CODEWITHSUNDEEP
batch-file
cpguy5089
cpguy5089

Reputation: 13

How to use spaces in "if"?

I'm trying to see if a string is the same as another string by using if, but the string contains spaces!

It looks something like this:

if %DriveDir%==NOT BOOT FILES echo Working

Simply put, it says "BOOT was unexpected at this time"

if %DriveDir%=="NOT BOOT FILES" echo Working
if %DriveDir%==%nbf% echo Working

I have tried using quotes and storing the string in a variable like this, but nothing changes.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 64

Answers (2)

ths
ths

Reputation: 2942

batch file interpretation is very literal. you are not really using variables, they all get replaced with their values on load. so the line 

if %DriveDir%=="NOT BOOT FILES" echo Working

gets expanded to

if NOT BOOT FILES=="NOT BOOT FILES" echo Working

which is obviously syntactically incorrect. you need to have the same expression on both sides, and the NOT gets parsed as IF NOT… , so you need to surround both wih quotes.

Upvotes: 0

Landys
Landys

Reputation: 7727

You should also add quotes to variables.

if "%DriveDir%"=="NOT BOOT FILES" echo Working

Upvotes: 3

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