why doesn't set test = whatever in windows?

Question

Via a *.cmd script I do set "test = zzz" at the command line and then "echo %test%" and what's echo'd back to me isn't zzz, as I'd expect, but %test%.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Your invocation of the set command actually works, but it doesn't do what you expect.

The command prompt treats the spaces surrounding the equality sign (=) literally. As a result, the command sequence

set test = zzz
echo %test%
echo %test %

prints the following:

%test%
 zzz

Since the variable test is unset, %test% doesn't get replaced.

Answer 2

You cannot have spaces before or after the equal sign. Try this instead:

 set test=zzz
 echo %test%

Answer 3

You have to omit the spaces

I used:

set "test=zzz"

and when I used echo %test% it displays zzz