Batch script to delete file older than N days

There is a requirement to remove log files generated before N days. Initially, I plan to develop it using java program, and create a job to run the java program via 'Task Scheduler'. But, DOS batch script is easier than java program.

The following script is what I did.

@echo off

REM ******************************************************
REM target driver where target folder locates
REM ******************************************************

set td=c:

REM ******************************************************
REM target folder where log files need to be removed
REM ******************************************************

set tf=c:/tmp/test

REM ******************************************************
REM set how many days, -30 means log files generated before 30 days will be removed
REM ******************************************************

set expiryDate=-30

REM ******************************************************
REM execute removal
REM ******************************************************

CD %td%
CD %tf%

echo The following files will be removed.
FORFILES /M oblog.log.* /D %expiryDate% /C "cmd /c echo @path"

FORFILES /M oblog.log.* /D %expiryDate% /C "cmd /c del @path"

@echo on

------------------------------------------

Syntax

forfiles [/p <Path>] [/m <SearchMask>] [/s] [/c "<Command>"] [/d [{+|-}][{<Date>|<Days>}]]

Parameters

 

Parameter	Description
/p <Path>	Specifies the path from which to start the search. By default, searching starts in the current working directory.
/m <SearchMask>	Searches files according to the specified search mask. The default search mask is *.* .
/s	Instructs the forfiles command to search into subdirectories recursively.
/c "<Command>"	Runs the specified command on each file. Command strings should be enclosed in quotation marks. The default command is "cmd /c echo @file" .
/d [{+|-}][{<Date>|<Days>}]	Selects files with a last modified date within the specified time frame. Selects files with a last modified date later than or equal to (+ ) or earlier than or equal to (- ) the specified date, where Date is in the format MM/DD/YYYY. Selects files with a last modified date later than or equal to (+ ) the current date plus the number of days specified, or earlier than or equal to (- ) the current date minus the number of days specified. Valid values for Days include any number in the range 0–32,768. If no sign is specified, + is used by default.
/?	Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

• Forfiles is most commonly used in batch files.
• Forfiles /s is similar to dir /s.
• You can use the following variables in the command string as specified by the /c command-line option.
  
  

   

  Variable	Description
  @FILE	File name.
  @FNAME	File name without extension.
  @EXT	File name extension.
  @PATH	Full path of the file.
  @RELPATH	Relative path of the file.
  @ISDIR	Evaluates to TRUE if a file type is a directory. Otherwise, this variable evaluates to FALSE.
  @FSIZE	File size, in bytes.
  @FDATE	Last modified date stamp on the file.
  @FTIME	Last modified time stamp on the file.

• With forfiles , you can run a command on or pass arguments to multiple files. For example, you could run the type command on all files in a tree with the .txt file name extension. Or you could execute every batch file (*.bat) on drive C, with the file name "Myinput.txt" as the first argument.
• With forfiles , you can do any of the following:
  
  
  • Select files by an absolute date or a relative date by using the /d parameter.
  • Build an archive tree of files by using variables such as @FSIZEand @FDATE.
  • Differentiate files from directories by using the @ISDIRvariable.
  • Include special characters in the command line by using the hexadecimal code for the character, in 0xHH format (for example, 0x09 for a tab).
• Forfiles works by implementing the recurse subdirectories flag on tools that are designed to process only a single file.

Examples

To list all of the batch files on drive C, type:

forfiles /p c:/ /s /m *.bat /c "cmd /c echo @file is a batch file"

To list all of the directories on drive C, type:

forfiles /p c:/ /s /m *.* /c "cmd /c if @isdir==true echo @file is a directory"

To list all of the files in the current directory that are at least one year old, type:

forfiles /s /m *.* /d -365 /c "cmd /c echo @file is at least one year old."

To display the text " File is outdated" for each of the files in the current directory that are older than January 1, 2007, type:

forfiles /s /m *.* /d -01/01/2007 /c "cmd /c echo @file is outdated." 

To list the file name extensions of all the files in the current directory in column format, and add a tab before the extension, type:

forfiles /s /m *.* /c "cmd /c echo The extension of @file is 0x09@ext"