Question

I have a directory full of .jar files, named progressively like so:

 version-1.jar
 version-2.jar
 version-3.jar

I am trying to select the highest numbered file. Is there any really simple way to do it?
Because doing .\version*.jar causes an error, presumably due to the multiple files?

Answer 1

We need delayed expansion

setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

Just a variable for the maximum:

set max=0

Then iterate over the files:

for %%x in (version-*.jar) do (

We need the file name without extension

  set "FN=%%~nx"

And remove the version- from the start:

  set "FN=!FN:version-=!"

Now FN should contain just the number and we can compare:

  if !FN! GTR !max! set max=!FN!
)

And we’re done:

echo highest version: version-%max%.jar

The complete batch file:

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set max=0
for %%x in (version-*.jar) do (
  set "FN=%%~nx"
  set "FN=!FN:version-=!"
  if !FN! GTR !max! set max=!FN!
)
echo highest version: version-%max%.jar