Need to know what this does?

[cdulong]

I found a batch file online that is programmed to delete files in a folder older than 3 days. The problem I am having is there is a line I am not 100% about.

dir /b /a-d 2^>NUL

I do understand that this commnand will output the contents of a folder with only file name and no header or footer. What I do not understand is the last part of the command 2^>NUL. When I run the command without the last part it displays the files in a folder. When I run the command with the last part I recieve an error 'File not Found'.

Any help would be great.

Thanks,
cdulong

 

[goombawaho]

Best to post the whole script so people can follow it through it's entirety.

 

[vacunita]

I'm not convinced that line is correct though.

Basically all its doing is executing the dir command but getting rid of the output by sending it into the NUL device.

I'm not sure that would produce anything relevant in any script.

Unless the he actually expected the error for something.


----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[goombawaho]

Yeah, you can download lots of scripts off the internet. Some are incorrect, some are correct and some are trying to do something to you that you may not want.

So, unless you completely understand how it works/what it does, it may not be a good idea to test on an important system.