Error :Parse output of a command in windows command line file

Question

I am trying to parse the output of a command in a command line script. As a start i have to first capture the output of the command in a variable ( i guess) . So here is what i have written so far:

FOR /F "tokens=2* delims=    " %%A IN ('wmic process where(name="javaw.exe") get commandline') DO SET VAR=%%B
echo %VAR%

where wmic process where(name="javaw.exe") get commandline is the command i want to execute and save the output. But i get the following error upon executing this.

get was unexpected at this time

Any ideas why the error. And how do i proceed after storing the output in a variable. I am looking for a particular word say "XYZ" in the output and if that word is there i want to display a windows pop-up.

Thanks in advance for the help.

It's a batch script or it's executed at the cmd line, but command line scripts doesn't exists — jeb
– jeb, Commented Nov 9, 2012 at 9:42

Bali C · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-09 14:00:22Z

3

The reason it is giving you an error is because the first ) in the for loop is effectively ending the loop, then the get command is processed separately, which isn't recognised.

You need to use the caret ^ to escape the brackets and the =.

FOR /F "tokens=2* delims=    " %%A IN ('wmic process where^(name^="javaw.exe"^) get commandline') DO SET VAR=%%B

Hope this helps

edited Nov 9, 2012 at 14:00

answered Nov 9, 2012 at 9:26

Bali C

31.4k37 gold badges128 silver badges155 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

ayush Over a year ago

Nope. Now i get "B was unexpected at this time"!!

Bali C Over a year ago

Are you running from cmd line or batch file?

Bali C Over a year ago

Then you need to use single %'s in the for loop, you use double %% for batch files. %A and %B, rather than %%A and %%B

dbenham Over a year ago

+1 - but actually the 2nd ( does not cause problems and does not need to be escaped. It is the first ) that is causing the problem, and it needs to be escaped as you have shown.

jeb · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-09 09:46:43Z

2

You need to change the syntax, but even then you will not get the desired results, as wmic normally responds with more than one line.

setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
FOR /F "tokens=* delims=" %%A IN (
    '"wmic process where(name="javaw.exe") get commandline"') DO (
     set "line=%%A"
     if "!line:XYZ=!" NEQ "!line!" (
        echo The line contains XYZ
     )
)

And setting delims to space will split the line at the first space, even if this is in the path of javaw.exe.

edited Nov 9, 2012 at 9:46

answered Nov 9, 2012 at 9:35

jeb

83.3k20 gold badges181 silver badges237 bronze badges

3 Comments

ayush Over a year ago

can i search for a string directly in the output without saving it in a variable?

jeb Over a year ago

I added a solution which search for XYZ in each line of the WMIC output

ayush Over a year ago

ok. Suppose i change my command to "wmic process where (name="javaw.exe") get commandline | find "XYZ". Then there would be only one result in the output if any[i know]. Now what can i do? I mean how to check if the length of the output and so on if the length is more than zero display a popup..

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Error :Parse output of a command in windows command line file

2 Answers 2

4 Comments

3 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

4 Comments

3 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related