Looping through string values from a windows comma

Question

I am trying to create a batch script for my Windows machine that loops through a list of (string/decimal) values and uses each value as a parameter inside the loop.

Below is an example of a simple for loop I would like to use to display all the different version files (from my list)

FOR ? in ('1.1','1.2','2.4','3.9') do echo V[value_from_for_loop].txt

I am having trouble in how to loop through each item and use a variable in my echo statement.

Answer 1

for %x in (1.1 1.2 2.4 3.9) do echo V%x.txt

For use in a batch file you'll have to double the %:

for %%x in (1.1 1.2 2.4 3.9) do echo V%%x.txt

Answer 2

Assume you have a very long list of values which will be very uncomfortable to type on the commandline. Also, there is a length limit for the DOS command line.

In this case the values may be stored in an arbitrarily long file, one per line. Call it my-values.list, with a content similar to:

1.1
1.2
2.4
3.9
3.9.1
3.9.2
3.91
3.91.1
...

Now you could read the variables from this text file, line by line:

for /f "tokens=*" %a in (c:\path\to\my-values.list) do echo.  Version%~nxa.txt

Answer 3

It won't let me comment, but I wanted to add my 2 cents worth here. The ' do ' has to be on the same line as the right parenthesis of the 'for' command. In other words, this will work:

for %x in (1.1 1.2 2.4 3.9) do echo V%x.txt

...but this will not:

for %x in (1.1 1.2 2.4 3.9)
    do echo V%x.txt

Answer 4

@Јοеу's answer works great,

here is how I've used it, to 'walk' a pre-set list of files in a specific order.

@echo off
for %%x in (
        a.js
        storage.js
        logic.js
        main.js
        z.js
       ) do (
         echo your file name is %%x
         echo "%%x" is a cool name
         echo.
         echo =-=-=-=-=-=
         echo.
       )

the reason it looks like a vertical list is so it will be easier to add or remove more items. (and 'echo' with 'dot' is for one empty line).

the output will look like this:

C:\example>yourBatchName.cmd
your file name is a.js
"a.js" is a cool name

=-=-=-=-=-=

your file name is storage.js
"storage.js" is a cool name

=-=-=-=-=-=

your file name is logic.js
"logic.js" is a cool name

=-=-=-=-=-=

your file name is main.js
"main.js" is a cool name

=-=-=-=-=-=

your file name is z.js
"z.js" is a cool name

=-=-=-=-=-=

** p.s. for file name listing one should prefer using something like this:

for %%e in (*.dll) do (....