However, this only works for directories without spaces in their names. When you add quotes round the variable to handle the spaces it will stop working. To handle directories with spaces, convert the filename to short 8.3 format as follows:
FOR %%i IN (%VAR%) DO IF EXIST %%~si\NUL ECHO It's a directory
The %%~si converts %%i to an 8.3 filename. To see all the other tricks you can perform with FOR variables enter HELP FOR at a command prompt.
(Note - the example given above is in the format to work in a batch file. To get it work on the command line, replace the %% with % in both places.)
The NUL technique seems to only work on 8.3 compliant file names.
(In other words, `D:\Documents and Settings` is "bad" and `D:\DOCUME~1` is "good")
I think there is some difficulty using the "NUL" tecnique when there are SPACES in the directory name, such as "Documents and Settings."
I am using Windows XP service pack 2 and launching the cmd prompt from %SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe
Here are some examples of what DID NOT work and what DOES WORK for me:
(These are all demonstrations done "live" at an interactive prompt. I figure that you should get things to work there before trying to debug them in a script.)
This DID NOT work:
D:\Documents and Settings>if exist "D:\Documents and Settings\NUL" echo yes
This DID NOT work:
D:\Documents and Settings>if exist D:\Documents and Settings\NUL echo yes
This DOES work (for me):
D:\Documents and Settings>cd ..
D:\>REM get the short 8.3 name for the file
D:\>dir /x
Volume in drive D has no label.Volume Serial Number is 34BE-F9C9
Here's a script that uses FOR to build a fully qualified path, and then pushd to test whether the path is a directory. Notice how it works for paths with spaces, as well as network paths.
@echo off
if [%1]==[] goto usage
for /f "delims=" %%i in ("%~1") do set MYPATH="%%~fi"
pushd %MYPATH% 2>nul
if errorlevel 1 goto notdir
goto isdir
:notdir
echo not a directory
goto exit
:isdir
popd
echo is a directory
goto exit
:usage
echo Usage: %0 DIRECTORY_TO_TEST
:exit
Sample output with the above saved as "isdir.bat":
C:\>isdir c:\Windows\system32
is a directory
C:\>isdir c:\Windows\system32\wow32.dll
not a directory
C:\>isdir c:\notadir
not a directory
C:\>isdir "C:\Documents and Settings"
is a directory
C:\>isdir \
is a directory
C:\>isdir \\ninja\SharedDocs\cpu-z
is a directory
C:\>isdir \\ninja\SharedDocs\cpu-z\cpuz.ini
not a directory
One issue with using %%~si\NUL method is that there is the chance that it guesses wrong. Its possible to have a filename shorten to the wrong file. I don't think %%~si resolves the 8.3 filename, but guesses it, but using string manipulation to shorten the filepath. I believe if you have similar file paths it may not work.
An alternative method:
dir /AD %F% 2>&1 | findstr /C:"Not Found">NUL:&&(goto IsFile)||(goto IsDir)
:IsFile
echo %F% is a file
goto done
:IsDir
echo %F% is a directory
goto done
:done
You can replace (goto IsFile)||(goto IsDir) with other batch commands: (echo Is a File)||(echo is a Directory)
Recently failed with different approaches from the above. Quite sure they worked in the past, maybe related to dfs here. Now using the files attributes and cut first char
@echo off
SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS
set ATTR=%~a1
set DIRATTR=%ATTR:~0,1%
if /I "%DIRATTR%"=="d" echo %1 is a folder
:EOF
Under Windows 7 and XP, I can't get it to tell files vs. dirs on mapped drives. The following script:
@echo off
if exist c:\temp\data.csv echo data.csv is a file
if exist c:\temp\data.csv\ echo data.csv is a directory
if exist c:\temp\data.csv\nul echo data.csv is a directory
if exist k:\temp\nonexistent.txt echo nonexistent.txt is a file
if exist k:\temp\something.txt echo something.txt is a file
if exist k:\temp\something.txt\ echo something.txt is a directory
if exist k:\temp\something.txt\nul echo something.txt is a directory
produces:
data.csv is a file
something.txt is a file
something.txt is a directory
something.txt is a directory
So beware if your script might be fed a mapped or UNC path. The pushd solution below seems to be the most foolproof.
```
@echo off
set param=%~1
set tempfile=__temp__.txt
dir /b/ad > %tempfile%
set isfolder=false
for /f "delims=" %%i in (temp.txt) do if /i "%%i"=="%param%" set isfolder=true
del %tempfile%
echo %isfolder%
if %isfolder%==true echo %param% is a directory
REM make sure ERRORLEVEL is 0
TYPE NUL
REM try to PUSHD into the path (store current dir and switch to another one)
PUSHD "insert path here..." >NUL 2>&1
REM if ERRORLEVEL is still 0, it's most definitely a directory
IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 command...
REM if needed/wanted, go back to previous directory
POPD
set cwd=%cd%
cd /D "%1" 2> nul
@IF %errorlevel%==0 GOTO end
cd /D "%~dp1"
@echo This is a file.
@goto end2
:end
@echo This is a directory
:end2
@REM restore prior directory
@cd %cwd%
CD returns an EXIT_FAILURE when the specified directory does not exist. And you got conditional processing symbols, so you could do like the below for this.
SET cd_backup=%cd%
(CD "%~1" && CD %cd_backup%) || GOTO Error
:Error
CD %cd_backup%
I was looking for this recently as well, and had stumbled upon a solution which has worked for me, but I do not know of any limitations it has (as I have yet to discover them). I believe this answer is similar in nature to TechGuy's answer above, but I want to add another level of viability. Either way, I have had great success expanding the argument into a full fledged file path, and I believe you have to use setlocal enableextensions for this to work properly.
Using below I can tell if a file is a directory, or opposite. A lot of this depends on what the user is actually needing. If you prefer to work with a construct searching for errorlevel vs && and || in your work you can of course do so. Sometimes an if construct for errorlevel can give you a little more flexibility since you do not have to use a GOTO command which can sometimes break your environment conditions.
@Echo Off
setlocal enableextensions
Dir /b /a:D "%~f1" && Echo Arg1 is a Folder || Echo Arg1 is NOT a Folder
Dir /b /a:-D "%~f1" && Echo Arg1 is a File || Echo Arg1 is NOT a File
pause
Using this you could simply drag and drop your file(s) onto the tool you are building to parse them out. Conversely, if you are using other means to comb your file structure and you already have the file and are not dragging/dropping them onto the batch file, you could implement this:
@Echo Off
setlocal enableextensions
Dir /b /s "C:\SomeFolderIAmCombing\*" >"%~dp0SomeFiletogoThroughlater.txt"
For /f "Usebackq Delims=" %%a in ("%~dp0SomeFiletogoThroughlater.txt") do (
Call:DetectDir "%%a"
)
REM Do some stuff after parsing through Files/Directories if needed.
REM GOTO:EOF below is used to skip all the subroutines below.
REM Using ' CALL:DetectDir "%%a" ' with the for loop keeps the for
REM loop environment running in the background while still parsing the given file
REM in a clean environment where GOTO and other commmands do not need Variable Expansion.
GOTO:EOF
:DetectDir [File or Folder being checked]
REM Checks if Arg1 is a Directory. If yes, go to Dir coding. If not, go to File coding.
Dir /b /a:D "%~f1" && Echo Arg1 is a Folder & GOTO:IsDir || Echo Arg1 is NOT a Folder & GOTO:IsFile
REM Checks if Arg1 is NOT a Directory. If Yes, go to File coding. If not, go to Dir coding
Dir /b /a:-D "%~f1" && Echo Arg1 is a File & GOTO:IsFile || Echo Arg1 is NOT a File & GOTO:IsDir
:IsDir
REM Do your stuff to the Folder
GOTO:EOF
:IsFile
REM do your stuff to the File
GOTO:EOF