how to replace an asterix or "*" in a string

[dabur]

I've got a question on which different colleagues are also stuck

How do I replace all asterixes (or "*") in a string in commandline or
batch?

Set var=This*Is*A*String*

I want to replace all * with a space.

Set var=%var:*= % does not work
Set var=%var:^*= % neither.

I know the cause (from set /?):
Environment variable substitution has been enhanced as follows:

%PATH:str1=str2%

would expand the PATH environment variable, substituting each
occurrence
of "str1" in the expanded result with "str2". "str2" can be the empty
string to effectively delete all occurrences of "str1" from the
expanded
output. "str1" can begin with an asterisk, in which case it will
match
everything from the beginning of the expanded output to the first
occurrence of the remaining portion of str1.

anyone an idea on this?

[foxidrive]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:22:28 -0800 (PST), dabur
<david.bu...@gmail.com> wrote:

>How do I replace all asterixes (or "*") in a string in commandline or
>batch?

@echo off
:: Phil Robyn
setlocal
SET "TestVar=Asterisks*should*be*replaced"
set TestVar
set "NewVar="
:loop
for /f "tokens=1* delims=*" %%a in (
"%TestVar%"
) do (set NewVar=%NewVar%_%%a&set TestVar=%%b)
if defined TestVar goto :loop
set TestVar=%NewVar:~1%
set TestVar

[ten.n...@virgin.net]

On Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:59:50 +1100, foxidrive wrote:

> @echo off
>:: Phil Robyn
> setlocal
> SET "TestVar=Asterisks*should*be*replaced"
> set TestVar
> set "NewVar="
>:loop
> for /f "tokens=1* delims=*" %%a in (
> "%TestVar%"
> ) do (set NewVar=%NewVar%_%%a&set TestVar=%%b)
> if defined TestVar goto :loop
> set TestVar=%NewVar:~1%
> set TestVar

I'm afraid that doesn't fulfill the criteria, e.g.
::----- START -----
@ECHO OFF & SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS
SET "TESTVAR=This*Is*A**String*"
ECHO/[%TESTVAR%]
SET "NEWVAR="
:LOOP
FOR /F "TOKENS=1* DELIMS=*" %%A IN ("%TESTVAR%") DO (
SET "NEWVAR=%NEWVAR% %%A" & SET "TESTVAR=%%B")
IF DEFINED TESTVAR GOTO LOOP
SET "TESTVAR=%NEWVAR:~1%"
ECHO/[%TESTVAR%]
PAUSE
::------ END ------
As you can see both the multiple asterisks and trailing are missed!

[dabur]

I'm giving a course commandline at the moment, with "for" "loops"
indeed it's possible, but indeed not 100% bulletproof.
Guess we need sed.exe as a powertool to do this...

for /F "tokens=*" %%a in ('echo %var% ^| sed -r "s/[*]/ /g"') do set
var=%%a

Greetings,

[foxidrive]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:47:09 +0000, ten.n...@virgin.net wrote:

>I'm afraid that doesn't fulfill the criteria, e.g.
>::----- START -----
> @ECHO OFF & SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS
> SET "TESTVAR=This*Is*A**String*"
> ECHO/[%TESTVAR%]
> SET "NEWVAR="
> :LOOP
> FOR /F "TOKENS=1* DELIMS=*" %%A IN ("%TESTVAR%") DO (
> SET "NEWVAR=%NEWVAR% %%A" & SET "TESTVAR=%%B")
> IF DEFINED TESTVAR GOTO LOOP
> SET "TESTVAR=%NEWVAR:~1%"
> ECHO/[%TESTVAR%]
> PAUSE
>::------ END ------
>As you can see both the multiple asterisks and trailing are missed!

Ok, here's a slow way:

@echo off
Set var=****This*Is***A*String**
set c=0
set a=0
set b=1
:loop
call set "cut=%%var:~%c%,1%%"
if "%cut%"=="*" call set "var=%%var:~0,%c%%% %%var:~%b%%%"
set /a c=c+1
set /a b=c+1
call set "cut=%%var:~%c%,1%%"
if defined cut goto :loop
echo "%var%"
pause

[Tom Lavedas]

OK, then using foxidrive's own parsing routine ...

@echo off
setlocal
SET "TESTVAR= This*Is*A* *String* "
set "testvar=%testvar: =\~%"
for /f "tokens=2 delims=]" %%a in (
'cmd /u/cecho.%Testvar%^|find /v /n ""'
) do (
if %%a==* (
call set "_t=%%_t%% "
) else (
call set "_t=%%_t%%%%a"
)
)
echo [%_t:\~= %]

I added some spaces for effect. Note that this does not work for
Unicode encoded strings.

[Frank P. Westlake]

"dabur"
news:e5751d7b-944e-478e...@j11g2000vbi.googlegroups.com...

> How do I replace all asterixes (or "*") in a string
> in commandline or batch?

From the commandline call a script. From a batch script here's a routine
with a demo:

SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
Set "v=*a&b*c*****d*e*f"
Echo.v=!v!
Call :Replace v "*" "&"
Echo.v=!v!
Call :Replace v "&" "|"
Echo.v=!v!
Goto :EOF

:Replace
SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
Set "old=!%~1!"
Set "new="
REM The Tom Lavedas String Length Maneuver (TLSLM)
For /F "delims=:" %%a in (
'(Echo."!%~1!"^& Echo.^)^|FindStr /O .') Do Set /A "$=%%a-6"
For /L %%i in (0,1,%$%) Do (
If "!old:~%%i,1!" EQU "%~2" (
Set "new=!new!%~3"
) Else (
Set "new=!new!!old:~%%i,1!"
)
)
EndLocal & Set "%~1=%new%"
Goto :EOF

Frank

[Frank P. Westlake]

"Frank P. Westlake" news:heeee7$oc0$1...@news.albasani.net...

And from that the following might be a good string replacement routine.

:: BEGIN SCRIPT ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
@Echo OFF

SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
Set "v=*a&b*c*****d*e*f"
Echo.v=!v!

Call :ReplaceString v "a&b" "a|b"
Echo.v=!v!
Call :ReplaceString v "*****" " "
Echo.v=!v!
Goto :EOF

:ReplaceString Variable_Name Old_String New_String
:: Case sensitive string replacement.

SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
Set "old=!%~1!"
Set "new="
REM The Tom Lavedas String Length Maneuver (TLSLM)
For /F "delims=:" %%a in (

'(Echo."!%~1!"^& Echo.^)^|FindStr /O .') Do Set /A "s=%%a-6"

For /F "delims=:" %%a in (

'(Echo."%~2"^& Echo.^)^|FindStr /O .') Do Set /A "o=%%a-5"
Set "skip=0"
For /L %%i in (0,1,%s%) Do (
If !skip! EQU 0 (
If "!old:~%%i,%o%!" EQU "%~2" (
Set "new=!new!%~3" & Set /A "skip=%o%-1"

) Else (
Set "new=!new!!old:~%%i,1!"
)

) Else (Set /A "skip-=1")

)
EndLocal & Set "%~1=%new%"
Goto :EOF

:: END SCRIPT ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Frank
Topli pozdrav

[foxidrive]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:22:28 -0800 (PST), dabur
<david.bu...@gmail.com> wrote:

>How do I replace all asterixes (or "*") in a string in commandline or
>batch?
>
>Set var=This*Is*A*String*
>
>I want to replace all * with a space.

You have a few methods to choose from now - and just to warn you they all
have problems with certain characters in the string.

Frank's has issues with !
Tom's has issues with ~ ] ^ and poison characters
They all have issues with %

[Frank P. Westlake]

"foxidrive" news:q3hlg518no7mdm026...@4ax.com...

> Frank's has issues with !

> They all have issues with %

You commented on the character replacement routine but the same could be
said about the string replacement routine.

The percent sign is a problem which needs to be resolved during the
creation of the variable being sent to :Replace and :ReplaceString. If
the percent sign isn't entered correctly it doesn't exist when the
variable is created. If the variable is created as in the demos it
should be doubled:

Set "v=A 50%% increase!"

If it is created some other way, such as on the command line or in a
file, then it should survive as the single character, depending on how
the variable is handled.

The exclamation mark is a very similar problem. If delayed expansion is
enabled then an unescaped exclamation mark will not get to the
replacement routines. If delayed expansion is disabled then the
exclamation mark passes through the replacement routines and cannot be
changed.

Frank

[Frank P. Westlake]

"foxidrive" news:q3hlg518no7mdm026...@4ax.com...

> Frank's has issues with !

I might have resolved that by requiring the calling script to place
everything in variables. This routine will now also delete selected
strings. Here's the new string replacement routine with a demo:

@echo OFF
SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS DISABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
Set "v=A 50%% increase!" & Set "e=^!" & Set "d=^!^!"
Echo.v=%v%
Call :ReplaceString v e d
Echo.v=%v%
Set "e=%%" & Set "d=0%%"
Call :ReplaceString v e d
Echo.v=%v%
Set "e=0" & Set "d="
Call :ReplaceString v e d
Echo.v=%v%
Goto :EOF

:ReplaceString String_Name Find_Name Replace_Name

SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
Set "old=!%~1!"

Set "new=" & Set "r2=" & Set "r3="
If DEFINED %~2 (
For /F "tokens=1* delims==" %%a in ('Set %~2') Do (
If NOT DEFINED r2 Set "r2=%%b"
)
)
If DEFINED %~3 (
For /F "tokens=1* delims==" %%a in ('Set %~3') Do (
If NOT DEFINED r3 Set "r3=%%b"
)
)

REM The Tom Lavedas String Length Maneuver (TLSLM)
For /F "delims=:" %%a in (
'(Echo."!%~1!"^& Echo.^)^|FindStr /O .') Do Set /A "s=%%a-6"
For /F "delims=:" %%a in (
'(Echo."%~2"^& Echo.^)^|FindStr /O .') Do Set /A "o=%%a-5"
Set "skip=0"
For /L %%i in (0,1,%s%) Do (
If !skip! EQU 0 (

If "!old:~%%i,%o%!" EQU "!r2!" (
Set "new=!new!!r3!" & Set /A "skip=%o%-1"

) Else (
Set "new=!new!!old:~%%i,1!"
)
) Else (Set /A "skip-=1")
)
EndLocal & Set "%~1=%new%"
Goto :EOF

I was't able to convert '^!^!' back to '^!'. That might require going
back to individual character replacement.

Frank
Soe osas

[Frank P. Westlake]

"Frank P. Westlake" news:heen2j$7cc$1...@news.albasani.net...

> For /F "delims=:" %%a in (
> '(Echo."%~2"^& Echo.^)^|FindStr /O .') Do Set /A "o=%%a-5"

I made a boo-boo. I neglected to change "%~2" to "!%~2!". I think it's
all better now.

@echo OFF
SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS DISABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
Set "v=A 50%% increase!" & Set "e=^!" & Set "d=^!^!"
Echo.v=%v%
Call :ReplaceString v e d

Set "e=%%" & Set "d=0%%"
Call :ReplaceString v e d
Echo.v=%v%
Set "e=0" & Set "d="
Call :ReplaceString v e d

Set "e=in" & Set "d=de"

Call :ReplaceString v e d

Set "e=^!" & Set "d="

Call :ReplaceString v e d

Set "e=^!" & Set "d=."

Call :ReplaceString v e d
Echo.v=%v%
Goto :EOF

:ReplaceString String_Name Find_Name Replace_Name
SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

Set "old=!%~1!" & Set "new=" & Set "r2=" & Set "r3=" & Set "skip=0"
If DEFINED %~2 For /F "tokens=1* delims==" %%a in ('Set %~2') Do (

If NOT DEFINED r2 Set "r2=%%b")

If DEFINED %~3 For /F "tokens=1* delims==" %%a in ('Set %~3') Do (

If NOT DEFINED r3 Set "r3=%%b")

REM The Tom Lavedas String Length Maneuver (TLSLM)
For /F "delims=:" %%a in (
'(Echo."!%~1!"^& Echo.^)^|FindStr /O .') Do Set /A "s=%%a-6"
For /F "delims=:" %%a in (

'(Echo."!%~2!"^& Echo.^)^|FindStr /O .') Do Set /A "o=%%a-5"

For /L %%i in (0,1,%s%) Do (
If !skip! EQU 0 (
If "!old:~%%i,%o%!" EQU "!r2!" (
Set "new=!new!!r3!" & Set /A "skip=%o%-1"
) Else (
Set "new=!new!!old:~%%i,1!"
)
) Else (Set /A "skip-=1")
)
EndLocal & Set "%~1=%new%"
Goto :EOF

Frank

[foxidrive]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:54:56 -0800, "Frank P. Westlake"
<frank.w...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>"Frank P. Westlake" news:heen2j$7cc$1...@news.albasani.net...
>
>> For /F "delims=:" %%a in (
>> '(Echo."%~2"^& Echo.^)^|FindStr /O .') Do Set /A "o=%%a-5"
>
>
>I made a boo-boo. I neglected to change "%~2" to "!%~2!". I think it's
>all better now.

You win some, you lose some.
Your code no longer handles poison characters < > |

[Frank P. Westlake]

"foxidrive" news:3jvlg5hqsej688ljv...@4ax.com...

> Your code no longer handles poison characters < > |

Thank you, that's very helpful. It looks like I'll have to go back to my
string length routine with the famous math trick, take out the math
trick and use normal math. The difference is that one uses "ECHO >" and
the other 'SET var'.

Back in a few minutes after I rework the routine.

Frank

[Frank P. Westlake]

"foxidrive" news:3jvlg5hqsej688ljv...@4ax.com...

> Your code no longer handles poison characters < > |

That might just be a problem with the calling script, not the
ReplaceString routine.

In the demo I replaced

Set "e=^!" & Set "d=."

with

Set "e=^!" & Set "d=>"

and output was redirected to a file by:

REM Echo.v=%v%

That isn't the subroutine, just the demo. It would work as !v! but
delayed expansion was disabled, so it needs to either be displayed with
SET

Set v

or to have delayed expansion turned back on for the ECHO:

SetLocal EnableDelayedExpansion & Echo.v=!v! & EndLocal

Does that fix it for you?

Frank

[Timo Salmi]

dabur wrote:
> How do I replace all asterixes (or "*") in a string in commandline or
> batch?
> Set var=This*Is*A*String*

Not very satisfactory, but one could use
@echo off & setlocal enableextensions
set var=This*Is*A*String*
echo %var%
>"%temp%\tmp$$$.vbs" echo WScript.Echo Replace ("%var%", "*","_")
for /f %%a in ('cscript //nologo "%temp%\tmp$$$.vbs"') do set var=%%a
for %%f in ("%temp%\tmp$$$.vbs") do if exist %%f del %%f
set var=%var:_= %
echo %var%
endlocal & goto :EOF

All the best, Timo

--
Prof. Timo Salmi mailto:t...@uwasa.fi ftp & http://garbo.uwasa.fi/
Hpage: http://www.uwasa.fi/laskentatoimi/english/personnel/salmitimo/
Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Vaasa, Finland
Useful CMD script tricks http://www.netikka.net/tsneti/info/tscmd.htm

[foxidrive]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:24:37 -0800, "Frank P. Westlake"
<frank.w...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>"foxidrive" news:3jvlg5hqsej688ljv...@4ax.com...
>
>> Your code no longer handles poison characters < > |
>
>That might just be a problem with the calling script, not the
>ReplaceString routine.

>Does that fix it for you?

Yes, it was just the echo.

I tried this and it doesn't replace the zero.

@echo OFF
SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS DISABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

Set "v=A 50%% increase!" & Set "e=0" & Set "d=00"
Echo."v=%v%"

Call :ReplaceString v e d

pause
Goto :EOF

:ReplaceString String_Name Find_Name Replace_Name
SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
Set "old=!%~1!" & Set "new=" & Set "r2=" & Set "r3=" & Set "skip=0"
If DEFINED %~2 For /F "tokens=1* delims==" %%a in ('Set %~2') Do (
If NOT DEFINED r2 Set "r2=%%b")
If DEFINED %~3 For /F "tokens=1* delims==" %%a in ('Set %~3') Do (
If NOT DEFINED r3 Set "r3=%%b")
REM The Tom Lavedas String Length Maneuver (TLSLM)

For /F "delims=:" %%a in (

'(Echo."!%~1!"^& Echo.^)^|FindStr /O .') Do Set /A "s=%%a-6"

For /F "delims=:" %%a in (

[Frank P. Westlake]

"foxidrive" news:b25mg5lbcuenpjn8u...@4ax.com...

> I tried this and it doesn't replace the zero.

> Set "v=A 50%% increase!" & Set "e=0" & Set "d=00"

> Echo."v=%v%"
> Call :ReplaceString v e d
> pause
> Goto :EOF

Maybe you've had a very busy day. Try 'Echo."v=%v%"' again just before
the pause.

A test of all 7-bit non-alphanumeric characters except quote (") works:

SetLocal ENABLEEXTENSIONS DISABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
Set "v=@#$%%^^&*()_-+={[}]|\:;'<,>.?/!"
Set "e=@#$%%" & Set "d=[1]"

Call :ReplaceString v e d

Set "e=^^" & Set "d=[2]"

Call :ReplaceString v e d

Set "e=&*()_-+={[}]|\:;'<,>.?/" & Set "d=[3]"

Call :ReplaceString v e d

Set "e=^!" & Set "d=[4]"

Call :ReplaceString v e d

SetLocal EnableDelayedExpansion & Echo.v=!v! & EndLocal

Two problems I've found.

The first problem is that the exclamation mark (!) only works at the end
of the string. Maybe this is proper punctuation enforcement. At other
locations in that special string (@#$%%^^&*()_-+={[}]|\:;'<,>.?/!) it is
either ignored or it causes other characters to be misread.

The second problem is that it behaves differently, and poorly, when that
special string is read from a file. This I don't understand yet. The
string is the same and it appears to be the same when read and stored in
the environment, but the routine balks on redirection characters and
such that it accepts the other way.

I'm going to slow down with this routine and see if I can figure out how
to make it work with everything.

Thank you very much for your help.

Frank

[sw0rdfish]

I have only 1 advice for you, DON'T use batch to parse strings/text.
Use a good text processing tool. Its meant for the job. You have used
sed, and that's a good start.

[foxidrive]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:26:14 -0800, "Frank P. Westlake"
<frank.w...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>"foxidrive" news:b25mg5lbcuenpjn8u...@4ax.com...
>
>> I tried this and it doesn't replace the zero.
>
>> Set "v=A 50%% increase!" & Set "e=0" & Set "d=00"
>> Echo."v=%v%"
>> Call :ReplaceString v e d
>> pause
>> Goto :EOF
>
>Maybe you've had a very busy day. Try 'Echo."v=%v%"' again just before
>the pause.

Mea culpa.

[Timo Salmi]

Timo Salmi wrote:
> dabur wrote:
>> How do I replace all asterixes (or "*") in a string in commandline or
>> batch?
>> Set var=This*Is*A*String*
>
> Not very satisfactory, but one could use

Fine tuned:

@echo off & setlocal enableextensions
set var=This*Is*A*String*
echo %var%

>"%temp%\tmp$$$.vbs" echo WScript.Echo Replace ("%var%", "*"," ")
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('

cscript //nologo "%temp%\tmp$$$.vbs"') do set var=%%a
for %%f in ("%temp%\tmp$$$.vbs") do if exist %%f del %%f

echo %var%
endlocal & goto :EOF

C:\_D\TEST>CMDFAQ.CMD
This*Is*A*String*
This Is A String

[Timo Salmi]

Timo Salmi wrote:
> Fine tuned:

http://www.netikka.net/tsneti/info/tscmd179.htm

[foxidrive]

On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:43:31 +0200, Timo Salmi <t...@uwasa.fi> wrote:

>Timo Salmi wrote:
>> Fine tuned:
>
>http://www.netikka.net/tsneti/info/tscmd179.htm

Timo,

perhaps this line can also be fine tuned "Escaping with a backslash would
work" to read "Adding a backslash or other character would work"

As the backslash isn't an escape character in cmd then it's a little bit
misleading for those that may consider that it *is* an escape character
(and it is in SED etc).

[Timo Salmi]

foxidrive wrote:
> On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:43:31 +0200, Timo Salmi <t...@uwasa.fi> wrote:
>> Timo Salmi wrote:

>> http://www.netikka.net/tsneti/info/tscmd179.htm

> perhaps this line can also be fine tuned "Escaping with a backslash would
> work" to read "Adding a backslash or other character would work"

Thanks for the tip! However, the latter part "or other character" is not
the case. But I'll indeed at least rethink about the wording.

> As the backslash isn't an escape character in cmd then it's a little bit
> misleading for those that may consider that it *is* an escape character
> (and it is in SED etc).

Depending on the circumstances there are three escape characters in
command line programming: ^ % and \ as covered in
http://www.netikka.net/tsneti/info/tscmd047.htm

[foxidrive]

On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:40:11 +0200, Timo Salmi <t...@uwasa.fi> wrote:

>> perhaps this line can also be fine tuned "Escaping with a backslash would
>> work" to read "Adding a backslash or other character would work"
>
>Thanks for the tip! However, the latter part "or other character" is not
>the case. But I'll indeed at least rethink about the wording.

Wouldn't replacing \ with ? do the same? Or +?

@echo off & setlocal enableextensions

set var=This+*is+*a+*string
echo %var%
echo %var:+*=-%
endlocal & goto :EOF

>> As the backslash isn't an escape character in cmd then it's a little bit
>> misleading for those that may consider that it *is* an escape character
>> (and it is in SED etc).
>
>Depending on the circumstances there are three escape characters in
>command line programming: ^ % and \ as covered in
> http://www.netikka.net/tsneti/info/tscmd047.htm

I read the entry but you'll note that \ is an escape character in GAWK and
not in CMD.

[Timo Salmi]

foxidrive <got...@woohoo.invalid> wrote:
> On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:40:11 +0200, Timo Salmi <t...@uwasa.fi> wrote:
>>> perhaps this line can also be fine tuned "Escaping with a backslash would
>>> work" to read "Adding a backslash or other character would work"
>> Thanks for the tip! However, the latter part "or other character" is not
>> the case. But I'll indeed at least rethink about the wording.
>
> Wouldn't replacing \ with ? do the same? Or +?

Yes, you are right, I was wrong. Or X, for that matter.

> I read the entry but you'll note that \ is an escape character in GAWK and
> not in CMD.

You might have missed the findstr case in the said

[foxidrive]

On Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:10:12 +0200, Timo Salmi <t...@uwasa.fi> wrote:

>>> As the backslash isn't an escape character in cmd then it's a little bit
>>> misleading for those that may consider that it *is* an escape character
>>> (and it is in SED etc).
>>
>>Depending on the circumstances there are three escape characters in
>>command line programming: ^ % and \ as covered in

>> I read the entry but you'll note that \ is an escape character in GAWK and

>> not in CMD.
>
>You might have missed the findstr case in the said
>http://www.netikka.net/tsneti/info/tscmd047.htm

Findstr also uses REGEXP but CMD does not - you can't use \ as an escape
character without using an executable.

You mentioned "command line programming" above and in that sense when using
findstr, sed, gawk, etc then \ is an escape character.

[Timo Salmi]

Yes. The difference between findstr vs. sed/gawk being, however, (even
if all executables) is that findstr in part of the native XP... command
line repertoire always available to an XP user. Thus, I would not
have claimed \ as one of the escape command line programming characters
if it would have been limited to sed/gawk only. I think that we now have
converged in this.

[Dr J R Stockton]

In alt.msdos.batch.nt message <e5751d7b-944e-478e-b9e8-599fab131a78@j11g
2000vbi.googlegroups.com>, Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:22:28, dabur
<david.bu...@gmail.com> posted:

>How do I replace all asterixes (or "*") in a string in commandline or
>batch?

I think I should point out that an asterix is a small gaulish warrior.

The character commonly used in computer languages to indicate
multiplication is an asterisk.

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[knight...@gmail.com]

On Monday, November 23, 2009 6:22:28 AM UTC-6, dabur wrote:
> I've got a question on which different colleagues are also stuck

>
> How do I replace all asterixes (or "*") in a string in commandline or
> batch?
>

> Set var=This*Is*A*String*
>
> I want to replace all * with a space.
>

> Set var=%var:*= % does not work
> Set var=%var:^*= % neither.
>
> I know the cause (from set /?):
> Environment variable substitution has been enhanced as follows:
>
> %PATH:str1=str2%
>
> would expand the PATH environment variable, substituting each
> occurrence
> of "str1" in the expanded result with "str2". "str2" can be the empty
> string to effectively delete all occurrences of "str1" from the
> expanded
> output. "str1" can begin with an asterisk, in which case it will
> match
> everything from the beginning of the expanded output to the first
> occurrence of the remaining portion of str1.
>
> anyone an idea on this?


Just something for others to perhaps build on. Using the pattern match for str1 you mention above:

set var=*.txt
set result=%var:**=X%
echo %var% , %result%

Maybe using sub-string notation working from the tail of the string to the front, one could replace each star one at a time.

[Frank Westlake]

On 2013-02-08 15:03, knight...@gmail.com wrote:
> set var=*.txt
> set result=%var:**=X%
> echo %var% , %result%

That's useful; thanks.

Frank

[Frank Westlake]

Here is another option:

@Echo OFF
SetLocal EnableExtensions
Set "String=I like %%~a ice cream."
For %%a in (
"strawberry"
"chocolate"
"vanilla"
"cookies and cream"
) Do (
For %%b in ("%%~a") Do Echo;%string%
)
Goto :EOF

Frank

[Frank Westlake]

On 2013-02-09 03:10, Frank Westlake wrote:
> Here is another option:
>
> @Echo OFF
> SetLocal EnableExtensions
> Set "String=I like %%~a ice cream."

That should have been %%~b but still it doesn't use an asterisk. Here's
a method which does replace the asterisk if the replacements are
suitable as a file name:

@Echo OFF
SetLocal EnableExtensions EnableDelayedExpansion
Set "MY=%TEMP%\%~n0"
mkDir "%MY%"
PushD "%MY%"

For %%a in (
"strawberry"
"chocolate"
"vanilla"
"cookies and cream"

) Do TYPE NUL: >"%%~a"
For %%a in (*) Do Echo;I like %%~a ice cream.
PopD
RD /S /Q "%MY%"
Goto :EOF


Frank

[Frank Westlake]

On 2013-02-09 03:10, Frank Westlake wrote:
> Here is another option:

This time I got it right.

@Echo OFF
SetLocal EnableExtensions
Set "String=I like * ice cream."

For %%a in (
"strawberry"
"chocolate"
"vanilla"
"cookies and cream"
) Do (

For /F "tokens=1,2 delims=*" %%b in ("%string%") Do (
Echo;%%b%%~a%%c
)
)
Goto :EOF

Frank

[knight...@gmail.com]

Excellent! Simplifying a bit:

@echo off
setlocal
set STRING=This is * a test
for /F "tokens=1,2 delims=*" %%S in ("%STRING%") do set RESULT=%%S NOT %%T
echo %RESULT%

[Timo Salmi]

On 13.02.2013 17:11 knight...@gmail.com wrote:
> Excellent! Simplifying a bit:
> @echo off
> setlocal
> set STRING=This is * a test
> for /F "tokens=1,2 delims=*" %%S in ("%STRING%") do set RESULT=%%S NOT %%T
> echo %RESULT%

The solution is not generic, since one has to know in advance the number
of asterisk occurrences in the string. I have, however, made a note of
it into http://www.netikka.net/tsneti/info/tscmd179.htm

All the best, Timo

--

Prof. (emer.) Timo Salmi, Vaasa, Finland
http://www.netikka.net/tsneti/homepage.php
Useful CMD script tricks http://www.netikka.net/tsneti/info/tscmd.php

[knight...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, February 13, 2013 9:07:31 PM UTC-6, Timo Salmi wrote:

:Here is the generic version which handles an arbitrary number of stars:

@echo off
setlocal
set STRING=This * is * a * test
:loop
for /F "tokens=1,* delims=*" %%S in ("%STRING%") do set STRING=%%S#%%T
if not "%STRING%"=="%STRING:**=%" goto :loop
echo %STRING%

[Frank Westlake]

On 2013-02-14 06:29, knight...@gmail.com wrote:
> if not "%STRING%"=="%STRING:**=%" goto :loop

I knew that would come in handy somehow!

Frank

[Herbert Kleebauer]

On 14.02.2013 15:29, knight...@gmail.com wrote:

set STRING=This ** is ** a ** test

[Frank Westlake]

On 2013-02-14 06:55, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:
> On 14.02.2013 15:29, knight...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> set STRING=This ** is ** a ** test

If it were necessary to handle that situation then the test would
require FIND or FINDSTR instead of the comparison.

Frank

[billious]

set STRING=* a * test * this * is *

[Frank Westlake]

On 2013-02-14 07:23, billious wrote:
> set STRING=* a * test * this * is *

This solves that, but not the multiple adjacent asterisk problem:

@echo off
setlocal
set STRING=* This * is ** a **** test

:loop
for /F "tokens=1,* delims=*" %%S in ("[%STRING%]") do set STRING=%%S#%%T

Set "String=%string:~1,-1%"

if not "%STRING%"=="%STRING:**=%" goto :loop
echo %STRING%

My FIND[STR] suggestion wouldn't have helped because the multiple
adjacent asterisks are reduced to one by FOR, not by "%STRING:**=%" as I
first thought.

Frank

[Frank Westlake]

On 2013-02-14 07:47, Frank Westlake wrote:
>for /F "tokens=1,* delims=*" %%S in ("[%STRING%]") do set STRING=%%S#%%T
>Set "String=%string:~1,-1%"

That can't be like that because if there are no asterisks then the
string would be unnecessarily altered. It would have to be this way:


for /F "tokens=1,* delims=*" %%S in ("[%STRING%]") do(
set STRING=%%S#%%T
Set "String=!string:~1,-1!"
)

And now delayed expansion is necessary, or a supplemental string which
would be compared with the original.

Frank

[Frank Westlake]

I guess a character by character replacement is still the most useful:

@Echo OFF
SetLocal EnableExtensions EnableDelayedExpansion

Set "string=* This * is ** a **** test"
Set "find=*"
Set "replacement=#"
Set "$=%string%"
For /F "delims=:" %%a in (
'(SET $^& Echo.NEXT LINE^)^|FindStr /O "NEXT LINE"'
) Do Set /A "last=%%a-5"
Set "$="
For /L %%i in (0,1,%last%) Do (
If "!string:~%%i,1!" EQU "!find!" (
Set "$=!$!!replacement!"
) Else (
Set "$=!$!!string:~%%i,1!"
)
)
Set "string=%$%"
Set "string"
Goto :EOF

Extending your "%string:**=%" tool I've found that multiple asterisks
can be used to find multiple asterisks:

Set "string=* This * is ** a *** test"
Set "%string:***=%"
Set string

Frank

[Frank Westlake]

On 2013-02-14 08:46, Frank Westlake wrote:
> Set "string=* This * is ** a *** test"
> Set "%string:***=%"
> Set string

I should test things before I send them:

Set "string=* This * is ** a *** test"

Set "string=%string:***=%"
Set string

Frank