Batch File to Execute All Files (or at least all URLs) in a Folder

I have a folder containing these files:

Code:

Bruschetta Duet Recipe - Quick From Scratch Italian Food & Wine.URL
Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs Recipe How to Make It.URL
269 Chicken & Bacon Roll-Ups.URL

Yeah, I'm hungry.
What would be the desired syntax to automatically open all URLs in a specified folder? I think it would be something like this:

Code:

for /r %%A in (*) do "start Firefox *.url"

but I'm not sure about the format or punctuation in the Firefox part.

I tried that and some variations, like this:

Code:

for /f "usebackq delims=" %%A in ('dir /b "W:\URLs\*.url"') do ("%ProgramFiles%\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" "%%A")

These persist in opening files like this in the browser:

Code:

file:///C:/WINDOWS/system32%00/dir%20/b%20W:/URLs/*.url

What do you suppose that's all about?

Matthew, thank you for that suggestion. Unfortunately, it did not seem to do anything. I tried this modification:

Code:

set "Folder=W:\URLs"
for /F "tokens=*" %%# in ('"dir /b "%Folder%\*.url"') do (
  PowerShell [System.IO.File]::ReadLines^('"%Folder%\%%#"'^)^|^
  %%{if^($_ -match 'URL='^){$URL=$_ -replace 'URL=','';start Firefox.lnk $URL}}
)

I deleted @echo off, at least for the moment, so I could see what was happening. I simplified the reference to Firefox by citing Firefox.lnk, which exists in C:\Windows. I thought I detected a miscount on quotation marks in the for line, so I corrected (if that's the right word) those, so now they match.

I try to avoid PowerShell because, like a good woman, it can do a lot, but most of the time I really have no idea exactly what it is doing, much less how it will all turn out.

Despite these precautions, in batch scripting and also in life, I still find that nothing really works. Open to further ideas. In both spheres.

raywood said:

Code:

set "Folder=W:\URLs"
for /F "tokens=*" %%# in ('"dir /b "%Folder%\*.url"') do (
  PowerShell [System.IO.File]::ReadLines^('"%Folder%\%%#"'^)^|^
  %%{if^($_ -match 'URL='^){$URL=$_ -replace 'URL=','';start Firefox.lnk $URL}}
)

The path of Firefox is missing from your above code.
Please run the batch script attached below and post the output.

👉 Visit_the_URLs - testing.bat

raywood said:

I simplified the reference to Firefox by citing Firefox.lnk

You have to use the full path.

raywood said:

I try to avoid PowerShell because, like a good woman, it can do a lot, but most of the time I really have no idea exactly what it is doing, much less how it will all turn out.

I can explain what it is doing if you are interested to know.

Many thanks for the replies. Yes, I am often this slow to realize that someone has been talking to me.

To refine something I said earlier, my problem with PowerShell (in my limited attempts to date) is that it seems one must master it before one can use it, because it has so many exceptions to everything. Not sure that's fair; that's just a working impression. So batch it is, at least for me, at least for now.

I tried topgundcp's batch suggestion. It works. It's exactly what the doctor ordered: I drag URLs from the browser to the specified folder; I run the batch file; and those URLs open in separate tabs in Firefox.

It works even though some kind of Windows bug is preventing me from opening those URLs in that folder by double-clicking on them.

Problem solved. Notable improvement in functionality. Many thanks!