Re: !Around Variable Name!

"Alan" <> wrote in message
news:5aa34481-a361-4796-8a1e-...
> What does "!" around a variable name, as in
>
> if !LINECNT!==TEST
>
> mean?
>
> Thanks, Alan

Try these batch files:
@echo off
set Number=
for /L %%a in (1,1,10) do (
set Number=%%a
echo Number=%Number%
)

@echo off
SetLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set Number=
for /L %%a in (1,1,10) do (
set Number=%%a
echo Number=!Number!
)

See the difference?

"Alan" <> wrote in message
news:2557b37a-4355-4ffc-a72e-...
>> See the difference?
>
> Yes. But why?
>

In this batch file

@echo off
set Number=
for /L %%a in (1,1,10) do (
set Number=%%a
echo Number=%Number%
)

the following lines of code

for /L %%a in (1,1,10) do (
set Number=%%a
echo Number=%Number%
)

are treated as one single line of code. The command processor reads this
"single" line, then resolves its variables. Since the variable "%Number% is
set to "nothing" at the beginning, it remains at "nothing". To force a
rescan, you must do two things:
- You must enable "delayed expansion"
- You must replace the %Number% with !Number!.