Setlocal

Article
04/18/2012

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista

Starts localization of environment variables in a batch file. Localization continues until a matching endlocal command is encountered or the end of the batch file is reached.

For examples of how to use this command, see Examples.

Syntax

setlocal [enableextensions | disableextensions] [enabledelayedexpansion | disabledelayedexpansion]

Arguments

Argument	Description
enableextensions	Enables the command extensions until the matching endlocal command is encountered, regardless of the setting before the setlocal command was run.
disableextensions	Disables the command extensions until the matching endlocal command is encountered, regardless of the setting before the setlocal command was run.
enabledelayedexpansion	Enables the delayed environment variable expansion until the matching endlocal command is encountered, regardless of the setting before the setlocal command was run.
disabledelayedexpansion	Disables the delayed environment variable expansion until the matching endlocal command is encountered, regardless of the setting before the setlocal command was run.
/?	Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

Using setlocal

When you use setlocal outside of a script or batch file, it has no effect.
Changing environmental variables

Use setlocal to change environment variables when you run a batch file. Environment changes made after you run setlocal are local to the batch file. The Cmd.exe program restores previous settings when it encounters an endlocal command or reaches the end of the batch file.
Nesting commands

You can have more than one setlocal or endlocal command in a batch program (that is, nested commands).
Testing for command extensions in batch files

The setlocal command sets the ERRORLEVEL variable. If you pass {enableextensions | disableextensions} or {enabledelayedexpansion | disabledelayedexpansion}, the ERRORLEVEL variable is set to 0 (zero). Otherwise, it is set to 1. You can use this information in batch scripts to determine whether the extensions are available, as shown in the following example:
```
setlocal enableextensions
verify other 2>nul
if errorlevel 1 echo Unable to enable extensions
```
Because cmd does not set the ERRORLEVEL variable when command extensions are disabled, the verify command initializes the ERRORLEVEL variable to a nonzero value when you use it with an invalid argument. Also, if you use the setlocal command with arguments {enableextensions | disableextensions} or {enabledelayedexpansion | disabledelayedexpansion} and it does not set the ERRORLEVEL variable to 1, command extensions are not available.

Examples

You can localize environment variables in a batch file, as shown in the following sample script:

rem *******Begin Comment**************
rem This program starts the superapp batch program on the network,
rem directs the output to a file, and displays the file
rem in Notepad.
rem *******End Comment**************
@echo off
setlocal
path=g:\programs\superapp;%path%
call superapp>c:\superapp.out
endlocal
start notepad c:\superapp.out

Additional references

Command-Line Syntax Key

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