batch scripting: how to get parent dir name withou

Question

I'm working on a script that processes a folder and there is always one file in it I need to rename. The new name should be the parent directory name. How do I get this in a batch file? The full path to the dir is known.

Answer 1

You can use built-in bash tricks:

FULLPATH=/the/full/path/is/known
JUSTTHENAME=${FULLPATH##*/}

Explanations:

• first # means 'remove the pattern from the begining'
• second # means 'remove the longer possible pattern'
• */ is the pattern

Using built-in bash avoid to call an external command (i.e. basename) therefore this optimises you script. However the script is less portable.

Answer 2

You can use basename command:

FULLPATH=/the/full/path/is/known
JUSTTHENAME=$(basename "$FULLPATH")

Answer 3

It is not very clear how the script is supposed to become acquainted with the path in question, but the following example should at least give you an idea of how to proceed:

FOR %%D IN ("%CD%") DO SET "DirName=%%~nxD"
ECHO %DirName%

This script gets the path from the CD variable and extracts the name only from it to DirName.