Search & Replace the contents of text file with batch script

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Hello,

In a folder I have lots of subfolders and my range to modify the text file starts from subfolder 000 to 050 & leave all other subfolders. I want to modify the text file named data.txt from this subfolders 000 to 050
Folder structure:
D:ReceiptsZoneDD-MM-YYReport (DD-MM-YY todays date)
000 (folder named ‘000’ contains the data.txt file to be modified)
001 (folder named ‘001’ contains the data.txt file to be modified)
002 (folder named ‘002’ contains the data.txt file to be modified)
…
modification of text file is upto folder ‘050’.

Needs to modify the text file from line no. 2 (leaving the first line its header). To modify the first 3 digits if its 302 then its fine and if its something else then 302 then modify it to 302.
Example:
some company xyz 27012013
30287921xxxx
30287822xxxx
10387823xxxx <—- Replace the first three digits to 302.

Desperately needs your help

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Here’s my attempt at what you want.

I am assuming
* the BATch file (which I’ve called 302ify.bat) is place in the top level directory, which seems to be D:ReceiptsZoneDD-MM-YYReport (DD-MM-YY todays date)
* each subdirectory 000,001 … 050 contains the file data.txt which you ant modified
* data.txt contains lines without any nasty characters like % ^ & ” which can wreck BATch file reading
* my logic, where I check the first three characters for numericity, entirely meets your requirements
* you will have to delete the data.ori (original version of data.txt) when you’re happy with the results
* if the data.txt files are large, processing may be slow

I’ve tested it on a couple of directories based on your example lines.
I assume you know enough about BATch files to be able to read the code and add in PAUSE and ECHO statements if you wish.

As always, it might be a pretty neat idea to do a backup of all the folders somewhere else, in case I haven’t thought of something!

Code:

@echo off

:: 302ify.bat
:: ----------

:: this BATch file should be placed in the top level directory/folder below
::   which are the folders 000-050, whose data.txt file is to be changed

setlocal

:: process each folder in turn
for /l %%a in (0, 1, 50) do call :process_folder %%a

echo Finished!
endlocal
:: end of BATch file
goto :eof
::----------------

:process_folder
:: form the correct folder name with leading zeros
set folder=00%1
set folder=%folder:~-3,3%
echo %~n0: processing folder %folder%

:: set up the current directory
pushd %folder%

:: rename the original data.txt file to act as the source
if not exist data.ori ren data.txt data.ori
:: get rid of any processed data.txt from a previous run, if any
if     exist data.txt del data.txt

:: process the copied file data.ori one line at a time
for /f "tokens=*" %%a in (data.ori) do call :process_line "%%a"

:: end of folder processing
popd
goto :eof
::----------------

:process_line
:: remove the double-quotes from both ends of the line  
set line=%~1

:: here we assume that ONLY lines whose first three characters are numeric are to be changed
:: split the line into two parts
set firstthree=%line:~0,3%
set remainder=%line:~3%

:: process line according to first three characters
set notnum=
for /f "delims=0123456789" %%a in ("%firstthree%") do set notnum=y
if defined notnum (
  rem first three characters are not numeric, just write out entire line
  echo %line%>> data.txt
  ) else (
  rem  first three characters are numeric, change them to 302
  echo 302%remainder%>> data.txt
)

:: end of line processing
goto :eof

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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numericity?

cheers, Paul

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numericity?

numericity: The quality of being numeric.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Hi,

Thanks a lot BATcher for script.

It works perfectly. many Thanks.

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I’ve used SSR to do this sort of thing – beats writing it yourself.

cheers, Paul

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I’ve used SSR to do this sort of thing – beats writing it yourself.
cheers, Paul

Sorry for me nothing beats writing it yourself! YMMV :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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I’ve used SSR to do this sort of thing – beats writing it yourself.

I nearly suggested GREP, but that will only process a single file in a single directory, and I assume the same applies for SSR (useful tool though it looks!). So some calling BATch file would probably be needed anyway.

Ex-mainframe people might well have used SELCOPY a few years ago to do much the same sort of thing.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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fjohan,

Just for another way here’s a powershell script that will work.

Code:

param (
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
    [string] $RptDte
)

[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms")
[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Drawing") 

Clear-Host
$filecnt = 0
 $DriveDirPath  = "D:ReceiptsZone$RptDteReport" 

       Foreach ($f in dir "$DriveDirPathdata.txt" -Recurse) {
           $Lines = (get-content $f) 
           for ($cnt = 1; $cnt -lt $Lines.count; $cnt++) {
             $x = $line.tostring()
             $y = $x.substring(3) 
             $Lines[$cnt] = "302$y"
           }
           $lines | set-content $f
          $filecnt++
       }

       $Message = "$filecnt File(s) were processed."
       

[void] [Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show("$Message", "Completion Status", 
       [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons]::OK , 
       [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxIcon]::Information) 

If you place it in a directory called Scripts you can create a shortcut with the following target.
C:WINDOWSsystem32WindowsPowerShellv1.0powershell.exe G:BEKDocsScriptsSubstText.ps1
Replacing the part in bold to match your machine.
The program will prompt you for the date:
36141-PS
If you haven’t used powershell before you will need to start powershell manually and enter this command:
Set-ExecutionPolicy = RemoteSigned
You can check it was successful by entering Get-ExecutionPolicy
HTH :cheers:

36142-SubstText

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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fjohan,

Just for another way here’s a powershell script that will work.

Hi, RetiredGeek,

I tried my hands on your powershell script it show an error on line 26 & 27.

You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
At C:AutoSubstText.ps1:26 char:14
+ $x = $line.tostring()
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvokeMethodOnNull

You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
At C:AutoSubstText.ps1:27 char:14
+ $y = $x.substring(3)
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvokeMethodOnNull

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The only way that can happen is if the line
if exist data.txt del data.txt
doesn’t work, so the new data is added to the end of the previous data in data.txt!

The data.txt files don’t have any unusual attributes, like R or H, do they?

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Hi,

Thanks a lot for every one for wholeheartedly support.

BATcher it works perfectly, I have edited my second post.

Thanks.

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Excellent; I tried my tests again but couldn’t replicate the problem that you encountered…!

Without the “helpful comments” it was less than 30 lines of code.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Fjohan,

Sorry about that I did test it and it worked but I must have made changes after the last change.
In this version I’ve also allowed for there to be blank lines in the file which was not in the original code.

Code:

param (
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
    [string] $RptDte
)

[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms")
[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Drawing") 

Clear-Host
$filecnt = 0
$DriveDirPath  = "D:ReceiptsZone$RptDteReport" 

       Foreach ($f in dir "$DriveDirPathdata.txt" -Recurse) {
           $Lines = (get-content $f) 
           for ($cnt = 1; $cnt -lt $Lines.count; $cnt++) {
             if($Lines[$cnt]) {  #Check for Null line!
                $x = $lines[$cnt].tostring()
                $y = $x.substring(3) 
                $Lines[$cnt] = "302$y"
             }
           }
           $lines | set-content $f
          $filecnt++
       }

       $Message = "$filecnt File(s) were processed."
       

[void] [Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show("$Message", "Completion Status", 
       [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons]::OK , 
       [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxIcon]::Information)

HTH :cheers:

36148-SubstText

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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I had a similar problem, and I used Excel. I first copied the names into a file using the DOS pipe command (>filename.txt).

I then imported the file (about a thousand names) into Excel, and manipulated it to my needs. I had to sequentially number them, so after I arranged them I used Excel to create a sequential number in an adjacent column.

I then copied the information into another column, using a concatanation technique and the rename command (=”REN”&[appropriate cell]&…….). I copied that column of cells and “pasted special” the values onto a separate sheet and saved that as a text file. I named the file with a “BAT” extension. I ran that batch file, and it really worked quickly and neatly.

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