Batch file command line arguments

Command line arguments supplied to batch files

Batch file command line arguments are parameter values submitted when starting the batch. They should be enclosed in quotes if they contain spaces. In a running batch file, the arguments are used for various purposes, i.e. redirection to :labels, setting variables, or running commands.

The arguments are referred to in the batch file using %1, %2, ..., %9.

@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
if not "%1"=="" (
    set "dir=%~1" & set "file=%~2"
    type !dir!\!file! | find /n /i "True" >nul^
     && echo Success! || echo Failure
)
exit /b

C:\Users\UserName> test.bat "C:\Temp\Test Results" "Latest.log"
Success!

Notes:

In the above example, double quotes are removed by using the argument modifier %~1.
Long strings are split to several lines using ^ , and there is a space before the character on the next line.

Batch files with more than 9 arguments

When more than 9 arguments are supplied, the shift [/n] command can be used, where /n means start at the nth argument, n is between zero and eight.

Looping through arguments:

:args
set /a "i+=1"
set arg!i!=%~1
call echo arg!i! = %%arg!i!%%
shift
goto :args

Note, in the above example delayed expansion variable i is used to assign argument values to variables array. The call command allows to display such variable values inside the loop.

Counting arguments:

for %%i in (%*) do (set /a ArgCount+=1)
echo %ArgCount%

Set a variable to n’th argument:

set i=5
call set "path%i%=%%~i"

Shifting arguments inside brackets

Lets have the following example.bat and call it with arguments 1 ,2 and 3:

@echo off

(
    shift
    shift
    echo %1
)

As the variable expansion will change after the the end brackets context is reached the output will be:

1

As this might be an issue when shifting inside brackets to access the argument you’ll need to use call:

@echo off

(
    shift
    shift
    call echo %%1
)

now the output will be 3. As CALL command is used (which will lead to additional variable expansion) with this technique the arguments accessing can be also parametrized:

@echo off

set argument=1

    shift
    shift
    call echo %%%argument%

with delayed expansion:

@echo off
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
set argument=1

    shift
    shift
    call echo %%!argument!

the output will be

3