Batch command date and time in file name

Question

I am compressing files using WinZip on the command line. Since we archive on a daily basis, I am trying to add date and time to these files so that a new one is auto generat

Answer 1

So you want to generate date in format YYYYMMDD_hhmmss. As %date% and %time% formats are locale dependant you might need more robust ways to get a formatted date.

Here's one option:

@if (@X)==(@Y) @end /*
    @cscript //E:JScript //nologo "%~f0"
    @exit /b %errorlevel%
@end*/
var todayDate = new Date();
todayDate = "" + 
    todayDate.getFullYear() + 
    ("0" + (todayDate.getMonth() + 1)).slice(-2) +
    ("0" + todayDate.getDate()).slice(-2) + 
    "_" + 
    ("0" + todayDate.getHours()).slice(-2) +
    ("0" + todayDate.getMinutes()).slice(-2) +
    ("0" + todayDate.getSeconds()).slice(-2) ;
WScript.Echo(todayDate);

and if you save the script as jsdate.bat you can assign it as a value :

for /f %%a in ('jsdate.bat') do @set "fdate=%%a"
echo %fdate%

or directly from command prompt:

for /f %a in ('jsdate.bat') do @set "fdate=%a"

Or you can use powershell which probably is the way that requires the less code:

for /f %%# in ('powershell Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd_HHmmss"') do set "fdate=%%#"