How to get the path of a batch script without the trailing backslash in a single command?

Question

Suppose I wish to get the absolute path of a batch script from within the batch script itself, but without a trailing backslash. Normally, I do it this way:

SET BuildDir=%~dp0 SET BuildDir=%BuildDir:~0,-1% 

The first statement gets the path with the trailing backslash and the second line removes the last character, i.e. the backslash. Is there a way to combine these two statements into a single line of code?

Answer 1

Instead of removing the trailing backslash, adding a trailing dot is semantically equivalent for many software.

C:\Windows is equivalent to C:\Windows\.

echo %dp0 >C:\Windows\  echo %dp0. >C:\Windows\. 

For example, robocopy accepts only directories without trailing spaces.

This errors out:

robocopy "C:\myDir" %~dp0  

This is successful:

robocopy "C:\myDir" %~dp0. 

Answer 2

Only with delayed expansion when you write both statements into the same line:

set BuildDir=%~dp0&&set BuildDir=!BuildDir:~0,-1! 

But that kinda defies the purpose.