[SOLVED] having problems with spaces in file/folder name with 'for' command

steve51184 · 07-10-2012, 06:50 PM

hi all i'm trying to use the 'for' command along with 'move' to help move all .rar files from one folder to another but some files have spaces and don't get moved as the spaces break the script

i've tried adding " to the folder path but that didn't work any ideas?

this is what i have so far:

Code:

for /F %%f in ("F:\old\*.rar") do move "%%f" "F:\new\"

ntubski · 07-10-2012, 07:11 PM

The /F option doesn't accept wildcards, and you shouldn't quote wildcards:

Code:

for %%f in (F:\old\*.rar) do move "%%f" "F:\new\"

Even simpler:

Code:

move F:\old\*.rar "F:\new"

syg00 · 07-10-2012, 07:24 PM

Have a read of this.

(with thanks to @David the H.)

steve51184 · 07-10-2012, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00

Have a read of this.

(with thanks to @David the H.)

that's for the bash version i'm using dos

syg00 · 07-10-2012, 09:35 PM

... dos !!! Man, I can't remember the last time I wrote a bat file.
Sorry for butting in ...

grail · 07-10-2012, 10:08 PM

ahhh syg00 ... showing your age again ...lol

OP - ntubski's solution looks good

steve51184 · 07-10-2012, 10:09 PM

true but i need to do this via an f loop though

grail · 07-11-2012, 02:17 AM

You can if you wish, but the point being made is that the 2 code snippets shown by ntubski do the same thing

bigearsbilly · 07-11-2012, 03:05 AM

You should try http://www.4dos.info/

I used to use it back in the day!

We used to leave our doors unlocked, and it was sunny.

steve51184 · 07-11-2012, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grail

You can if you wish, but the point being made is that the 2 code snippets shown by ntubski do the same thing

but again i need the f loop... here's the full command i use:

Code:

for %%f in ("F:\old\*.rar") do if %%~zf lss 680525824 move "%%f" "F:\new\"

grail · 07-11-2012, 08:45 AM

Well that would be the usual story of you now adding further detail which changes the question, but now you have a working solution?

steve51184 · 07-11-2012, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grail

Well that would be the usual story of you now adding further detail which changes the question, but now you have a working solution?

no no working solution yet.. that command still fails with spaces in the name i just posted my full command as others were suggesting to just use the 'move' command

ntubski · 07-11-2012, 10:11 PM

Hmm, works for me:

Code:

C:\>dir C:\temp\old

 Directory of C:\temp\old

11/07/2012  11:03 PM    <DIR>          .
11/07/2012  11:03 PM    <DIR>          ..
10/07/2012  08:03 PM                 0 has spaces.rar
10/07/2012  08:05 PM                 0 nospace.rar
11/07/2012  10:59 PM                17 space non empty.rar
               3 File(s)             17 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  222,495,064,064 bytes free

C:\>for %f in ("C:\temp\old\*.rar") do @if %~zf lss 10 move "%f" "C:\temp\new\"
        1 file(s) moved.
        1 file(s) moved.

C:\>dir C:\temp\new

 Directory of C:\temp\new

11/07/2012  11:04 PM    <DIR>          .
11/07/2012  11:04 PM    <DIR>          ..
10/07/2012  08:03 PM                 0 has spaces.rar
10/07/2012  08:05 PM                 0 nospace.rar
               2 File(s)              0 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  222,495,064,064 bytes free

grail · 07-12-2012, 03:35 AM

Not having played with batch files for a while, much like syg00, I would point out that ntubski is using single % signs and has an @ in front of if.
Maybe these are the missing items?

steve51184 · 07-12-2012, 07:11 AM

damn got it all working was the error of a random extra set of quotes lol

thanks all