Windows Batch: acessing variables from inside FOR loop

Question

Im trying to do this rather elementary thing in a DOS batch:

@echo off
set _sets=^
RO:111:Rondonia,^
AC:112:Acre,^
AM:113:Amazonas,^
RR:114:Roraima
set _family_name=MyFamily
FOR %%i IN (%_sets%) DO (
    echo %%i ----- %_family_name%
)

Output:

RO:111:Rondonia -----
AC:112:Acre -----
AM:113:Amazonas -----
RR:114:Roraima -----

After the ----- is supposed to appear "MyFamily", but instead nothing appears.

How do I access variables set outside a FOR loop from within it? I have no idea why the _family_name variable is not visible inside the for loop. I'm somewhat new to batch scripts. I'm used to C++ and Java programming, thus most likely my thinking does not apply to the batch realm.

I also need to split the string triplets "AA:NNN:AAAAAA" into three individual variables. I tried to come up with a nested for loop, but I couldn't tackle this problem.

The example was made simple for clarity. The actual Batch is more complex than that. I have to access 10-12 variables from within the loop. So please consider this aspect before answering. Thanks in advance.

Your example works here -- I get RO:111:Rondonia ----- MyFamily and so forth. — Jim Davis
– Jim Davis, Commented Apr 6, 2014 at 13:48
Jim, maybe it was something else in my more complex batch. Your solution with the exclamations solved the puzzle. Thanks. — Paulo Carvalho
– Paulo Carvalho, Commented Apr 6, 2014 at 17:54

Jim Davis · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-06 13:50:16Z

2

If _family_name is actually being set within another (outer) loop, you'll need to enable delayed expansion with something like this:

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

for ...
  set foo=bar
  for ...
    echo !foo!
  )
)

Note that you access the variable with !exclamations! instead of %percents% there.

answered Apr 6, 2014 at 13:50

Jim Davis

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foxidrive · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-06 15:36:45Z

1

See if this helps you:

FOR /f %%a "tokens=1-4 delims=," IN ("%_sets%") DO (
    echo %%a ----- %_family_name%
    echo %%b ----- %_family_name%
    echo %%c ----- %_family_name%
    echo %%d ----- %_family_name%
)

answered Apr 6, 2014 at 15:36

foxidrive

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4 Comments

Paulo Carvalho Over a year ago

Those variables created out of thin air (b, c and d) bother me a lot, but the solution worked. Fine, thanks!

foxidrive Over a year ago

The tokens= section can have tokens=1,3,5,6 or tokens=1-10 for 10 tokens. Each token is a segment of the string separated by the characters in the delims= section. The metavariables are sequential from the one used.

Paulo Carvalho Over a year ago

Thanks, @foxidrive, for the explanation on the "thin air" (or meta- in your educated speech :) ) variables. Is the sequence an ASCII sequence?

foxidrive Over a year ago

Yes, it is in ASCII sequence.

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