Parameter %$ Different in Aliases and BTMa

[Jay Sage]

Is this WAD? With aliases, the parameter %$ is passed exactly as is. In a batch file, however, some processing is done. In particular, commas become spaces.

TCC(27.01.24): C:\temp>alias argalias
echo Arguments = %$

TCC(27.01.24): C:\temp>argalias $1,200
Arguments = $1,200

TCC(27.01.24): C:\temp>type argbtm.btm
echo Arguments = %$

TCC(27.01.24): C:\temp>argbtm $1,200
Arguments = $1 200

 

[rconn]

WAD - a comma is an argument separator in batch files, and it is converted to a space.

 

[Jay Sage]

Two more questions.

1. Why is a comma not an argument separator in an alias?
2. Is there any way with batch files to gain access to the entire command tail as entered? This is what I thought %$ meant.

As a workaround, I created a two-command alias wrapper for my batch file. The first command saved %$ to an environment variable, which the batch file could then use when called as the second command. I was trying to process numerical command-line arguments containing comma separators by removing the commas (and dollar signs, which I could do without any problem).

 

[Charles Dye]

If you really want to see everything, you can examine the CMDLINE2 environment variable. But be warned, it really does contain everything everything. Multiple commands, redirection operators, variable references — everything.

 

[Jay Sage]

If I reference %cmdline2 in a batch file, the task hangs.

It looks as though I can use %@word[1-,%cmdline] to get the command tail as entered.