I am new to batch files and have some basic understanding and can edit batches if I see them in front of me. I wonder if you could help me with the following requirement for my batch file.
Is there a file in a directory with a modified date of today
If yes
Is there a certain text string of ‘test’ in the file
If yes
echo ‘test string found’
Else
echo ‘test string NOT found’
Else
Echo ‘no file today’
Do not put the batch in the searched folder (the batch file contains the test string!):
@echo off &setlocal
:: first modify the search path here!
set "searchpath=."
set "text=test"
dir /a-d | find "%date%" >nul || (echo no file today&goto :eof)
for /f "tokens=3*" %%i in ('dir /a-d %searchpath% ^| find "%date%"') do (
for /f %%k in ('findstr /mc:"%text%" "%searchpath%\%%j"') do (
if not "%%k"=="" set "found=true"
)
)
if not defined found (echo test string NOT found) else echo test string found
endlocal
Edit: this version is for European date format, e.g. dd.mm.yyyy.
With each of the commands I list here, you can do commandname /? for more information.
The 2nd token of the %date% environment variable and the date /t command display today's date in the same format as a dir listing.
The dir command has an available /a switch which allows displaying only files with (or without) a specific attribute. To exclude directories (such as . and ..) use dir /a:-d.
You can capture the output of commands using for /f.
Finally, you can test for the existence of a string using either the find or the findstr command. findstr lets you search using regular expressions for a little more flexibility. But if you just want to search for a literal string, find will work just fine.
Put all that together:
@echo off
rem "setlocal" prevents any variables you set within your batch script
rem from remaining as environment orphans after the script completes.
setlocal
rem set variable %today% as the second token of %date%
for /f "tokens=2" %%I in ("%date%") do set today=%%I
rem dir list, skip directories, skip this batch script, include only files with a date matching %today%
for /f "tokens=4*" %%H in ('dir /a-d ^| findstr /v /i "%~nx0$" ^| find "%today%"') do (
rem record success for later
set found=1
rem search file %%I for "string" (case-insensitive).
find /i "string" "%%I">NUL
rem Was last command successful?
if %ERRORLEVEL%==0 (
echo Test string found
) else (
echo Test string NOT found
)
)
rem if success was not recorded
if not defined found echo No file today
Then when you start to see your coding more as a means of artistic expression than a means to an end, you can perform more advanced trickery to perform the same task with fewer lines of code.
@echo off
setlocal
for /f "tokens=2" %%I in ("%date%") do set today=%%I
for /f "tokens=4*" %%H in ('dir /a-d ^| findstr /v /i "%~nx0$" ^| find "%today%" ^|^| echo No file today 1^>^&2') do (
(find /i "string" "%%I" >NUL && (
echo Test string found.
)) || echo Test string not found.
)
@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
:: Point to the target directory. establish target file and string required
SET target=.
SET targfile=example.txt
SET targtxt=FIND me
::
SET targfile="%target%\%targfile%"
IF NOT EXIST %targfile% ECHO No file today& GOTO :EOF
:dfloop
SET filename=q%random%.q$q
SET fullname="%target%\%filename%"
IF EXIST %fullname% GOTO dfloop
:: create a dummy file dated today
COPY nul: %fullname% >nul
FOR /f %%i IN ('dir %fullname% ^|find /i "%filename%"') DO SET today=%%i
DEL %fullname%
FOR /f %%i IN ('dir %targfile% ') DO IF %today%==%%i (SET today=)
IF DEFINED today ECHO No file today&GOTO :eof
FIND /i "%targtxt%" %targfile% >NUL
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (ECHO test string NOT found) ELSE (ECHO test string found)
I've set the target directory to . - the current directory - for testing. Replace the . with your target directory name.
Looks for a string in the target file 'example.txt'
Now - that assumes that you are looking for a specific filename that may appear/be modified in a directory such as ...\myappdir\myapp.log
If you mean "any file [matching some filemask] that was created/modified today" is to be searched for the string then a slightly modified routine:
@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
:: Point to the target directory. establish target filemask and string required
SET target=\destdir
SET targfile=examp*.txt
SET targtxt=FIND me
::
SET targfile="%target%\%targfile%"
IF NOT EXIST %targfile% ECHO No file today& GOTO :EOF
:dfloop
SET filename=q%random%.q$q
SET fullname="%target%\%filename%"
IF EXIST %fullname% GOTO dfloop
:: create a dummy file dated today
COPY nul: %fullname% >nul
FOR /f %%i IN ('dir %fullname% ^|find /i "%filename%"') DO SET today=%%i
DEL %fullname%
SET count=0
FOR /f %%i IN ('dir %targfile% ') DO IF %today%==%%i (SET /a count+=1)
IF %count% equ 0 ECHO No file today&GOTO :eof
FOR /f "tokens=1*delims=:" %%i IN (
'dir /b/a-d/o-d %targfile%^|findstr /n /v "*" '
) DO IF %%i leq %count% (
FIND /i "%targtxt%" "%target%\%%j" >NUL
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 (SET today=)
)
IF DEFINED today (ECHO test string NOT found) ELSE (ECHO test string found)
Here, any file matching examp*.txt that has been created/modified today in \destdir will be examined for the target string.
