how to extract a string between two patterns using batch script?

Question

I have a below line in a pom.xml file.

<abc>xyz</abc>

I need to extract xyz by doing a pattern matching using batch script same like sed -e 's/(.*)/\1/'

and the output should be xyz.

Can anyone please help?

most of the bit is been done in batch. Only a small part is left. So powershell wont be an option in my case. — Sumith08
– Sumith08, Commented Nov 18, 2019 at 12:13

score 1 · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-18 13:23:25Z

1

You can use <> as delims.

@for /f "tokens=2delims=><  " %%i in ('type pom.xml') dodo set "result=%%i" & goto :show
:show
echo %result%

or if you want a specific value only based on the property name of the tag..

@for /f "tokens=2delims=><  " %%i in ('type pom.xml ^| find /I "abc"') do set "result=%%i" & goto :show
:show
echo %result%

answered Nov 18, 2019 at 12:48

user7818749

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7 Comments

I get the "abc" printed here not xyz. I want xyz as output

input should be the pattern which is <abc></abc> and whatever is between the pattern that should be the output. i.e., xyz.

No again the output is "abc". I guess the code is still the same.

The string has a tab. It will always be checkedout from SVN so the tab will be there always.

Yes working now.. There are multiple occurances now and I want only the first occurance. Can you please help with that as well?

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npocmaka · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-18 12:31:22Z

0

you can try with xpath.bat:

call xpath.bat pom.xml "//abc"

to save it to a variable:

for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%# in ('xpath.bat pom.xml "//abc"') set "abc_value=%%#"
echo %abc_value%

answered Nov 18, 2019 at 12:31

npocmaka

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@Sumith08 - to see how this will work you can download xpath.bat in the same directory as your script and test it...