Unusual statement in batch script

Question

I am trying to read through a windows batch script and replicate its function in python. However, I have come across a statement I am not familiar with... Having little experience with batch myself.

set variable = %variable:~-2%

Can anyone explain to me what this means?

Answer 1

This will take the last 2 characters from variable and assign the result to variable.

For example:

SET  A=12345
ECHO %A:~-2% 
REM  This will print out "45"

See the "Substrings" section here for reference, and more examples.