How to Use an Environment Variable as an Environment Variable Name

Posted by Synetech inc. on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Synetech inc.
Published on 2010-04-12T16:41:39Z Indexed on 2010/04/12 22:12 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 458

Filed under:

batch-file

|

environment-variables

|

argument-passing

Hi,

In my pursuit of a solution to another environment-variable/batch-file related problem, I have once again come across a problem I have visited before (but cannot for the life of me remember how, or even if I solved it).

Say you have two BAT files (or one batch file and the command line). How can one pass an environment variable name to the other so that it can read the variable? The following example does not work:

A.BAT:
  @call b.bat path

B.BAT:
  @echo %%1%

> A.BAT
> %1
> B.BAT path
> %1

It is easy enough to pass the environment variable name, but the callee cannot seem to use it. (I don’t remember if or how I dealt with this the last time it came up, but I suspect it required the less-than-ideal use of redirecting temporary BAT files and calling them and such.)

Any ideas? Thanks.

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about batch-file

Execute batch file after another batch file completes

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I have a batch file coordinating the activity of two other batch file. How can I make it execute the second batch file only after the first bat file finishes execution. I do not care if the first batch file executes successfully or not. >>> More
Running Java from a Windows batch file causes the batch file to stop

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
When I run Java from a Windows .cmd file (Vista 32-bit here), the Java command causes the batch file to stop executing additional commands. For example, this is a simple test.cmd file: java java This should cause Java to print its help message twice. However when I run it in cmd.exe, I get this: C:\>test C:\>java Usage:… >>> More
How to get around batch file processing limit

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I have a Windows batch file that processes all the files in a given directory. I have 206,783 files I need to process: for %%f in (*.xml) do call :PROCESS %%f goto :STOP :PROCESS :: do something with the file program.exe %1 > %1.new set /a COUNTER=%COUNTER%+1 goto :EOF :STOP @echo %COUNTER%… >>> More
Download a File in a Batch File

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I've never done any scripting on Windows but now I need to write a batch file that downloads a file off the internet (amongst other things). If it was linux I would use wget. Is there a builtin executable that will download a file to a given directory? This needs to run on XP. >>> More
Batch file to java test

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I have a very simple question and I've even searched here but it's for a much simpler case than what I found examples of. I have a java program which has a simple System.in on the main function....I simply want to make a bat file which will run the java program and then enter the input stream automatically… >>> More

Related posts about environment-variables

System Expandable-String Environment Variables Can’t Reference User Environment Variables

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Hi, I’ve run into a bit of a situation with Windows environment variables. I’ve narrowed it down to what may or may not makes sense and/or possibly be by design. It seems that expandable-string environment variables of the local machine cannot reference environment variables of the current user. For… >>> More
PowerShell: can't modify environment variables

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have an environment variable set via "system properties - advanced - Environment Variables". I modified the variable's value. In cmd, I see the new value. In PowerShell, the value is still the old value. Trying to set it with [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable doesn't have any effect. >>> More
Set environment variables from within a bash shell

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Hi, Is there a way to set environment variables from within a (bash) shell script? I want to set some environment variables on some servers using a small script rather than typing. Some forum posts believe it is impossible. Any Ideas? >>> More
Is there a way to set Windows environment variables from the command line PERMANENTLY

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Is there any way to set permanently set an environment variable system wide from the command line in Windows? something like >systemset newVar=foo or a file to edit would work well too. >>> More
Change environment variables as standard user (Windows 7)

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
When clicking on "Advanced system settings", I need to login as the administrator and hence only edit the administrators environment variables (in addition to the machine wide ones). How do I edit the environment variables of a standard user? Details With the migration to Windows 7, I decided to… >>> More