= Batch File Looping =

<<TableOfContents>>

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== Example ==

{{{
for %%i in (*) do "echo %%~fi"

for %%i in (*) do (
  echo %%~fi
)
}}}

Note that in an interactive shell, only one `%` should be used.

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== Options ==

The `for` command has options that can fundamentally change the execution of the loop.

||'''Option'''||'''Usage'''                                       ||'''Description'''                             ||
||`/r`        ||`for /r C:\path\to\target\root %%i in (*) do ...` ||Recurse over the file tree from a target root ||
||`/d`        ||`for /d %%i in (*) do ...`                        ||Loop over directories only                    ||
||`/l`        ||`for /l %%i in (1,10,1) do ...`                   ||Iterate over the range (start,stop,step)      ||
||`/f`        ||`for /f %%i in ('my-command') do ...`             ||Loop over the lines of output from a command  ||
||`/f`        ||`for /f %%i in (*) do ...`                        ||Loop over the lines of the files in the set   ||

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== Sets ==

The set of files that are looped over (given normal `for` behavior, or when using one of the `/r`, `/d`, or `/f` options) is controlled by the set. The wildcard set (`(*)`) includes everything. 

To loop only over Microsoft Word files, try:

{{{
for %%i in (*.doc *.docx) do (
  ...
)
}}}

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== Variable Modifiers ==

The current loop target is stored into the variable named on the `for` command. In the above examples, this is `%%i`. (The `i` can be replaced with any single-letter name.)

Within the context of the loop, there are a number of modifiers available.

||'''Modifer''' ||'''Returns'''||
||`%%~i`        ||The target with surrounding quotes stripped ||
||`%%~fi`       ||The target's absolute path                  ||
||`%%~di`       ||The target's drive letter                   ||
||`%%~pi`       ||The target's path                           ||
||`%%~ni`       ||The target's filename (no file extension)   ||
||`%%~xi`       ||The target's file extension                 ||
||`%%~ai`       ||The target's attributes                     ||
||`%%~ti`       ||The target's date and time                  ||
||`%%~zi`       ||The target's size                           ||
||`%%~nxi`      ||The target's filename (with extension)      ||

Note that the final modifier is a combination of modifiers. These can all be combined as needed. `%%~ftzai` mimics the output of `dir`.



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CategoryRicottone