Exclude text from last delimiter found

user_3015572 0
Viewed 55

I have a bat file that extracts the target of the given shortcut in the parameter

@echo off
set "paf=%*"

for /f "delims=" %%a in ('wmic path win32_shortcutfile where "name='%paf:\=\\%'" get target /value') do (
    for /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%b in ("%%~a") do CALL SET shortcutPath=%%a
)

The return is like: C:\Users\MyUser\Desktop\SomeFolder\target.exe

All I want is to get the folder path without the executable name. This is a bat that I'll use constantly with different given shortcuts from many locations so it has to be relative.

On how to achieve this, I thought on exclude all characters from the last delimiter found, the delimiter should be \ and it will exclude anything on the right side of the last one found. The thing is I have no idea how to do that, or even if this is possible

Can someone bring some help on this? Thank you

cmd batch-file
2 Answers

The simplest way is to use the already existing output Target name, instead of assigning the name shortcutPath to it. As long as your passed argument is a valid and working shortcut file, your resulting variable will be accessible as %Target%.

Set "Target=" & For /F "Delims=" %%G In ('%SystemRoot%\System32\wbem\WMIC.exe
 Path Win32_ShortcutFile Where "Name='%Lnk:\=\\%'" Get Target /Value 2^>NUL'
) Do For /F "Delims=" %%H In ("%%G") Do Set "%%H"

Then given your Target variable contains the full path and file name, you can use variable expansion modifiers to return its drive and path only:

If Defined Target For %%G In ("%Target%") Do Echo %%~dpG

If you want it without the trailing backwards slash, you could return that by including another for loop, and changing the modifier:

For %%G In ("%Target%") Do For %%H In ("%%~dpG.") Do Echo %%~fH
user_67380150

Instead of CALL SET shortcutPath=%%a, use

SET "shortcutPath=%%~dpb"

The result should be C:\Users\MyUser\Desktop\SomeFolder\ in your given example.

For explanation, read and follow for /?:

%~dpI       - expands %I to a drive letter and path only

Read more about using quotes in https://ss64.com/nt/set.html.

user_34394040
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