How do I pass parameters to a batch file? | Windows Server content from Windows IT Pro

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A. When you call a batch file, you can enter data after the command that the batch file refers to as %1, %2, etc. For example, in the batch file hello.bat, the following command

@echo hello %1 boy

would output

hello john boy

if you called it as

hello john

The following table outlines how you can modify the passed parameter.

Parameter	Description
%1	The normal parameter.
%~f1	Expands %1 to a fully qualified pathname. If you passed only a filename from the current directory, this parameter would also expand to the drive or directory.
%~d1	Extracts the drive letter from %1.
%~p1	Extracts the path from %1.
%~n1	Extracts the filename from %1, without the extension.
%~x1	Extracts the file extension from %1.
%~s1	Changes the n and x options’ meanings to reference the short name. You would therefore use %~sn1 for the short filename and %~sx1 for the short extension.

The following table shows how you can combine some of the parameters.

Parameter	Description
%~dp1	Expands %1 to a drive letter and path only.
%~sp1	For short path.
%~nx1	Expands %1 to a filename and extension only.

To see all the parameters in action, put them into the batch file testing.bat, as follows.

@echo off<br>
echo fully qualified name %~f1<br>
echo drive %~d1<br>
echo path %~p1<br>
echo filename %~n1<br>
echo file extension %~x1<br>
echo short filename %~sn1<br>
echo short file extension %~sx1<br>
echo drive and directory %~dp1<br>
echo filename and extension %~nx1

Then, run the file with a long filename. For example, the batch file run on the file c:\temp\longfilename.long would produce the following output.

fully qualified name c:\TEMP\longfilename.long<br>
drive c:<br>
path \TEMP\<br>
filename longfilename<br>
file extension .long<br>
short filename LONGFI~1<br>
short file extension .LON<br>
drive and directory c:\TEMP\<br>
filename and extension longfilename.long

This method also works on the second and subsequent parameters. You simply substitute the parameter for 1 (e.g., %~f2 for the second parameter’s fully qualified path name).

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The %0 parameter in a batch file holds information about the file when it runs and indicates which command extensions you can use with the file (e.g., %~dp0 gives the batch file’s drive and path).

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