I'm using a WMIC command to output a list of SIDS and accompanying user profile names to text. From the text, I can edit a list of SIDS I need to add a set of registry keys to. However, the script that loops through the edited text file of SIDS is encoded in a format the script doesn't pick up and just fails to run. Using notepad++ I can re-encode from UCS-2 LE BOM to UTF-8 and then I can complete the script hassle free.
How can I make the output from the WMIC text default to UTF-8?.
I noticed this on more that one PC. To cure the problem, as mentioned, I can re-encode in notepad++ but its a step I really need to avoid if possible. Trying to automate things as much as I can. The sole issue is the encoding, all other scripts, commands, codes etc. are fine once I get a UTF-8 text file. I use batch file often and like to output to text files, looking at those they are all defaulting to UTF-8 as expected. Seems specific to WMIC command here.
WMIC Path Win32_UserProfile Where "Special='False' And Not LocalPath='Null'" Get LocalPath,SID>somefile.txt
Gives all the info I need but outputs to UCS-2 LE BOM, not UTF-8
Any assistance would be great, thanks.
(was thinking maybe a reg query would bypass the issue?)
The encoding of wmic's output depends on where the output is being sent
- If you send the output to a disk file by using a redirection operator or the
/output switch, wmic will use UCS-2 LE BOM
- If you send the output to the console or to a pipe,
wmic will use OEM codepage
If your scripts can not process the UCS-2 output one simple option (without third party tools) is to change where wmic writes by using a pipe.
wmic os get localdatetime | find /v "" > someFile.txt
Here wmic's output is piped to find /v "" (find any non empty line) and then writen to a disk file using your OEM codepage.
[W:\]:# wmic os get localdatetime > file.txt
[W:\]:# hex file.txt
HEX: +00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0a 0b 0c 0d 0e 0f 0123456789abcdef
0000000000: FF FE 4C 00 6F 00 63 00 61 00 6C 00 44 00 61 00 .■L.o.c.a.l.D.a.
0000000010: 74 00 65 00 54 00 69 00 6D 00 65 00 20 00 20 00 t.e.T.i.m.e. . .
0000000020: 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 . . . . . . . .
0000000030: 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 0D 00 0A 00 32 00 30 00 . . . .....2.0.
0000000040: 31 00 39 00 30 00 33 00 32 00 33 00 31 00 30 00 1.9.0.3.2.3.1.0.
0000000050: 31 00 34 00 34 00 30 00 2E 00 30 00 39 00 34 00 1.4.4.0...0.9.4.
0000000060: 30 00 30 00 30 00 2B 00 30 00 36 00 30 00 20 00 0.0.0.+.0.6.0. .
0000000070: 20 00 0D 00 0A 00 .....
[W:\]:#
[W:\]:# wmic os get localdatetime | find /v "" > file.txt
[W:\]:# hex file.txt
HEX: +00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0a 0b 0c 0d 0e 0f 0123456789abcdef
0000000000: 4C 6F 63 61 6C 44 61 74 65 54 69 6D 65 20 20 20 LocalDateTime
0000000010: 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 0D 0D 0A 32 30 ...20
0000000020: 31 39 30 33 32 33 31 30 31 35 30 34 2E 31 35 38 190323101504.158
0000000030: 30 30 30 2B 30 36 30 20 20 0D 0D 0A 0D 0D 0A 000+060 ......
[W:\]:#
If you use this approach then you should note a curious side effect: the lines in the output don't end in a CRLF sequence, but a CRCRLF sequence.
If this is also a problem to your scripts then you can use the type command to read the output file and redirect its output to generate another one with ANSI enconding
[W:\]:# wmic os get localdatetime > file.txt
[W:\]:# hex file.txt
HEX: +00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0a 0b 0c 0d 0e 0f 0123456789abcdef
0000000000: FF FE 4C 00 6F 00 63 00 61 00 6C 00 44 00 61 00 .■L.o.c.a.l.D.a.
0000000010: 74 00 65 00 54 00 69 00 6D 00 65 00 20 00 20 00 t.e.T.i.m.e. . .
0000000020: 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 . . . . . . . .
0000000030: 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 0D 00 0A 00 32 00 30 00 . . . .....2.0.
0000000040: 31 00 39 00 30 00 33 00 32 00 33 00 31 00 30 00 1.9.0.3.2.3.1.0.
0000000050: 32 00 33 00 31 00 31 00 2E 00 39 00 36 00 31 00 2.3.1.1...9.6.1.
0000000060: 30 00 30 00 30 00 2B 00 30 00 36 00 30 00 20 00 0.0.0.+.0.6.0. .
0000000070: 20 00 0D 00 0A 00 .....
[W:\]:#
[W:\]:# type file.txt > file2.txt
[W:\]:# hex file2.txt
HEX: +00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0a 0b 0c 0d 0e 0f 0123456789abcdef
0000000000: 4C 6F 63 61 6C 44 61 74 65 54 69 6D 65 20 20 20 LocalDateTime
0000000010: 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 0D 0A 32 30 31 ..201
0000000020: 39 30 33 32 33 31 30 32 33 31 31 2E 39 36 31 30 90323102311.9610
0000000030: 30 30 2B 30 36 30 20 20 0D 0A 00+060 ..
[W:\]:#
The problem with this approach appears when the characters in the UCS-2 file don't have a direct equivalent in the ANSI codepage.
But if using a third party tool is a valid option, then aGerman's CONVERTCP tool (including source code if you prefer to compile it) is a good alternative to integrate in this kind of scripts.
[W:\]:# tasklist /fi "pid eq 6232"
Nombre de imagen PID Nombre de sesión Núm. de ses Uso de memor
========================= ======== ================ =========== ============
Proceso↔Amañado↔.exe 6232 Console 1 2.596 KB
[W:\]:# wmic process where "processID=6232" get name > file.txt
[W:\]:# hex file.txt
HEX: +00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0a 0b 0c 0d 0e 0f 0123456789abcdef
0000000000: FF FE 4E 00 61 00 6D 00 65 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 .■N.a.m.e. . . .
0000000010: 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 . . . . . . . .
0000000020: 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 . . . . . . . .
0000000030: 20 00 0D 00 0A 00 50 00 72 00 6F 00 63 00 65 00 .....P.r.o.c.e.
0000000040: 73 00 6F 00 94 21 41 00 6D 00 61 00 F1 00 61 00 s.o.ö!A.m.a.±.a.
0000000050: 64 00 6F 00 94 21 2E 00 65 00 78 00 65 00 20 00 d.o.ö!..e.x.e. .
0000000060: 20 00 0D 00 0A 00 .....
[W:\]:#
[W:\]:# type file.txt > file2.txt
[W:\]:# hex file2.txt
HEX: +00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0a 0b 0c 0d 0e 0f 0123456789abcdef
0000000000: 4E 61 6D 65 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 Name
0000000010: 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 0D 0A 50 72 6F 63 65 73 ..Proces
0000000020: 6F 1D 41 6D 61 A4 61 64 6F 1D 2E 65 78 65 20 20 oAmañado.exe
0000000030: 0D 0A ..
[W:\]:#
[W:\]:# convertcp 1200 65001 /i file.txt /o file2.txt
[W:\]:# hex file2.txt
HEX: +00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0a 0b 0c 0d 0e 0f 0123456789abcdef
0000000000: 4E 61 6D 65 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 Name
0000000010: 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 0D 0A 50 72 6F 63 65 73 ..Proces
0000000020: 6F E2 86 94 41 6D 61 C3 B1 61 64 6F E2 86 94 2E oÔåöAma├▒adoÔåö.
0000000030: 65 78 65 20 20 0D 0A exe ..
[W:\]:#
