Is there something like Command Substitution in Windows CLI?

Question

In Linux (Bash), there's a way to use a command as a parameter for another command, using back-ticks:

> echo ===== `time` =====

This would print:

===== The current time is: 12:22:34.68 =====

Is there a way to do this in cmd.exe on WIndows ?

see [this post](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/434038/whats-the-cmd-powershell-equivalent-of-back-tick-on-bash) — Prince John Wesley, May 27 '11 at 09:38
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2768608/batch-equivalent-of-bash-backticks — cularis, May 27 '11 at 09:38
Also see this this post ([use of doskey command from cmd](http://superuser.com/questions/49170/create-an-alias-in-windows-xp)) — misterjaytee, May 27 '11 at 11:00
@misterjaytee: Command substitution and aliases are different things. — u1686_grawity, May 27 '11 at 13:59
@grawity - Thanks for pointing that out - Note to self: must read the question properly before responding... — misterjaytee, May 30 '11 at 13:26
@Cristi: Linux isn't Windows. On Linux, `time` measures how long it takes a script to execute. — Wuffers, Jul 07 '11 at 20:30
[What's the cmd/PowerShell equivalent of back tick on Bash?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/434038/995714) — phuclv, Mar 05 '21 at 03:22

score 12 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 22 '22 at 20:58

12

Try this:

echo. ===== %time% =====

I know this may not be what you want, because you mentioned command substitution... So this may be it:

for /f "usebackq tokens=*" %i in (`date/time/t`) do @echo.  ===== %i =====

For more details about the usage of usebackq try this command:

for /?

edited Jun 22 '22 at 20:58

Michael Burr

answered Jun 06 '11 at 21:18

Kurt Pfeifle

4

Yep, `for /f` is what I was looking for. Thanks! On a side note: It's so kludgy and hard to remember (compared to the bash way). I should give up "bat programming" and learn something more productive - PowerShell maybe? – Cristian Diaconescu Jul 07 '11 at 20:10
@CristianDiaconescu Why not just use Linux? It's a much superior OS to Windows, especially for devs. – Jack G Jul 18 '20 at 21:36
I am seeing errors that `& was unexpected at this time` running your commands. OS: windows 10. Are you sure this is the correct way? – jdhao Feb 20 '21 at 02:47

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 30 '18 at 19:20

2

No, but here is the workaround:

D:\>time /t
08:18 PM

D:\>time /t > time.tmp

D:\>set /p time=<time.tmp

D:\>echo == %time% ==
== 08:18 PM ==

answered Jun 30 '18 at 19:20

kenorb

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 12 '15 at 20:41

2

In Windows the '( )' operator has a similar behavior as the Bash command substitution.

This Linux script:

my_linux_variable=$(ls)
my_alternate_linux_variable=`ls`

echo $my_linux_command=$(ls)
echo $my_alternate_linux_command=`ls`

gives a similar result as Windows PowerShell:

$my_windowsPS_variable = (dir)

$my_windowsPS_variable

and as Windows CMD:

set my_windowsCMD_variable=(dir)
%my_windowsCMD_variable%

edited Aug 12 '15 at 20:41

Kurt Pfeifle

answered Aug 12 '15 at 20:28

DDS

14

Windows CMD example is wrong. Parens in cmd shell just execute a command in a subshell. The env var is set to "(dir)" and it is executed on the second line (when the env var is surrounded by %) - not really the substitution you want. – davidbak Mar 02 '17 at 17:41
4

this is incorrect for windows cmd.exe behavior – JJS Jan 07 '19 at 18:33
1

This is powershell, whereas the question is about cmd.exe – Raúl Salinas-Monteagudo Jul 25 '19 at 08:37
neat trick; it's like passing by reference instead of by value: ie. the value of dir is actually processed/calculated in 2nd line, and the variable is storing the command, not the result of the command; similar to `doskey` – Zimba Aug 26 '21 at 17:39
`In Windows the '( )' operator has a similar behavior as the Bash command substitution.` this is absolutely wrong. Windows isn't a shell like bash, and cmd doesn't work that way. It should be *In powershell the '( )' operator...* – phuclv Jul 17 '22 at 05:22

3 Answers3