NEED HELP writing a batch file for the following task:

Further to my recent posts...

(1)

You need a later version of Gzip specifically for Win32

You can get the Gzip 1.3.11 installer here

http://dfn.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/gnuwin32/gzip-1.3.11.exe

You need to run it and select an installation directory.

By default it will create a subfolder structure under that directory
and the gzip.exe will be in a subdirectory called bin.

You can leave it there & use the full path in your batch files or move or copy it
where you want...

I put mine into c:\Program Files\Gzip to make things easier to remember.

(2)

The copy *.Z *.Y thing does not work. Wildcards are OK for REN but not for COPY.
Solution in this batch file, which seems to do the required things...

You can delete or comment out (by preceding with REM) the pause statements if
you want to run it unattended. They are there to provide a chance to hit CTRL + C and abort the batch during debugging really.

(3) This gzip supports wildcards which makes things simpler

(4) new code...

@echo off
REM place this batch file in the top folder
REM and run it from there
REM remember where we are
set topfolder=%CD%
if exist "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt" del "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt" > nul
if exist "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt" del "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt" > nul
echo.
echo (1) creating list of all sub folders...
echo.
pause
REM get a list of all the subfolders
REM under this one and put it in a temp file
dir /b /s /ad > "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt"
echo all sub folders...
echo.
type "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt"
echo.
echo (2) finding folders with gzips in them
echo.
REM in a loop check each one for gzip files
REM write folder name to another list if any found
for /F "delims==" %%a in ('type "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt"') do (
cd %%a
if exist *.Z echo %%a >> "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt"
)
pause
echo all sub folders with gzips in...
echo.
type "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt"
echo.
pause
echo.
echo (3) extracting from gzip archives
echo.
echo ready to start...
echo.
pause
echo.
REM for each folder that contains gzips
REM enter folder and extract
for /F "delims==" %%a in ('type "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt"') do (
cd %%a
for /F "delims==" %%b in ('dir /b *.z') do (
echo copying "%%b" to "%%~nb.y"
copy "%%b" "%%~nb.y"
)
echo.
echo expanding gzips in %%a
echo.
"c:\program files\gzip\gzip.exe" -d -v *.z
ren *.Y *.Z
)
REM clean up
del "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt" > nul
del "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt" > nul
REM go back to where we were
cd %topfolder%
echo.
echo (4) Finished
echo.
pause
echo.

 

short version (no pauses, less messages, just does it)

@echo off
echo Started...
set topfolder=%CD%
if exist "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt" del "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt" > nul
if exist "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt" del "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt" > nul
dir /b /s /ad > "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt"
for /F "delims==" %%a in ('type "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt"') do (
cd %%a & if exist *.Z echo %%a >> "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt"
)
For /F "delims==" %%a in ('type "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt"') do (
cd %%a & copy *.Z *.Y
"c:\program files\gzip\gzip.exe" -d -q *.z & ren *.Y *.Z
)
del "%topfolder%\subdirlist.txt" > nul & del "%topfolder%\gzipdirlist.txt" > nul
cd %topfolder%
echo Finished

 

OK here's what's going on:

1) I've ran both of the two latest scripts you've posted (the long version and the short version) and they both work.

2) The last script that I posted (at 14. May 2007 @ 16:18) (modified from you're original long version) also seems to work. Ie: after copying the folder (and subfolders) so that I have 3 new folders to test these codes on, when I run each of these codes they all seem to work. And thus produce the same result. Can you tell me where I can look for difference/problems? Or what is the risk to running the code that I modified? I didn't understand that yet. The *.z seems to have worked for the copy command...?

3) I have run each of these programs using the same gzip.exe file: the original link you sent me. It seems to be working... should I still download the newer version?


PS when the program worked for the first time... man then it was all worth it! : huge time saver for sure.

 

The only line I don't understand about you're latest script is:

copy "%%b" "%%~nb.y"

Can you tell me what "%%~nb.y" mean in this line?

 

The only line I don't understand about you're latest script is:

copy "%%b" "%%~nb.y"

Can you tell me what "%%~nb.y" means in this line?

 

I should stick with your modified version of my long code. It has the advantage of being familiar to you; also the alterations which made it work are yours, and you are entitled to them!

I would like to say "very well done" in this regard!

I wrote the long version like that, heavily commented, with frequent reassuring messages and PAUSE commands because I wanted to be sure at each step that it was working OK, was in the right folder, was doing the right things, etc. The shorter version is essentialy the same code but with all the hand holding and comments removed, for the sake of compactness.

For example, in Windows NT prompt (Win2K, XP, Vista) you can combine short lines into one line if they are always executed one after the other -

@echo off
CLS
echo hello
DIR

could be replaced by

@echo off & DIR & echo hello & DIR

I tend to write out my batch files in a long form and spend time getting them right, and if I am going to use one often, I might well "tidy it up" in this way.

It does work; I was mistaken thinking it didn't. I have revised my short version above to take account of this.

I found the earlier version worked but showed strange characters on the screen when run in command mode. It dates from 1993, and the later version 1.3.11 which was compiled for Win32 (Win95 onwards) doesn't do this.

Obviously it is a matter of preference.

It's a great feeling.

 

I cooked that up because I mistakenly thought that you couldn't do a

copy *.z *.y

operation.

with FOR in NT family Windows, you can extract information from variables.

If %%b is a file, (in this case a .z file)

%%~nb is the filename without any extension (ie with ".z" missing)

so if %%b expands to apple-pie.z
then %%~nb expands to apple-pie
and %%~nb.y expands to apple-pie.y

Type FOR /? at the prompt to get full info...

here I represents any variable letter (I used letter b)

(In batch files you prefix an extra % sign)

%~I - expands %I removing any surrounding quotes (")
%~fI - expands %I to a fully qualified path name
%~dI - expands %I to a drive letter only (and colon character) eg D:
%~pI - expands %I to a path only
%~nI - expands %I to a file name only
%~xI - expands %I to a file extension only
%~sI - expanded path contains short names only
%~aI - expands %I to file attributes of file
%~tI - expands %I to date/time of file
%~zI - expands %I to size of file

The modifiers can be combined to get compound results:

%~dpI - expands %I to a drive letter and path only
%~nxI - expands %I to a file name and extension only
%~fsI - expands %I to a full path name with short names only

 

great thanks. that makes it clear.

 

I'm starting on my second task. But thanks to your help I think I can do it almost all on my own.

I have run into a small problem:

If I want to check match up files from the following two lists:

I17CI
I33MG
I35NA
I47ZA

IS17.site
IS33.site
IS35.site
IS47.site

What would the true/false testing statement look like when comparing files from one list with files from the other list, if I wanted it to return true only when the numbers (within the file names) match?


And if you're getting a little tired of my questions, please just let me know... I would understand completely... you've helped a ton already.

 

Are the lines in the files always in this format...

first file

one letter, two figures, two letters

second file

two letters, two figures and ".site"?

Are all the four examples you gave "hits"?

so
A17QW
B17TR

would match

SA17.site ?

 

yes the examples i gave are all in order to be 'hits'

and yes the ordering of the filenames is always the same for the two list;
first file:
one letter, two figures, two letters

second file:
two letters, two figures and ".site"?

 

are there just the two files, or numbers of each? do they have distinctive names / extensions?

 

there are two text files with a list in each. the lists in each are much longer than the two lists that I typed, but the format of the file names stay the same.

basically I'm not sure how to write the 'if' statement. I'll give it a go and then it'll be easier for you to correct:

set name1=I17CI
set result1=%name1:~1,2%

set name2=IS17.site
set result2=%name2:~2,3%.

if restult1==result2 (command)

 

I'll give it an indepth look later, but it looks like you're on the right track.

 

Quick string slicing demo

@echo off
REM %Somename:~10,5%
REM
REM would expand the Somename environment variable, and then use only the 5
REM characters that begin at the 11th (offset 10) character of the expanded
REM result. If the length is not specified, then it defaults to the
REM remainder of the variable value. If either number (offset or length) is
REM negative, then the number used is the length of the environment variable
REM value added to the offset or length specified.
REM

REM required: starting at 2nd character (offset 1), use 2 characters
set name1=I17CI
set result1=%name1:~1,2%

REM required: starting at 3rd character (offset 2), use 2 characters
set name2=IS17.site
set result2=%name2:~2,2%

if %result1% == %result2% echo same

REM Saving 2 variables
if %name1:~1,2% == %name2:~2,2% echo also the same

Result:

same
also the same

[edit]

Also, it might be helpful to know what results are going to be interesting to you

(1) A two digit pair in file1 is found one (or more?) time in file 2
(2) Vice versa
(3) The same two digit pair is found in both files
(4) A two digit pair is found in file1 but not file2
(5) Vice versa

And... What is expected... a number in file1 is matched a few or many times in file2, etc...

 

Ok i've gotten to a point where i'm stuck. Here's part of the code that i've written:

for /F "delims==" %%s in ('type "%topfolder%\site files\sitefiles.txt"') do (

if %%%l:~1,2%.==%%%s:~2,3% (copy %topfolder%\site files\%%s %topfolder%\%%d\%%l)


Now you can probably see some problems with this... as relating to my last post, the variable %%l is of the form "I17CI" and the variable %%s is of the form "IS17.site".

Now 1. How can I write an if statement to compare the two?
and 2. Is the copy statement going to work? (the variable %%d is of the form "17-Aug-2006")

Thank You!

 

Is this a nested loop? Beware!!!

1. too many % signs! loop variables should have two only.

2. where did %%s and %%d come from? They can only exist in loops.

3. that COPY command looks kind weird. You are trying to copy to a folder whose name is generated by variable expansion. Does it exist?







as relating to my last post, the variable %%l is of the form "I17CI" and the variable %%s is of the form "IS17.site".

Now 1. How can I write an if statement to compare the two?
and 2. Is the copy statement going to work? (the variable %%d is of the form "17-Aug-2006")

Thank You![/quote]

 

Here's the code just in case it makes it easier for you to answer my question: (but likely no need to get into the logic of it)

echo off

REM Run this file from the desktop.
REM Two folders: one containing the site files, and one
REM containing the event data, must be placed on the desktop.

set topfolder=%cd%


echo STEP 1: create sitefile.txt
pause

cd %topfolder%\site files

dir /b > sitefiles.txt


echo STEP 2: create dates.txt
pause

cd %topfolder%\Assign1

dir /b /ad > dates.txt


echo STEP 3: move site files over to correct folders


for /F "delims==" %%d in ('type "%topfolder%\Assign1\dates.txt"') do (

pause

echo %%d

pause

REM line below will work???

cd %topfolder%\Assign1\%%d

ECHO current dir is %cd%

pause

dir /ad /b > locations.txt

for /F "delims==" %%l in ('type "%topfolder%\%%d\locations.txt"') do (

for /F "delims==" %%s in ('type "%topfolder%\site files\sitefiles.txt"') do (

if %%%l:~1,2%.==%%%s:~2,2% (copy %topfolder%\site files\%%s %topfolder%\%%d\%%l)

)
)

del %topfolder%\Assign1\%%d\locations.txt > nul
)


REM STEP 4: clean up

del "%topfolder%\site files\sitefiles.txt" > nul

del "%topfolder%\Assign1\dates.txt" > nul


REM STEP 5: return to desktop

 

hi Indochine,

I posted a similar question on another forum (computerhope.com) and there's a guy there that's helping me out with this. Thanks for all your help! I can write you back with the solution if you like when I get it.. or maybe this wouldn't be beneficial to you.

You've given me a great jump start to writing batch files. I've really appreciated all your help and time!!!