6

I'm trying to use a DOS command prompt on Server 2012R2 to run a batch with the following in it. I want to run a SQL command (sqlcmd) and return the results to the command window.

This is what I'm currently trying but sqlcmd keeps throwing back Sqlcmd: 'test': Invalid argument. Enter '-?' for help.20:56:08.

FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (`sqlcmd -S localhost -E -i "backup.sql" -v dbname="test"`) DO (
    Echo %%F
)

However if I try it without params/variables it works perfectly!

FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (`sqlcmd -S localhost -E -i "backup.sql"`) DO (
    Echo %%F
)

Does anyone know a way around getting the variables passed to my sql query using sqlcmd, DOS CMD, as well as a FOR /F loop such as in my first example?

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1 Answer 1

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3

In your command that works, you don't have an equal sign (=). When you run the command that fails and look at the output, you should notice the equal sign disappears. That's because that character needs to be escaped with a caret. (in my example below, notice the caret before the equal sign)

Try:

FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (`sqlcmd -S localhost -E -i "backup.sql" -v dbname^="test"`) DO (
    Echo %%F
)
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  • 1
    I didn't even notice that = missing! Next time I see this type of error message I will know what to direct my attention at. Thanks Scott! .... And to think I was defeated by a carrot... Commented Mar 15, 2018 at 23:39

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