Finding text in files

[Barefoot_Tom]

The DOS DIR command is great, but it does have its limitations. I'm trying to find a particular word as it occurs in all files. and re-direct the results of the search to a text file. I'd also like to be able to exclude some folders (like that with my saved email) which are just going to complicate things.

I'm using WIN2000, and I know I can use its search function, but that won't allow me to re-direct the results, nor will it let me specify what I'd like to exclude.

Any ideas?

Tom

[Sidewinder]

This little snippet may help:

Code: [Select]

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
::
:: Exclude array
::
set array.1="drive:\path1"
set array.2="drive:\path2"


for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%f in ('dir c:\ /a:d /s /b') do (
for /l %%i in (1, 1, 2) do (
   set count=0
   find /i "!array.%%i!" %%f
     if not errorlevel 1 call set /a count+=1
  )
  if !count! GTR 0 (
     for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%d in ('dir /a:-d /b %%f\%%d ^| find /i "arg") do (
  if not errorlevel  1 echo ....
     )
)
)

Notes:

1. the highlighted number in this line:  for /l %%i in (1, 1, 2) do (
must match the number of items in the exclude array.

2. replace the highlighted arg in this line:
for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%d in ('dir /a:-d /b %%f\%%d ^| find /i "arg") do (

3. Replace the dots with redirection of the information you want saved to the text file (ex. echo %%f\%%d >> text.txt)

Disclaimer: This snippet has not been tested, so drive carefully

[Barefoot_Tom]

Thanks for the fast response. That sure looks like it will work. I won't have time to try it for a couple of days, but I'll report the results.
Tom

[Barefoot_Tom]

I was able to get back to my computer earlier than I expected, and I tried the suggested snippet. Sadly, without luck. I obviously have done something wrong.

I created a file called "Findword.Bat" and ran it. Here is the file, as written:
_______________________________________ ____________________
:: @echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
::
:: Exclude array
::

set array.1="c:\Paprport"
set array.2="C:\Windows"

     for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%f in ('dir c:\ /a:d /s /b') do (
   for /l %%i in (1, 1, 2) do (
      set count=0
      find /i "!array.%%i!" %%f
        if not errorlevel 1 call set /a count+=1
    )
    if !count! GTR 0 (
              for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%d in ('dir /a:-d /b %%f\%%d ^| find /i  "standard") do (
       
                          if not errorlevel  1 echo >> FOUNDIT.TXT
       )
   )
)
_______________________________________ ___________

On my hard drive , I have 2 directories named "Paprport" and "Windows" which I was trying to exclude. The is a file in the C:\ folder containing the text "standard".
I hoped that the program would ignore the 2 folders specified; find the file containing the word "standard", and put the name of that file, and its location into a file called "Founditit.TXT". This didn't happen.
When run the screen showed line after line reading "Access Denied" and the name of a directory (not only the directories specified in the array, but others as well).
What have I done wrong, or failed to do right?
Tom

[Sidewinder]

I obviously have done something wrong

I told you to drive carefully.  

Actually you did nothing wrong, it was all my doing. I keep getting carried away, forgetting that batch code is not a programming language. So for my next trick, I went all procedural, which should make it easier to read, if nothing else.

Code: [Select]

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
::
:: Exclude array
::
set array.1=c:\Paprport
set array.2=c:\windows


for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%f in ('dir c:\ /a:d /s /b') do (
set count=0
for /l %%i in (1,1,2) do (
if /i !array.%%i! EQU %%f set /a count+=1
)
if !count! EQU 0 call :search %%f
)
goto :eof

:search
for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%d in ('dir %1 /a:-d /b') do (
find /i "standard" %%f\%%d > nul
if not errorlevel 1 echo %%f\%%d >> FOUNDIT.TXT
)


This code has been tested and appears to meet all your specs.

Good luck. 

[Barefoot_Tom]

I obviously have done something wrong

I told you to drive carefully.  

Actually you did nothing wrong, it was all my doing. I keep getting carried away, forgetting that batch code is not a programming language. So for my next trick, I went all procedural, which should make it easier to read, if nothing else.

 This code has been tested and appears to meet all your specs.

Good luck. 

I tried (actually am trying now) your new code, and it seems to be working. It's slow, but I expected that (Good;Fast:Cheap: You can only have 2 of them).

Thanks so  much for your help. And a Merry Christmas (or whatever you prefer) to you.
Tom

[Barefoot_Tom]

The code finished running, and it looks like it's back to square 1 now. The program found instances of the text I was looking for, and put the name of the file in the new file I wanted it to. Unfortunately, the instances it found were in a sub-directory of a directory I told it to exclude. It did not find the word in a file in the root directory I ran it from.

When run with the /s switch omitted, nothing was found, and no new file was created. It indicated while running that access was denied to the directories I wanted excluded, however.

The above was run on a machine using WIN2000. When I tried to run it on a machine with WIN98SE, it wouldn't run at all. It reported problems with the syntax.

If I wasn't so stubborn, I'd give up, but there's an answer lurking there somewhere.
Tom

[Sidewinder]

While I was hunting down my Santa Claus outfit, I found a script in the snippet closet. With a tweak here and a tweak there, we could be talking about a serious script:

Code: [Select]

On Error Resume Next
Const ForReading = 1

xDir = Array("c:\Paprport", "C:\Windows")    'Exclude array

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set LogFile = fso.CreateTextFile("c:\temp\foundit.txt", True)

Set dc = fso.Drives
For each ds in dc
  Select Case ds.Driveletter
    Case "C"                                          'drive to search
      Set RootDir = fso.GetFolder(ds & "\")           'directory to start search
      GetTheFolders(RootDir)
  End Select
Next
LogFile.Close

Function GetTheFolders(Folder)
  For Each Subfolder in Folder.SubFolders
  blnExclude = False
  For Each item In xDir
  If InStr(1, SubFolder.Path, item, 1) > 0 Then blnExclude = True
  Next
 
  If blnExclude = False Then
    GetTheFiles(Subfolder.Path)
    GetTheFolders Subfolder
    End If
  Next
End Function

Function GetTheFiles(FileFolder)
  Set f = fso.GetFolder(FileFolder)
  Set fc = f.Files
  For Each fs in fc
  If fso.GetExtensionName(fs) = "txt" Then           'Extension to look at
  Set k = fso.OpenTextFile(fs, ForReading)
  strFile = k.ReadAll
                k.Close
  If InStr(1, strFile, "standard", 1) > 0 Then
  LogFile.WriteLine fs
  End If
  End If
  Next
End Function

Yes I know, this is not batch code.  Save the script with a vbs extension and run from the command prompt as cscript scriptname.vbs

The script will scan the C drive looking for txt files. The drive can be changed and we can add more extensions, but there really is no point in checking exe files for a string.

Happy Christmas to you and a Merry New Year. 

[Barefoot_Tom]

While I was hunting down my Santa Claus outfit, I found a script in the snippet closet. With a tweak here and a tweak there, we could be talking about a serious script:

 Yes I know, this is not batch code.  Save the script with a vbs extension and run from the command prompt as cscript scriptname.vbs

The script will scan the C drive looking for txt files. The drive can be changed and we can add more extensions, but there really is no point in checking exe files for a string.

Happy Christmas to you and a Merry New Year. 

Thanks for the code. It looks like it would find a string in a TXT file, but only there. What I was trying to do is find a particular string in files of any type, and to exclude directories where the string I was looking for couldn't possibly be found; and then to put the results into a file.

(A word of explanation for my wanting to do a thing like that might be helpful here. It's for my wife, who is looking for something she stored on her computer, but can't remember the name of the file, nor where she put it; only what it was about.)

Windows does the first part of what I want to do with its Search (Find) function, but won't do the 2nd part. Nor will it put the results into a file.

The previous code you sent looked like it would remedy those deficiencies, but it didn't work. I'd like to find out why it wouldn't do what it should have done.

I'll understand if you throw up your hands at this point. I know I would if I were in your place. I'll keep plugging away at it, though. I hate not being able to figure things out.

As I often say: I wish I understood all I know about computers.
Tom

[Sidewinder]

The previous code you sent looked like it would remedy those deficiencies, but it didn't work. I'd like to find out why it wouldn't do what it should have done.

Which previous code? The VBScript worked fine when it was tested. The previous batch code had it's own set of problems. Anyway I find it easier use a tool that has the functionality I need to reach a solution. Personally I find batch code underpowered and logically exhausting.

Thanks for the code. It looks like it would find a string in a file.TXT file, but only there. What I was trying to do is find a particular string in files of any type, and to exclude directories where the string I was looking for couldn't possibly be found; and then to put the results into a file.

The excluded directories are in the xDIR array and the file names that contained the search argument were logged to the foundit.txt. I used the temp directory on my system for the log file, you may not have that directory on your system. We can change it to a directory you do have.

As mentioned, we can add extensions to include or create extensions to exclude. Did you run the VBScript? Can you document any specific problems?

 

[Barefoot_Tom]

The previous code you sent looked like it would remedy those deficiencies, but it didn't work. I'd like to find out why it wouldn't do what it should have done.

Which previous code? The VBScript worked fine when it was tested.  . Did you run the VBScript? Can you document any specific problems?

 

The previous code I referred to was the last batch code you sent. I ran the VBScript code you sent, and didn't get any results.
I can't document any specific problems, since the code ran silently, showing nothing on the screen, All I know is that no file called "Foundit.txt" was created, even though I had specifically created a TXT file in the Root directory containing the string I was searching for.

I'm not familiar with scripts, so I can't manipulate the code you sent in order to make the results appear on the screen; nor can I, for instance, eliminate sub-directories.

It looks like I'm going to have to learn scripting, though, since your code, even though it didn't produce results, ran a lot faster than if it were a batch file.

I do appreciate your efforts, and am sure that the failure to produce results lies with me, not you.
Tom

[Sidewinder]

All I know is that no file called "Foundit.txt" was created, even though I had specifically created a TXT file in the Root directory containing the string I was searching for.

Perfect! Well, you can always have the search script search for it's output file.

Code: [Select]

On Error Resume Next
Const ForReading = 1

xDir = Array("c:\Paprport", "C:\Windows")    'Exclude array

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set LogFile = fso.CreateTextFile("c:\temp\foundit.txt", True)

Set dc = fso.Drives
For each ds in dc
  Select Case ds.Driveletter
    Case "C"                                          'drive to search
      Set RootDir = fso.GetFolder(ds & "\")           'directory to start search
      GetTheFolders(RootDir)
  End Select
Next
LogFile.Close

Function GetTheFolders(Folder)
  For Each Subfolder in Folder.SubFolders
  blnExclude = False
  For Each item In xDir
  If InStr(1, SubFolder.Path, item, 1) > 0 Then blnExclude = True
  Next
 
  If blnExclude = False Then
    GetTheFiles(Subfolder.Path)
    GetTheFolders Subfolder
    End If
  Next
End Function

Function GetTheFiles(FileFolder)
  Set f = fso.GetFolder(FileFolder)
  Set fc = f.Files
  For Each fs in fc
  If fso.GetExtensionName(fs) = "txt" Then           'Extension to look at
  Set k = fso.OpenTextFile(fs, ForReading)
  strFile = k.ReadAll
                k.Close
  If InStr(1, strFile, "standard", 1) > 0 Then
  'LogFile.WriteLine fs
                        wscript.echo fs
  End If
  End If
  Next
End Function

As before, save the script with a vbs extension and run from the command prompt as cscript scriptname.vbs

I'm not familiar with scripts, so I can't manipulate the code you sent in order to make the results appear on the screen; nor can I, for instance, eliminate sub-directories.

I modified the script to display the results on the console. It was the sub-directories that gave me problems with the original batch file. With any luck, those problems have been eliminated with the VBScript. Note: c:\windows is excluded from the search, along with all it's sub-directories. Let me know if this is incorrect.

It looks like I'm going to have to learn scripting, though, since your code, even though it didn't produce results, ran a lot faster than if it were a batch file.

Did you use Windows Search to look for the foundit.txt file (ironic, huh)? It should be in c:\temp. I can't be certain if the CreateTextFile method would create the directory if it was not found.

I'm not suggesting it (I've been putting off downloading to my system), but Windows Desktop Search can be scripted through the Search object. Windows Update has been bugging me for moths to download it. Might be time to check it out.

I think next Christmas I'll do without the Santa outfit.

[Barefoot_Tom]

Sorry, the new code didn't work, either. As before, nothing showed on the console while it ran. A file called "Foundit.TXT" was created, but it had no contents.
Tom

[Barefoot_Tom]

SUCCESS!!
The latest code you sent did work after all. The fault, as I suspected, was mine. The word I had chosen to search for didn't exist in a TXT file, and therefore couldn't be found. When I substituted a word which did exist, the program ran and produced the appropriate result.

Thanks.

Now I have to figure out how to search in files with other extensions, or perhaps learn to exclude those extensions which won't contain the string (like EXE or COM files, or image files)

'll keep plugging away at it.
Tom

[Sidewinder]

SUCCESS!!

Glad it worked.

Now I have to figure out how to search in files with other extensions, or perhaps learn to exclude those extensions which won't contain the string (like EXE or COM files, or image files)

Try creating an array of the extensions like the excluded directories.

arrExt = Array("exe", "com", "jpg", "bmp", "png")....add as many as you need, each extension quoted with a comma separator

Code: [Select]

Function GetTheFiles(FileFolder)
  Set f = fso.GetFolder(FileFolder)
  Set fc = f.Files
  For Each fs in fc
  blnExclude = False
  For Each ext In arrExt
  If LCase(fso.GetExtensionName(fs)) = ext Then
  blnExclude = True
  End If
  Next
 
  If blnExclude = False Then
            Set k = fso.OpenTextFile(fs, ForReading)
  strFile = k.ReadAll
                k.Close
  If InStr(1, strFile, "standard", 1) > 0 Then
  'LogFile.WriteLine fs
                        wscript.echo fs
  End If
  End If
  Next
End Function

Good luck and Happy New Year! 

Considering all the file extensions on a PC, this could get interesting.