Quite nervous today, I am a long time StackOverflow voyeur about to ask my first ever question so I hope I dont suck at it. I can perform the following task easily using something like a console app but i was hoping that it would be possible to do it in a batch script, and I dont know batch scripting well at all.
I want to delete all files in a directory except those whose name matches a certain pattern. A typical example of the kind of files in this directory is as follows:
dep_invoice_101.pdf -- to delete
dep_invoice_102.pdf -- to delete
invoice_103.pdf -- to delete
invoice_106.pdf -- to delete
invoice_106_E56.pdf -- keep
deposit_invoice_101_068.pdf -- keep
i want to delete all files except those whose name matches
any string (or nothing) followed by "invoice_"
followed by any number
then an underscore
then another alphanumeric string
The final underscore is the key. if i was doing this using C# or something, i would extract the name into a string, remove all text before "invoice_" and then see if there is a remaining underscore - this would be a match, e.g.
"deposit_invoice_101_068.pdf"
search for "invoice_" and remove all text before and including this
left with "101_068.pdf"
if there are any underscores in this string then it is a match
Hope this makes sense. If this is not an appropriate question let me know.
Many thanks
for /f "tokens=*" %%a in (
'dir /a-d /b *.pdf ^| findstr /v /r /c:"invoice_[0-9][0-9]*_.*\.pdf$"'
) do echo del "%%a"
If output to console is correct, remove the echo command
#ECHO Off
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
SET "sourcedir=U:\sourcedir"
FOR /f "delims=" %%a IN (
'dir /b /a-d "%sourcedir%\*" '
) DO (
SET "filename=%%a"
SET "filename=!filename:*invoice_=!"
IF "!filename!"=="!filename:_=!" ECHO DEL "%sourcedir%\%%a"
)
GOTO :EOF
The required DEL commands are merely ECHOed for testing purposes. After you've verified that the commands are correct, change ECHO DEL to DEL to actually delete the files.
You'd need to change your sourcedir to suit, naturally.
This follows your how I'd do it in C rather than your narrative spec.
Related
Coding is not my speciality but I have come across a problem and google search has guided me to using batch file process in solving it. Essentially I have a couple of thousands of files that need to be moved into folders and they have a very simple file structure, listed below:
UK--London--Filename.pdf
UK--London--Filename2.pdf
UK--Manchester--Filename3.pdf
UK--Liverpool--Filename4.pdf
UK--Chester--Filename5.pdf
I would like the script to:
1. Pick up the first "--" check if the folder exists, if not create it
2. Pick up the second "--" check if the folder exists, if not create it
3. As there might be more than two "--", ignore the rest
4. Move file into the subfolder
To that end, the output should be some like (note "FILETEST" is the folder I am using to test the script):
C:\FILETEST\UK\London\UK--London--Filename.pdf
C:\FILETEST\UK\London\UK--London--Filename2.pdf
C:\FILETEST\UK\Manchester\UK--Manchester--Filename3.pdf
C:\FILETEST\UK\Liverpool\UK--Liverpool--Filename4.pdf
C:\FILETEST\UK\Chester\UK--Chester--Filename5.pdf
I have had an attempt to re-using a script from another question in stackoverflow (Batch create folders based on part of file name and move files into that folder). I understand that it would not do exactly what I need, but cant seem to get any output.
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
SET "sourcedir=c:\FILETEST"
PUSHD %sourcedir%
FOR /f "tokens=1*delims=--" %%a IN (
'dir /b /a-d *.*.*'
) DO (
ECHO MD %%a
ECHO MOVE "%%a.%%b" --\%%a\
)
POPD
GOTO :EOF
Apologies for any headaches caused, I am hoping this is a simple one to solve.
Thank you,
Panos
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
SET "sourcedir=c:\FILETEST"
PUSHD %sourcedir%
FOR /f "tokens=1,2*delims=-" %%a IN (
'dir /b /a-d *--*--*.*'
) DO if "%%c" neq "" (
ECHO MD "%%a"
ECHO MD "%%a\%%b"
ECHO MOVE "%%a--%%b--%%c" ".\%%a\%%b\"
)
POPD
GOTO :EOF
Read the directory list of files in the current directory, (/a-d = no directorynames) that match *--*--*. Tokenise so that %%a acquires the part before the first --sequence, %%b the second and %%c the remainder.
If %%c is not empty then make the directories ".\%%a" and ".\%%a\%%b" (quoted because any spaces in the name would otherwise be seen as "create two directories") then move the file, again quoted for the same reason.
Note that each character individually between delims= and the close-quote is a delimiter - a delimiter-string is not supported. Consequently, this code will pick up - as well as --- and any other sequence of - and try to process it. You could gate the create/move further by adding if exist "%%a--%%b--%%c" directly after the if "%%c" neq ""before the (.
The md will create a directory if the target name does not already exist, and produce an error-message if it already exists. To suppress the error message, append 2>nul to the md lines.
I have hundreds of csv files . csv files are stored in folders and sub folders . I want to search fifty csv file whose file names have been determined , for example 1.csv , 2.csv , 3.csv , ... , 50.csv . very troublesome if I searched one by one using the Windows search tool . I would like if the files are found , save in the folder named FOUND . please help to overcome this problem by using the batch programming / bat ? thank you very much
There's a number of approaches one can take, depending on how much automation you require... To help you get started, you may want to look at this it helped me (and indeed continues to do so) when I started learning batch. Furthermore I will provide one possible template for achieving your objective, as I have interpreted it. Perhaps it is not the most elegant or efficient method, but it introduces a number of batch commands that you may or may not have encountered, which in turn may help you develop your own method.
#echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
echo Please enter a drive letter:
set /p "drive=>"
echo Please enter a search string:
set /p "searchstring=>"
echo %searchstring%>search.txt
set /p search=<search.txt
set /a suffix=0
echo.>>search.txt
:LOOP
for /f "tokens=*" %%i in ("search.txt") do (
set /a suffix=suffix+1
set seq=%search% !suffix!
echo !seq!>>search.txt
)
if !suffix! leq 49 goto LOOP
for /f "tokens=*" %%i in (search.txt) do (
for /f "tokens=*" %%j in ('dir /b /s /a-d %drive%:\"%%i.csv" 2^>nul') do (
if not exist "%~dp0\found" md "%~dp0\found"
move /y "%%j" "%~dp0\found\%%~nxj"
)
)
pause
This is not intended as a definitive solution, though you may find it answers your original query/request. All the best.
Here's another working solution for you..
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
REM First Set your directories input and output
SET InputDir=C:\Directory to your CSV files\
SET OutputDir=C:\Directory to your CSV files\FOUND
REM check if the FOUND directory exist, if not, then create it.
IF NOT EXIST OutputDir (
mkdir %OutputDir%
)
REM Grab a scan of the input directory and save it to a temporary file list.
Dir /a /b %InputDir%>"%OutputDir%\Found.txt"
REM Set the files you would like to find.
SET "File1=1.csv"
SET "File2=2.csv"
SET "File3=50.csv"
REM The loop, to process the matching file(s).
FOR %%A IN (%File1%,%File2%,%File3%) DO (
FOR /F "usebackq" %%B IN ("%OutputDir%\Found.txt") DO (
IF %%A==%%B (
copy "%InputDir%\%%A" "%OutputDir%\%%A"
)
)
)
REM Clean up the temp file list.
DEL "%OutputDir%\Found.txt"
Make note, I didn't add quotes to the Input and Output variables, but instead added quotes to the copy portion of the code to compensate for white spaces in your directory path. I tried to keep it simple, so you could follow the logic of how it processed what you are looking for, you can now modify this to your liking.. Have fun. Cheers!
I have 233 files where I need to change the file names. Just look for a hyphen (-) in the filename and replace the text from right of the hyphen until dot (.) to left and left of the hyphen right.
Here is a sample filename and the pattern/naming convention used
Name Of Movie (9999) - Name of Song.kam where 9999 is the year
All files are of the same pattern. I want to reverse the order to
Name of Song - Name Of Movie (9999).kam where 9999 is the year
Note: In the filename, every word after a is in CAPS
If it is not possible, I will have to do it manually. Can someone give me a batch script to execute this or tell me if it is possible to do?
Thank you.
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
SET "sourcedir=U:\sourcedir"
FOR /f "tokens=1,3delims=)-." %%a IN (
'dir /b /a-d "%sourcedir%\*) - *.kam" '
) DO FOR /f "tokens=*" %%u IN ("%%b") DO ECHO REN "%sourcedir%\%%a) -%%b.kam" "%%u - %%a).kam"
GOTO :EOF
This should solve your problem. You'd need to change yur sourcedir of course.
The required REN commands are merely ECHOed for testing purposes. After you've verified that the commands are correct, change ECHO REN to REN to actually rename the files.
Happy Friday Think-Tank!
I need some assistance with a Batch .BAT script. Specifically I need help with some "IF statement syntax"
I have a script that is renaming files. There are two files, one ending in four digits and the other ending in five digits. The files will be renamed with variables I have already pre-set earlier within my script.
So here is a scenario: We have two files in a directory located at
c:\Users\username\Desktop\test-dir
There are two files within test-dir:
file1.12345
file2.1234
A four digit ending is one variable type (VAR1), whereas a file ending in five digits is another variable type (VAR2).
I need an if statement to:
a) read all the files(s) with the chosen directory (without using a wildcard if possible).
b) determine based on the number of digits after the "." which variable to use.
c) once making that determination rename the file with the appropriate variables.
The final re-naming convention is as so: yyyymmddtype.1234/12345
So basically it would use the datestamp variable I already created, the type variable I already created to be injected by the if statement, and append with the original ending digits of the file.
I know this seems like a lot, but I am more so a bash script guy. I have all the elements in place, I just need the if statement and what feels like a for loop of some kind to tie it all together.
Any help would be great!
Thank you!
Sorry, not the option you where asking for. Instead of iterating over the full list checking each file for extension conformance, iterate over a list of patterns that will filter file list, renaming matching files with the asociated "type"
for %%v will iterate over variable list, for %%a will split the content of the variable in pattern and type, for %%f will generate the file list, filter with findstr using the retrieved pattern and rename matching files with the corresponding "type"
Rename command is preceded with a echo to output commands to console. If the output is correct, remove the echo to rename the files.
#echo off
rem Variables defined elsewhere
set "folder=c:\somewhere"
set "timestamp=yyyymmdd"
rem Rename pattern variables in the form pattern;type
set "var1=\.....$;type1"
set "var2=\......$;type2"
set "var1=\.[^.][^.][^.][^.]$;type1"
set "var2=\.[^.][^.][^.][^.][^.]$;type2"
setlocal enableextensions disabledelayedexpansion
for %%v in ("%var1%" "%var2%") do for /f "tokens=1,* delims=;" %%a in ("%%~v") do (
for /f "tokens=*" %%f in ('dir /a-d /b "%folder%" ^| findstr /r /c:"%%~a"') do (
echo ren "%folder%\%%~f" "%timestamp%%%~b%%~xf"
)
)
endlocal
#ECHO OFF &SETLOCAL
set "yyyymmdd=yyyymmdd"
set "VAR1=VAR1"
set "VAR2=VAR2"
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('dir /b /a-d^|findstr /re ".*\....."') do echo(ren "%%~a" "%yyyymmdd%%VAR1%%%~xa"
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('dir /b /a-d^|findstr /re ".*\......"') do echo(ren "%%~a" "%yyyymmdd%%VAR2%%%~xa"
remove echo( to get it working.
If I understand you then this will rename the two files using preset variables for each one:
for %%a in ("%userprofile%\Desktop\test-dir\*") do (
if "%%~xa"==".12345" ren "%%a" "%variableA%-%variableB%%%~xa"
) else (
ren "%%a" "%variableC%-%variableD%%%~xa"
)
)
I need to work two things into a .bat file I am working on for a little project. First things first, I have to know if any filename contained into the same folder (recursively) I launch my .bat in is any longer than 100 characters. If so, I need to make it 92 characters long and keep the extensions.
For example, I have this filename:
IncrediblyLongFileNameIAmSorryForThisItLooksLikeSomeDamnSpamJesusIAintEvenCloseTo100yetalmostwaitforitYEAH.omg
The above filename is 110 characters. I need to keep the extension, therefore the program should rename the file as this:
IncrediblyLongFileNameIAmSorryForThisItLooksLikeSomeDamnSpamJesusIAintEvenCloseTo100yetalmos.omg
So far, my main problem is that I don't know how to work with filename strings in batch. I used this code:
#echo off & setlocal enableextensions
FOR /R %%i IN (*.*) DO (
ECHO %%~nxi
FOR /f "delims=:" %%a in ('
^(echo."%%~nxi"^& echo.^)^|findstr /o .'
) DO set lenght=%%a-5
echo The length of "%%~nxi" is %lenght%
)
endlocal & goto :EOF
But I can't SET inside a FOR, and it can't do basic math either (i.e. it can't do the -5 operation).
The second thing, which I believe should be easier once the first one is done, is simply to compare all the filenames in the folder (recursive, once again) and make sure no filenames are the same. If the program finds any filenames that are the same, the second occurrence should be renamed to add something like l1l at the end. (I can't use parentheses here, therefore I use two ls instead to cover the number.) The only thing you need to take care of is the file extensions, because I can't add anything after the file extensions, lest they become unusable.
Can anyone offer explanations for how to accomplish this? I would really like to be able to work this out myself, but I simply lack experience in batch programming.
#ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
SET "sourcedir=c:\sourcedir"
SET "tempfile=%temp%\##fn##.92"
ECHO ::>"%tempfile%"
FOR /f "delims=" %%a IN (
'dir /s /b /a-d "%sourcedir%\*" '
) DO (
SET "fullname=%%a"
SET "name=%%~na"
SET "ext=%%~xa"
CALL :chgname
)
del "%tempfile%"
GOTO :EOF
:chgname
:: Proposed new name part - first 92 characters of existing name
:: also prepare for adding modifier
SET "newname=%name:~0,92%"
SET /a modifier=0
:modl
:: See whether this name has already been found
ECHO %newname%%ext%|FINDSTR /b /e /i /g:"%tempfile%" >NUL
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO makechange
:: existing name - modify it
SET "newname=%name:~0,92%#%modifier%#"
SET /a modifier+=1
GOTO modl
:makechange
IF "%name%" NEQ "%newname%" ECHO REN "%fullname%" "%newname%%ext%"
>>"%tempfile%" ECHO %newname%%ext%
GOTO :eof
Reasonably simple problem.
Get a directory-list in basic form (full-filename only) and apply the full filename, name part and extension part to appropriately-named variables.
Manipulate the filename to a new name consisting of the first 92 characters of the original name part. Anticipate the need to modify this new name by establishing a modifier to optionally be applied.
See whether the proposed new name already exists in the temporary file of NEW names already processed. If not found on that file, safe to rename (if required) and record name used.
If the filename has already been used, modify it to the original first 92+ "#anumber#", increment the modifier in anticipation and try again.
Only two comments required further - first, I used # rather than ! because ! has a special meaning to batch. Second, writing :: to the tempfile (the name of the tempfile is irrelevant - I chose one that's unlikely to exist...) means that findstr doesn't complain because the file is empty, but :: can't possibly be a real filename.
The /b /e /i options to findstr mean that the name echoed in must exactly match a line (matches both /b - begin and /e - end) but /i - case is irrelevant.