Question

In DOS, extract and replace a string

Asked by: anokun7

Hi,

I need some help in a dos script I am writing.

I have strings in this format:
\\was123abcd\c$\Users\tech
\\vaswebunx\f$\Users\fin

I already have a dos script that does some other stuff like creating folders etc. I need to take the above two strings in that dos script and output values like this:
c:\Users\tech
f:\Users\fin

So I am removing the server hostname and converting the admin share to a local share. I do not have the liberty to call other libraries etc.. Can I use some strings functions within DOS to achieve this?

Thanks a bunch for any help.

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Asked On
2009-01-28 at 13:54:31ID24092620
Tags

DOS String substring indexof

Topic

MS DOS

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
8

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Answers

 

by: Mike_CarrollPosted on 2009-01-28 at 13:59:27ID: 23491858

Here's a good resource on strings in DOS http://www.dostips.com/DtTipsStringManipulation.php

 

by: oBdAPosted on 2009-01-28 at 14:12:13ID: 23492014

Try the snippet below; this will work under the assumption that the only $ sign in the folder will be the one from the share; if this is not the case, holler.

set UNCPath=\\was123abcd\c$\Users\tech
for /f "tokens=1* delims=\" %%a in ("%UNCPath%") do set LocalPath=%%b
set LocalPath=%LocalPath:$=:%
echo LocalPath is: %LocalPath%
                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: anokun7Posted on 2009-01-28 at 14:35:44ID: 23492291

Fantastic OBdA. That works like a charm. One more request - I am not entirely sure I need it, but is there anyway you can make that work in one line?

And yes - the assumption is good - only one $ ever.

 

by: QlemoPosted on 2009-01-28 at 14:52:02ID: 23492461

you can combine both lines in one:


 

for /f "tokens=1* delims=\" %%a in ("%UNCPath:$=:%") do set LocalPath=%%b

                                              
1:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: oBdAPosted on 2009-01-28 at 14:56:53ID: 23492508

Come to think of it, yes, it's possible:

@echo off
set UNCPath=\\was123abcd\c$\Users\tech
for /f "tokens=1,2* delims=\$" %%a in ("%UNCPath%") do set LocalPath=%%b:%%c
echo LocalPath is: %LocalPath%
                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: anokun7Posted on 2009-01-28 at 22:55:23ID: 23494763

Can you help me further..

When you do set LocalPath=%%b:%%c, how can I use the LocalPath variable in the rest of my DOS script.
I tried %LocalPath% - that did not seem to work, also is it necessary to make it an environment variable, can I just make it a local variable - local to the script only? Thanks.

 

by: oBdAPosted on 2009-01-28 at 23:41:51ID: 23494967

Just use %LocalPath%; it's set, otherwise you wouldn't see it in the "echo" output.
Variables in a batch script are always environment variables.
If you want them to only exist in your script, add the line
setlocal
at the beginning of your script; none of the variables set during the script will exists once it ends. I usually start with

@echo off
setlocal

 

by: anokun7Posted on 2009-01-29 at 00:40:58ID: 23495223

Thanks oBdA - you really deserved the points - everything is good and working, it is almost 4 AM I need to go get some sleep. Thanks again.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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