How can I add greater than and less than into a batch file variable

Question

When I try

@echo off
set PTag=^
echo %PTag%

I get nothing.

Now what\'s interesting is that if there\'s an empty line aft

Answer 1

Just quote your set:

set "PTag=^<BR^>"
echo %PTag%

Answer 2

Just use Delayed Expansion when you show the variable value:

@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

set "PTag=<BR>"
echo !PTag!

Answer 3

set PTag=^<BR^> sets the value <BR> to PTag

When you run echo %PTag% it expands to echo <BR> which is an invalid redirection. You need to escape the < and > inside PTag by using this

set PTag=^^^<BR^^^>

The first ^ escapes itself, then the next one escapes < or >

You can also use this

set "PTag=^<BR^>"

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Reason for the second way: inside quotes ^ loses its special meaning

If it is a quote (") toggle the quote flag, if the quote flag is active, the following special characters are no longer special: ^ & | < > ( ).

^{How does the Windows Command Interpreter (CMD.EXE) parse scripts?}

most special characters (^ & ( ) < > | and also the standard delimiters , ; = SPACE TAB) lose their particular meaning as soon as ther are placed in between "", and the "" themselves do not become part of the variable value

^{Special Characters in Batch File}

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Now the variable will have the value ^<BR^> inside it, and it'll expand echo %PTag% to

echo ^<BR^>

which is a valid command