Batch file decides that 4 > 39, How do I fix it?

Question

Note: The file Default.txt contains one line with these three characters:1:X

    @echo off
    set r=0
    :: For loop retrieves lines of text f         


        

Answer 1

Prudviraj's answer answers why your original code doesn't work, but for an easier way of padding a string to 39 characters, you could try:

Make39.bat

@echo off
    setlocal
    set "R=%1"
    set "R=%R%                                       "   REM append 39 spaces
    set "R=%R:~,39%"                                     REM take first 39 characters
    echo :123456789012345678901234567890123456789:
    echo :%R%:

which works as follows:

S:\>make39 abc
:123456789012345678901234567890123456789:
:abc                                    :

S:\>make39 "Quite a long string"
:123456789012345678901234567890123456789:
:Quite a long string                    :

Your comments seem to imply no string will initially be longer than 39 characters; you would have to get more inventive if this were possible (I would probably take the first 39 characters of the original R and see if that and R differ: if they did, the original would have been longer, so there would be no need to add padding).