How to replace Strings in Windows Batch file

Question

I would like to replace the following String in a file:

android:versionName="anyStringHere" >

*anyStringHere represents any possible string

With:

android:versionName="1.04.008" >

How would I do this in a clean, reusable way, and preserve the new lines, tabs, and indentation in the file?

Are you asking how to perform the replace using Batch commands? — rrirower, Jan 07 '14 at 19:15
Yes, I saw the answer for http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5273937/how-to-replace-substrings-in-windows-batch-file but the answer doesn't preserve new lines. — sworded, Jan 07 '14 at 19:18
Take a look at using [Powershell](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3403217/how-to-replace-multiple-strings-in-a-file-using-powershell) to replace the strings. — rrirower, Jan 07 '14 at 19:19

MC ND · Answer 1 · 2014-01-07T22:08:13.280

Not even close to the fastest option, and not 100% bulletproof, but this is pure batch and will handle spacing and indentation while do the replacement.

@echo off
    setlocal enableextensions disabledelayedexpansion

    rem File to process
    set "file=data.txt"

    rem How to find lines
    set "match=public static String CONST = \"abc\";"

    rem String to replace and replacement
    set "findStr=abc"
    set "replaceStr=def"

    rem temporary file to work with lines
    set "tempFile=%temp%\repl.tmp"

    rem All the output goes into the temporary file
    (

        rem Process input file extracting non matching lines
        for /f tokens^=^1^*^ delims^=^:^ eol^= %%a in ('findstr /n /v /c:"%match%" ^< "%file%"') do (
            set /a "n=1000000+%%a" 
            setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
            < nul set /p "n=!n!"
            endlocal
            echo :%%b
        )

        rem Process input file extrancting matching lines and changing strings
        for /f tokens^=^1^*^ delims^=^:^ eol^= %%a in ('findstr /n /c:"%match%" ^< "%file%"') do (
            set /a "n=1000000+%%a" 
            set "data=%%b"
            setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
            set "data=!data:%findStr%=%replaceStr%!"
            echo !n!:!data!
            endlocal
        ) 
    )> "%tempFile%"

    rem Sort the output file to get the final file
    (for /f tokens^=^1^*^ delims^=^:^ eol^= %%a in ('sort "%tempFile%"') do (
        if "%%b"=="" ( 
            echo.
        ) else (
            echo %%b
        )
    )) > "%file%.repl"

unclemeat · Answer 2 · 2014-01-07T23:41:12.503

This is the simplest way to do this that I could come up with. It takes a String and searches for it in a file, then replaces the entire line that contains the string. It won't only replace parts of a line, which can be done with a bit more effort.

@echo off

:: file containing string to replace
set file=test.txt
:: string to replace in file
set searchString=line 4
:: string to write to file
set repString=line 4 edited

setLocal enableDelayedExpansion
set count=0

if not exist %file% echo cannot find file - %file% & goto :EOF

:: Search for string - and get it's line number
for /F "delims=:" %%a in ('findstr /N /I /C:"%searchString%" "%file%"') do set searchLine=%%a

if not defined searchLine echo cannot find string - %searchString% - in file - %file% & goto :EOF

:: Read file into variables - by line number
for /F "delims=~!" %%b in ('type %file%') do (
    set /a count=!count!+1
    set line!count!=%%b
)

:: Edit the one line
set line%searchLine%=%repString%

:: Empty file and write new contents
del %file%
for /L %%c in (1,1,!count!) do echo !line%%c!>>%file%

pause

You can change the echo on the last for loop to output to a different file, maybe %file%.new or something, and then remove the del command.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 08 '14 at 08:34

This is a robust solution that retains all formatting. It uses a helper batch file called repl.bat - download from: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qidqwztmetbvklt/repl.bat

Place repl.bat in the same folder as the batch file or in a folder that is on the path.

type "file.txt" | repl "(public static String CONST = \q).*(\q.*)" "$1def$2" x >"newfile.txt"

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 28 '14 at 16:58

I found that using sed was the cleanest solution

http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/sed.htm

sed "s/android:versionName=\".*\" >/android:versionName=\"%NEW_VERSION%\" >/g" %ORIG_FILE_NAME% > %TEMP_FILE_NAME%

@move /Y %TEMP_FILE_NAME% %ORIG_FILE_NAME% >nul

How to replace Strings in Windows Batch file

4 Answers4

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