Find string in multiple .txt files

Question

I have a folder with many .txt files. I would like to find string "X" in all of these files then I would like to copy the found strings into .txt files into a different folder.

So far I have tried :

@echo on
findstr /m "X" "%userprofile%\Desktop\New_Folder\New_Folder\*.txt"
if %errorlevel%==0 do (
for %%c in (*.txt) do (
type %%c >> "%UserProfile%\Desktop\New_Folder\%%~nc.txt"
pause

I do not understand the output %%~nc.txt part it's suppost to copy the changed .txt files to a new folder with the same name.

I would like to point out that string "X" is found in different places in the .txt file.

Answer 1

This batch file can did the trick (-_°)

So, just give a try : ScanfilesWordSearch_X.bat

@ECHO OFF
::******************************************************************************************
Title Scan a folder and store all files names in an array variables
SET "ROOT=%userprofile%\Desktop"
Set "NewFolder2Copy=%userprofile%\Desktop\NewCopyTxtFiles"
SET "EXT=txt"
SET "Count=0"
Set "LogFile=%~dp0%~n0.txt"
set "Word2Search=X"
SETLOCAL enabledelayedexpansion
REM Iterates throw the files on this current folder and its subfolders.
REM And Populate the array with existent files in this folder and its subfolders
For %%a in (%EXT%) Do ( 
    Call :Scanning "%Word2Search%" "*.%%a"
    FOR /f "delims=" %%f IN ('dir /b /s "%ROOT%\*.%%a"') DO (
        ( find /I "%Word2Search%" "%%f" >nul 2>&1 ) && (
            SET /a "Count+=1"
            set "list[!Count!]=%%~nxf"
            set "listpath[!Count!]=%%~dpFf"
        )
    ) || (
            ( Call :Scanning "%Word2Search%" "%%~nxf")
    )
)
::***************************************************************
:Display_Results
cls & color 0B
echo wscript.echo Len("%ROOT%"^) + 20 >"%tmp%\length.vbs"
for /f %%a in ('Cscript /nologo "%tmp%\length.vbs"') do ( set "cols=%%a")
If %cols% LSS 50 set /a cols=%cols% + 20
set /a lines=%Count% + 10
Mode con cols=%cols% lines=%lines%
ECHO  **********************************************************
ECHO  Folder:"%ROOT%"
ECHO  **********************************************************
If Exist "%LogFile%" Del "%LogFile%"
rem Display array elements and save results into the LogFile
for /L %%i in (1,1,%Count%) do (
    echo [%%i] : !list[%%i]!
    echo [%%i] : !list[%%i]! -- "!listpath[%%i]!" >> "%LogFile%"     
)

(   
    ECHO.
    ECHO Total of [%EXT%] files(s^) : %Count% file(s^) that contains the string "%Word2Search%"
)>> "%LogFile%"
ECHO(
ECHO Total of [%EXT%] files(s) : %Count% file(s)
echo(
echo    Type the number of file that you want to explore 
echo(
echo        To save those files just hit 'S' 
set /p "Input="
For /L %%i in (1,1,%Count%) Do (
    If "%INPUT%" EQU "%%i" (
        Call :Explorer "!listpath[%%i]!"
    )
    IF /I "%INPUT%"=="S" (
        Call :CopyFiles
    )
)   
Goto:Display_Results
::**************************************************************
:Scanning <Word> <file>
mode con cols=75 lines=3
Cls & Color 0E
echo(
echo         Scanning for the string "%~1" on "%~2" ...
goto :eof
::*************************************************************
:Explorer <file>
explorer.exe /e,/select,"%~1"
Goto :EOF
::*************************************************************
:MakeCopy <Source> <Target>
If Not Exist "%~2\" MD "%~2\"
Copy /Y "%~1" "%~2\"
goto :eof
::*************************************************************
:CopyFiles
cls
mode con cols=80 lines=20
for /L %%i in (1,1,%Count%) do (
    echo Copying "!list[%%i]!" "%NewFolder2Copy%\"
    Call :MakeCopy  "!listpath[%%i]!" "%NewFolder2Copy%">nul 2>&1 
)
Call :Explorer "%NewFolder2Copy%\"
Goto:Display_Results
::*************************************************************

Answer 2

@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
SET "sourcedir=U:\sourcedir"
SET "destdir=U:\destdir"
SET "mystring=x"
FOR %%a IN ("%sourcedir%\*.txt") DO FINDSTR "%mystring%" "%%a">nul&IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 FINDSTR "%mystring%" "%%a">"%destdir%\%%~nxa"

GOTO :EOF

You would need to change the settings of sourcedir and destdir to suit your circumstances and set mystring appropriately, noting that you may have to adjust the findstr switches to accomodate case, literal and space-in-target-string.

Naturally, you could code sourcedir etc. directly as literals, but doing it this way means that the relevant strings need only be changed in one place.

Answer 3

You are close, but checking the ErrorLevel of findstr does not make sense here as this reflects the overall result, that is, ErrorLevel is set to 0 in case any of the files contain the search string.

I would parse the output of findstr /M using a for /F loop and copy the returned files in the body:

for /F "eol=| delims=" %%F in ('
    findstr /M /I /C:"X" "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\New_Folder\New_Folder\*.txt"
') do (
    copy "%%F" "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\New_Folder\"
)

This copies all those files which contain the literal search string (in a case-insensitive manner).