Comparing Strings With Embedded Spaces in Batch File
Mark Bixby
embedded spaces. I have always believed that it was done by enclosing the
strings in double quote marks. For example, I thought that the following
should work: IF "2 3" == "2 3" ECHO STRINGS MATCH
Instead of echoing STRINGS MATCH, DOS responds with Bad Command or Filename.
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>How do you compare two strings in a DOS batch file IF statement that contain
>embedded spaces. I have always believed that it was done by enclosing the
>strings in double quote marks. For example, I thought that the following
>should work: IF "2 3" == "2 3" ECHO STRINGS MATCH
>Instead of echoing STRINGS MATCH, DOS responds with Bad Command or Filename.
I think it has been shown that there is nothing magical about quotes in
batch file statements (internals). Note: I never used quotes much
anyway, in batch if statements - I always used the
if %1X==X ...
approach, so thus I haven't tested much of this and am only going on
what I've heard.
Anyway, the following will accomplish what you want, provided you have a
DOS grep somewhere in your file system.
echo big arbitrary string| grep "string to match" >nul
if errorlevel 1 goto not_got_it
Anyway, that's what I do...
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