ok, found out that it's not the comparison logic, but the DIR sorting output. the script sorted the output based on date (latest). here's a fix for the script... dir /b /os will sort the dir output smallest first, thus this smallest value will be loaded into the variable. @echo off SetLocal EnableDelayedExpansion for /D %%i in (ABC) do ( for /L %%n in (1,1,9) do 7za a -r -mx%%n "%%~i.7z-mx%%n" "%%i" >nul for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%f in ('dir /b /os %%~i.7z-mx?') do ( if not defined smallest set /a smallest=%%~zf if %%~zf gtr !smallest! del %%f & echo deleted %%f size=%%~zf ^> !smallest! ) set smallest= ) ENDLOCAL finally! all works fine now! BIG THANKS TO YOU, RENO! ;)

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ooops, my mistake. glad to see it working now =)

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well, I think you do not need to compare and find the smallest..... for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%f in ('dir /b /o-s %%~i.7z-mx?') do set SmallestFile=%%f : - will get us the smallest. : then, ren %smallestfile% different-sounding-name :del all other files using wild card. -- Holla.

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holla, what if there is more than one file with the same smallest size?

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hi Holla, 1) Isn't /o-s reverse the dir output from largest to smallest? How is the smallest gets loaded into SmallestFile variable then? 2) Personally, I like reno's script because this line -> if %%~zf gtr !smallest! del %%f & echo deleted %%f size=%%~zf ^> !smallest! echoes me which file is deleted, its size compared to the !smallest! value (by getting the 1st smallest file sorted via dir /os) this echo saves my time instead of checking each file to find out which is the smallest :) thanks guys for all the your great help :)

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More simply: ================================= @echo off & setLocal EnableDelayedExpansion for /f "tokens=* skip=1 delims= " %%a in ('dir/b/a-d/os') do ( echo del %%a ) ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2

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thanks M2 and all for the kind help :)

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original post by cybpsych: "If any of the smallest files has the exact same file size, then it will remain." thats why there is a need for size comparison. or another alternative can use neq. if %%~zf neq !smallest! del %%f

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Multiple smallest is a cotradiction in terms. Either it's the smallest or it isn't. ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2

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It is possible to "hybridise" the compression and M2's scripts without the chance of deleting any other files that may be in the directory, but as reno points out if two files are the same size only one of them will be kept, probably the the lowest number of compression i.e. mx1. I also reduced you compression commands but using for /l. for /D %%i in (abc) do ( for /l %%c in (1,1,9) do ( 7za a -r -mx%%c "%%~i.7z-mx%%c" "%%i" ) for /f "skip=1 delims=" %%a in ('dir/b/a-d/os "%%~i.7z-mx9" "%%~i.7z-mx8" "%%~i.7z-mx7" "%%~i.7z-mx6" "%%~i.7z-mx5" "%%~i.7z-mx4" "%%~i.7z-mx3" "%%~i.7z-mx2" "%%~i.7z-mx1"') do echo del "%%a" )

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cybpsych, I owe you an explanation for this: hi Holla, 1) Isn't /o-s reverse the dir output from largest to smallest? How is the smallest gets loaded into SmallestFile variable then? for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%f in ('dir /b /o-s %%~i.7z-mx?') do set SmallestFile=%%f Executes the same command "set SmallestFile=%%f " sequentially for every file in the directory, starting from largest to smallest. So after assigning all files, at the end of the for loop, the smallest stays as the value of the variable. Hope I have explained properly. As for the solution to your problem, 1. As reno said, the above statement will get you only the last file. If there are more than one file with the same size, you will get only one file. 2. Now since M2 has spoken, there can not be any better optimized, shorter solution :-) -- Holla.

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hi holla, now i understand. in ur first post, after this FOR line, next would be ren %smallestfile% abcdef.7z this line gives me an error: "The syntax of the command is incorrect" also, shouldn't del comes before ren? reason is that if ren comes first, then the 2nd var entry will be renamed as the first, thus filaname collision occurs.

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Please use M2's or Judago's solution. Why waste time on analysing something suboptimal... -- Holla.

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ok holla, thanks for the help given though.

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Why all this nitpicking? Depending on the final file sizes, all the files may occupy the same space if they contain the same number of clusters. Unless the all files (in a directory or partition) are concatinated (sp?) it appears all the methods in the example will take the same amount of disk space.

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