Assigning value to a variable

Im new to ms-dos and am having trouble assigning a value to a variable. i have read it on many sites but am still struggling. i want to use the if statement to perform a task depending on the ip address.
i.e.
if %ip%==192.168.46.1 dosomething.

how do i make the variable equal to the ip address of a particular machine? im using windows xp.

You need to find a command that will produce the ip address as part of it's output, and parse that output. Something like this should work:

Code: [Select]


@echo off
for /f "tokens=1-6 delims=:. " %%i in ('ipconfig ^| find /i "ip address"') do set ip=%%k.%%l.%%m.%%n
if %ip%==192.168.46.1 dosomething


Hope this helps.

I tried the code and this was the response, im trying to assign a default printer and the default printer code works on its own but i want different machines to have different default printers depending on their ip address.

@echo off
for /f "tokens=1-6 delims=:. " %%i in ('ipconfig ^| find /i "ip address"') do set ip=%%k.%%l.%%m.%%n
%%i was unexpected at this time.
if %ip%==192.168.46.1 RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "PRINTER"

I reproduced your error by typing in each line of code at the command prompt. The code was written for inclusion in a batch file. If you want to use the command line (can't imagine why), eliminate one of the % symbols for i, k, l, m and n variables:

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for /f "tokens=1-6 delims=:. " %i in ('ipconfig ^| find /i "ip address"') do set ip=%k.%l.%m.%n
if %ip%==192.168.46.1 RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "PRINTER"


Good luck.

IT WORKS!!! You would not believe how long ive been workin on that.... thanks heaps. My next question is how do i assign it to a range of ip addresees.
i.e. 192.168.3.1 - 192.168.3.5 "A4 Black and White" and can i use hotkeys such as *.1 - *.5?
     

i figured it out using less than or equal to. thanks heaps for your help saved a lot of heartache!!!

I want to add a little more to the code using the else command so that if the ip is in the range specified it will assign one printer other wise it will assign another. this is the code so far......

for /f "tokens=1-6 delims=:. " %%i in ('ipconfig ^| find /i "ip address"') do set ip=%%k.%%l.%%m.%%n
if %ip% leq 192.168.32.61 RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "A4 Black & White" else RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "A4 Colour"

it doesnt throw up any errors but it doesnt assign the printer a4 colour the ip address is outside the range.

Batch files do not have many syntax rules, but try to use the ones it does have:

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for /f "tokens=1-6 delims=:. " %%i in ('ipconfig ^| find /i "ip address"') do set ip=%%k.%%l.%%m.%%n  
if %ip% leq 192.168.32.61 (RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "A4 Black & White") else (RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "A4 Colour")  


Hope this helps.

It still doesnt work. there is no error shown it just doesnt assign the colour a4 to computers outside the ip range that i specified.

The code as written is logically correct. I was able to run thru both the IF and the ELSE paths of the logic (both color and B&W results). What values does the %ip% variable resolve to?

In one post you mentioned a range of IP addresses (192.168.3.1 - 192.168.3.5). Keep in mind that this is a string compare, not a numeric one.

Let us know.  

if i run the first part of the code, it works fine and assigns the black and white to the correct addresses.

@echo off
for /f "tokens=1-6 delims=:. " %%i in ('ipconfig ^| find /i "ip address"') do set ip=%%k.%%l.%%m.%%n  
if %ip% leq 192.168.3.21 (RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "A4 Black & White")

however, when i add the else statment to it, it wont assign the colour printer to computers outside of the ip range specified.

for /f "tokens=1-6 delims=:. " %%i in ('ipconfig ^| find /i "ip address"') do set ip=%%k.%%l.%%m.%%n  
if %ip% leq 192.168.3.21 (RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "A4 Black & White")
else (RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "A4 Colour")

You really didn't answer my question as to what %ip% resolves to. You also keep changing the value of the literal (was 192.168.32.61, now it's 192.168.3.21); it's very difficult to see what's happening if the target keeps moving and the variable remains illusive.

Next up, the IF and the ELSE must be on the same line. Not necessarily physically but logically. Type IF /? at the command prompt for full details.

If you hardcode %ip% to various values, you should be able produce both the IF and ELSE conditions (although not necessarily at the same time).

Good luck.  

Note: Windows Script is a better solution but since I'm batting zero for 1200, I'll not mention this.

Sorry the ip address keeps changing as i just throw in anything for security reasons   um a friend actually helped me with the code and as im still very much a beginner i am unsure as to how to answer your question "what does %ip% resolve to?" im kind of muddling my way through and learning in the process. What do you mean by hardcoding %ip% to various values? Sorry to be a pain, im just having a little trouble understanding some of the terms.....  

In order to test the code, just force each condition and see the results:

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for /f "tokens=1-6 delims=:. " %%i in ('ipconfig ^| find /i "ip address"') do set ip=%%k.%%l.%%m.%%n  
if 192.168.3.1 leq 192.168.32.61 (echo "A4 Black & White") else (echo "A4 Colour")  

The above code will echo A4 Black & White

Code: [Select]


for /f "tokens=1-6 delims=:. " %%i in ('ipconfig ^| find /i "ip address"') do set ip=%%k.%%l.%%m.%%n  
if 192.168.32.62 leq 192.168.32.61 (echo "A4 Black & White") else (echo "A4 Colour")  

The above code will echo A4 Colour

Now that you know the code works (both conditions), it becomes a matter of what the SET statement sets the %IP% variable to.

Hope this helps.

PS. 192.168 along with other reserved IP ranges are internal network addresses. There has been no security breach.

Ok now i understand what you mean, logically the statement is correct otherwise it wouldn't echo back the a4 black and white or a4 colour, so what is the easiest way for me to find out what the SET statement sets the %ip% variable to?