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The FOR command is used to run a specified command or series of commands for each file in a set of files. FOR is usually used in batch programs but can also be used at the command prompt.
Syntax:
FOR %variable IN (set) DO command
| %variable | A single character that acts as a replaceable marker parameter. When used in batch files, %variable must be preceded by a second % sign (to become %%variable).
To avoid confusion with the batch file parameters %0 - %9, variable can be any character except the numerals 0 - 9.
%variable is replaced with each member of set until command has processed all them all. |
| set | A list of text strings (eg. file names), separated by spaces, to be processed by command. Wildcards for filenames are recognized (but see notes below). set must be enclosed in parentheses. |
| command | The command, complete with any required parameters and/or switches, to carry out for each file. Often one of the parameters will be variable - being the file in set to be operated on. |
Notes:
- In complex batch programs, multiple values for variable can be used to distinguish different replaceable variables.
- FOR commands can contain IF clauses but not a second FOR.
- It is not hard to construct a complex FOR statement that is virtually impossible for normal mortals to decipher (even if it does work).
- By default, FOR only recognises short (8.3) filenames in set unless a long filename is explicitly stated (no wildcards). However, if a FOR operation produces a long filename, these are handled without difficulty.
The LFNFOR command can be used to enable full long file name support.
Examples:
To display the contents of all the files in the current directory that have the extension ".doc" or ".txt":
FOR %v IN (*.doc *.txt) DO TYPE %v
Each file that has the ".doc" or ".txt" extension in the current directory is substituted for the %v variable until the contents of every such file are displayed.
To use this command in a batch file, it would be written:
FOR %%v IN (*doc *txt) DO TYPE %%v
If the double % sign is not used, the variable is not recognised and an error message is displayed.
Note, however, that
FOR %v IN (lettershome*.doc notestotheboss*.txt) DO TYPE %v
will find no matches unless there is a previous LFNFOR On command.
File Details:
Internal
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