batch file use parameter and string to create path - variables

Question

I know there's a ton of stuff out there on this but I just can't make it work. What I want to do is
#ECHO OFF
FOR /D %%D IN (*) Do (
ECHO %%D
if not exists %%D.mp4 (
rem cd %%D
rem "C:\Program Files\Handbrake\HandBrakeCLI.exe" -i "VIDEO_TS" -o "..\%%D.mp4" --preset="High Profile" --x264-preset slow
echo not exists
)
rem cd ..\
)
I left the extra stuff in there so you could see that I actually need the /D rather than a /R. basically I'm converting the VIDEO_TS folder that is in an other folder into an mp4 of the parents name and putting it in the root.
the problem is checking if the file already exists. I can't figure out how to create a path that "exists" will recognize out of the var %%D and the suffix .mp4
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
R

Answer 1

There are two errors here
The keyword is EXIST, not EXISTS.
You need to enclose the variable in double-quotes, due to spaces in filenames.
Example:
#ECHO OFF
FOR /D %%D IN (*) DO (
ECHO %%D
IF NOT EXIST "%%D.mp4" (
ECHO not exists
)
)
Further, if you uncomment those other lines, you'll have issues because the cd .. is not at the same branching level as the cd "%%D" (note I added double-quotes here). You should move that into the IF block.
However, instead of changing directory, you could simply pass "%%D\VIDEO_TS" to Handbrake.
FOR /D %%D IN (*) DO (
IF NOT EXIST "%%D.mp4" (
echo Encoding %%D ...
"C:\Program Files\Handbrake\HandBrakeCLI.exe" -i "%%D\VIDEO_TS" -o "%%D.mp4" --preset="High Profile" --x264-preset slow
)
)
Or you could use pushd and popd:
FOR /D %%D IN (*) DO (
pushd .
IF NOT EXIST "%%D.mp4" (
cd "%%D"
echo Encoding %%D ...
"C:\Program Files\Handbrake\HandBrakeCLI.exe" -i "VIDEO_TS" -o "..\%%D.mp4" --preset="High Profile" --x264-preset slow
)
popd
)