Applying recursion in a batch script

Question

Some time ago I came to the need to use the Microsoft Office Document Imaging to convert a document template created in Microsoft Word as an anti-copy prevention measure of the model itself (positioning, measurements, definitions, etc.).

But the application in question, for those who do not know, is very spartan, slow and with some weird restrictions too for a GUI. Fortunately, the functionality I needed could be executed on the command line.

I’ve never been a big fan of batch scripts, but I still chose to create a file. BAT to automate OCR of MDI files previously generated by the virtual printer provided by the application.

Like the syntax of batch scripts it was old stuff when I got my first computer, I never bothered to learn more than necessary to install Windows 98 (at the time) and I ended up with the following file:

@echo off

set filesCount=0

echo Performing OCR over files
echo.

for /r %%i in (*.mdi) do (

set /a filesCount+=1

echo Curent file: %%i

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MODI\11.0\MSPVIEW.EXE" -f %%i

echo OCR performed succesfully
echo.

)

echo.
echo OCR performed over %filesCount% files found
echo.

pause

It works well, but I have to duplicate (or move) the file. BAT for each directory before running it. And because execution is applied to thousands of hierarchically structured files in several sublevels, it becomes a tedious task almost not making it worth using said script.

Is it possible to modify this script to operate recursively? That way, I would store it in the parent directory of all sublevels and run it once.

Answer 1

According to a test I performed here, your bat already works recursively:

test bat.

@echo off

set filesCount=0

echo Performing OCR over files
echo.

for /r %%i in (*.mdi) do (

set /a filesCount+=1

echo Curent file: %%i


echo OCR performed succesfully
echo.

)

echo.
echo OCR performed over %filesCount% files found
echo.

pause

outworking:

Obs.: the line "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MODI\11.0\MSPVIEW.EXE" -f %%i was removed to avoid errors during execution as I do not have this executable.