.Replace works in powershell but not batch script

Question

My batch script looks like this:

@echo off
echo.
echo Replacing instances of type="module" in index.html with type="text/javascript"
cd www

(Get-Content index.html).Replace("module", "javascript") | Set-Content index.html

When I try to use .Replace in powershell, it works fine, but run from a batch script it fails with the error .Replace("module" was unexpected at this time.

(Get-Content index.html) -replace 'module', 'javascript' | Set-Content index.html

also came up with same error. Thanks in advance for any help.

That's because batch/cmd is not PowerShell

Mathias R. Jessen
– Mathias R. Jessen

2019-07-26 13:50:27 +00:00
Commented Jul 26, 2019 at 13:50 — Mathias R. Jessen
– Mathias R. Jessen, Commented Jul 26, 2019 at 13:50

Samuel Liew · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-27 01:22:10Z

2

If you really want to call powershell from a .bat script, here's a way. The output file would have to be different from the input file. The "> index2.html" part is run by cmd, so it's encoded in ascii, not unicode.

type index.html | powershell $input -replace 'module','javascript' > index2.html

Or to keep it completely within powershell. The file encoding would be "ansi".

powershell "(get-content index.html) -replace 'module','javascript' | set-content index.html"

edited Jul 27, 2019 at 1:22

Samuel Liew

79.5k112 gold badges173 silver badges318 bronze badges

answered Jul 26, 2019 at 14:49

js2010

28.3k6 gold badges82 silver badges88 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Compo · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-28 20:14:28Z

As you cannot expect cmd.exe to run powershell.exe commands without telling cmd to use powershell for them, here's an answer based upon that:

@If Not Exist "www\index.html" (GoTo :EOF)Else CD "www"
@Echo(
@Echo Replacing instances of 'type="module"' in index.html with 'type="text/javascript"'.
@"%__AppDir__%WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoProfile -Command "(Get-Content -Path 'index.html') -Replace 'type=\"module\"', 'type=\"text/javascript\"' | Set-Content -Path 'index.html'"

The powershell command line itself could also be shortened a little, if necessary:

@PowerShell -NoP "(GC 'index.html') -Replace 'type=\"module\"','type=\"text/javascript\"'|SC 'index.html'"

The above example assumes that the location of your installed PowerShell executable is the current directory, or one of those listed under %PATH%, and if not in the current directory, there is no extensionless file named powershell in the current directory or one with an extension listed under %PATHEXT%.

If you wanted to use the .Replace syntax, which requires at least powershell-3.0 it is effectively the same method:

@PowerShell -NoP "(GC 'index.html').Replace('type=\"module\"','type=\"text/javascript\"')|SC 'index.html'"

However, if you're using powershell-3.0+, you may find that it's more efficient using the -Raw option with Get-Content:

@PowerShell -NoP "(GC 'index.html' -Raw).Replace('type=\"module\"','type=\"text/javascript\"')|SC 'index.html'"

The answers above are performing a search for the string, type="module" and replacing it with type="text/javascript". If you wish to use something less robust/more simple, like replacing module with javascript, then use -Replace 'module','javascript', or .Replace('module','javascript') instead.

Should you be aware that your html file is, for instance, UTF-8 encoded, you could maintain that encoding by stipulating it as further options to Get-Content and Set-Content.

Any PowerShell version:

@"%__AppDir__%WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoProfile -Command "(Get-Content -Path 'index.html' -Encoding UTF8) -Replace 'type=\"module\"', 'type=\"text/javascript\"' | Set-Content -Path 'index.html' -Encoding UTF8"

…and shortened:

@PowerShell -NoP "(GC 'index.html' -En UTF8) -Replace 'type=\"module\"','type=\"text/javascript\"'|SC 'index.html' -En UTF8"

PowerShell version 3+:

@"%__AppDir__%WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoProfile -Command "(Get-Content -Path 'index.html' -Encoding UTF8 -Raw).Replace('type=\"module\"', 'type=\"text/javascript\"') | Set-Content -Path 'index.html' -Encoding UTF8"

…and shortened:

@PowerShell -NoP "(GC 'index.html' -En UTF8 -Ra).Replace('type=\"module\"','type=\"text/javascript\"')|SC 'index.html' -En UTF8"

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

.Replace works in powershell but not batch script

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related