Windows batch if statements

If the condition is false, the command in the if clause is ignored and the command executes any command that is specified in the else clause. When a program stops, it returns an exit code. To use exit codes as conditions, use the errorlevel parameter. You must use the else clause on the same line as the command after the if.

To display the message Cannot find data file if the file Product. To format a disk in drive A and display an error message if an error occurs during the formatting process, type the following lines in a batch file:. To delete the file Product. Skip to main content. This browser is no longer supported. Download Microsoft Edge More info. This is just a programmer aid to increase the legibility of an instruction that is rarely used. When I write Batch programs I always use several auxiliary variables that I designed with the sole purpose of write more readable code.

For example:. These variables aids in writting Batch programs in a much clearer way and helps to avoid subtle errors, as Merlyn suggested. This means that Batch variables may be used in some degree as preprocessor values. Batch files have really very limited logic powers so the best you can hope to come up with is a good workaround that indirectly achieves what you want. That's not to say that you should feel they are inferior to a real language - they still demand the same attention to detail and manual debugging as a real application.

It's just that you'll need to work a lot harder to make them do what you want in a robust manner. But if you want more granular control later in your batch file you can record the result for each file as I have done so you don't have to keep checking if a file exists later on. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Collectives on Stack Overflow.

Learn more. Using multiple IF statements in a batch file Ask Question. Asked 10 years, 6 months ago. Active 6 years, 5 months ago. Viewed k times. Improve this question. Anthony Miller Anthony Miller You can use parenthesis to make blocks in batch files. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Let's take a look at your code. Edit From your comments, and re-reading your original question, it seems like you want to build a comma separated list of files that exist.

Improve this answer. Just a little clarification however So if only one of them comply but not the other, the command will never run? Mechaflash: Yep. Your original code should do the same thing, but it is less obvious. Did you want or type behavior?

Because you're not going to get it from your example code, or mine. Mechaflash: I edited my answer to add a cleaner and more reusable way to do what you're looking for. One problem with Collectives on Stack Overflow. Learn more. Batch Files. IF statements? Ask Question. Asked 7 years, 10 months ago. Active 7 years, 10 months ago.

Viewed 60k times. ECHO No file s provided. Please re run the batch file. ECHO The file was not found. Thank you. Improve this question. SmkErrl SmkErrl 91 1 1 gold badge 1 1 silver badge 3 3 bronze badges. To make your code more readable, consider renaming the error labels. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes.