What does %~dp0 mean, and how does it work?

I find %~dp0 very useful, and I use it a lot to make my batch files more portable.

But the label itself seems very cryptic to me... What is the ~ doing? Does dp mean drive and path? Does the 0 refer to %0, the path to the batch file that includes the file name?

Or it is just a weird label?

I'd also like to know if it is a documented feature, or something prone to be deprecated.

Calling

for /?

in the command-line gives help about this syntax (which can be used outside FOR, too, this is just the place where help can be found).

> In addition, substitution of FOR > variable references has been enhanced. > You can now use the following optional > syntax: > > %~I - expands %I removing any surrounding quotes (") > %~fI - expands %I to a fully qualified path name > %~dI - expands %I to a drive letter only > %~pI - expands %I to a path only > %~nI - expands %I to a file name only > %~xI - expands %I to a file extension only > %~sI - expanded path contains short names only > %~aI - expands %I to file attributes of file > %~tI - expands %I to date/time of file > %zI - expands %I to size of file > %$PATH:I - searches the directories listed in the PATH > environment variable and expands %I to the > fully qualified name of the first one found. > If the environment variable name is not > defined or the file is not found by the > search, then this modifier expands to the > empty string > > The modifiers can be combined to get > compound results: > > %~dpI - expands %I to a drive letter and path only > %~nxI - expands %I to a file name and extension only > %~fsI - expands %I to a full path name with short names only > %~dp$PATH:I - searches the directories listed in the PATH > environment variable for %I and expands to the > drive letter and path of the first one found. > %ftzaI - expands %I to a DIR like output line > > In the above examples %I and PATH can > be replaced by other valid values. > The % syntax is terminated by a valid > FOR variable name. Picking upper case > variable names like %I makes it more > readable and avoids confusion with the > modifiers, which are not case > sensitive.

There are different letters you can use like f for "full path name", d for drive letter, p for path, and they can be combined. %~ is the beginning for each of those sequences and a number I denotes it works on the parameter %I (where %0 is the complete name of the batch file, just like you assumed).

(First, I'd like to recommend this useful reference site for batch: http://ss64.com/nt/)

Then just another useful explanation: http://htipe.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/the-dp0-variable/

> # The %~dp0 Variable # > > The %~dp0 (that’s a zero) variable when referenced within a Windows > batch file will expand to the drive letter and path of that batch > file. > > The variables %0-%9 refer to the command line parameters of the batch > file. %1-%9 refer to command line arguments after the batch file name. > %0 refers to the batch file itself. > > If you follow the percent character (%) with a tilde character (~), > you can insert a modifier(s) before the parameter number to alter the > way the variable is expanded. The d modifier expands to the drive > letter and the p modifier expands to the path of the parameter. > > Example: Let’s say you have a directory on C: called bat_files, and > in that directory is a file called example.bat. In this case, %~dp0 > (combining the d and p modifiers) will expand to C:\bat_files\. > > Check out this Microsoft article for a full explanation. > > Also, check out this forum thread.

And a more clear reference from here:

• %CmdCmdLine% will return the entire command line as passed to CMD.EXE

• %* will return the remainder of the command line starting at the first command line argument (in Windows NT 4, %* also includes all leading spaces)

• %~dn will return the drive letter of %n (n can range from 0 to 9) if %n is a valid path or file name (no UNC)

• %~pn will return the directory of %n if %n is a valid path or file name (no UNC)

• %~nn will return the file name only of %n if %n is a valid file name

• %~xn will return the file extension only of %n if %n is a valid file name

• %~fn will return the fully qualified path of %n if %n is a valid file name or directory

ADD 1

Just found some good reference for the mysterious ~ tilde operator.

The %~ string is called percent tilde operator. You can find it in situations like: %~0.

The :~ string is called colon tilde operator. You can find it like %SOME_VAR:~0,-1%.

ADD 2 - 1:12 PM 7/6/2018

%1-%9 refer to the command line args. If they are not valid path values, %~dp1 - %~dp9 will all expand to the same value as %~dp0. But if they are valid path values, they will expand to their own driver/path value.

For example: (batch.bat)

@echo off
@echo ~dp0= %~dp0
@echo ~dp1= %~dp1
@echo ~dp2= %~dp2
@echo on

Run 1:

D:\Workbench>batch arg1 arg2

~dp0= D:\Workbench\
~dp1= D:\Workbench\
~dp2= D:\Workbench\

Run 2:

D:\Workbench>batch c:\123\a.exe e:\abc\b.exe

~dp0= D:\Workbench\
~dp1= c:\123\
~dp2= e:\abc\

The variable %0 in a batch script is set to the name of the executing batch file.

The ~dp special syntax between the % and the 0 basically says to expand the variable %0 to show the drive letter and path, which gives you the current directory containing the batch file!

Help = Link

%~dp0 expands to current directory path of the running batch file.

To get clear understanding, let's create a batch file in a directory.

> C:\script\test.bat

with contents:

@echo off
echo %~dp0

When you run it from command prompt, you will see this result:

> C:\script\

Another tip that would help a lot is that to set the current directory to a different drive one would have to use %~d0 first, then cd %~dp0. This will change the directory to the batch file's drive, then change to its folder.

Alternatively, for #oneLinerLovers, as @Omni pointed out in the comments cd /d %~dp0 will change both the drive and directory :)

Hope this helps someone.

Great example from Strawberry Perl's portable shell launcher:

set drive=%~dp0
set drivep=%drive%
if #%drive:~-1%# == #\# set drivep=%drive:~0,-1%

set PATH=%drivep%\perl\site\bin;%drivep%\perl\bin;%drivep%\c\bin;%PATH%

not sure what the negative 1's doing there myself, but it works a treat!

An example would be nice - here's a trivial one

for %I in (*.*) do @echo %~xI

it lists only the EXTENSIONS of each file in current folder

for more useful variable combinations (also listed in previous response) from the CMD prompt execute: HELP FOR which contains this snippet

The modifiers can be combined to get compound results:

%~dpI       - expands %I to a drive letter and path only
%~nxI       - expands %I to a file name and extension only
%~fsI       - expands %I to a full path name with short names only
%~dp$PATH:I - searches the directories listed in the PATH
               environment variable for %I and expands to the
               drive letter and path of the first one found.
%~ftzaI     - expands %I to a DIR like output line