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I want to remove a known string .doc from the middle of a variable string %%f in a loop.
I have a batch file that converts a Word file to PDF:

echo Converting MS Word documents to PDF . . . cd /D "%mypath%\documents" for /f "delims=|" %%f in ('dir *.doc /S /B') do ( Q:\OfficeToPDF.exe "%%f" "%%f.pdf" )

Problem: The output files are named myfile.doc.pdf where I don't know the length of myfile in advance.

--> How can I remove .doc from that string?
Alternatively, replace .doc. with . would achieve the same goal. I think I need this kind of string substitution but I can't get it to work within that for loop. It would almost be like this, but it doesn't work:

for [...] do ( set outname=%%f:.doc.=.% && Q:\OfficeToPDF.exe "%%f" "%outname%" )

I've seen this and this (as well as many other questions) but I didn't see a solution that works in a loop. I found a Linux solution for it but that doesn't directly help me.

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2 Answers 2

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The for replaceable parameters can include a list of delimiters to extract only part of the content in the case of file/folder references (see for /?)

In your case %%~dpnf.pdf will return the drive, path, and name of the input file, with the string .pdf attached.

for /f "delims=" %%f in ('dir *.doc /S /B') do ( Q:\OfficeToPDF.exe "%%f" "%%~dpnf.pdf" )

Or still better

for /r %%f in (*.doc) do ( Q:\OfficeToPDF.exe "%%~ff" "%%~dpnf.pdf" )

where %%~ff is the reference to the file with full path

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Brilliant!! Thank you. Minutes after posting my question, I found a solution OfficeToPDF.exe "%%f" "%%~pf%%~nf.pdf" based on this answer but yours is even more concise.
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...Q:\OfficeToPDF.exe "%%f" "%%~nf.pdf"

should solve your problem.

~n selects the name part of the filename. See for /? from the prompt for documentation...

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