Copy files to all subdirectories

Question

I was planning on using a command like this

FOR /R %f in (".") DO xcopt test.txt %f

to copy a file into all subdirectories of a folder.

This works fine when I write the file into the command prompt but it doesn't work when I put it into a batch file and run the batch file.

Any ideas as to why this wouldn't run from a batch file?

Thanks

Martin Hilton · Accepted Answer · 2010-02-22 21:40:53Z

up vote 4 down vote accepted

It is probably to do with your %f in a batch file these should be %%f. This is to do with the way variable expansion is performed in batch files.

answered Feb 22 '10 at 21:40

Martin Hilton
929168

yip that was the problem cheers for that – Tim Feb 22 '10 at 21:51

Anthony Cramp · Answer 2 · 2010-02-24 02:40:06Z

up vote 1 down vote

for /?

brings up the help. The first paragraph of text mentions:

To use the FOR command in a batch program, specify %%variable instead of %variable. ...

edited Feb 24 '10 at 2:40

answered Feb 22 '10 at 21:43

Anthony Cramp
1114

	good tip, but this would be better left as a comment on the accepted answer. – quack quixote Feb 23 '10 at 1:55
	Maybe. I think it is useful information in its own right that could be missed if it were provided in a comment. I'll delete the reference to Martin's answer to remove the discussion feel of my answer. – Anthony Cramp Feb 24 '10 at 2:39

2 Answers