What is the current directory in a batch file?

I want to create a few batch files to automate a program.

My question is when I create the batch file, what is the current directory? Is it the directory where the file is located or is it the same directory that appears in the comma开发者_运维技巧nd prompt, or something else?

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From within your batch file:

• %cd% refers to the current working directory (variable)
• %~dp0 refers to the full path to the batch file's directory (static)
• %~dpnx0 and %~f0 both refer to the full path to the batch directory and file name (static).

See also: What does %~dp0 mean, and how does it work?

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It usually is the directory from which the batch file is started, but if you start the batch file from a shortcut, a different starting directory could be given. Also, when you'r in cmd, and your current directory is c:\dir3, you can still start the batch file using c:\dir1\dir2\batch.bat in which case, the current directory will be c:\dir3.

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In a batch file, %cd% is the most commonly used command for the current directory, although you can set your own variable:

set mypath=%cd%
echo %mypath% (where %mypath% is the current directory that the batch file is sitting in)

So say you were wanting to open Myprog.exe. If it was in the same folder, you would use the command:

start %mypath%\Myprog.exe

That would open Myprog from the current folder.

The other option is to make a directory in C: called AutomatePrograms. Then, you transfer your files to that folder then you can open them using the following command:

start "" "C:\AutomatePrograms\Myprog1.exe"
start "" "C:\AutomatePrograms\Myprog2.exe"
start "" "C:\AutomatePrograms\Myprog3.exe"

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Say you were opening a file in your current directory. The command would be:

 start %cd%\filename.filetype

I hope I answered your question.

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It is the directory from where you run the command to execute your batch file.

As mentioned in the above answers you can add the below command to your script to verify:

> set current_dir=%cd%
> echo %current_dir%  

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%__CD__% , %CD% , %=C:%

There's also another dynamic variable %__CD__% which points to the current directory but unlike %CD% it has a backslash at the end. This can be useful if you want to append files to the current directory. Also %CD% does not work under disabled extensions environment ,but %__CD__% always works.

With %=C:% %=D:% you can access the last accessed directory for the corresponding drive. If the variable is not defined you haven't accessed the drive on the current cmd session.

And %__APPDIR__% expands to the executable that runs the current script a.k.a. cmd.exe directory.

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It is the directory from where you start the batch file. E.g. if your batch is in c:\dir1\dir2 and you do cd c:\dir3, then run the batch, the current directory will be c:\dir3.

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Just my 2 cents.
The following command fails if called from batch file (Windows 7) placed on a pendrive:

%SystemRoot%\System32\xcopy.exe /e /i "%cd%Ala" "C:\KS\Ala\"

But this does the job:

%SystemRoot%\System32\xcopy.exe /e /i "%~dp0Ala" "C:\KS\Ala\"

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Your bat file should be in the directory that the bat file is/was in when you opened it. However if you want to put it into a different directory you can do so with cd [whatever directory]