Make a relative path in batch file

Question

I have a batch file that I wont know what drive letter it will be as I will be moving around alot.

For example: The adobe files reside in: J:\Files\New folder\USB\Adob

The batch file is executed from: J:\Files\New folder\USB\USBSTICK

So I tried the code:

xcopy /s /y "%~dp0\..\..\USB\Adob\*" "C:\Program Files\"

But it will not copy the files. How can I get it dynamic?

Rolon

An easy way to get the drive letter only is "echo !cd:~1!". That should echo the first character in the CD (current directory) variable. – Permanent

Answer 1

As the drive letter seems to be the relative part of your scenario. I believe this should work better for you, unless I have misunderstood you.

xcopy /s /y "%~d0\Files\New folder\USB\Adob\*" "C:\Program Files\"

For more variables that you can use follow these steps:
From CMD, type for /? and read at the bottom.

%~I         - expands %I removing any surrounding quotes (")
%~fI        - expands %I to a fully qualified path name
%~dI        - expands %I to a drive letter only
%~pI        - expands %I to a path only
%~nI        - expands %I to a file name only
%~xI        - expands %I to a file extension only
%~sI        - expanded path contains short names only
%~aI        - expands %I to file attributes of file
%~tI        - expands %I to date/time of file
%~zI        - expands %I to size of file
%~$PATH:I   - searches the directories listed in the PATH
               environment variable and expands %I to the
               fully qualified name of the first one found.
               If the environment variable name is not
               defined or the file is not found by the
               search, then this modifier expands to the
               empty string

The modifiers can be combined to get compound results:

%~dpI       - expands %I to a drive letter and path only
%~nxI       - expands %I to a file name and extension only
%~fsI       - expands %I to a full path name with short names only
%~dp$PATH:I - searches the directories listed in the PATH
               environment variable for %I and expands to the
               drive letter and path of the first one found.
%~ftzaI     - expands %I to a DIR like output line

In the above examples %I and PATH can be replaced by other valid
values.  The %~ syntax is terminated by a valid FOR variable name.
Picking upper case variable names like %I makes it more readable and
avoids confusion with the modifiers, which are not case sensitive.

Unexpressed

Answer 2

Try without the "\", as it is part of %~dp0. I mean, the contents of %~dp0 will always end with a "\".

Example:

xcopy /s /y "%~dp0..\..\USB\Adob\*" "C:\Program Files\"

Edit

Just in case ...

            is Adob\* or Adob\*.* ??

Cacogenics

Still no joy 0 File(s) copied – Rolon

Well I was testing it from a folder, so now that I have it on USB I moved it to a XP host it does not like the path thats why I need non static path right? Sorry I dont know the diff between . and * – Rolon

@Rolon if you want to copy all your files use "." – Cacogenics

Answer 3

From my understanding of your hierarchy, this would also work:

xcopy /s /y "..\Adob\*" "C:\Program Files\"

since J:\Files\New folder\USB is a common prefix, and you're running the batch file from J:\Files\New folder\USB\USBSTICK, this should work no matter what drive letter you're dealing with.

Unipod

Answer 4

I'm not sure that I fully understand your problem. But it seems to me that there are several solutions that would solve the problem as I understand it.

If the paths are always fixed, but only the drive letter may vary, you could just use a relative path:

xcopy /s /y "..\Adob\*" "C:\Program Files\"

Calling the batch program from any drive would then work as expected provided the batch file always exists in USBSTICK which exists in the same dir as Adob.

If the source path can vary, just replace the varying part with a parameter, and call the batch file with the correct path:

xcopy /s /y "%1\*" "C:\Program Files\"

Calling the batch program from any drive AND location would then work as expected when you supply it with the correct path:

xcopybatch J:\Files\New folder\USB\Adob

Cullet