I am writing a batch file to upgrade some systems. I need to parse a date from an xml file and save it for use later in the file. The format of the date is yyyy\MM\dd.
What I have so far is:
#echo off
setLocal DisableDelayedExpansion
for /f "tokens=* delims= " %%G in (ConnectionManagement.xml) do (
set str=%%G
set mydate=%%G
echo got-
echo %%G
echo %mydate%
PAUSE
ECHO %mydate%|findstr /R /C:[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]\\[0-9][0-9]\\[0-9][0-9] > nul
IF ERRORLEVEL 0 goto valueok
)
echo DONE
PAUSE
goto end
:valueok
echo VALUEOK
:end
PAUSE
Unfortunately this incorrectly recognised the xml header as a valid date; but I think this is to do with ErrorLevel being reset (?). mydate isn't being set, and it recognises the empty variable mydate as a match (!!??). The output is:
got-
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
ECHO is off.
Press any key to continue . . .
VALUEOK
Press any key to continue . . .
...
Getting rather desperate for a solution. thanks...
ErrorLevel is not being reset. What is actually happening is that IF ERRORLEVEL 0 does not behave the way you expect. Basically, the test is not "Does errorlevel equal 0?", its "Is errorlevel greater than or equal to zero?". Given this, it should be clear that IF ERRORLEVEL 0 will always be true (at least, if you only expect positive errors...)
Therefore, you need to use IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 goto valueok instead.
As RB wrote, IF ERRORLEVEL 0 does not behave the way you expect.
The if errorlevel is a special IF-case.
To use a normal IF-construct you could use
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
...
FOR-LOOP .. DO (
if !ERRORLEVEL! EQU 0 goto valueok
Related
I want to take a bunch of files in folder, and do something if the file doesn't contain the word Microsoft.
I am working in Teamcity, but except for the amount of % before variables should be the same as batch files.
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for /r %%%%v in (*.dll) do (
REM Do something that cif fails changes the errorlevel
echo !errorlevel!
set filename = %%%%~nv
echo !filename!
if !filename:Microsoft!==!filename! (
if !errorlevel! neq 0 goto :error
)
)
When I echo the errorlevel I get the correct result, however the filename echo isn't working, which implies I didn't set it correctly. Of course then the comparison is meaningless (it never gets into the if block).
What am I doing wrong?
So the comments on my question were really all I needed, thanks!
In any case, if anyone else encounters this, here's the code that works:
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for /r %%%%v in (*.dll) do (
set filename=%%%%~nv
REM Do something that if fails changes the errorlevel
if !errorlevel! neq 0 if /i "!filename:Microsoft=!"=="!filename!" (
goto :error
)
)
Please note the thing to be careful is not to do anything that might change the errorlevel before using it, including echoing it...
I've tried to write a batchfile, which would check it's own directory for other batch files and check these for a certain text. If the text is found, I want the program to jump to the end, otherwise copy itself into the found file. Here's how I tried:
rem windowsisajoke
for %%f in (*.bat) do (set A=%%f)
set FILE=%A%
set CONTENT=windowsisajoke
findstr /i "%CONTENT%" %FILE% >NUL
if errorlevel 0 goto end
copy %0 %A%
:end
if errorlevel 0 actually means "if errorlevel is zero or greater". (I know - very intuitive...)
Either change your logic:
if errorlevel 1 copy %0 %A%
or use
if %errorlevel%==0 goto :end
I am trying to read the filename and according to the filename set the Output variable.
I have tried using findstr directly on %%F (findstr /i "M002" %%F >nul 2>&1 ) and also writing to a temp text file (as below) to test and read it, but nothing worked.
What I'm doing wrong?
P.S. If I remove this out from the loop the code works, but I need it within the loop due to the last line.
rem ===========================================
set FileType=pdf
for %%F in (%~dp0*.%FileType%) do (
rem ECHO %%F
echo "%%F" > test.txt
findstr /i "M002" test.txt >nul 2>&1
echo %errorlevel%
if not %errorlevel% == 0 (
echo "4pp"
echo %%F
set Output=4PP
) ELSE (
echo "Letter"
echo %%F
set Output=Letter
)
set NetComm="XYZ" "%Output%" etc etc etc
)
rem ====================================
Generation 5,961 of delayedexpansion.
Batch parses the entire statement from the for through to the last closing parenthesis and replaces any %var% with the value of that variable at the time the statement is parsed.
Consequently, attempting to use a value which is established within the loop will fail. This applies to %output% and %errorlevel% in the current instance.
Dealing with %errorlevel% is easy. The syntax
if errorlevel n
works on the run-time value of errorlevel and is true if errorlevel has been set to n or greater than n.
Personally, I find the if not condition ... else clumsy. I can't see why it's so common. Fuzzy thinking in my book...
There are three common ways to overcome the problem, each has its own advantages and disadvantages, proponents and critics.
First, the "documented" method. Use a setlocal enabledelayedexpansion instruction. Once this instruction has been executed, !var! will access the current value and %var% the initialvalue ofvar`.
Second, the subroutine method. CALL :sub within a loop executes a subroutine (see the documentation - call /? from the prompt) and within that subroutine, %var% will have the value as established within the loop.
Third, it's sometimes possible to use call echo %%var%% (or call someotherinsruction) where the call is executiong the target as if it was a subroutine.
Hence, in your case, a fix might be
rem ===========================================
set FileType=pdf
for %%F in (%~dp0*.%FileType%) do (
rem ECHO %%F
findstr /i "M002" "%%F" >nul 2>nul
CALL echo %%errorlevel%%
if errorlevel 1 (
echo "4pp"
echo %%F
set Output=4PP
) ELSE (
echo "Letter"
echo %%F
set Output=Letter
)
CALL set NetComm="XYZ" "%%Output%%" etc etc etc
)
rem ====================================
depending entirely on your definition of "works" (which is not an absolute - it has meaning only to you.)
The batch has to remove files and directories from specific locations and output success or stdout/stderr messages to a new .txt file. I have created the most of the script and it performs exactly as it should, except when the deletion is successful it moves forward to the next line rather than echo a 'successful' message on the log.
echo Basic Deletion Batch Script > results.txt
#echo off
call :filelog >> results.txt 2>&1
notepad results.txt
exit /b
:filelog
call :delete new.txt
call :delete newer.txt
call :delete newest.txt
call :remove c:\NoSuchDirectory
GOTO :EOF
:delete
echo deleting %1
del /f /q c:\Users\newuser\Desktop\%1
if errorlevel 0 echo succesful
GOTO :EOF
:remove
echo deleting directory %1
rmdir /q /s %1
GOTO :EOF
For some reason I can't find the syntax for if del succeeds echo 'successful'. In the above example if I remove the line
if errorlevel 0 echo successful
Everything works fine, but no success message. With this line left in it echoes success for every line.
del and ErrorLevel?
The del command does not set the ErrorLevel as long as the given arguments are valid, it even resets the ErrorLevel to 0 in such cases (at least for Windows 7).
del modifies the ErrorLevel only in case an invalid switch is provided (del /X sets ErrorLevel to 1), no arguments are specified at all (del sets ErrorLevel to 1 too), or an incorrect file path is given (del : sets ErrorLevel to 123), at least for Windows 7.
Possible Work-Around
A possible work-around is to capture the STDERR output of del, because in case of deletion errors, the related messages (Could Not Find [...], Access is denied., The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.) are written there. Such might look like:
for /F "tokens=*" %%# in ('del /F /Q "\path\to\the\file_s.txt" 2^>^&1 1^> nul') do (2> nul set =)
To use the code in command prompt directly rather than in a batch file, write %# instead of %%#.
If you do not want to delete read-only files, remove /F from the del command line;
if you do want prompts (in case wildcards ? and/or * are present in the file path), remove /Q.
Explanation of Code
This executes the command line del /F /Q "\path\to\the\file_s.txt". By the part 2>&1 1> nul, the command output at STDOUT will be dismissed, and its STDERR output will be redirected so that for /F receives it.
If the deletion was successful, del does not generate a STDERR output, hence the for /F loop does not iterate, because there is nothing to parse. Notice that ErrorLevel will not be reset in that case, its value remains unchanged.
If for /F recieves any STDERR output from the del command line, the command in the loop body is executed, which is set =; this is an invalid syntax, therefore set sets the ErrorLevel to 1. The 2> nul portion avoids the message The syntax of the command is incorrect. to be displayed.
To set the ErrorLevel explicitly you could also use cmd /C exit /B 1. Perhaps this line is more legible. For sure it is more flexible because you can state any (signed 32-bit) number, including 0 to clear it (omitting the number clears it as well). It might be a bit worse in terms of performance though.
Application Example
The following batch file demonstrates how the above described work-around could be applied:
:DELETE
echo Deleting "%~1"...
rem this line resets ErrorLevel initially:
cmd /C exit /B
rem this line constitutes the work-around:
for /F "tokens=*" %%# in ('del /F /Q "C:\Users\newuser\Desktop\%~1" 2^>^&1 1^> nul') do (2> nul set =)
rem this is the corrected ErrorLevel query:
if not ErrorLevel 1 echo Deleted "%~1" succesfully.
goto :EOF
Presetting ErrorLevel
Besides the above mentioned command cmd /C exit /B, you can also use > nul ver to reset the ErrorLevel. This can be combined with the for /F loop work-around like this:
> nul ver & for /F "tokens=*" %%# in ('del /F /Q "\path\to\the\file_s.txt" 2^>^&1 1^> nul') do (2> nul set =)
Alternative Method Without for /F
Instead of using for /F to capture the STDERR output of del, the find command could also be used like find /V "", which returns an ErrorLevel of 1 if an empty string comes in and 0 otherwise:
del "\path\to\the\file_s.ext" 2>&1 1> nul | find /V "" 1> nul 2>&1
However, this would return an ErrorLevel of 1 in case the deletion has been successful and 0 if not. To reverse that behaviour, an if/else clause could be appended like this:
del "\path\to\the\file_s.ext" 2>&1 1> nul | find /V "" 1> nul 2>&1 & if ErrorLevel 1 (1> nul ver) else (2> nul set =)
Different Approach: Checking File for Existence After del
A completely different approach is to check the file for existence after having tried to delete it (thanks to user Sasha for the hint!), like this, for example:
del /F /Q "\path\to\the\file_s.txt" 1> nul 2>&1
if exist "\path\to\the\file_s.txt" (2> nul set =) else (1> nul ver)
When using this syntax, instead of this
if errorlevel 0 echo successful
you can use this - because errorlevel 0 is always true.
if not errorlevel 1 echo successful
Just use rm from UnxUtils (or gow or cygwin). It sets the errorlevel correctly in case of a nonexistent file, or any errors deleting the file.
This was added as an edit by the original asker, I have converted it to a community wiki answer because it should be an answer, not an edit.
I found out how to do it... one way anyway.
echo Startup > results.txt
#echo off
call :filelog >> results.txt 2>&1
notepad results.txt
exit /b
:filelog
call :delete new.txt
call :delete newer.txt
call :delete newest.txt
call :remove c:\NoSuchDirectory
GOTO :EOF
:delete
echo deleting %1
dir c:\users\newuser\Desktop\%1 >NUL 2>&1
SET existed=%ERRORLEVEL%
del /f /q c:\Users\newuser\Desktop\%1
dir c:\users\newuser\Desktop\%1 2>NUL >NUL
if %existed% == 0 (if %ERRORLEVEL% == 1 echo "successful" )
GOTO :EOF
:remove
echo deleting directory %1
rmdir /q /s %1
GOTO :EOF
IF ERRORLEVEL 0 [cmd] will execute every time because IF ERRORLEVEL # checks to see if the value of ERRORLEVEL is greater than or equal to #. Therefore, every error code will cause execution of [cmd].
A great reference for this is: http://www.robvanderwoude.com/errorlevel.php
>IF /?
Performs conditional processing in batch programs.
IF [NOT] ERRORLEVEL number command
IF [NOT] string1==string2 command
IF [NOT] EXIST filename command
NOT Specifies that Windows should carry out
the command only if the condition is false.
ERRORLEVEL number Specifies a true condition if the last program run
returned an exit code equal to or greater than the number
specified.
I would recommend modifying your code to something like the following:
:delete
echo deleting %1
del /f /q c:\Users\newuser\Desktop\%1
if errorlevel 1 (
rem This block executes if ERRORLEVEL is a non-zero
echo failed
) else (
echo succesful
)
GOTO :EOF
If you need something that processes more than one ERRORLEVEL, you could do something like this:
:delete
echo deleting %1
del /f /q c:\Users\newuser\Desktop\%1
if errorlevel 3 echo Cannot find path& GOTO :delete_errorcheck_done
if errorlevel 2 echo Cannot find file& GOTO :delete_errorcheck_done
if errorlevel 1 echo Unknown error& GOTO :delete_errorcheck_done
echo succesful
:delete_errorcheck_done
GOTO :EOF
OR
:delete
echo deleting %1
del /f /q c:\Users\newuser\Desktop\%1
goto :delete_error%ERRORLEVEL% || goto :delete_errorOTHER
:delete_errorOTHER
echo Unknown error: %ERRORLEVEL%
GOTO :delete_errorcheck_done
:delete_error3
echo Cannot find path
GOTO :delete_errorcheck_done
:delete_error2
echo Cannot find file
GOTO :delete_errorcheck_done
:delete_error0
echo succesful
:delete_errorcheck_done
GOTO :EOF
The answer of aschipfl is great (thanks, helped me a lot!) using the code under Presetting ErrorLevel you get a nice standard function:
Take care to use %~1 instead of %1 in the del statement, or you will get errors if you use a quoted filename.
::######################################################################
::call :DELETE "file.txt"
::call :DELETE "file.txt" "error message"
:DELETE
>nul ver && for /F "tokens=*" %%# in ('del /F /Q "%~1" 2^>^&1 1^> nul') do (2>nul set =) || (
if NOT .%2==. echo %~2
)
goto :EOF
BTW 1: You can give a nifty error message as a second parameter
BTW 2: Using :: instead of REM for comments makes the code even more readable.
Code:
Error Code: (What you did)
if errorlevel 0 echo succesful
The problem here is that you aren't calling errorlevel as a variable and plus you didn't add in the operator to the statement as well.
Correct Code: (Here is what it should actually be.)
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 echo succesful
Definitions:
EQU: The EQU stands for Equal. This kind of operator is also called a relational operator. Here is the documentation link to operators if you wanna know more, there are other ones but this helped me.
ERRORLEVEL: is declared as a variable and usually get the error level of the last command run usually. Variables are usually called when they are between percent signs like this
%foo%
For some more help on variables, go to cmd (Which you can go to by searching it on windows 10) and type in "set /?", without the quotes. the set command is the command you use to set variables
A while ago I made a function that you can call from the command prompt or any batch file (it was just for fun, I don't see how it could be useful). It basically just makes your (Microsoft) computer speak whatever you wrote in as the parameter.
I recently got some inspiration to add a switch to it where it would read the contents of a file. My standalone script worked, but when I added it to my function, it didn't work as I would have liked.
Here's the code:
#echo off & setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
if "%~1"=="/?" (
echo.
echo TALK "Text" [Parameters]
echo.
echo Text - The phrase you want to be spoken.
echo.
echo [Parameters]:
echo /f - Read the contents of a file. "Text" changes to the file path.
echo.
endlocal
exit /b
)
if "%~2 X" equ "/f X" (
if not exist %~1 (
echo File does not exist or cannot be found.
endlocal
exit /b
)
set cont=
for /f "delims=" %%i in (%~1) do set cont=!cont! %%i
:b
echo Set a = Wscript.CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice") > "Talk.vbs"
echo a.speak "%cont%" >> "Talk.vbs"
start /WAIT Talk.vbs
del Talk.vbs
endlocal
exit /b
)
set text=%~1
echo set speech = Wscript.CreateObject("SAPI.spVoice") > "talk.vbs"
echo speech.speak "%text%" >> "talk.vbs"
start /WAIT talk.vbs
del Talk.vbs
endlocal
exit /b
Unfortunately I don't have working function code (before I added the /f switch).
This is a last resort for me as I've edited it heavily and scoured the code for any give away as to what the problem might be.
Another bad thing is that I didn't take note of what I changed, so I can't exactly tell you what I've tried. I can tell you what the outputs are though.
The first time I tried, it gave the output The syntax of the command is incorrect.
It's now at the point where the original function (just converting text to speech) doesn't work anymore. The contents of the file Talk.vbs (which was made during the process) is a.speak "".
I'll keep updating my attempts, but knowing me it's something really simple that I've overlooked.
--EDIT--
At the suggestion of someone, I put carats before the square brackets in the syntax section. Nothing changed.
Along with escaping the parenthesis you also had to surround if exist %~1 in quotes in case of a argument of "some words I want it to say". Also cleaned it up a bit. Code at the bottom, but first an explanation.
If you looked at talk.vbs before it was deleted you would see this:
a.speak "!cont! contents of the file here"
This is because of this code:
for /f "delims=" %%i in (%~1) do set cont=!cont! %%i
:b
echo Set a = Wscript.CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice") > "Talk.vbs"
If you turned echo on and watched the code you would see the last unescaped ) was taking the contents of the for loop and including it in the redirect.
Corrected and cleaned code:
#echo off & setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
if "%~1"=="/?" (
echo.
echo TALK "Text" [Parameters]
echo.
echo Text - The phrase you want to be spoken.
echo.
echo [Parameters]:
echo /f - Read the contents of a file. "Text" changes to the file path.
echo.
endlocal
exit /b
)
set text=
if [%2]==[/f] (
if exist "%~1" (
for /f "usebackq delims=" %%i in (%1) do set text=!text! %%i
) else (
endlocal
exit /B
)
)
if [%2]==[] set text=%~1
echo set speech = Wscript.CreateObject^("SAPI.spVoice"^) > "talk.vbs"
echo speech.speak "%text%" >> "talk.vbs"
cscript //NoLogo //B talk.vbs
del Talk.vbs
endlocal
exit /b
Edit: fixed the for statement pointed out by Andriy M
In your echo statements that contain parentheses, try escaping the parentheses with carats. I suspect especially the echo within the if statement is partially getting evaluated literally.
One other minor suggestion, I would also replace
start /WAIT Talk.vbs
with
cscript /nologo Talk.vbs
It's not that I think the start /wait is causing the error, but it does cause a second console window to appear temporarily for no good reason -- or it will whenever your script executes that far, anyway.
I made a few other suggested changes here, such as eliminating the need for a /f switch. If "%1" is the name of a file that exists, read it. Otherwise, treat it as text to read. And instead of having a separate subroutine for reading a file versus getting text from input, all that needs to happen is a variable has a different value.
#echo off & setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
if "%1"=="/?" ( goto usage )
if "%1"=="" ( goto usage )
if "%1"=="--help" ( goto usage )
if exist "%1" (
set txt=
for /f "usebackq tokens=*" %%i in (%1) do set txt=!txt! %%i
) else (
set txt=%1
)
echo Set a = Wscript.CreateObject^("SAPI.SpVoice"^) > "talk.vbs"
echo a.speak "%txt%" >> "talk.vbs"
cscript /nologo talk.vbs
del talk.vbs
endlocal
goto :EOF
:usage
echo.
echo TALK ["text"^|filename]
echo.
echo talk filename -- speaks the contents of filename
echo talk "text" -- speaks the supplied text
endlocal
goto :EOF