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Extracting a string from another string in MS-DOS

I am trying to take an input string, extract the second through ninth character and use it as a directory name. This is real DOS I'm talking about, not a shell in Windows. This is real boot up to a C:\ prompt DOS from a Windows 98 boot disc. Windows is non-existent on this system.

I tried:

set test=123456789012
echo %test:~1,9%

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But it just returns "ECHO is on"

I want to see 23456789, so I can then use it to create a directory named 23456789.

The end goal here is to create a batch file which I can launch with the string as an argument. Then I would create a directory and take the results of the batch file and copy them into that directory. Every time I run this particular test, it will overwrite the results, so I need to move them into a meaningful directory name each time.

NVIT

I don't have a problem with just this in the entire file:

set test=123456789012
echo %test:~1,9%

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...it shows as expected:

234567890

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Maybe adding setlocal enabledelayedexpansion at the top will help you:

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

set test=123456789012
echo %test:~1,9%

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Elena Quinn

ASKER

It doesn't show as expected on my machine. As I said, this is a straight DOS environment. 'setlocal' returns a "Bad command or filename" error.

Norie

Elena

Which version of MS-DOS are you using?

You can find that out using VER at the command line.

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NVIT

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SOLUTION

Lee W, MVP

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NVIT

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