CODEWITHSUNDEEP
powershellbatch-filecommand-prompt
Sargon
Sargon

Reputation: 55

I am trying to run several PowerShell commands from a batch script, however the "%" symbol does not get transferred

I am trying to run several PowerShell commands from a batch script, however the "%" symbol does not get transferred to PowerShell.

For example, writing the following in a command prompt window:

powershell -Command "& {echo 'per%entage'}"

Will print:

per%entage

which is what I want, however if I save the same command into a .bat or .cmd file, it instead prints:

perentage

Why is it ignoring the "%" symbol? Is there a way to make it transfer properly? I'm especially confused that it works in a command prompt window, but not in a batch script. You'd think both would either work or not work.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 91

Answers (1)

mklement0
mklement0

Reputation: 437618

Very unfortunately, cmd.exe's behavior differs with respect to command invocations from an interactive prompt vs. from a batch file with respect to how % characters are interpreted.

See this answer for background information.

Therefore, when calling from a batch file, a % char. that is to interpreted verbatim, must be escaped as %%:

:: From a *batch file*.
powershell -Command "'per%%entage'"

Note:

  • echo is a built-in alias for the Write-Output cmdlet, whose explicit use is rarely needed - see this answer for more information.

  • Invocation of commands (symbolized as ... here) in the form & { ... } is virtually never needed when using the PowerShell CLI - just use ... as-is.

  • Generally, for predictable invocation, it's worth using the -NoProfile switch as well - before the -Command parameter - so as to bypass loading of PowerShell's profile files, which are primarily meant for interactive sessions.

Upvotes: 2

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