Store powershell output in a variable in CMD

Question

In a batchfile, how do I store the output of a powershell command in a variable This isn't working

set yest=powershell get-date((get-date).addDays(-1)) -uformat "%Y%m%d"


powershell get-date((get-date).addDays(-1)) -uformat "%Y%m%d"

gives 20130623

set yest=powershell get-date((get-date).addDays(-1)) -uformat "%Y%m%d"
echo %yest%

gives powershell get-date((get-date).addDays(-1)) -uformat "md"

Are you using echo in powershell or are those two different scripts / consoles? — Austin T French
– Austin T French, Commented Jun 25, 2013 at 1:40
echo is in a batch file.. I'm using powershell in a batch file — Ank
– Ank, Commented Jun 25, 2013 at 1:40
Actually, looks like this was already answered: stackoverflow.com/questions/2955512/… — Austin T French
– Austin T French, Commented Jun 25, 2013 at 1:58
@AthomSfere It works from command line. But when I put it in a batch file, it gives me an error a was unexpected at this time — Ank
– Ank, Commented Jun 25, 2013 at 2:03

foxidrive · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-25 02:40:58Z

8

The closing braces and percent need to be escaped/doubled.

@echo off
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('powershell get-date((get-date^).addDays(-1^)^) -uformat "%%Y%%m%%d"') do set d8=%%a
echo %d8%
pause

answered Jun 25, 2013 at 2:40

foxidrive

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3 Comments

@Jubjub Bandersnatch No, that's not true - it doesn't use backticks and works as posted.

Right you are. I just assumed those were backticks because I always use them.

whats with the for /f?