CODEWITHSUNDEEP
batch-file
bob
bob

Reputation: 71

find path of latest file using batch command

I have files named file.txt in multiple subfolders in my folder. I want to get the path of the latest file.txt

FOR /r  %%i IN ('DIR file.txt /B /O:-D') DO SET a=%%i

echo Most recent subfolder: %a%

gives latest created folder having file.txt whereas I want the folder which has latest file.txt

Upvotes: 0

Views: 137

Answers (1)

MC ND
MC ND

Reputation: 70923

@echo off
    setlocal enableextensions disabledelayedexpansion

    for /f "tokens=1,2,*" %%a in ('
        robocopy . . file.txt /l /nocopy /is /s /nc /ns /ts /ndl /njh /njs 
        ^| sort /r 2^> nul 
        ^| cmd /v /q /c "set /p .=&echo(^!.^!"
    ') do (
        echo File found           : %%c
        echo File timestamp (UTC^) : %%a %%b
        echo Folder of file       : %%~dpc
    )

This will use the robocopy command to enumerate all the file.txt files under the current active directory, without copying anything but generating a list of all matching files with a yyyy/mm/dd hh:nn:ss utc timestamp. Then the list is sorted on the timestamp in descending order and only the first line in the output readed and echoed to be processed by the for /f tokenizer and retrieve the date, time and file with full path.

If only the folder is required and the list of files is not very large, a simplified version could be

@echo off
    setlocal enableextensions disabledelayedexpansion

    for /f "tokens=1,2,*" %%a in ('
        robocopy . . file.txt /l /nocopy /is /s /nc /ns /ts /ndl /njh /njs 
        ^| sort /r
    ') do set "lastFolder=%%~dpc" & goto :done
:done
    echo Last folder : %lastFolder%

Almost the same, but instead of including a filter in the list generation to only retrieve the first line (required if the list of files is very large), here the for /f will retrieve the full list but after the first element is processed we jump out of the loop to the indicated label.

Upvotes: 2

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