I am trying to create a batch file to read a Microsoft Access .ldb lock file. The lock file contains a list of computer names and user names. I want to extract the computer names and eventually run them against an external command.
The format of the batch file is a single row with (1) a computer name (2) a NULL character (Hex 00) (3) approximately 20 spaces (4) the user name (5) a NULL character (6) approximately 20 spaces repeating.
Example in Notepad++ with (NUL)
representing Hex 00:
COMPUTER0123(NUL) Admin(NUL) COMPUTER0507(NUL) Admin(NUL)
I've tried several methods using FOR
to read the file but can't get past the first computer name.
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion set file=database.ldb for /F %%a in ('type %file%') do ( echo %%a )
For for most of my Access databases, the user name in the file is Admin
. I've been able to use FIND
to tell me how many occurrences of "Admin" are in the file (plus 1).
for /f "delims=" %%n in ('find /c /v "Admin" %file%') do set "len=%%n"
set "len=!len:*:=!"
echo %len% (minus 1) computer names to process
<%file% (
for /l %%l in (1 1 !len!) do (
set "line="
set /p "line="
echo(!line!)
)
)
Iterating through the found lines doesn't work, probably because there only is one line in the file (no carriage returns).
I would like to find a solution that would work with a standard install of Windows XP.
After receiving an accepted answer, I combined that into a batch file that I'm posting below. I named the file ShowUsersInLDB.bat
and put it in my SendTo folder.
@echo off
::===================================================================
:: Put this in your SendTo folder and it will let you right-click
:: on an Access .ldb/.laccdb lock file and tell you the computer
:: names that have opened the database.
::
:: After the computer names are shown, this will prompt you to
:: search for the user names associated with each computer. This
:: depends upon finding a 3rd party file named NetUsers.exe in
:: the user profile folder. Feel free to change the path if you
:: want to store the file in another location.
::
:: NetUsers.exe can be downloaded from here: http://www.optimumx.com/downloads.html#NetUsers
::
:: Notes:
:: 1) Keep in mind that sometimes after people leave the database
:: the lock file still shows their computer name. Don't jump
:: to conclusions.
:: 2) NetUsers.exe seems to report all users who have logged on
:: to the computer and not logged off, including services.
:: If you aren't familiar with your user names or your users are
:: sharing remote desktops/Citrix/Terminal Services, you may have
:: to guess who might have created the lock entry.
::
:: Installation:
:: You may find a batch file named Install_UsersInLDB.bat that will
:: copy this file to the SendTo folder and the NetUsers.exe file to
:: the user profile (or a place you define).
::
:: Ben Sacherich - March 2014
:: Please let me know if you have any ideas for improvements.
::===================================================================
setlocal
set file="%1"
:: Make sure the file has a compatible extension.
if "%~x1"==".ldb" goto :ExtensionIsValid
if "%~x1"==".laccdb" goto :ExtensionIsValid
echo.
echo "%~n1%~x1" is not the correct file type.
echo.
pause
goto :End
:ExtensionIsValid
echo The Access "%~n1%~x1" file contains
echo the following computer names:
echo.
set "compNameLine=1"
for /f %%A in ('more "%file%"') do (
if defined compNameLine (
echo %%A
set "compNameLine="
) else set "compNameLine=1"
)
echo.
echo Are you ready to look up the user names on each computer?
pause
set "compNameLine=1"
for /f %%A in ('more "%file%"') do (
if defined compNameLine (
::echo %%A
"%userprofile%\netusers" \\%%A
set "compNameLine="
) else set "compNameLine=1"
)
echo.
echo -- Validation finished at %time%
pause
:End
exit
CMD.EXE generally does not play nicely with NUL bytes. But there are a few external commands that can handle NUL bytes.
You also have to worry about the length of the "line". CMD.EXE does not like lines longer than 8191 bytes long.
I think your best bet is MORE since it converts NULs into new lines.
The following should echo your computer names.
@echo off
setlocal
set "file=database.ldb"
set "compNameLine=1"
for /f %%A in ('more "%file%"') do (
if defined compNameLine (
echo %%A
set "compNameLine="
) else set "compNameLine=1"
)
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