Insert Single Double Quote Into Start of First Line in Text File

Question

I have a file like with a missing double quote at the start...

1","abc","123"
"2","abcd","456"
"3","abce","789"

I want to run a command to insert a single double quote in to the first position so the file looks like...

"1","abc","123"
"2","abcd","456"
"3","abce","789"

At first: [The Windows command prompt is *NOT* a DOS prompt!](https://scalibq.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/the-windows-command-prompt-is-not-a-dos-prompt/) Then: what is your question? this post is nothing but a task request; please read the [tour] ans learn [ask] here! — aschipfl, Jun 14 '17 at 15:04
So you are really working on MS-DOS?? You do not use Windows?? — aschipfl, Jun 14 '17 at 15:07
I need to be able to do this via running a command via cmd.exe — Ian Carrick, Jun 14 '17 at 15:08
You have "a file" - one single file? Why do you need a batch script then? — Stephan, Jun 14 '17 at 15:23

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 14 '17 at 15:34

1

Somehow I miss the point, why you need a batch script to change a single file. But here you go:

@echo off
<nul >"new.txt" set /p x="""
>>"new.txt" type "old.txt"
move /y "old.txt" "new.txt"

first: write a " without linebreak ((mis)using set /p)
second: add the original file
third: rename the result to the original filename

answered Jun 14 '17 at 15:34

Stephan

This solution will be put inside a stored procedure run multiple times a day to resolve the issue so it's not just a one-off this info wasn't really relevant to the post.... – Ian Carrick Jun 14 '17 at 16:15

1 Answers1