Hi I have a problem with a script I'm trying to write. I want to compare two text files which have a list of directories and then extract the added (new) or missing (deleted) ones. The issue I have seems to be extracting long folder names that have spaces in them. I've tried using FC but it doesn't seem to work too efficiently (i.e. results with folders above or below new folders). The two text files to be compared are: <Previous.txt> ABC DEF Long Folder Name 1 LongFolderName2 TEST1 TEST 2 and <Current.txt> ABC DEF NEW1 LongFolderName2 Long Folder Name 3 TEST1 TEST 2 Here's my faulty script: @ECHO OFF :: This script compares two text files which contain a list of folders. :: Any new folders that are found or old folders found to be deleted :: are saved to temporary text files. :: The two files to be compared. SET PREVFOLDERLIST=Previous.txt SET NEWFOLDERLIST=Current.txt :: Two created files showing new or deleted folders SET NEWDIRLIST=NewDirList.txt SET DELDIRLIST=DelDirList.txt ECHO ; NEW folders found list > %NEWDIRLIST% ECHO ; DELETED folders found list > %DELDIRLIST% ECHO. :: Check if any new directories created :FINDNEW :: This subroutine extracts each CURRENT folder name SET /A FOUNDCOUNT=0 for /F "tokens=*" %%A in (%NEWFOLDERLIST%) do ( ECHO %NEWFOLDERLIST% Output is %%A CALL :CURR_PREV %%A ) GOTO FINDDEL :CURR_PREV :: Checking current folders to previous folders to find any new directories. IF %1=="" GOTO :EOF SET COMPDIR=%1 :: Below records the number of folder instances found. Echo Will look for "%COMPDIR%" in %PREVFOLDERLIST% FIND /C "%COMPDIR%" %PREVFOLDERLIST% > delsoon1.txt FOR /F "eol=; tokens=2,3* delims=: " %%i in (delsoon1.txt) do (SET /A FOUNDCOUNT=%%j) IF %FOUNDCOUNT% GEQ 1 (ECHO %COMPDIR% existed before > NUL) ELSE (ECHO %COMPDIR% >> %NEWDIRLIST%) GOTO :EOF :FINDDEL :: This subroutine extracts each PREVIOUS folder name SET COMPDIR=NIL SET /A FOUNDCOUNT=0 for /F "tokens=*" %%A in (%PREVFOLDERLIST%) do ( ECHO %PREVFOLDERLIST% Output is %%A CALL :PREV_CURR %%A ) GOTO END :PREV_CURR :: Checking previous folders to current folders to find any deleted directories. IF %1=="" GOTO :EOF SET COMPDIR=%1 :: Below records the number of folder instances found. FIND /C "%COMPDIR%" %NEWFOLDERLIST% > delsoon2.txt FOR /F "eol=; tokens=2,3* delims=: " %%i in (delsoon2.txt) do (SET /A FOUNDCOUNT=%%j) IF %FOUNDCOUNT% GEQ 1 (ECHO %COMPDIR% still exists > NUL) ELSE (ECHO %COMPDIR% >> %DELDIRLIST%) GOTO :EOF :END Echo New folders found are: type %NEWDIRLIST% Echo Deleted folders found are: type %DELDIRLIST% The result I'm after is: New folders found are: ; NEW folders found list NEW1 Long Folder Name 3 Deleted folders found are: ; DELETED folders found list Long Folder Name 1 Which I'm not getting. Hoping someone can fix my script. Thanks

:: To get the lines from current.txt which are not in previous.txt :: into newfile :: currprev.bat Thu 27-08-2009 20:51:51.29 @echo off > newfile & setLocal enableDELAYedexpansion for /f "tokens=* delims= " %%a in (current.txt) do ( find "%%a" < previous.txt > nul if errorlevel 1 echo %%a >> newfile ) ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2

Thanks M2. This works well. I'm adding this subroutine to a larger script which gets folder sizes, etc. I'll come back for more help if I hit another snag.

I now need to parse each line of the newfile (%NEWvOLD%=NEWvOLD.txt) in a subroutine to calculate the size of that folder. However when I call the size routine, the variable is shortened to the first word if it has spaces in its name i.e. "Test Folder 4" gets passed as "Test" How can I overcome this? ... for /f "tokens=* delims= " %%a in (%NEWvOLD%) do ( call :sizedir %%a ) :SIZEDIR IF "%1"=="" GOTO :EOF SET EXTDIR=%1 ECHO About to check size of %ROOTDIR%\%EXTDIR% CALL NewCalc.bat ECHO New root subfolder %EXTDIR% is %MBSIZE%MB in size. GOTO :EOF .... %ROOTDIR%\%EXTDIR% shows as C:\Test when it should be C:\Test Folder 4 Thanks

In this section: ======================= call :sizedir %%a ) :SIZEDIR IF "%1"=="" GOTO :EOF SET EXTDIR=%1 ===================== Keep in mind that the subroutine, just like a separate bat, Takes parameters as defined by 'white space' delimiters. So if %%a is: many mo jack then %1 is: many ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2

Hi M2, Just to add to you description(not to step on your toes of course) the delimiters can also be "="(equals), ";"(semi-colon), ","(comma) or a tab in addition to spaces, a standard for loop can also use any of them.

Hi Judago, yep ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2