How can I delete the last character of the text file

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alan Tang
  • Start date Start date
Alan said:
Hello:

Is it possible to delete the last character from the text file?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes! It is possible! See the post by Matthias Tacke in the "Trim
Last Line" thread. The following is a slight modification to remove
the last character.

::StripLastChar.cmd::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
if not exist %1 goto :eof
for /f %%A in ('find /V /C "" ^<%1') do set lines=%%A
for /f "tokens=1,* delims=[]" %%A in ('find /V /N "" ^<%1') do (
if %%A LSS %lines% (
echo %%B
) else (
set rec=%%B
echo !rec:~0,-1!
)
)
::StripLastChar.cmd::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 
Phil Robyn said:
Yes! It is possible! See the post by Matthias Tacke in the "Trim
Last Line" thread. The following is a slight modification to remove
the last character.

::StripLastChar.cmd::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Click to expand...
<snip>

Hello Phil,
I'm a bit curious, I always got rec:~0,-1 in the output.

The echo status on empty lines is also present. This worked (but not
with html files where the last char is a closing bracket ;-)

::StripLastChar.cmd::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
@echo off
setlocal
if not exist %1 goto :eof
for /f %%A in ('find /V /C "" ^<%1') do set lines=%%A
for /f "tokens=1,* delims=[]" %%A in ('find /V /N "" ^<%1') do (
if %%A LSS %lines% (
echo/%%B
) else (
set "rec=%%B"
call echo.%%rec:~0,-1%%
)
)
::StripLastChar.cmd::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 
Matthias said:
:



<snip>

Hello Phil,
I'm a bit curious, I always got rec:~0,-1 in the output.
Click to expand...

Hi, Matthias,

Well, unlike my usual practice, I didn't actually *test* the suggested
code; I merely copied your example and made what I thought would be the
appropriate change. :-)
The echo status on empty lines is also present. This worked (but not
with html files where the last char is a closing bracket ;-)
Click to expand...

The original poster's "the text file" was not specific enough. Of course,
depending on what is actually in a particular file, one may have to make
certain modifications (for example, to write out blank lines, etc.) And
html files where the last character is a closing bracket might also pose
a problem. But in general, it is indeed *possible* to remove the last
character from a text file via a batch file; it's just that a batch file
might not be the most *practical* means of doing so, depending on what is
in the text file in question.
::StripLastChar.cmd::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
@echo off
setlocal
if not exist %1 goto :eof
for /f %%A in ('find /V /C "" ^<%1') do set lines=%%A
for /f "tokens=1,* delims=[]" %%A in ('find /V /N "" ^<%1') do (
if %%A LSS %lines% (
echo/%%B
) else (
set "rec=%%B"
call echo.%%rec:~0,-1%%
)
)
::StripLastChar.cmd::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Click to expand...
 
Phil Robyn said:
Hi, Matthias,

Well, unlike my usual practice, I didn't actually *test* the suggested
code; I merely copied your example and made what I thought would be the
appropriate change. :-)
Click to expand...
No critic Phil, just a correction for my own mistake. The way with the
numered find I'd choosen to handle empty lines and then forgot that damn
echo status.

Have a nice sunday.
 
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