RussenReaktor’s Weblog

«When a parameter is used to supply a filename then the following extended syntax can be applied:

we are using the variable %1 (but this works for any parameter)

%~f1 – expands %1 to a Fully qualified path name – C:\utils\MyFile.txt

%~d1 – expands %1 to a Drive letter only – C:

%~p1 – expands %1 to a Path only – \utils\

%~n1 – expands %1 to a file Name, or if only a path is present – the last folder in that path

%~x1 – expands %1 to a file eXtension only – .txt

%~s1 – changes the meaning of f, n and x to reference the Short name (see note below)

%~1 – expand %1 removing any surrounding quotes («)

%~a1 – display the file attributes of %1

%~t1 – display the date/time of %1

%~z1 – display the file size of %1

%~$PATH:1 – search the PATH environment variable and expand %1 to the fully qualified name of the first match found.

The modifiers above can be combined:

%~dp1 – expands %1 to a drive letter and path only

%~nx2 – expands %2 to a file name and extension only» ss64.com

«A. When you call a batch file, you can enter data after the command that the batch file refers to as %1, %2, etc. For example, in the batch file hello.bat, the following command
@echo hello %1 boy

would output
hello john boy

if you called it as
hello john

The following table outlines how you can modify the passed parameter.
Parameter Description
%1 The normal parameter.
%~f1 Expands %1 to a fully qualified pathname. If you passed only a filename from the current directory, this parameter would also expand to the drive or directory.
%~d1 Extracts the drive letter from %1.
%~p1 Extracts the path from %1.
%~n1 Extracts the filename from %1, without the extension.
%~x1 Extracts the file extension from %1.
%~s1 Changes the n and x options’ meanings to reference the short name. You would therefore use %~sn1 for the short filename and %~sx1 for the short extension.

The following table shows how you can combine some of the parameters.
Parameter Description
%~dp1 Expands %1 to a drive letter and path only.
%~sp1 For short path.
%~nx1 Expands %1 to a filename and extension only.

To see all the parameters in action, put them into the batch file testing.bat, as follows.
@echo off
echo fully qualified name %~f1
echo drive %~d1
echo path %~p1
echo filename %~n1
echo file extension %~x1
echo short filename %~sn1
echo short file extension %~sx1
echo drive and directory %~dp1
echo filename and extension %~nx1

Then, run the file with a long filename. For example, the batch file run on the file c:\temp\longfilename.long would produce the following output.
fully qualified name c:\TEMP\longfilename.long
drive c:
path \TEMP\
filename longfilename
file extension .long
short filename LONGFI~1
short file extension .LON
drive and directory c:\TEMP\
filename and extension longfilename.long

This method also works on the second and subsequent parameters. You simply substitute the parameter for 1 (e.g., %~f2 for the second parameter’s fully qualified path name).

The %0 parameter in a batch file holds information about the file when it runs and indicates which command extensions you can use with the file (e.g., %~dp0 gives the batch file’s drive and path).» windowsitpro.com

«Launchy is a free windows and linux utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.

Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes!» launchy.net

«In Word 2000, do the following:

1. Open the first document

2. Move cursor to end of that document (or the next page after the end)

3. Go to «Insert» on the top menu, and from the dropdown list select «File», and browse to the next document.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all documents (chapters) have been added.» computing.net

«Such is the nature of the beast that sooner or later Word will crash. When you restart, Word may try and recover the document you were working on, but this is a bit hit and miss, so don’t rely on it. Configure Word to create a backup file – and save often. It is good practice to drill CTRL+S into your brain and apply it every time you pause for thought. Then when the wheel comes off, you don’t lose too much work.» gmayor.com