Can some one tell me what is wrong with this bat script? - batch-file

It's a simple bat script that should checkout some folders from svn . I'm not that up on bat scripting, there seems to be no consistency on how variables are referenced.
For instance the variable "branchV" does not get appended it is seen as '""', but if I echo it I see the user input.
set "DB_DIRECTORIES=AuditUser-db CarrierProcessingRules-db iDetectDB-db iRisk-db WarningsIndex-db"
set "SVNBASEURL=http://XX.XX.XX.XX:7777/svn/YYY"
set BASELOCALDIRECTORY="C:"
#echo on
#cls
#echo Check out DB directories from?
#echo
#echo 1. Trunk
#echo 2. Branch
#echo
#echo
#set OPTIONSELECTED=
#set /P OPTIONSELECTED=SELECT OPTION:%=%
if "%OPTIONSELECTED%" == "1" (
set SVNURL="%SVNBASEURL%/trunk"
set BRANCHV="BCSTrunk"
) ELSE IF %OPTIONSELECTED% == 2 (
#echo
#echo
#echo
#echo PLEASE ENTER THE BRANCH VERSION YOU WISH TO CHECKOUT
#echo
#echo
#set branchV=
#set /P branchV=ENTER VERSION:%=%
#echo
set SVNURL="%SVNBASEURL%"/branches/"%branchV%"
) ELSE (
#echo Invalid option
)
for %%i in (%DB_DIRECTORIES%) do (
set PATHTOUSE="%BASELOCALDIRECTORY%"/"%branchV%"/%%i
set NEWSVNURL="%SVNURL%"/%%i
REM Intended to remove all inverted commas , which were causing an issue in svn
set PATHTOUSE="%PATHTOUSE:=%"
set NEWSVNURL=%NEWSVNURL:=%
TortoiseProc.exe /command:checkout /path:%PATHTOUSE% /url:%NEWSVNURL% /closeonend:1
)

In batch scripts, when a line or a block of code (the code enclosed in parenthesis) is reached, all variable reads are replaced with the value they have before starting to execute that line or block. So, if you change a variable inside a block, you can not retrieve this value inside the same block. There are no reads of the variable value, they were replaced with its values.
To correctly retrieve the changed value inside the same block, it is necessary to indicate to cmd that the read operations should be delayed until the line is executed. To do this, two steps are necessary. First is enable this option
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
When it is enabled, variables that should be read delayed need the sintax !var! instead of %var%

Related

Using CMDER, issue with setting PATH

I'm trying to use CMDER for a development environment that I've setup.
Basically I've created a .bat file that calls:
#ECHO OFF
start Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\9_MISC_TOOLS\CMDER\Cmder.exe
Then I've placed the file startdev.bat in:
%CMDER_HOME%\config\profile.d
So everything seems to work just fine, but when the startdev.bat finishes, issuing an:
echo %PATH%
returns:
Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\1_COMPILER\JDK\ORACLE\1.8.0_181\bin;Z:\_DEV\OS_CYGWIN\bin;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\9_MISC_TOOLS\CLutils;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\9_MISC_TOOLS\PUTTY;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\6_VERSION_CONTROL\PortableGit\bin;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64;C:\WINDOWS\System32
...any idea what's happening?
I would either expect CMDER to override PATH with the value from its own settings, or use my full path, which before the startdev.bat ends shows the value of:
PATH=Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\9_MISC_TOOLS\CMDER\vendor\conemu-maximus5;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\9_MISC_TOOLS\CMDER\vendor\conemu-maximus5\ConEmu;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\9_MISC_TOOLS\CMDER\vendor\conemu-maximus5\ConEmu\Scripts;Z:\_DEV\OS_ALL\JVM\3_BUILD_TOOLS\GRADLE\5.4\bin;Z:\_DEV\OS_ALL\JVM\3_BUILD_TOOLS\MAVEN\3.5.4\bin;Z:\_DEV\OS_ALL\JVM\3_BUILD_TOOLS\ANT\1.10.5\bin;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\3_BUILD_TOOLS\NODE\LTS\10.15.3;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\3_BUILD_TOOLS\NODE\LTS\10.15.3\node_modules;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\1_COMPILER\GO\1.12.4\bin;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\1_COMPILER\PYTHON\32bit\2.7.13;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\1_COMPILER\PYTHON\32bit\2.7.13\scripts;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\1_COMPILER\ANDROID\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\1_COMPILER\JDK\ORACLE\1.8.0_181\bin;Z:\_DEV\OS_CYGWIN\bin;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\9_MISC_TOOLS\CLutils;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\9_MISC_TOOLS\PUTTY;Z:\_DEV\OS_WINDOWS\6_VERSION_CONTROL\PortableGit\bin;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64;C:\WINDOWS\System32
..but the fact that it only seems to be keeping the value as defined about halfway through the batch job is strange.
Any ideas?
First I recommend opening a command prompt window and run setlocal /? and endlocal /? to get displayed the help/documentation for those two commands. Very important to know is that every setlocal without a corresponding endlocal results in an implicit execution of endlocal by cmd.exe before exiting processing of a batch file or a subroutine called with command CALL.
Next I suggest reading this answer for even more details about the commands SETLOCAL and ENDLOCAL and what happens on using them.
I suggest like michael_heath to change this code block:
setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set CLASSPATH=.
for /R %JRE_HOME%\lib %%a in (*.jar) do (
set CLASSPATH=!CLASSPATH!;%%a
)
set CLASSPATH=!CLASSPATH!
Better would be:
setLocal EnableExtensions EnableDelayedExpansion
set CLASSPATH=.
for /R "%JRE_HOME%\lib" %%a in (*.jar) do set "CLASSPATH=!CLASSPATH!;%%a"
endlocal & set "CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%"
Now the local environment is ended with passing the environment variable CLASSPATH from local environment, on which it was defined, to the restored previous environment because of cmd.exe expands %CLASSPATH% to current value of the environment variable CLASSPATH in current local environment before executing the command endlocal which restores the previous environment.
Wrong in your batch file is also set WINDIR=%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot% which should be set "WINDIR=%SystemRoot%".
I recommend further reading Why is no string output with 'echo %var%' after using 'set var = text' on command line? It explains why the syntax set "variable=string value" is recommended nowadays. Many of the environment variable definitions use directly or indirectly %UserProfile% which means depending on whatever the user currently running the batch file has entered as user name on creation of the user account. I have seen users entering their name containing a space and non ASCII characters. And I have seen users creating an account with a user name containing character & like Company GmbH & Co. An ampersand outside a double quoted argument string is interpreted as AND operator and cmd.exe tries to execute after set also the remaining string after & as command line on using something like set USERHOME=%DEVHOME%\%USERNAME% instead of set "USERHOME=%DEVHOME%\%USERNAME%". Well, startdev.bat redefines nearly all predefined Windows Environment Variables including USERNAME and USERPROFILE and so is written safe for most environment variable definitions.
This code block is also not optimal:
FOR /F "usebackq" %%i IN (`hostname`) DO SET HOSTNAME=%%i
echo Running on hostname: %HOSTNAME%
The host name respectively computer name could contain also a space or characters critical for command line or start with a semicolon for some unknown reason. So better would be:
FOR /F delims^=^ eol^= %%i IN ('hostname') DO SET "HOSTNAME=%%i"
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion & echo Running on host name: !HOSTNAME!& endlocal
Whereby there is the environment variable COMPUTERNAME predefined by Windows making it possible to use just following command line:
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion & echo Running on host name: !ComputerName!& endlocal
An ECHO command line containing an immediately expanded environment variable reference on which it is unknown if its value contains &|<> is always a problem because of the environment variable reference is expanded before further processing of the command line by cmd.exe as described at How does the Windows Command Interpreter (CMD.EXE) parse scripts?
I suggest also reading DosTips forum topic ECHO. FAILS to give text or blank line - Instead use ECHO/ and avoid the usage of echo. in the batch file to output an empty line.
"halfway through the batch job" as you have a
setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion which sets any further
changes to the variable PATH or other set variables as local.
The endLocal not specified is implied at the end of the script.
To resolve this, use endLocal and set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%
on the same parsed line to set CLASSPATH as global.
Change this part:
setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set CLASSPATH=.
for /R %JRE_HOME%\lib %%a in (*.jar) do (
set CLASSPATH=!CLASSPATH!;%%a
)
set CLASSPATH=!CLASSPATH!
to this:
setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set CLASSPATH=.
for /R %JRE_HOME%\lib %%a in (*.jar) do (
set CLASSPATH=!CLASSPATH!;%%a
)
endLocal & set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%
After that changed part, the script will set variables as global again.

Batch file variables won't set

I am writing a CMD script to generate documentation markdown pages for my GitHub repository. I have decided to give the script a default directory for the project and its documentation folder, and if the end user wants to use a different one, they must specify it, before the next step.
My code is something like:
echo.
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set projectDirectory=GroupManagementAppServer
set documentationFolder=documentation
rem ask user for confirmation of projectDirectory,documentationFolder to use
choice /m "By default, project directory is %projectDirectory% and documentation is stored in %documentationFolder%. Should I use these?"
rem if no
if %errorlevel% == 2 (
rem get projectDirectory,documentationFolder from user
set /p relativeDocumentationPathname=Please enter relative pathname to the documentation folder:
rem parse input
call :getAbsolutePath %relativeDocumentationPathname%
set documentationFolder=%_absolutePath%
set projectDirectory="%documentationFolder%\.."
)
echo %_absolutePath%
echo %documentationFolder%
echo %projectDirectory%
:getAbsolutePath
SETLOCAL
for %%i in ("%1%") do (
set filedrive=%%~di
set filepath=%%~pi
set filename=%%~ni
set fileextension=%%~xi
)
ENDLOCAL & SET _absolutePath=%filedrive%%filepath%%filename%%fileextension%
thus far, and when the echos complete, it's as if documentationFolder was never redefined! What the heck is going on, and how do I fix this, so that I can implement the rest of this and move on to actually getting some documentation on?
Here is the fixed code with delayed expansion properly applied, the sub-routine reduced and some minor improvements, mainly related to quotation:
echo/
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set "projectDirectory=GroupManagementAppServer"
set "documentationFolder=documentation"
rem // Ask user for confirmation of `projectDirectory`, `documentationFolder` to use:
choice /M "By default, project directory is '%projectDirectory%' and documentation is stored in '%documentationFolder%'. Should I use these?"
rem // If no:
if %errorlevel% == 2 (
rem // Get `projectDirectory`, `documentationFolder` from user:
set /P relativeDocumentationPathname="Please enter relative pathname to the documentation folder: "
rem // Parse input:
call :getAbsolutePath "%relativeDocumentationPathname%"
set "documentationFolder=!_absolutePath!"
set "projectDirectory=!documentationFolder!\.."
)
echo %_absolutePath%
echo %documentationFolder%
echo %projectDirectory%
goto :EOF
:getAbsolutePath
setlocal
for /D %%I in ("%~1") do (
set "filespec=%%~fI"
)
endlocal & set "_absolutePath=%filespec%"
I'd suggest you use the SO search facility in the top black bar and try to find delayedexpansion. There are hundreds of items on this matter.
Fundamentally, when a block (parenthesised series of statements) is encountered, the entire block is evaluated, substituting the then-current values of the variables and once that is done, the code is executed.
In your case, call echo %%var%% would show the modified values, or using the modified values within a subroutine (like call :arouthethatechosthevalues) would implement the new values.

A script that counts and prints every ocurrence of not any file inside a common subfolder in a specific path

Although I'm really a newbie in this field, I want to accomplish a task in batch scripting: There is a determinate folder of company contracts in a determinate path, each of this folders (approx. 400) has a common folder (2016) where there might be a file indicating there has been an inspection in this year. What i want is to print every company folder that has not any file in the common 2016 folder and a count of the times this happens.
This is what i have (and does not work at all):
set c=0
for %i /d in (*) do
for %j in ($%i\2016\*) do
if (%j==NUL) then (#echo $%i c+=1 echo %c)`
If you just want to know if there is a file in the 2016 directory you can do this:
#echo off
SetLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set count=0
for %%i /d in (*) do (
REM first unset variable
set files=
for %%j in (%%i\2016\*) do (
REM will set variable each time a file is encountered
set files=present
)
if not DEFINED files (
REM No files in directory 2016
echo %%i
set /a count+=1
echo !count!
)
)
EndLocal
exit /b 0
I don't see why you use $ before each %i. If you execute this code from the command line use one % for the loop variables i and j. But in a batch-script you'll have to use two of them (%%i, %%j).
Another thing, c+=1 won't work except if you use set /a.
I used delayed expansion because each block code ( between (...)) is parsed as one single command (as if it was all on one line with && between the commands inside the block) and you can't just assign a new value to a variable and read that new value in the same command. That's also the reason why I use !count! instead of %count% (which will give the value before the block). If you'd rather not use delayed expansion, remove the SetLocal EnableDelayedExpansion and replace echo !count! with call echo %%count%% (is another way to read a new value in the same command)
Also, be aware that each echo will end its output with a carriage retur and a newline. So each echo will result in a new line of output.

Batch file for loop dynamic variables from file without setlocal?

I have a simple ini file... really just a key=value file that I want to use to set as variables for my script.
My ini file:
DATABASE=snoopy
My Batch file code
#echo off
SET DATABASE=woodstock
FOR /f "tokens=1,2 delims==" %%a in ('C:\mycfg.ini') do (
echo a=%%a
echo b=%%b
pause
SET %%a=%%b
ECHO DATABASE=%DATABASE%
)
The echo a and b are correct, it shows
a=DATABASE
b=snoopy
But at the end when I echo %DATABASE% after calling the SET %%a=%%b
It still shows
DATABASE=woodstock
If I use delayed expansion, it works but only locally. I need it to overwrite the global so I don't see why this shouldn't work.
Well, no need to do anything to make it work.
It works.
Your problem is that when the for block (all the lines in parenthesis in your code) are read, variables are replaced with their values, so the line echo %DATABASE% is converted in echo woodstock. BUT the variable hold the correct value, changed inside the for loop. Try to place the echo outside of the for and see what the value is.
Delayed expansion is needed when a variable is changed inside a block and it is necesary to access the changed value inside the same block.
Ok I got it now..
Had to enable delayed expansion at the top of the file rather than just on the subroutine call. Then set the %%a and %%b to delayed variables and set them equal to eachother and that worked. Final code:
#echo off
SetLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
SET DATABASE=woodstock
FOR /f "tokens=1,2 delims==" %%a in ('C:\mycfg.ini') do (
set tmpA=%%a
set tmpB=%%b
SET !tmpA!=!tmpB!
)
ECHO DATABASE=%DATABASE%
And that changes it to "snoopy"
Thanks all!

How do you use SETLOCAL in a batch file?

How do you use setlocal in a batch file? I am just learning scripting and would like it explained to me in very simple terms.
I have a script that stops and says < was unexpected at this time it may have something to do with not having any setlocal statements in the script.
You make the first line SETLOCAL. This example is from the linked article below:
rem *******Begin Comment**************
rem This program starts the superapp batch program on the network,
rem directs the output to a file, and displays the file
rem in Notepad.
rem *******End Comment**************
#echo off
setlocal
path=g:\programs\superapp;%path%
call superapp>c:\superapp.out
endlocal
start notepad c:\superapp.out
The most frequent use of SETLOCAL is to turn on command extensions and allow delayed expansion of variables:
SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
For more info on SETLOCAL see the Command Line Reference at Microsoft TechNet.
Direct link to Setlocal
Suppose this code:
If "%getOption%" equ "yes" (
set /P option=Enter option:
echo Option read: %option%
)
Previous code will NOT work becase %option% value is replaced just one time when the IF command is parsed (before it is executed). You need to "delay" variable value expansion until SET /P command had modified variable value:
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
If "%getOption%" equ "yes" (
set /P option=Enter option:
echo Option read: !option!
)
Check this:
set var=Before
set var=After & echo Normal: %var% Delayed: !var!
Guess what the output is...
Try this:
SET PATH=%PATH%;%~dp0;
This will get your local folder your are running the batch from and add it to the current path.
example: if your are running a .bat or .cmd from d:\tools\mybatch.bat
it will add d:\tools to the current path so that it may find additional files on that folder.

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