From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

HI All,

I do not know if any of your are crazy enough (who me????)
to program in batch, but ...

Anyway, I have a nice keeper on command line variables you
find useful:

-T


Batch command line variables:

MyProg.bat a b c d

Gives (without the quotes):

%* = "a b c d"
%~f0 → the fully qualified path + filename with extension of the running batch file
%0 → the name of the script as it was called (MyProg is this case)
%1 = "a"
%2 = "b"
%3 = "c"
%4 = "d"

also:
%~d0 → drive (e.g., C:)
%~p0 → path (e.g., \scripts\)
%~n0 → filename without extension
%~x0 → file extension
%~dp0 → drive + path (very commonly used)
%~dpn0 → drive + path + filename (no extension)
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-04-25 07:24, T wrote:

Batch command line variables:

MyProg.bat a b c d

Gives (without the quotes):

%* = "a b c d"
%~f0 → the fully qualified path + filename with extension of the running batch file
%0 → the name of the script as it was called (MyProg is this case)
%1 = "a"
%2 = "b"
%3 = "c"
%4 = "d"

also:
%~d0   → drive (e.g., C:)
%~p0   → path (e.g., \scripts\)
%~n0   → filename without extension
%~x0   → file extension
%~dp0  → drive + path (very commonly used)
%~dpn0 → drive + path + filename (no extension)

The above is a subset of what is available for the index variables in
'for' loops, which can be read by typing into a command console:

for /?

Other useful help pages are ...

set /?
if /?

... etc.
--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website: www.macfh.co.uk

--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 4/25/26 04:16, Java Jive wrote:

On 2026-04-25 07:24, T wrote:

Batch command line variables:

MyProg.bat a b c d

Gives (without the quotes):

%* = "a b c d"
%~f0 → the fully qualified path + filename with extension of the
running batch file
%0 → the name of the script as it was called (MyProg is this case)
%1 = "a"
%2 = "b"
%3 = "c"
%4 = "d"

also:
%~d0   → drive (e.g., C:)
%~p0   → path (e.g., \scripts\)
%~n0   → filename without extension
%~x0   → file extension
%~dp0  → drive + path (very commonly used)
%~dpn0 → drive + path + filename (no extension)

The above is a subset of what is available for the index variables in
'for' loops, which can be read by typing into a command console:

    for /?

Other useful help pages are ...

    set /?
    if /?

... etc.

Assigning variable from call in Batch call drive
me crazy. It is STUPID.

Here is my keeper on the subject (speaking of "for" calls):



Batch example on assigning variables from return values:

@echo off

REM Get RDP enabled/disabled value
for /f "tokens=3" %%A in ('
reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections ^| find "REG_DWORD"
') do set RDP=%%A

REM Get NLA setting
for /f "tokens=3" %%A in ('
reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp" /v UserAuthentication ^| find "REG_DWORD"
') do set NLA=%%A

echo Raw values:
echo RDP=%RDP%
echo NLA=%NLA%
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-04-25 13:08, T wrote:

Assigning variable from call in Batch call drive
me crazy.  It is STUPID.

And the relevance to your OP and my reply is?

--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 4/25/26 16:08, Java Jive wrote:

On 2026-04-25 13:08, T wrote:

Assigning variable from call in Batch call drive
me crazy.  It is STUPID.

And the relevance to your OP and my reply is?

I was following up on the "for" command you mentioned.

And since assigning a returned value to a variable is
bizarre, I included how to do it.

The relevance is that I was building on what you
had added. I though you raised a good point.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-04-26 00:39, T wrote:

On 4/25/26 16:08, Java Jive wrote:

On 2026-04-25 13:08, T wrote:

Assigning variable from call in Batch call drive
me crazy.  It is STUPID.

And the relevance to your OP and my reply is?

I was following up on the "for" command you mentioned.

And since assigning a returned value to a variable is
bizarre, I included how to do it.

The relevance is that I was building on what you
had added.  I though you raised a good point.

Well, that wasn't clear, you seemed to want to rant about something, but alright. Your example seemed to work for me, and returned values 0x01 &
0x00, but let's try to explain things a bit better by using something
easier to understand than a REG command as the example ...

Generally, using FOR /F seems to be the only known way of capturing the
output of a command into one or more variables. I have a program that performs file maintenance across all my PCs and servers, and here's an
example from that.

In order to be able to manipulate files with accented characters, I need
it to run under codepage 1252, but here in the UK the default is 850.
Here's a section from it that captures the current codepage so that I
can restore it later before exiting the BATch file program:

FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1-4" %%A IN (`CHCP`) DO (
SET _CP=%%D
)
CHCP 1252

Explanation:

The raw output of the codepage command is of the form ...

Active code page: 850

... of which we want just the last, 850. The for loop captures this as follows ...

The /F parameter enables extended options including those that follow.

The 'usebackq' parameter instructs that the command between back quotes
(`), here CHCP, should be run, and its output assigned to variables in ascending order:

1st word of output assigned to given for parameter, so here ...
%%A=Active
2nd to next letter, so here ...
%%B=code
3rd to the next, so here (note the inclusion of the colon, sometimes
a nuisance) ...
%%C=page:
4th, the one we want, to the next, so here ...
%%D=850
... which the loop body assigns to a variable named _CP.

The 'tokens' parameter instructs to assign the given pattern of words
from the results, here 1 to 4, but probably you can see that I could
have used just "tokens=4", in which case the result I wanted would have
been assigned directly to %%A, but that wouldn't have shown so clearly
for this example the incremental way the assignations occur. There is
also a possibility of using a '*' to assign all subsequent output to a
single variable, but I had no need to use that here.
--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website: www.macfh.co.uk

--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Fri, 24 Apr 2026 23:24:25 -0700, T wrote:

HI All,

I do not know if any of your are crazy enough (who me????)
to program in batch, but ...

Anyway, I have a nice keeper on command line variables you
find useful:

-T

Batch command line variables:

MyProg.bat a b c d

Gives (without the quotes):

%* = "a b c d"
%~f0 ¡÷ the fully qualified path + filename with extension of the running batch file
%0 ¡÷ the name of the script as it was called (MyProg is this case)
%1 = "a"
%2 = "b"
%3 = "c"
%4 = "d"

also:
%~d0 ¡÷ drive (e.g., C:)
%~p0 ¡÷ path (e.g., \scripts\)
%~n0 ¡÷ filename without extension
%~x0 ¡÷ file extension
%~dp0 ¡÷ drive + path (very commonly used)
%~dpn0 ¡÷ drive + path + filename (no extension)

CMD has built-in help for those, using `call /?` command.

What's missing in CMD's built-in help is redirection and anything related to multiple commands in one line. i.e.: command group, pipe, and conditional command. Including the concept of standard I/O.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 4/24/26 23:24, T wrote:

HI All,

I do not know if any of your are crazy enough (who me????)
to program in batch, but ...

Anyway, I have a nice keeper on command line variables you
find useful:

-T

Batch command line variables:

MyProg.bat a b c d

Gives (without the quotes):

%* = "a b c d"
%~f0 → the fully qualified path + filename with extension of the running batch file
%0 → the name of the script as it was called (MyProg is this case)
%1 = "a"
%2 = "b"
%3 = "c"
%4 = "d"

also:
%~d0   → drive (e.g., C:)
%~p0   → path (e.g., \scripts\)
%~n0   → filename without extension
%~x0   → file extension
%~dp0  → drive + path (very commonly used)
%~dpn0 → drive + path + filename (no extension)

Whilst we are on the subject of batch programming,
here is one of my favorite utilities:

https://github.com/ncruces/zenity/releases

It allows for all kinds of pop ups.

A quick example of a "yes", "NO" pop up (the time out
is in seconds):


@echo off

set "RESULT="

zenity.exe --question ^
--title="Confirm Action" ^
--text="Do you want to continue?" ^
--width=400 ^
--timeout=10

rem capture the exit code immediately
set "RESULT=!ERRORLEVEL!"

echo Exit code was: !RESULT!

if "!RESULT!"=="0" (
echo YES
) else (
echo NO or timeout
)



Note:
%ERRORLEVEL% → last program’s exit code
set "VAR=%ERRORLEVEL%" → store it safely
use !ERRORLEVEL! inside code blocks

--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 4/25/26 17:51, Java Jive wrote:

On 2026-04-26 00:39, T wrote:

On 4/25/26 16:08, Java Jive wrote:

On 2026-04-25 13:08, T wrote:

Assigning variable from call in Batch call drive
me crazy.  It is STUPID.

And the relevance to your OP and my reply is?

I was following up on the "for" command you mentioned.

And since assigning a returned value to a variable is
bizarre, I included how to do it.

The relevance is that I was building on what you
had added.  I though you raised a good point.

Well, that wasn't clear, you seemed to want to rant about something, but alright.  Your example seemed to work for me, and returned values 0x01 & 0x00, but let's try to explain things a bit better by using something
easier to understand than a REG command as the example ...

Generally, using FOR /F seems to be the only known way of capturing the output of a command into one or more variables.  I have a program that performs file maintenance across all my PCs and servers, and here's an example from that.

In order to be able to manipulate files with accented characters, I need
it to run under codepage 1252, but here in the UK the default is 850.
Here's a section from it that captures the current codepage so that I
can restore it later before exiting the BATch file program:

    FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1-4" %%A IN (`CHCP`) DO (
        SET _CP=%%D
        )
    CHCP 1252

Explanation:

The raw output of the codepage command is of the form ...

    Active code page: 850

... of which we want just the last, 850.  The for loop captures this as follows ...

The /F parameter enables extended options including those that follow.

The 'usebackq' parameter instructs that the command between back quotes
(`), here CHCP, should be run, and its output assigned to variables in ascending order:

    1st word of output assigned to given for parameter, so here ...
        %%A=Active
    2nd to next letter, so here ...
        %%B=code
    3rd to the next, so here (note the inclusion of the colon, sometimes
      a nuisance) ...
        %%C=page:
    4th, the one we want, to the next, so here ...
        %%D=850
    ... which the loop body assigns to a variable named _CP.

The 'tokens' parameter instructs to assign the given pattern of words
from the results, here 1 to 4, but probably you can see that I could
have used just "tokens=4", in which case the result I wanted would have
been assigned directly to %%A, but that wouldn't have shown so clearly
for this example the incremental way the assignations occur.  There is
also a possibility of using a '*' to assign all subsequent output to a single variable, but I had no need to use that here.

Awesome!

I copied it down in my keeper and added the following:

rem Switch to a known code page (CHCP command)
CHCP 1252
FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1-4" %%A IN (`CHCP`) DO (
SET _CP=%%D
)
REM Restore original code page
CHCP %_CP%

Note: you really only need tokens=4 since you're only
grabbing the last value

and

Without usebackq (default behavior)
'command' → runs a command
"file name" → treated as a file name (only works cleanly without spaces)

With usebackq
`command` → runs a command
'file name' → treated as a file name (even with spaces)
"literal string" → treated as a plain string


THANK YOU!!!



--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 22:21:11 -0700
T <T@invalid.invalid> wrote:

On 4/25/26 17:51, Java Jive wrote:

On 2026-04-26 00:39, T wrote:

On 4/25/26 16:08, Java Jive wrote:

On 2026-04-25 13:08, T wrote:

Assigning variable from call in Batch call drive
me crazy.  It is STUPID.

And the relevance to your OP and my reply is?

I was following up on the "for" command you mentioned.

And since assigning a returned value to a variable is
bizarre, I included how to do it.

The relevance is that I was building on what you
had added.  I though you raised a good point.

[]

I copied it down in my keeper and added the following:

rem Switch to a known code page (CHCP command)
CHCP 1252
FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1-4" %%A IN (`CHCP`) DO (
SET _CP=%%D
)
REM Restore original code page
CHCP %_CP%

Note: you really only need tokens=4 since you're only
grabbing the last value

and

Without usebackq (default behavior)
'command' → runs a command
"file name" → treated as a file name (only works cleanly without spaces)

With usebackq
`command` → runs a command
'file name' → treated as a file name (even with spaces)
"literal string" → treated as a plain string

THANK YOU!!!

Please note that amb is a much better fit for batch discussions; FU set
--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-04-26 06:21, T wrote:

On 4/25/26 17:51, Java Jive wrote:

What I wrote ...

     FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1-4" %%A IN (`CHCP`) DO (
         SET _CP=%%D
         )
     CHCP 1252

... and then, although I didn't include this section of the program in
my example code because it's trivial, just before exiting the program I
do ...

CHCP %_CP%

... to restore the original code page.

Whereas what you wrote ...

    CHCP 1252
    FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1-4" %%A IN (`CHCP`) DO (
        SET _CP=%%D
        )
    REM Restore original code page
    CHCP %_CP%

is erroneous, can you really not see that???!!! The purpose of my code
was to remember the current code page so that I can restore it later,
then set the code page to the one I want for the running of the program,
but your code would be setting the code page to be 1252 before asking
what the current code page is, so by the time you do ask that, it's unnecessary to do so, because you already know it's 1252, because you've
just set it to be that! Thus you will be unable to restore the original
code page, because you overwrote it before asking what it was, and your example code is therefore completely pointless.
--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website: www.macfh.co.uk

--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Sun, 4/26/2026 1:21 AM, T wrote:

    rem Switch to a known code page (CHCP command)
    CHCP 1252
    FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1-4" %%A IN (`CHCP`) DO (
        SET _CP=%%D
        )
    REM Restore original code page
    CHCP %_CP%

rem Record the existing code page, for restore later

FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1-4" %%A IN (`CHCP`) DO (
SET _CP=%%D
)

rem Switch to a known code page (CHCP command)
CHCP 1252
...

REM Restore original code page
CHCP %_CP%

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 4/26/26 07:55, Paul wrote:

On Sun, 4/26/2026 1:21 AM, T wrote:

    rem Switch to a known code page (CHCP command)
    CHCP 1252
    FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1-4" %%A IN (`CHCP`) DO (
        SET _CP=%%D
        )
    REM Restore original code page
    CHCP %_CP%

rem Record the existing code page, for restore later

FOR /F "usebackq tokens=1-4" %%A IN (`CHCP`) DO (
SET _CP=%%D
)

rem Switch to a known code page (CHCP command)
CHCP 1252
...

REM Restore original code page
CHCP %_CP%

Paul

Elegant. Thank you!
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

I added Paul's comments to my keeper. I missed what you
were trying to do because I was concentrating on the "for"
command and how it can be used to assign values to variables
from external calls.

Thank you for the help!

The "for" command wold make Rude Goldbreg very happy.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

T wrote:

The "for" command wold make Rude Goldbreg very happy.

I've used many of its variations over the years, it's quite arcane, I do
still maintain existing .cmd files, but I never start out writing new
ones, powershell is typically what i use ...

I wish MS would bite the bullet and install V7 as the default.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 4/27/26 00:57, Andy Burns wrote:

T wrote:

The "for" command wold make Rude Goldbreg very happy.

I've used many of its variations over the years, it's quite arcane, I do still maintain existing .cmd files, but I never start out writing new
ones, powershell is typically what i use ...

I wish MS would bite the bullet and install V7 as the default.

what is V7?
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

T wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

powershell is typically what i use ...

I wish MS would bite the bullet and install V7 as the default.

what is V7?

version 7 of powershell, Win11 comes with version 5.1 which MS
acknowledge is a dead-end ...


--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2