run your self-defined command on many files in a directory tree, on the windows or linux command line.

- download the free swiss file knife base from sourceforge.
- unpack the tool using winzip or unzip.
- open the Windows Command Line or a Linux shell.

sfk run "your command $file [$relfile] [...]" [-yes] [-nohead] [-quiet] [...]

 run a self-defined command on every file- or directory name.
 within your command string, you may specify:

    $file                     - insert full filename, including path.
    $quotfile    or $qfile    - just as $file, but with quotes "" around.
    $relfile     or $qrelfile - insert relative filename, without path.
    $base        or $qbase    - the relative base filename, without extension.
    $ext         or $qext     - filename extension. foo.bar.txt has extension .txt.
    $path        or $qpath    - the path (directory) without filename.
    $since       or $qsince   - with option -sincediff: the reference file name.
    $text        or $qtext    - one record of input text, similar to $file.

    always prefer 'q' forms over non-quoted forms: as soon as there is a filename
    containing blanks, e.g. X:\the src files\test one.txt, you will need quotations,
    or you have to manually insert \" or \q escaped quotes (see 3rd example below).
    you may also use $quotrelfile, $quotsince, $quottext for greater clarity.
    if you supply only $path expressions, only directories will be processed.
    on single word chain commands like "+run vi", " $qfile" is added automatically.

 further pattern support:
    -spat       activates slash patterns like \t \q \xnn etc.

 options
    -yes        really execute. default is just to simulate what would be done.
    -nohead     does not display the [simulating:] info text.
    -noinfo     unless you use $text, sfk checks the input filenames
                1. if they contain blanks, but no quotes are given within command.
                2. if they seem to use the wrong path separator character.
                in both cases, a reminder is printed. if you know that your command
                needs no changes, add -noinfo or use $text instead of $file.
    -quiet      does not echo the commands before execution.
    -relnames   strips the root directory names from filenames.
    -i[files]   process a text or filename list from stdin.
    -idirs      process a directory name list from stdin.
                on stdin, '#' remark lines and empty lines are skipped. note:
                "sfk.exe <list.txt" supports only 4 KB for list.txt under windows.
                "type list.txt | sfk.exe" supports unlimited stream length.
    -nofile[names]   with chaining, does not create ":file " name records.
    -printcmd   print the full command which is executed to console.
    -stoprc=n   stop processing if a command returns return code >= n.

 command string format
    with option -spat, slashpatterns like \t \q \xnn are supported.
    due to syntax limitations of the command shell, it may help
    - to use \q instead of \"   (avoids quote miscounting at shell)
    - to use \x26 instead of &  (if ampersand is behaving unexpected)

 temporary or permanent output files
    if run output is post-processed by command chaining, e.g. run ... +filter,
    sfk creates temporary files to collect the output. by default, these files
    are deleted when run finishes. say "sfk help options" for more on this.
    specify -to targetdir\$file to write command output into a permanent
    target fileset. required directories are created automatically.
    -to accepts the same mask as run itself, e.g. -to "mydir\$path\$base.tmp"
    by default, standard output AND standard error stream are written to file.
    add 2>nul to your command to strip the error stream.

 command chaining notes
    sfk run "...$path..." +nextcmd: will pass directories, not filenames.
    sfk run ... -to tmp\$file +nextcmd: will pass output filenames, not input.
    sfk run ... +run: will pass unchanged input filename list.

 examples
    sfk run "attrib -R $qfile" -quiet testfiles\FooBank\BarDriver -yes
       removes readonly attribute on all files within BarDriver
    sfk run "<img src=$quottext>" -dir . -file .jpg -nohead >index.html
       create html-style image list of all jpegs (using just simulation).
       note that option -nohead removes the [simulating:] info text lines.
    type dirlist.txt | sfk run -idirs "xcopy \"x:\$path\" \"z:\$path\" /I /D" -yes
       update-copy all directories from dirlist.txt from x: to z:
    sfk run "diff oldsrc\$file newsrc\$file" -relnames -sincediff oldsrc newsrc
       compare directories, run "diff" on all files with different content.
    sfk run "diff $qsince $qfile" -sincediff oldsrc newsrc
       same as above, only shorter and safer (including quotes around filenames).
    sfk run "zip update.zip $qfile" -since 20070131 . .java .jsp
       collect .java and .jsp files added/changed since 31-Jan-2007 into a zip file.
    sfk list testfiles .txt +run vi
       open all .txt files in vi. $qfile is added automatically.
    sfk sel . .avi +run "ffmpeg -i $file -f image -t .02 thumbs\$base-%d.jpg"
       extract first image from all .avi movies, videos using ffmpeg.

 Don't try to execute a full run statement in ONE GO. Almost certainly, something
 will go wrong (wrong files selected, syntax error in the command itself), and you
 end up with many wrong output files. Instead, use THREE STEPS:
 
 1. find the correct file set, by some trial and error:
       sfk run "echo $quotfile" mydir
    This will simply show all filenames from "mydir". no command is executed
    on those files, so nothing bad is happening. almost certainly, you notice
    that too many files are included. Maybe you have to add "-nosub" to exclude
    subfolders, or add more details about your file selection, like:
       sfk run "echo $quotfile" mydir .jpg .jpeg
    which reduces the file set to just .jpg and .jpeg files within "mydir".
 
 2. Replace "echo" by the actual command, still running in simulation mode.
       sfk run "copy $quotfile \"d:\pic\small_$base.jpg\"" mydir .jpg .jpeg
    This simulates a copy of all images from mydir to d:\pic, prefixing their name
    by "small_", and ensuring that all target file extensions are only ".jpg".
 
 3. When you're satisfied with the simulation output, add "-yes".

 see also
    sfk runloop - run commands using a loop counter.
 
 Another example: list the methods of all .class files in a directory tree.

 This time, we take a different approach, starting with "sfk list".
 To list all .class files in the directory tree "pack", we say:
    sfk list pack .class

 This may result in an output like this:
    pack\Lemon.class
    pack\Curry.class
    pack\Yet.class
    pack\Another.class
    pack\One.class
 
 Our goal is to turn these lines into commands of the form:
    javap pack.classname

 So how do we achieve this? First, we have to change the format of the
 output lines, through adding a "filter" command:
    sfk list pack .class +filter -rep /\/./ -rep /.class//

 This replaces all slashes "\" by a dot ".", and strips off the ".class".
 Now the resulting output is:
    pack.Lemon
    pack.Curry
    pack.Yet
    pack.Another
    pack.One
 
 Finally, we pipe this into "run":

 sfk list pack .class +filt -rep /\/./ -rep /.class// +run "javap $file"

 The resulting output - a simulated preview - is now:
    javap "pack.Lemon"
    javap "pack.Curry"
    javap "pack.Yet"
    javap "pack.Another"
    javap "pack.One"
 
 Finally, run the command again, this time adding "-yes":

 sfk list pack .class +filt -rep /\/./ -rep /.class// +run "javap $file" -yes

 Which will result in the interface listings of all classes.

read more about all sfk functions here.