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DOS - String Operations

:lTrim - strips white spaces (or other characters) from the beginning of a string

:rTrim - strips white spaces (or other characters) from the end of a string

:StartsWith - Tests if a text starts with a given string

:strLen - returns the length of a string

:toCamelCase - converts a string to camel case

:toLower - converts uppercase character to lowercase

:toUpper - converts lowercase character to uppercase

:Trim - strip white spaces (or other characters) from the beginning and end of a string

:trimSpaces - trims spaces around string variable

:trimSpaces2 - trims spaces around string and assigns result to variable

:Unique - returns a unique string based on a date-time-stamp, YYYYMMDDhhmmsscc

Align Right - Align text to the right i.e. to improve readability of number columns

Description:	Add leading spaces to a string to make sure the output lines up. I.e. for variables no longer than 8 characters add 8 spaces at the front and then show only the last 8 characters of the variable.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. set x=3000 set y=2 set x=        %x% set y=        %y% echo.X=%x:~-8% echo.Y=%y:~-8%
Script Output:	Script Output X= 3000 Y= 2

Left String - Extract characters from the beginning of a string

Description:	Similar to the Left function in VB a batch script can return a specified number of characters from the left side of a string by specifying a substring for an expansion given a position of 0 and a length using :~ while expanding a variable content. The example shows how to return the first 4 characters of a string.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. set str=politic echo.%str% set str=%str:~0,4% echo.%str%
Script Output:	Script Output politic poli

Map and Lookup - Use Key-Value pair list to lookup and translate values

Description:	This example shows an approach to map a name of a month into it`s corresponding two digit number. The key-value pairs are listed in the map variable separated by semicolon. Key and value itself are separated by one dash character. Same can be used to tranlate a day-of-the-week short string into a day-of-the-week long string by changing the map content only.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. REM ---- Example 1: Translate name of month into two digit number ---- SET v=Mai SET map=Jan-01;Feb-02;Mar-03;Apr-04;Mai-05;Jun-06;Jul-07;Aug-08;Sep-09;Oct-10;Nov-11;Dec-12 CALL SET v=%%map:*%v%-=%% SET v=%v:;=&rem.% ECHO.%v% REM ---- Example 2: Translate abbreviation into full string ---- SET v=sun set map=mon-Monday;tue-Tuesday;wed-Wednesday;thu-Thursday;fri-Friday;sat-Saturday;sun-Sunday CALL SET v=%%map:*%v%-=%% SET v=%v:;=&rem.%   ECHO.%v%
Script Output:	Script Output 05 Sunday

Mid String - Extract a Substring by Position

Description:	Similar to the Mid function in VB a batch script can return a specified number of characters from any position inside a string by specifying a substring for an expansion given a position and length using :~ while expanding a variable content. The example here shows how to extract the parts of a date.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. echo.Date   : %date% echo.Weekday: %date:~0,3% echo.Month  : %date:~4,2% echo.Day    : %date:~7,2% echo.Year   : %date:~10,4%
Script Output:	Script Output Date : Sat 03/11/2006 Weekday: Sat Month : 03 Day : 11 Year : 2006

Remove - Remove a substring using string substitution

Description:	The string substitution feature can also be used to remove a substring from another string. The example shown here removes all occurrences of "the " from the string variable str.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. set str=the cat in the hat echo.%str% set str=%str:the =% echo.%str%
Script Output:	Script Output the cat in the hat cat in hat

Remove both Ends - Remove the first and the last character of a string

Description:	Using :~1,-1 within a variable expansion will remove the first and last character of the string.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. set str=politic echo.%str% set str=%str:~1,-1% echo.%str%
Script Output:	Script Output politic oliti

Remove Spaces - Remove all spaces in a string via substitution

Description:	This script snippet can be used to remove all spaces from a string.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. set str=      word       &rem echo."%str%" set str=%str: =% echo."%str%"
Script Output:	Script Output " word " "word"

Replace - Replace a substring using string substitution

Description:	To replace a substring with another string use the string substitution feature. The example shown here replaces all occurrences "teh" misspellings with "the" in the string variable str.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. set str=teh cat in teh hat echo.%str% set str=%str:teh=the% echo.%str%
Script Output:	Script Output teh cat in teh hat the cat in the hat

Right String - Extract characters from the end of a string

Description:	Similar to the Right function in VB a batch script can return a specified number of characters from the right side of a string by specifying a substring for an expansion given a negative position using :~ while expanding a variable content. The example shows how to return the last 4 characters of a string.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. set str=politic echo.%str% set str=%str:~-4% echo.%str%
Script Output:	Script Output politic itic

Split String - Split a String, Extract Substrings by Delimiters

Description:	Use the FOR command to split a string into parts. The example shows how to split a date variable into its parts.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. echo.-- Split off the first date token, i.e. day of the week for /f %%a in ("%date%") do set d=%%a echo.Date   : %date% echo.d      : %d% echo. echo.-- Split the date into weekday, month, day, and year, using slash and space as delimiters for /f "tokens=1,2,3,4 delims=/ " %%a in ("%date%") do set wday=%%a&set month=%%b&set day=%%c&set year=%%d echo.Weekday: %wday% echo.Month  : %month% echo.Day    : %day% echo.Year   : %year%
Script Output:	Script Output -- Split off the first date token, i.e. day of the week Date : Thu 12/02/2005 d : Thu -- Split the date into weekday, month, day, and year, using slash and space as delimiters Weekday: Thu Month : 12 Day : 02 Year : 2005

String Concatenation - Add one string to another string

Description:	This example shows how to add two strings in DOS.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. set "str1=Hello"   set "str2=World"   set "str3=%str1%%str2%"   set "str4=%str1% %str2%"   set "str1=%str1% DOS %str2%"   echo.%str3%   echo.%str4%   echo.%str1%
Script Output:	Script Output HelloWorld Hello World Hello DOS World

Trim Left - Trim spaces from the beginning of a string via "FOR" command

Description:	Use the FOR command to trim spaces at the beginning of a variable. In this example the variable to be trimmed is str.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. set str=               15 Leading spaces to truncate echo."%str%" for /f "tokens=* delims= " %%a in ("%str%") do set str=%%a echo."%str%"
Script Output:	Script Output " 15 Leading spaces to truncate" "15 Leading spaces to truncate"

Trim Quotes - Remove surrounding quotes via FOR command

Description:	The FOR command can be used to safely remove quotes surrounding a string. If the string does not have quotes then it will remain unchanged.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. set str="cmd politic" echo.%str% for /f "useback tokens=*" %%a in ('%str%') do set str=%%~a echo.%str%
Script Output:	Script Output "cmd politic" cmd politic

Trim Right - Trim spaces from the end of a string via "FOR" command

Description:	Trimming spaces at the end of a variable seems a little tricky. The following example shows how to use a FOR loop to trim up to 31 spaces from the end of a string. It assumes that Delayed Expansion is enabled.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. set str=15 Trailing Spaces to truncate               &rem echo."%str%" for /l %%a in (1,1,31) do if "!str:~-1!"==" " set str=!str:~0,-1! echo."%str%"
Script Output:	Script Output "15 Trailing Spaces to truncate " "15 Trailing Spaces to truncate"

Trim Right - Trim spaces from the end of a string via substitution

Description:	Trimming spaces at the end of a variable seems a little tricky. The following example shows how to use the string substitution feature to trim up to 31 spaces from the end of a string. It assumes that the string to be trimmed never contains two hash "##" characters in a row.
Script:	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. set str=15 Trailing Spaces to truncate               &rem echo."%str%" set str=%str%## set str=%str:                ##=##% set str=%str:        ##=##% set str=%str:    ##=##% set str=%str:  ##=##% set str=%str: ##=##% set str=%str:##=% echo."%str%"
Script Output:	Script Output "15 Trailing Spaces to truncate " "15 Trailing Spaces to truncate"