Question

So i’ve got a basic batch script that iterates over the directories and prints out each directory name:

for /R /D %%d in (.\*) do (
    echo %%d
)

But I don’t like the single character variable d, I want it to be something more descriptive, like “directory”

for /R /D %%directory in (.*) do (
echo %%directory
)

Now I get the error “%directory was unexpected at this time”

Why does it accept a single letter variable, but not a multi letter variable?

Answer 1

That’s just the way the language works, and has been since the early days of DOS.

However, there’s nothing stopping you from assigning that variable to another one with a longer name – see set.

I wouldn’t concern myself for a short sample like this but it comes in handy when your loop body becomes more substantial.