If not exist *

[alleypuppy]

Hi all,

I am trying to check if a folder contains files and I want to use

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if not exist * echo Folder is empty!

but it doesn't seem to work. Any suggestions?

[renzlo]

Hi aleypuppy,

Try this:

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if not exist * (echo Folder is not empty!) else (echo Folder is empty!)

-renzlo

[alleypuppy]

Hi aleypuppy,

Try this:

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if not exist * (echo Folder is not empty!) else (echo Folder is empty!)

-renzlo

Ehh this isn't working properly either. It says "Folder is not empty!" even if it is empty.

[dbenham]

I believe the if not exist * is seeing the implicit . folder (current directory) that exists in every folder, therefore it will never test true.

The FOR command can be used instead.

Use this to see if the current directory contains any files:

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set "file="
for %%f in (*) do set file=1
if defined file (echo directory contains one or more files) else echo directory contains NO files

Use this to see if the current directory contains any folders

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set "dir="
for /d %%f in (*) do set dir=1
if defined dir (echo directory contains one or more folders) else echo directory contains NO folders

Of course you could do something like

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set "file="
for %%f in (*) do set /a file+=1

if you wanted to get a count of the number of files. File will still be undefined if no files exist, otherwise it will contain the count of files. Or you could initialize file to 0 if you always want a value.

I'm not sure what will happen if the directory contains only hidden or system files or directories. I'm not sure if the FOR command will see them.

Dave Benham

[alleypuppy]

I believe the if not exist * is seeing the implicit . folder (current directory) that exists in every folder, therefore it will never test true.

The FOR command can be used instead.

Use this to see if the current directory contains any files:

Code: Select all

set "file="
for %%f in (*) do set file=1
if defined file (echo directory contains one or more files) else echo directory contains NO files

Use this to see if the current directory contains any folders

Code: Select all

set "dir="
for /d %%f in (*) do set dir=1
if defined dir (echo directory contains one or more folders) else echo directory contains NO folders

Of course you could do something like

Code: Select all

set "file="
for %%f in (*) do set /a file+=1

if you wanted to get a count of the number of files. File will still be undefined if no files exist, otherwise it will contain the count of files. Or you could initialize file to 0 if you always want a value.

I'm not sure what will happen if the directory contains only hidden or system files or directories. I'm not sure if the FOR command will see them.

Dave Benham

Thank you dbenham, that worked perfectly!

[!k]

Use this to see if the current directory contains any files:
...
Use this to see if the current directory contains any folders
...

what about

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set "empty=true"
for /f %%a in ('dir /b/x') do set "empty=false"

[Acy Forsythe]

This is an old trick, but I needed this exact same thing a couple of weeks ago, so it's fresh in my memory and it works up to Windows7.

IF NOT EXIST C:\MyDirectory\NUL ECHO It's NOT THERE


On a related note, this was a few weeks ago, but I *think* it had problems with spaces in the path, and quoting doesn't seem to fix it. I could be thinking of another command, but I'm fairly certain it was this one that had the problem.

[!k]

[off]

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IF NOT EXIST C:\MyDirectory\NUL ECHO It's FILE but _NOT_ FOLDER

[/off]

[Acy Forsythe]

[off]

Code:
IF NOT EXIST C:\MyDirectory\NUL ECHO It's FILE but _NOT_ FOLDER

[/off]

I misread the question... No harm done.