search & replace strings in environment variables

  • Thread starter Thread starter Frank
  • Start date Start date
F

Frank

Hello,

how can an asterisks ("*") - or other special characters (e.g. =) be
replaced in environment variables?
The following sequence doesn't work because * is treated as a wildcard:
 
Hello,

how can an asterisks ("*") - or other special characters (e.g. =) be
replaced in environment variables?
The following sequence doesn't work because * is treated as a wildcard:

Can you use SED?
 
Hello,

how can an asterisks ("*") - or other special characters (e.g. =) be
replaced in environment variables?
The following sequence doesn't work because * is treated as a wildcard:

See tip 8562 » Another way to replace a string in an environment variable.
in the 'Tips & Tricks' at http://www.jsifaq.com

SET TestVar="Asterisks*should*be*replaced"
set FndVar=*
set RepVar=_
Call RepInString TestVar FndVar RepVar
@echo %TestVar%


Jerold Schulman
Windows Server MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com
http://www.jsifaq.com
 
NO! I want to replace 'em!
Please read my first post and the subject of this thread again!

- Frank
 
I also read your code.
SET TestVar=%TestVar:*=_%
What the hell is this supposed to be doing then - it's an incorrect substring extractor.
 
You can modify this

Program Filename SearchStr [ReplaceStr]

On Error Resume Next
Set ShellApp = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
ReportErrors "Creating Shell.App"
set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
ReportErrors "Creating Wscript.Shell"
Set objArgs = WScript.Arguments
ReportErrors "Creating Wscript.Arg"
Set regEx = New RegExp
ReportErrors "Creating RegEx"
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
ReportErrors "Creating FSO"

WshShell.RegWrite "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\" & Wscript.ScriptName & "\", Chr(34) & Wscript.ScriptFullName & Chr(34)
WshShell.RegWrite "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\" & Left(Wscript.ScriptName, Len(Wscript.ScriptName)-3) & "exe" & "\", Chr(34) & Wscript.ScriptFullName & Chr(34)
ReportErrors "Updating App Paths"
If objArgs.Count = 0 then
MsgBox "No parameters", 16, "Serenity's ReplaceRegExp"
ReportErrors "Help"
ElseIf objArgs.Count = 1 then
MsgBox "Only one parameter", 16, "Serenity's ReplaceRegExp"
ReportErrors "Help"
ElseIf objArgs.Count = 2 then
Set srcfile = fso.GetFile(objArgs(0))
ReportErrors "srcFile"
If err.number = 0 then Set TS = srcFile.OpenAsTextStream(1, 0)
If err.number <> 0 then
Msgbox err.description & " " & srcFile.path, 48, "Serenity's Search"
err.clear
else
ReportErrors "TS" & " " & srcFile.path
Src=ts.readall
If err.number = 62 then
err.clear
else
ReportErrors "ReadTS" & " " & srcFile.path
regEx.Pattern = objArgs(1)
regEx.IgnoreCase = True
regEx.Global = True
If regEx.Test(Src) = True then
Msgbox "Found in " & srcfile.path, 64, "Serenity's Search"
End If
End If
End If
ReportErrors "Check OK" & " " & srcFile.path

Elseif objArgs.count = 3 then
Set srcfile = fso.GetFile(objArgs(0))
ReportErrors "srcFile"
If err.number = 0 then Set TS = srcFile.OpenAsTextStream(1, 0)
If err.number <> 0 then
Msgbox err.description & " " & srcFile.path, 48, "Serenity's Search"
err.clear
else
ReportErrors "TS" & " " & srcFile.path
Src=ts.readall
If err.number = 62 then
err.clear
else
ReportErrors "ReadTS" & " " & srcFile.path
regEx.Pattern = objArgs(1)
regEx.IgnoreCase = True
regEx.Global = True
NewSrc= regEx.Replace(Src, objArgs(2))
If NewSrc<>Src then
Msgbox "Replacement made in " & srcfile.path, 64, "Serenity's Search"
TS.close
Set TS = srcFile.OpenAsTextStream(2, 0)
ts.write newsrc
ReportErrors "Writing file"
End If
End If
End If
ReportErrors "Check OK" & " " & srcFile.path


Else
MsgBox "Too many parameters", 16, "Serenity's ReplaceRegExp"
ReportErrors "Help"

ReportErrors "All Others"
End If

Sub ReportErrors(strModuleName)
If err.number<>0 then Msgbox "An unexpected error occurred. This dialog provides details on the error." & vbCRLF & vbCRLF & "Error Details " & vbCRLF & vbCRLF & "Script Name" & vbTab & Wscript.ScriptFullName & vbCRLF & "Module" & vbtab & vbTab & strModuleName & vbCRLF & "Error Number" & vbTab & err.number & vbCRLF & "Description" & vbTab & err.description, vbCritical + vbOKOnly, "Something unexpected"
Err.clear
End Sub
 
May also specify substrings for an expansion.

%PATH:~10,5%

would expand the PATH environment variable, and then use only the 5
characters that begin at the 11th (offset 10) character of the expanded
result. If the length is not specified, then it defaults to the
remainder of the variable value. If either number (offset or length) is
negative, then the number used is the length of the environment variable
value added to the offset or length specified.

%PATH:~-10%

would extract the last 10 characters of the PATH variable.

%PATH:~0,-2%

would extract all but the last 2 characters of the PATH variable.

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"David Candy" <.> wrote in message I also read your code.
SET TestVar=%TestVar:*=_%
What the hell is this supposed to be doing then - it's an incorrect substring extractor.
 
These are the strings you can use.
Settings
Special characters and sequences are used in writing patterns for regular expressions. The following table describes and gives an example of the characters and sequences that can be used.

Character Description
\ Marks the next character as either a special character or a literal. For example, "n" matches the character "n". "\n" matches a newline character. The sequence "\\" matches "\" and "\(" matches "(".
^ Matches the beginning of input.
$ Matches the end of input.
* Matches the preceding character zero or more times. For example, "zo*" matches either "z" or "zoo".
+ Matches the preceding character one or more times. For example, "zo+" matches "zoo" but not "z".
? Matches the preceding character zero or one time. For example, "a?ve?" matches the "ve" in "never".
. Matches any single character except a newline character.
(pattern) Matches pattern and remembers the match. The matched substring can be retrieved from the resulting Matches collection, using Item [0]...[n]. To match parentheses characters ( ), use "\(" or "\)".
x|y Matches either x or y. For example, "z|wood" matches "z" or "wood". "(z|w)oo" matches "zoo" or "wood".
{n} n is a nonnegative integer. Matches exactly n times. For example, "o{2}" does not match the "o" in "Bob," but matches the first two o's in "foooood".
{n,} n is a nonnegative integer. Matches at least n times. For example, "o{2,}" does not match the "o" in "Bob" and matches all the o's in "foooood." "o{1,}" is equivalent to "o+". "o{0,}" is equivalent to "o*".
{n,m} m and n are nonnegative integers. Matches at least n and at most m times. For example, "o{1,3}" matches the first three o's in "fooooood." "o{0,1}" is equivalent to "o?".
[xyz] A character set. Matches any one of the enclosed characters. For example, "[abc]" matches the "a" in "plain".
[^xyz] A negative character set. Matches any character not enclosed. For example, "[^abc]" matches the "p" in "plain".
[a-z] A range of characters. Matches any character in the specified range. For example, "[a-z]" matches any lowercase alphabetic character in the range "a" through "z".
[^m-z] A negative range characters. Matches any character not in the specified range. For example, "[m-z]" matches any character not in the range "m" through "z".
\b Matches a word boundary, that is, the position between a word and a space. For example, "er\b" matches the "er" in "never" but not the "er" in "verb".
\B Matches a non-word boundary. "ea*r\B" matches the "ear" in "never early".
\d Matches a digit character. Equivalent to [0-9].
\D Matches a non-digit character. Equivalent to [^0-9].
\f Matches a form-feed character.
\n Matches a newline character.
\r Matches a carriage return character.
\s Matches any white space including space, tab, form-feed, etc. Equivalent to "[ \f\n\r\t\v]".
\S Matches any nonwhite space character. Equivalent to "[^ \f\n\r\t\v]".
\t Matches a tab character.
\v Matches a vertical tab character.
\w Matches any word character including underscore. Equivalent to "[A-Za-z0-9_]".
\W Matches any non-word character. Equivalent to "[^A-Za-z0-9_]".
\num Matches num, where num is a positive integer. A reference back to remembered matches. For example, "(.)\1" matches two consecutive identical characters.
\n Matches n, where n is an octal escape value. Octal escape values must be 1, 2, or 3 digits long. For example, "\11" and "\011" both match a tab character. "\0011" is the equivalent of "\001" & "1". Octal escape values must not exceed 256. If they do, only the first two digits comprise the expression. Allows ASCII codes to be used in regular expressions.
\xn Matches n, where n is a hexadecimal escape value. Hexadecimal escape values must be exactly two digits long. For example, "\x41" matches "A". "\x041" is equivalent to "\x04" & "1". Allows ASCII codes to be used in regular expressions.


--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goodbye Web Diary
http://margokingston.typepad.com/harry_version_2/2005/12/thank_you_and_g.html#comments
=================================================
"David Candy" <.> wrote in message You can modify this

Program Filename SearchStr [ReplaceStr]

On Error Resume Next
Set ShellApp = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
ReportErrors "Creating Shell.App"
set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
ReportErrors "Creating Wscript.Shell"
Set objArgs = WScript.Arguments
ReportErrors "Creating Wscript.Arg"
Set regEx = New RegExp
ReportErrors "Creating RegEx"
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
ReportErrors "Creating FSO"

WshShell.RegWrite "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\" & Wscript.ScriptName & "\", Chr(34) & Wscript.ScriptFullName & Chr(34)
WshShell.RegWrite "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\" & Left(Wscript.ScriptName, Len(Wscript.ScriptName)-3) & "exe" & "\", Chr(34) & Wscript.ScriptFullName & Chr(34)
ReportErrors "Updating App Paths"
If objArgs.Count = 0 then
MsgBox "No parameters", 16, "Serenity's ReplaceRegExp"
ReportErrors "Help"
ElseIf objArgs.Count = 1 then
MsgBox "Only one parameter", 16, "Serenity's ReplaceRegExp"
ReportErrors "Help"
ElseIf objArgs.Count = 2 then
Set srcfile = fso.GetFile(objArgs(0))
ReportErrors "srcFile"
If err.number = 0 then Set TS = srcFile.OpenAsTextStream(1, 0)
If err.number <> 0 then
Msgbox err.description & " " & srcFile.path, 48, "Serenity's Search"
err.clear
else
ReportErrors "TS" & " " & srcFile.path
Src=ts.readall
If err.number = 62 then
err.clear
else
ReportErrors "ReadTS" & " " & srcFile.path
regEx.Pattern = objArgs(1)
regEx.IgnoreCase = True
regEx.Global = True
If regEx.Test(Src) = True then
Msgbox "Found in " & srcfile.path, 64, "Serenity's Search"
End If
End If
End If
ReportErrors "Check OK" & " " & srcFile.path

Elseif objArgs.count = 3 then
Set srcfile = fso.GetFile(objArgs(0))
ReportErrors "srcFile"
If err.number = 0 then Set TS = srcFile.OpenAsTextStream(1, 0)
If err.number <> 0 then
Msgbox err.description & " " & srcFile.path, 48, "Serenity's Search"
err.clear
else
ReportErrors "TS" & " " & srcFile.path
Src=ts.readall
If err.number = 62 then
err.clear
else
ReportErrors "ReadTS" & " " & srcFile.path
regEx.Pattern = objArgs(1)
regEx.IgnoreCase = True
regEx.Global = True
NewSrc= regEx.Replace(Src, objArgs(2))
If NewSrc<>Src then
Msgbox "Replacement made in " & srcfile.path, 64, "Serenity's Search"
TS.close
Set TS = srcFile.OpenAsTextStream(2, 0)
ts.write newsrc
ReportErrors "Writing file"
End If
End If
End If
ReportErrors "Check OK" & " " & srcFile.path


Else
MsgBox "Too many parameters", 16, "Serenity's ReplaceRegExp"
ReportErrors "Help"

ReportErrors "All Others"
End If

Sub ReportErrors(strModuleName)
If err.number<>0 then Msgbox "An unexpected error occurred. This dialog provides details on the error." & vbCRLF & vbCRLF & "Error Details " & vbCRLF & vbCRLF & "Script Name" & vbTab & Wscript.ScriptFullName & vbCRLF & "Module" & vbtab & vbTab & strModuleName & vbCRLF & "Error Number" & vbTab & err.number & vbCRLF & "Description" & vbTab & err.description, vbCritical + vbOKOnly, "Something unexpected"
Err.clear
End Sub
 
"David Candy" <.> wrote in message
I also read your code.
SET TestVar=%TestVar:*=_%
What the hell is this supposed to be doing then - it's an incorrect
substring extractor.

===> No it isn't. The SET statement above should change all asterisks to
underscores in the environment variable. This it apparently fails to do
because the asterisk is a special character of some sort in this context.
But it works for many simple text characters - try this:

set var=a.b.c.
set var=%var:.=_._%
set var

/Al
 
Hello Jerold,

have you really tried?

SET TestVar="Asterisks*should*be*replaced"
SET TestVar=%TestVar:*=_%

The "*" in the second expression is handled as a wildcard and this results
in an error condition. I've tested it with XP/2k/2k3 and it does NOT work.

Regards,
Frank
 
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