Inserting a Blank Space Before Set /P Output

[gregory]

How does one get a blank space to appear before the output of a set /p command?

For example:

Code: [Select]

set /p var=helloThis will display hello on the line. I need a blank space to come before that.

Thanks all.

[vilsol]

echo.

[gregory]

Echo will display everything on the line, including "set /p var=".

[vilsol]

i said something like this

Code: [Select]

echo.
set /p var=hello

[gregory]

i said something like this

Code: [Select]

echo.
set /p var=hello

That would insert a blank line.

[Sidewinder]

The set command takes everything literally. If you want a leading space before the 'hello', insert one:

Code: [Select]

set /p var= Hello

This is also true of trailing characters.

 

[gregory]

The set command takes everything literally. If you want a leading space before the 'hello', insert one:

Code: [Select]

set /p var= Hello

This is also true of trailing characters.

 

Funny, that doesn't work for me.

[Sidewinder]

Funny, that doesn't work for me.

OK. Let's start at the beginning. What OS are you using? The command posted should work on NT machines either at the command line or in a batch file.

 

[gregory]

The current machine is running Vista.

You're telling me that if you run the following code in a .cmd file it shows a space before "hello"?

Code: [Select]

@ echo off

set /p var= hello
*Edit

Perhaps I've caused some confusion. I'm wanting a space literally displayed on the screen output.

[Sidewinder]

The current machine is running Vista.

You're telling me that if you run the following code in a .cmd file it shows a space before "hello"?

It does on XP. Note there should not be a space between the @ and echo on the first line, however it still works!

Are you sure you're in Command prompt and not MS-DOS Prompt?

 

[gregory]

Are you sure you're in Command prompt and not MS-DOS Prompt?

Yup, it's a .cmd file that executes in cmd.exe.

And it's certainly not working for me in Vista. Perhaps someone on Vista or 7 would be nice enough to test it out.
Any other thoughts? I really do appreciate the effort.

[Sidewinder]

You're right, perhaps someone with Vista will see the problem. Interesting note, a cmd file with your code runs in both the MS-DOS Prompt and the Command Prompt. At the console however it only works in Command Prompt.

Good luck.

You could try closing the command window and reopening it. Sometimes just a reset will work wonders.

[Salmon Trout]

XP Professional SP3 32 bit

Code: [Select]

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\>set /p var= hello
 hello
Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

Code: [Select]

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\>set /p var= hello
hello

[gregory]

Thanks for confirming that.
Any idea what else could be done?

[ghostdog74]

Any idea what else could be done?

sure, you can learn to use vbscript or powershell. Or get a real programming language like Perl or Python for your batch scripting needs.. they are way better than what cmd.exe can offer.