Filenames with . in batch file

Question

I have a Windows batch file that used to work but since I changed laptop, it fails.

I guess it\'s caused by points (.) in my file path but I haven\'t been able to find a

Answer 1

A bit more explanation why you should always use quotes.

When a path contains parenthesis or ampersands you are in trouble, like in
C:\Program and files (x86)\Tools&Help\bla.txt

When you use it wihout surround it propper with quotes you get a syntax error.

Simplified code

for /f "usebackq" %%j in (%1) do (
    SET var=%~dp1
)

The FOR /F itself works, as long as %1 is surrounded by quotes, but when they are missing it fails.

But the SET var=%~dp1 breaks the code, as it's expanded when the FOR block is parsed to

set var=C:\Program and files (x86)\Tools&Help\bla.txt

The closing parenthesis of x86) closes the FOR block and the \Tools&Help\bla.txt are outside of the block and creates a syntax error.

    for /f "usebackq" %%j in (%1) do (
        SET var=C:\Program and files (x86)\Tools&Help\bla.txt
    )

In your case, you should modify the code to

for /f "usebackq skip=1 delims== tokens=2" %%j in ("%~1") do (
    echo Checking input file from MBP
    echo j: %%j
    SET "filemb=%~dp1%%j"
)