execute lines of text from a txt file in native batch script [duplicate]

Question

I have a text file, and I want to read in the entire file to a variable and then execute it. I then want to clear the variable contents and the file contents.

for /f "delims=" %%A in ('type command.txt') do set "cmd=%%A" 
%cmd%
set "cmd=%cmd*=%"
break>command.txt

this does not work, %cmd% returns ECHO is off meaning it is empty.

Answer 1

If you read the file like you did, you might get problems with some poison chars. They can be escaped, but it isn't trivial.

(I would use .cmd instead of .txt in the first place, but you might have a reason for that, like the file gets generated by something else, you haven't full control over).

This is how I would do it (straight forward and very simple):

ren command.txt command.cmd
call command.cmd
del command.cmd

Pros:

• no escaping needed
• multi-line scripting possible (take advantage of full batch capabilities)

Answer 2

[Edited]

Based on what I understand, you want to execute a command written in a file, store that command in a variable, and then execute it. Let's assume the file contains this command:

commad.txt:

cmd.exe /c "for /l %i in (1 1 10) do @echo %i"

and the script:

@echo off
    set "command="
    set "args="

    for /f "tokens=1,*" %%i in (command.txt) do (
        set "command=%%i"
        set "args=%%j"
    )
    
    REM Check if command was found.
    if defined command (
        REM execute command.
        %command% %args%
        REM Destroy file contents.
        type nul >command.txt
    ) else (
        echo command not found.
        exit /b 1
    )

exit /b 0

1. Set variables command and args as empty.

2. Read the first word from command.txt as command, the rest as args.

3. If a command is found, run it with its arguments.

4. Destroy the file contents.

5. If no command, show an error message and exit with exit code 1.