Batch command date and time in file name

Question

I am compressing files using WinZip on the command line. Since we archive on a daily basis, I am trying to add date and time to these files so that a new one is auto generated every time.

I use the following to generate a file name. Copy paste it to your command line and you should see a filename with a Date and Time component.

echo Archive_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%_%time:~0,2%%time:~3,2%%time:~6,2%.zip

Output

Archive_20111011_ 93609.zip

However, my issue is AM vs PM. The AM time stamp gives me time 9 (with a leading blank space) vs. 10 naturally taking up the two spaces.

I guess my issue will extend to the first nine days, first 9 months, etc. as well.

How do I fix this so that leading zeroes are included instead of leading blank spaces so I get Archive_20111011_093609.zip?

Solution 1

Another solution:

for /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%I in ('wmic os get localdatetime /format:list') do set datetime=%%I

It will give you (independent of locale settings!):

  20130802203023.304000+120
( YYYYMMDDhhmmss.<milliseconds><always 000>+/-<minutes difference to UTC>  )

From here, it is easy:

set datetime=%datetime:~0,8%-%datetime:~8,6%
20130802-203023

For Logan's request for the same outputformat for the "date-time modified" of a file:

for %%F in (test.txt) do set file=%%~fF
for /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%I in ('wmic datafile where name^="%file:\=\\%" get lastmodified /format:list') do set datetime=%%I
echo %datetime%

It is a bit more complicated, because it works only with full paths, wmic expects the backslashes to be doubled and the = has to be escaped (the first one. The second one is protected by surrounding quotes).

Solution 2

Extract the hour, look for a leading space, if found replace with a zero;

set hr=%time:~0,2%
if "%hr:~0,1%" equ " " set hr=0%hr:~1,1%
echo Archive_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%_%hr%%time:~3,2%%time:~6,2%.zip

Solution 3

You should search; you can simply replace all spaces with zero set hr=%hr: =0% – jeb Oct 11 '11 at 14:16

So I did:

set hr=%time:~0,2%
set hr=%hr: =0%

Then use %hr% inside whatever string you are formatting to always get a two-digit hour.

_{(Jeb's comment under the most popular answer worked the best for me and is the simplest. I repost it here to make it more obvious for future users.)}

Solution 4

As Vicky already pointed out, %DATE% and %TIME% return the current date and time using the short date and time formats that are fully (endlessly) customizable.

One user may configure its system to return Fri040811 08.03PM while another user may choose 08/04/2011 20:30.

It's a complete nightmare for a BAT programmer.

Changing the format to a firm format may fix the problem, provided you restore back the previous format before leaving the BAT file. But it may be subject to nasty race conditions and complicate recovery in cancelled BAT files.

Fortunately, there is an alternative.

You may use WMIC, instead. WMIC Path Win32_LocalTime Get Day,Hour,Minute,Month,Second,Year /Format:table returns the date and time in a invariable way. Very convenient to directly parse it with a FOR /F command.

So, putting the pieces together, try this as a starting point...

SETLOCAL enabledelayedexpansion
FOR /F "skip=1 tokens=1-6" %%A IN ('WMIC Path Win32_LocalTime Get Day^,Hour^,Minute^,Month^,Second^,Year /Format:table') DO (
  SET /A FD=%%F*1000000+%%D*100+%%A
  SET /A FT=10000+%%B*100+%%C
  SET FT=!FT:~-4!
  ECHO Archive_!FD!_!FT!.zip
 )

Solution 5

I found the best solution for me, after reading all your answers:

set t=%date%_%time%
set d=%t:~10,4%%t:~7,2%%t:~4,2%_%t:~15,2%%t:~18,2%%t:~21,2%
echo hello>"Archive_%d%"

If AM I get 20160915_ 150101 (with a leading space and time).

If PM I get 20160915_2150101.

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