How to bring a special string into a variable?

[Furplado]

I have all done in a cmd-window:

I want to have a variable with the following content:

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%BUFFER:*Word=%

This is what I have tried out:

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C:\Users\D>set "a=%BUFFER:*Word=%"

This is now the content of the variable a

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C:\Users\D>echo "%a%"
".Document.12"

C:\Users\D>

My expectation was, that the content would be

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%BUFFER:*Word=%

Question:
How can I bring "%BUFFER:*Word=%" into variable a?


Thank you.

[Squashman]

If you want literal % symbols to be assigned to a variable in a batch file then you need to double them.

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set "a=%%BUFFER:*Word=%%"

At the command prompt just use the normal ^ to escape the %.

[Furplado]

Thank you.

Very strange.
I have exactly repeated what I have done in post 1. And now the behaviour is different (without using "^" ):

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C:\Users\D>set "a=%BUFFER:*Word=%"

C:\Users\D>echo "%a%"
"%BUFFER:*Word=%"

C:\Users\D>

[Squashman]

Thank you.

Very strange.
I have exactly repeated what I have done in post 1. And now the behaviour is different (without using "^" ):

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C:\Users\D>set "a=%BUFFER:*Word=%"

C:\Users\D>echo "%a%"
"%BUFFER:*Word=%"

C:\Users\D>

If you previously defined the variable BUFFER in the existing environment it will expand the variable. If it is not defined then it will just assign the literal string to the variable.

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H:\>set "buffer="

H:\>set "a=%BUFFER:*Word=%"

H:\>echo %a%
%BUFFER:*Word=%

H:\>set "buffer=word.document"

H:\>set a=%^BUFFER:*Word=%

H:\>echo %a%
%BUFFER:*Word=%

H:\>set a=%BUFFER:*Word=%

H:\>echo %a%
.document

[Furplado]

OK. I see "^" must be before a variable.