this by having a list of the file names you want to check against the server's directory. So the script then will loop at the files that matches that of your target list.
#echo off
SETLOCAL
if not exist \\deviceName\e$\directory\filename.csv (
echo filename.csv not found!
) else (
ren \\deviceName\e$\directory\filename.csv filename2.csv
move /-Y \\deviceName\e$\directory\filename2.csv \\deviceName2\e$\director\filename2.csv
if not exist \\device\e$\diretory\filename3.csv (
echo filename3.csv not found!
) else (
ren \\deviceName\e$\directory\filename3.csv filename4.csv
move /-Y \\deviceName\e$\directory\filename4.csv \\!deviceName2\e$\director\filename4.csv
)
)
ENDLOCAL
EXIT

Answer 3

Here is a powershell script that will cleanly handle an arbitrary number of departments and still be easy to maintain.
$DepartmentList = "Nursing","Midwifery","Ortho","Pedi"
$SourceFolder = "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\sim_blitzv15_MSSQL\CSV"
$DestFolder = "\\10.10.10.10\scenarios\"
ForEach($Dept in $DepartmentList)
{
if(Test-Path "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\sim_blitzv15_MSSQL\CSV\*$Dept*.csv")
{
Move-Item "$SourceFolder\*$Dept*.csv" -Destination "$DestFolder\$Dept\names.csv" -Force
$FileFound = $true
}
}
If(-not ($FileFound))
{
Write-Warning "Not files detected!"
}
If you are not using powershell yet, this is a great starter project to make that switch with.