ERRORLEVEL inside IF - batch-file

Question

Just stumbled into a weird thing with %ERRORLEVEL% and wanted to see if anyone knows why and if there's a way to fix it. Essentially, it seems as if commands executed inside if statements don't set the %ERRORLEVEL% variable. The ERRORLEVEL (as in IF ERRORLEVEL 1, which is different from IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 1 ) check seems to still work fine though, so I can probably work around it, but it would still be nice to be able to print the error level. For debugging or whatever.
#echo off
Set TESTVAR=1
tasklist | find /I "IsntRunning.exe" > NUL
echo OUTSIDE_IF %ERRORLEVEL%
ThisWillSetErrorLevelTo9009ieNotRecognizedCommand
tasklist | find /I "IsntRunning.exe" > NUL
echo OUTSIDE_IF %ERRORLEVEL%
ThisWillSetErrorLevelTo9009ieNotRecognizedCommand
IF %TESTVAR% EQU 1 (
Set ERRORLEVEL=
tasklist | find /I "IsntRunning.exe" > NUL
echo INSIDE_IF ERRORLEVEL %ERRORLEVEL%
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
echo INSIDE_IF2 ERRORLEVEL GREQ 1 %ERRORLEVEL%
)
IF ERRORLEVEL 2 (
echo INSIDE_IF2 ERRORLEVEL GREQ 2 %ERRORLEVEL%
)
IF ERRORLEVEL 3 (
echo INSIDE_IF2 ERRORLEVEL GREQ 3 %ERRORLEVEL%
)
)
tasklist | find /I "IsntRunning.exe" > NUL
echo OUTSIDE_IF ERRORLEVEL %ERRORLEVEL%
#echo on
Putting that in a batch file and running it produces this output:
C:\Users\username\Documents\work>test.bat
OUTSIDE_IF 1
'ThisWillSetErrorLevelTo9009ieNotRecognizedCommand' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
OUTSIDE_IF 1
'ThisWillSetErrorLevelTo9009ieNotRecognizedCommand' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
INSIDE_IF ERRORLEVEL 9009
INSIDE_IF2 ERRORLEVEL GREQ 1 9009
OUTSIDE_IF ERRORLEVEL 1
Relevant articles:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2008/09/26/8965755.aspx
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/69576

Answer 1

Try using setlocal enabledelayedexpansion at the start of your batch file, and !ERRORLEVEL! inside your IF. This seems to work for me:
#echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
dir nul
echo %ERRORLEVEL%
if .1.==.1. (
urklbkrlksdj - not a command
echo %ERRORLEVEL%
echo !ERRORLEVEL!
)

Answer 2

if errorlevel works without delayed expansion but works in manner similar to
if %errorlevel% <= Some_Value ... :
#echo off
::sets errorlevel to 0
(call )
if "1" == "1" (
rem sets errorlevel to 5
cmd /c exit 5
if errorlevel 4 echo this will be printed
if errorlevel 5 echo this will be printed
rem :::: you can use this ::::::::::::::
if errorlevel 5 if not errorlevel 6 echo this will be printed ONLY when the errorlevel is 5
rem :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
if errorlevel 6 echo this will not be printed
)