Batch script : for /F does nothing after executing a command

Question

The goal of this script is to display every WiFi devices with their keys, from the computer's saved networks.

expected output :

<device_name1> : <key>
<device_name2> : <key>
<device_name3> : <key>
<device_name4> : <key>

This is the current script : (it displays only the first 4 characters of both the devices and the keys)

@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
goto :main


:getKey
for /F "tokens=2 delims=: usebackq" %%B in (`netsh wlan show profiles name=%1 key=clear ^| find "Key Content"`) do (
        set _clear_key=%%B
)
goto :eof


:main
for /F "tokens=2 delims=:" %%A in ('netsh wlan show profiles ^| find "User Profile"') do (
    set _profile_name=%%A
    set _profile_name=!_profile_name%:~1!
    
    set _clear_key=aaaaaaa
    
    call :getKey !_profile_name!
        
    echo !_profile_name%:~0,4! : !_clear_key%:~0,4!
)

pause
goto :eof

Current output :

Free : aaaa
TP-L : aaaa
Bbox : aaaa
...

I guess that the variable isn't correctly applied in the command and nothing is looped. However, I already used this syntax for other scripts and it should work.

I'm quite lost searching why this doesn't work T^T

---

• The command netsh wlan show profiles name=!_profile_name! key=clear | find "Key Content" works inside the first loop, but I can't interact with the key (Example below)

Free :
    Key Content            : v6v...
TP-L :
    Key Content            : 844...
Bbox :
    Key Content            : 7pf...
...

(script used)

@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
for /F "tokens=2 delims=:" %%A in ('netsh wlan show profiles ^| find "User Profile"') do (
    set _profile_name=%%A
    set _profile_name=!_profile_name%:~1!
    
    echo !_profile_name%:~0,4! :
    netsh wlan show profiles name=!_profile_name! key=clear | find "Key Content"
)
pause

• I already tried with and without usebackq for both "for /F" loops (and the other options)
• same with the :getKey part inside the first loop
• same with and without EnableDelayedExpansion (and using %var%, !var!, %1, %%B, %%K, ...)

I hope I haven't just made a dumb error. This project is not important so, please don't spend/waste too much time trying to solve my problem.

Answer 1

My issue has been solved thanks to @Hackoo in the comments of my original question.

I just didn't escape the = in the command netsh wlan show profiles name=%1 key=clear ^| find "Key Content"

Here's the final script if anyone wants it :

@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
goto :main

:getKey
for /F "tokens=2 delims=: usebackq" %%B in (`netsh wlan show profiles %1 key^=clear ^| find "Key Content"`) do (
        set _clear_key=%%B
        set _clear_key=!_clear_key:~1!
)
goto :eof

:main
for /F "tokens=2 delims=:" %%A in ('netsh wlan show profiles ^| find "User Profile"') do (
    set _profile_name=%%A
    set _profile_name=!_profile_name:~1!
    set _clear_key=No password
    
    call :getKey !_profile_name!
    
    echo !_profile_name:~0! : !_clear_key:~0!
)
pause
exit /b

Answer 2

The following batch file code can be used to get the WLAN key on PCs running English Windows:

@echo off
setlocal EnableExtensions DisableDelayedExpansion
for /F "tokens=1* delims=:" %%G in ('%SystemRoot%\System32\netsh.exe wlan show profiles 2^>nul ^| %SystemRoot%\System32\find.exe "User Profile"') do for /F "tokens=*" %%I in ("%%H") do for /F "tokens=1* delims=:" %%J in ('%SystemRoot%\System32\netsh.exe wlan show profiles name^="%%I" key^=clear ^| %SystemRoot%\System32\find.exe "Key Content"') do for /F "tokens=*" %%L in ("%%K") do echo Key for wlan %%I is: %%L
endlocal

cmd replaces all commas, semicolons, equal signs and no-break spaces by normal spaces in set of FOR on not being within a double quoted argument string. For that reason it is necessary to escape also all equal signs in set of third FOR with ^ to interpret them literally. This code works even for wlan network names and security keys containing a space, a colon or an exclamation mark.

For understanding the used commands and how they work, open a command prompt window, execute there the following commands, and read entirely all help pages displayed for each command very carefully.

• echo /?
• endlocal /?
• find /?
• for /?
• netsh /?
• netsh wlan /?
• netsh wlan show /?
• netsh wlan show profiles /?
• setlocal /?

Read the Microsoft documentation about Using command redirection operators for an explanation of 2>nul and |. The redirection operators > and | must be escaped with caret character ^ on FOR command line to be interpreted as literal characters when Windows command interpreter processes this command line before executing command FOR which executes the embedded command line in a separate command process started in background with %SystemRoot%\System32\cmd.exe /c and the command line within ' appended as additional arguments.