This is a batch programming issue, so I'm not sure if this is the right
newsgroup. If not, maybe someone could suggest a better one.

In a batch file which runs a backup I want the last line to rename the log
file

name_of_backup_job.txt to

name_of_backup_job_today's date.txt with the date in YMD format so that
files will sort into order properly in a directory listing.

How do I extract the date into a variable, and how can I get it into YMD
format?

Grateful for advice.

"simonc" <simonc@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:46F83B7E-DDE0-4A81-A0AF-A2C2790C3FAF@microsoft.com...
> This is a batch programming issue, so I'm not sure if this is the right
> newsgroup. If not, maybe someone could suggest a better one.
>
> In a batch file which runs a backup I want the last line to rename the log
> file
>
> name_of_backup_job.txt to
>
> name_of_backup_job_today's date.txt with the date in YMD format so that
> files will sort into order properly in a directory listing.
>
> How do I extract the date into a variable, and how can I get it into YMD
> format?
>
> Grateful for advice.

I suspect you don't mean YMD format but perhaps YYYYMMDD.
You can do it like this:

@echo off
set D=%date:~6,4%%date:~0,2%%date:~3,2%
echo ren name_of_backup_job.txt name_of_backup_job_%D%.txt

Remove the "echo" word to activate the batch file.
Depending on your time zone and data format, you
may have to tune the numbers in the second line.

"simonc" <simonc@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:46F83B7E-DDE0-4A81-A0AF-A2C2790C3FAF@microsoft.com...
> This is a batch programming issue, so I'm not sure if this is the right
> newsgroup. If not, maybe someone could suggest a better one.
>
> In a batch file which runs a backup I want the last line to rename the log
> file
>
> name_of_backup_job.txt to
>
> name_of_backup_job_today's date.txt with the date in YMD format so that
> files will sort into order properly in a directory listing.
>
> How do I extract the date into a variable, and how can I get it into YMD
> format?
>
> Grateful for advice.

I suspect you don't mean YMD format but perhaps YYYYMMDD.
You can do it like this:

@echo off
set D=%date:~6,4%%date:~0,2%%date:~3,2%
echo ren name_of_backup_job.txt name_of_backup_job_%D%.txt

Remove the "echo" word to activate the batch file.
Depending on your time zone and data format, you
may have to tune the numbers in the second line.

Brilliant. Thank you very much. That does exactly what I wanted.

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "simonc" <simonc@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:46F83B7E-DDE0-4A81-A0AF-A2C2790C3FAF@microsoft.com...
> > This is a batch programming issue, so I'm not sure if this is the right
> > newsgroup. If not, maybe someone could suggest a better one.
> >
> > In a batch file which runs a backup I want the last line to rename the log
> > file
> >
> > name_of_backup_job.txt to
> >
> > name_of_backup_job_today's date.txt with the date in YMD format so that
> > files will sort into order properly in a directory listing.
> >
> > How do I extract the date into a variable, and how can I get it into YMD
> > format?
> >
> > Grateful for advice.
>
> I suspect you don't mean YMD format but perhaps YYYYMMDD.
> You can do it like this:
>
> @echo off
> set D=%date:~6,4%%date:~0,2%%date:~3,2%
> echo ren name_of_backup_job.txt name_of_backup_job_%D%.txt
>
> Remove the "echo" word to activate the batch file.
> Depending on your time zone and data format, you
> may have to tune the numbers in the second line.
>
>
>

Brilliant. Thank you very much. That does exactly what I wanted.

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "simonc" <simonc@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:46F83B7E-DDE0-4A81-A0AF-A2C2790C3FAF@microsoft.com...
> > This is a batch programming issue, so I'm not sure if this is the right
> > newsgroup. If not, maybe someone could suggest a better one.
> >
> > In a batch file which runs a backup I want the last line to rename the log
> > file
> >
> > name_of_backup_job.txt to
> >
> > name_of_backup_job_today's date.txt with the date in YMD format so that
> > files will sort into order properly in a directory listing.
> >
> > How do I extract the date into a variable, and how can I get it into YMD
> > format?
> >
> > Grateful for advice.
>
> I suspect you don't mean YMD format but perhaps YYYYMMDD.
> You can do it like this:
>
> @echo off
> set D=%date:~6,4%%date:~0,2%%date:~3,2%
> echo ren name_of_backup_job.txt name_of_backup_job_%D%.txt
>
> Remove the "echo" word to activate the batch file.
> Depending on your time zone and data format, you
> may have to tune the numbers in the second line.
>
>
>