Question

I need to rename multiple files in a loop and include a time stamp… My struggles begin with updating the timestamp for each file so the file has a unique name.

setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
SET date=%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%
for /f %%a in ('dir /b TCA_*') do (SET
time=%time:~-11,2%%time:~-8,2%%time:~-5,2%%time:~-2,2%  
ren %%a %date%TCA_%time%.txt)

Thanks

Answer 1

While in a loop, variables don’t update. To circumnavigate this, the setlocal enabledelayedexpansion script was added.

Basically, if you want them to update, you need to encase them in exclamation marks (!) instead of percent signs (%).