How to test if an executable exists in the %PATH% from a windows batch file?

Question

I\'m looking for a simple way to test if an executable exists in the PATH environment variable from a Windows batch file.

Usage of external tools not provided by th

Answer 1

This can be accomplished via parameter substitution.

%~$PATH:1

This returns the full path of the executable filename in %1, else an empty string.

This does not work with user-defined variables. So if the executable filename is not a parameter to your script, then you need a subroutine. For example:

call :s_which app.exe
if not "%_path%" == "" (
  "%_path%"
)

goto :eof

:s_which
  setlocal
  endlocal & set _path=%~$PATH:1
  goto :eof

See http://ss64.com/nt/syntax-args.html