Is there a way to indicate the last n parameters in a batch file?
%*
will always expand to all original parameters, sadly. But you can use the following snippet of code to build a variable containing all but the first parameter:
rem throw the first parameter away
shift
set params=%1
:loop
shift
if [%1]==[] goto afterloop
set params=%params% %1
goto loop
:afterloop
I think it can be done shorter, though ... I don't write these sort of things very often :)
Should work, though.
Here's a one-line approach using the "for" command...
for /f "usebackq tokens=1*" %%i in (`echo %*`) DO @ set params=%%j
This command assigns the 1st parameter to "i" and the rest (denoted by '*') are assigned to "j", which is then used to set the "params" variable.
Warning! this method has side-effect of expanding wildcards, if there are «*»s or «?»s in the arguments. If there is a wildcard but no corresponding files, argument is skipped (non-wildcard arguments stay as-is). If arguments must stay intact, look for another way.
the line
%CMD% <WHAT DO I PUT HERE>
shall be changed to:
(
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
SET skip=1
FOR %%I IN (%*) DO IF !skip! LEQ 0 (
SET "params=!params! %%I"
) ELSE SET /A skip-=1
)
(
ENDLOCAL
SET "params=%params%"
)
%CMD% %params%
of course, you may set skip var to any number of arguments.
Explaned:
(
@rem Starting block here, because it's read once and executed as one
@rem otherwise cmd.exe reads file line by line, which is waaay slower.
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
SET skip=1
@rem if value contains unquoted non-paired parenthesis, SET varname=value
@rem confuses cmd.exe. SET "a=value" works better even if value has quotes.
FOR %%I IN (%*) DO (
IF !skip! LEQ 0 (
SET "params=!params! %%I"
@rem newline after SET to lower amount of pitfalls when arguments
@rem have unpaired quotes
) ELSE (
SET /A skip-=1
)
)
(
@rem get variables out of SETLOCAL block
@rem as whole block in parenthesis is read and expanded before executing,
@rem SET after ENDLOCAL in same block will set var to what it was before
@rem ENDLOCAL. All other envvars will be reset to state before SETLOCAL.
ENDLOCAL
SET "params=%params%"
)
@rem doing this outside of parenthesis block to avoid
@rem cmd.exe confusion if params contain unquoted closing round bracket
%CMD% %params%