I have a text file with the contents
example.txt
My name is {param1}
I live in {param2}
These are all the parameters passed to batch scripts {params}
How should i write and Batch/shell script to pass arguments to example.txt file
Caveat: Use the following solutions only with input files that you trust, because it is possible to embed arbitrary commands inside the text (preventing that is possible, but requires more work):
In a PowerShell script, named, say Expand-Text.ps1:
# Define variables named for the placeholders in the input file,
# bound to the positional arguments passed.
$param1, $param2, $params = $args[0], $args[1], $args
# Read the whole text file as a single string.
$txt = Get-Content -Raw example.txt
# Replace '{...}' with '${...}' and then use
# PowerShell's regular string expansion (interpolation).
$ExecutionContext.InvokeCommand.ExpandString(($txt -replace '\{', '${'))
Calling .\Expand-Text.ps1 a b c then yields:
My name is a
I live in b
These are all the parameters passed to batch scripts a b c
In a batch file, named, say expandText.cmd, using PowerShell's CLI:
#echo off
:: # \-escape double quotes so they're correctly passed through to PowerShell
set params=%*
set params=%params:"=\"%
:: "# Call PowerShell to perform the expansion.
powershell.exe -executionpolicy bypass -noprofile -c ^
"& { $txt = Get-Content -Raw example.txt; $param1, $param2, $params = $args[0], $args[1], $args; $ExecutionContext.InvokeCommand.ExpandString(($txt -replace '\{', '${')) }" ^
%params%
You don't need to create the text file. I am giving a
Code of batch file to create the text file and pass arguments to it.
#echo off
echo My name is %1 >example.txt
echo I live in %2 >>example.txt
echo These are all the parameters passed to batch scripts %* >>example.txt
goto :eof
Save it as param.bat and run it as param.bat param1 param2.
Related
How do I have to change PowerShell code so that I can run it via CMD?
I came up with the following code:
$text_auslesen = Get-Content $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\PowerShell-Protokoll-Auswertung.txt
$text_auslesen.Replace("Count :","") > $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\Count_only.txt
$text_auslesen = Get-Content $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\PowerShell-Protokoll-Auswertung.txt
$text_auslesen.Replace("Average :","") > $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\Durchschnitt_only.txt
If I copy and paste it completely into a powershell, it can run. But now I have to put the code next to other code in a batch file. How do I have to adjust the code so that the cmd.exe executes the whole thing?
I suspect setting the variables via Powershell code is problematic here.
Unfortunately, a PS1 file is out of the question for my project.
To execute PowerShell commands from a batch file / cmd.exe, you need to create a PowerShell child process, using the PowerShell CLI (powershell.exe for Windows PowerShell, pwsh for PowerShell (Core) 7+) and pass the command(s) to the -Command (-c) parameter.
However, batch-file syntax does not support multi-line strings, so you have two options (the examples use two simple sample commands):
Pass all commands as a double-quoted, single-line string:
powershell.exe -Command "Get-Date; Write-Output hello > test.txt"
Do not use quoting, which allows you to use cmd.exe's line continuations, by placing ^ at the end of each line.
powershell.exe -Command Get-Date;^
Write-Output hello ^> test.txt
Note:
In both cases multiple statements must be separated with ;, because ^ at the end of a batch-file line continues the string on the next line without a newline.
Especially with the unquoted solution, you need to carefully ^-escape individual characters that cmd.exe would otherwise interpret itself, such as & and >
See this answer for detailed guidance.
Powershell -c executes PowerShell commands. You can do this from cmd, however, it looks like it needs to be run as administrator.
PowerShell -c "$text_auslesen = Get-Content $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\PowerShell-Protokoll-Auswertung.txt;
$text_auslesen.Replace('Count :','') > $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\Count_only.txt;
$text_auslesen = Get-Content $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\PowerShell-Protokoll-Auswertung.txt;
$text_auslesen.Replace('Average :','') > $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\Durchschnitt_only.txt"
It is possible to execute the PowerShell code in a batch file, but technically what you are doing is pulling a copy of it out and executing it someplace else. Here are 3 methods that I know of.
mklement0's answer addresses executing a copy of it that is passed as a parameter to PowerShell.
You could build a ps1 file from CMD, and then execute that ps1 file by passing it as a parameter to PowerShell.
And the method I've worked with the most is to pass specially designed PowerShell code to PowerShell that, when it runs, will load all, or part, of the current CMD file into memory and execute it there as a ScriptBlock. I have tried loading parts of the current CMD file, but my experience has been that this gets too complicated and I just stick with loading the entire current CMD file.
That last method is what I'm presenting here. The trick is to make the batch/CMD portion of the script look like a comment that is ignored by PowerShell, but still runs without throwing error messages in CMD. I'm not sure where I first found this trick, but it goes like this:
First, place <# : at the start of script. PowerShell sees this as the start of a comment, but CMD seems to ignore this line. I think CMD is trying to redirect < the contents of a non-existing file : to a non-existing command. But what does CMD do with the #? It works, and that's the important thing.
Place your batch code in lines following the <# :.
You end the batch/CMD part with a GOTO :EOF.
You then end the PowerShell comment with #>, but visually I find it easier to find <#~#>, which does the same job.
The rest of the file is your PowerShell code.
This version treats the PowerShell code as a function with defined parameters. The batch part builds %ARGS% and passes, with double quotes intact, to a PowerShell ScriptBlock that in turn is wrapped in another ScriptBlock. The PowerShell function is called twice with the same SourceFile parameter, but different DestinationFile and TextToRemove parameters. Perhaps there is a simpler way to reliably pass double quotes " in arguments passed to a ScriptBlock from batch, but this is the method I got working.
<# :
#ECHO OFF
SET f0=%~f0
SET SourceFile=%APPDATA%\BIOS-Benchmark\PowerShell-Protokoll-Auswertung.txt
SET ARGS="%SourceFile%" "%APPDATA%\BIOS-Benchmark\Count_only.txt" "Count :"
PowerShell -NoProfile -Command ".([scriptblock]::Create('.([scriptblock]::Create((get-content -raw $Env:f0))) ' + $Env:ARGS))"
SET ARGS="%SourceFile%" "%APPDATA%\BIOS-Benchmark\Durchschnitt_only.txt" "Average :"
PowerShell -NoProfile -Command ".([scriptblock]::Create('.([scriptblock]::Create((get-content -raw $Env:f0))) ' + $Env:ARGS))"
GOTO :EOF
<#~#>
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, Position = 0)]
[string]$SourceFile,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, Position = 1)]
[string]$DestinationFile,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, Position = 2)]
[string]$TextToRemove
)
(Get-Content $SourceFile).Replace($TextToRemove, '') > $DestinationFile
This script passes a single parameter that, in PowerShell, is used by the Switch command to decide which section of PowerShell you intend on executing. Since we are not passing double quotes " in the args, the PowerShell lines can be greatly simplified. Information could still be passed to PowerShell by defining environmental variables in batch and reading them in PowerShell.
<# :
#ECHO OFF
SET f0=%~f0
PowerShell -NoProfile -Command .([scriptblock]::Create((get-content -raw $Env:f0))) Script1
PowerShell -NoProfile -Command .([scriptblock]::Create((get-content -raw $Env:f0))) Script2
GOTO :EOF
<#~#>
switch ($args[0]) {
'Script1' {
(Get-Content $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\PowerShell-Protokoll-Auswertung.txt).Replace("Count :", '') > $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\Count_only.txt
break
}
'Script2' {
(Get-Content $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\PowerShell-Protokoll-Auswertung.txt).Replace("Average :", '') > $env:APPDATA\BIOS-Benchmark\Durchschnitt_only.txt
break
}
default {}
}
The -c parameter is intended to solve this scenario.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_pwsh?view=powershell-7.2#-command---c
If possible, it would be more efficient to invoke PowerShell\Pwsh directly rather than using a cmd wrapper.
I'm in the process of converting an old batch file to Powershell. In the batch file, the SET command is used to declare and set multiple variables, and then an executable is called that uses those variables, along with additional flags. How would I do this in Powershell?
Batch File code excerpt:
SET VAR1=VAL1
SET VAR2=VAL2
SET VAR3=VAL3
SET VAR4=VAL4
%DIRECTORY%\%SUBDIR%\EXECUTABLE.EXE -FLAG1 -FLAG2 -FLAG3
I first attempted to declare the Powershell variables and call the exe using Start-Process, but the executable is looking for specific variable names. I'm not sure if those variables can be seen by the exe in this scenario, but it doesn't work.
$VAR1 = VAL1
$VAR2 = VAL2
$VAR3 = VAL3
Start-Process "$DRIVE\DIR\EXECUTABLE.exe -FLAG1 -FLAG2 -FLAG3"
I've also unsuccessfully attempted passing the multiple line command to the command shell:
$Command = "CMD.exe /C
SET VAR1=VAL1
SET VAR2=VAL2
SET VAR3=VAL3
SET VAR4=VAL4
$DRIVE\$DIR\EXECUTABLE.exe -FLAG1 -FLAG2 -FLAG3
Invoke-Expression $Command
Note** The variables have to be set on multiple lines, even when I run the exe from a DOS prompt. Using the "&" (Batch) or ";" (Powershell) and passing all variables on one line doesn't work.
For external programs (child processes) to see variables, they must be environment variables: use $env:VAR1 = 'VAL1' rather than $VAR1 = 'VAL1' - also note how the values must be quoted.
In cmd.exe (batch files), all variables are invariably also environment variables; in PowerShell, regular variables such as $VAR1 are visible only to the PowerShell session itself.
Do not use Start-Process to invoke external console applications, invoke them directly (synchronously, with standard streams connected to PowerShell's streams), using &, if the executable name/path is quoted and/or contains variable references; do not quote the command line as a whole; specify and - if necessary - quote the executable name/path and arguments individually.
Similarly, Invoke-Expression should generally be avoided.
Therefore:
$env:VAR1 = 'VAL1'
$env:VAR2 = 'VAL2'
$env:VAR3 = 'VAL3'
& "$DRIVE\DIR\EXECUTABLE.exe" -FLAG1 -FLAG2 -FLAG3
I want to run .bat-script which calls some powershell function inside it. Function is not so small, so I want to split it. But I cannot do it, escape symbols doesn`t help ( ` ,^).
Script example:
set file=%1
set function="$file=$Env:file; ^
$hash = CertUtil -hashfile $file SHA256 | Select -Index 1"
powershell -command %function%
You can leave the quote at the end of each line like so:
set file=%1
set function="$file=$Env:file; "^
"$hash = CertUtil -hashfile $file SHA256 | Select -Index 1; "^
"example break line further...."
powershell -command %function%
The ^ works as multiline character but it also escapes the first character, so also a quote would be escaped.
Do not mix batchfile syntax with PowerShell. As #Stephan mentioned $function= won't work in batch file. You need to use set function= instead. Let's say I want to execute the following:
Get-Process
Get-ChildItem
Then the code should look like this:
set function=Get-Process; ^
Get-ChildItem;
And you start PowerShell with:
powershell -noexit -command %function%
-noexit added so that you can verify that the code was successfully executed.
Also keep in mind that what you pass to PowerShell is batch multiline and in PowerShell it's visible as one line so you have to remember about semicolon (which you actually do but I'm leaving this comment here for future readers).
There's also another option how to pass variable from batch script to PowerShell. You can do it like this:
set name=explorer
set function=get-process $args[0]; ^
get-childitem
powershell -noexit -command "& {%function% }" %name%
Explanation:
$args[0] represents first argument passed to the scriptblock. To pass that argument, add %name% after the scriptblock while starting powershell. Also, as pointed out in this answer (credits to #Aacini for pointing this out in comments), you have to add & operator and keep your scriptblock inside curly brackets { }.
Sidenote: to be honest, I'd avoid running scripts like this. Much simpler way would be to just save the file as .ps1 and run this in your batch file:
powershell -noexit -file .\script.ps1
In my batch file, I call the PowerShell script like this:
powershell.exe "& "G:\Karan\PowerShell_Scripts\START_DEV.ps1"
Now, I want to pass a string parameter to START_DEV.ps1. Let's say the parameter is w=Dev.
How can I do this?
Let's say you would like to pass the string Dev as a parameter, from your batch file:
powershell -command "G:\Karan\PowerShell_Scripts\START_DEV.ps1 Dev"
put inside your powershell script head:
$w = $args[0] # $w would be set to "Dev"
This if you want to use the built-in variable $args. Otherwise:
powershell -command "G:\Karan\PowerShell_Scripts\START_DEV.ps1 -Environment \"Dev\""
and inside your powershell script head:
param([string]$Environment)
This if you want a named parameter.
You might also be interested in returning the error level:
powershell -command "G:\Karan\PowerShell_Scripts\START_DEV.ps1 Dev; exit $LASTEXITCODE"
The error level will be available inside the batch file as %errorlevel%.
Assuming your script is something like the below snippet and named testargs.ps1
param ([string]$w)
Write-Output $w
You can call this at the commandline as:
PowerShell.Exe -File C:\scripts\testargs.ps1 "Test String"
This will print "Test String" (w/o quotes) at the console. "Test String" becomes the value of $w in the script.
When a script is loaded, any parameters that are passed are automatically loaded into a special variables $args. You can reference that in your script without first declaring it.
As an example, create a file called test.ps1 and simply have the variable $args on a line by itself. Invoking the script like this, generates the following output:
PowerShell.exe -File test.ps1 a b c "Easy as one, two, three"
a
b
c
Easy as one, two, three
As a general recommendation, when invoking a script by calling PowerShell directly I would suggest using the -File option rather than implicitly invoking it with the & - it can make the command line a bit cleaner, particularly if you need to deal with nested quotes.
Add the parameter declaration at the top of ps1 file
test.ps1
param(
# Our preferred encoding
[parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
[ValidateSet("UTF8","Unicode","UTF7","ASCII","UTF32","BigEndianUnicode")]
[string]$Encoding = "UTF8"
)
write ("Encoding : {0}" -f $Encoding)
Result
C:\temp> .\test.ps1 -Encoding ASCII
Encoding : ASCII
The answer from #Emiliano is excellent. You can also pass named parameters like so:
powershell.exe -Command 'G:\Karan\PowerShell_Scripts\START_DEV.ps1' -NamedParam1 "SomeDataA" -NamedParam2 "SomeData2"
Note the parameters are outside the command call, and you'll use:
[parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
[string]$NamedParam1,
[parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
[string]$NamedParam2
I have written a powershell script which is a complete function taking parameters (e.g. function name (param) { } ) and below this is a call to the function, with the parameter.
I want to be able to call this function in its .ps1 file, passing in the parameter. How would I be able to package a call to the function via a .bat or .cmd file? I am using Powershell v2.0.
You should use so called "dot-sourcing" of the script and the command with more than one statement: dot-sourcing of the script + call of the function with parameters.
The test script Test-Function.ps1:
function Test-Me($param1, $param2)
{
"1:$param1, 2:$param2"
}
The calling .bat file:
powershell ". .\Test-Function.ps1; Test-Me -Param1 'Hello world' -Param2 12345"
powershell ". .\Test-Function.ps1; Test-Me -Param1 \"Hello world\" -Param2 12345"
Notes: this is not a requirement but I would recommend enclosing the entire command text with double quotation marks escaping, if needed, inner quotation marks using CMD escape rules.
I believe all you have to do is name the parameters in the call to the script like the following:
powershell.exe Path\ScripName -Param1 Value1 -Param2 Value2
Param1 and Param2 are actual parameter names in the function signature.
Enjoy!
To call a PowerShell function from cmd or batch with arguments you need to use the -Commmand Parameter or its alias -C.
Romans answer will work with PowerShell 5.1 for example but will fail for PowerShell 7.1.
Quote from an issue I left on GitHub on why the same command didn't work is:
So as to support Unix shebang lines, pwsh's CLI now defaults to the -File parameter (which expects only a script-file path), whereas powershell.exe default to -Command / -c.
To make your commands work with pwsh, you must use -Command / -C explicitly.
So if you have a PowerShell file test.ps1 with:
function Get-Test() {
[cmdletbinding()]
Param (
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, HelpMessage = 'The test string.')]
[String]$stringTest
)
Write-Host $stringTest
return
}
And the batch file will then be:
rem Both commands are now working in both v5.1 and v7.1.
rem v7.1
"...pathto\pwsh.exe" -NoExit -Command ". '"...pathto\test.ps1"'; Get-Test ""help me"""
rem v5.1
powershell.exe -NoExit -Command ". '"...pathto\test.ps1"'; Get-Test ""help me"""
The quotes around ...pathto\test.ps1 are a must if your .ps1 contains spaces.
The same goes for ...pathto\pwsh.exe
Here's the Github issue I posted in full:
https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/issues/15281