PATH System Variable

Windows 10 uses a PATH system variable to track the paths for programs that can been then be referenced in command prompt. So, when you want to run python scripts in command prompt you want to confirm that when the 'python' command is referenced, Windows will know where to find it.

1. Search for Advanced System Settings.

2. The Systems Properties dialog box will open. On the Advanced tab, click on 'Environmental Variables'.

3. Click to enter a new system variable.

4. Enter the path of the executable and its name for Windows.

certutil command to generate hash values for multiple files

The Tip of the Night for December 5, 2015, discussed how to use the certutil command in Windows to generate a hash value for a specific file. You can also use the below script, first posted here, to generate a list of hash values for multiple files in a single folder

for %F in (*) do @certutil -hashfile "%F" MD5 | find /v "hashfile command completed successfully" >>list.txt

After entering command prompt, use the cd command to change the directory to the folder containing the files you need to process. Simply enter this script and then press return. A new file will be generated like this:

certutil can also generate SHA1 and SHA256 hash values. Sadly, this script as written will not give you the hash values for the files saved in subdirectories.

windows command to extract data from specific columns in a .csv file

You can use a Windows command to extract data from specified columns in a .csv file.

In this format:

for /F "tokens=2,3,4,5,6 delims=," %i in (Fielding.csv) do @echo %i,%j,%k,%l,%m >> output.csv

. . . the tokens specify the numbers of the columns from which data should be extracted. The script specifies the file to pull data from and at the end lists an output file.

Open command prompt in the folder containing the source file. Enter this script and press return. A new .csv file will be generated that contains data from just five of the columns from the source file.

Note that this will not work if you try to select data beyond the 31st column in the .csv file.