Batch File to look at specific location in txt files

Question

Is there a way to have at batch file look at a specific line and location from a text file and pull it for use in the batch file?  For example, line 1 of sample.txt position ~15,8.
I'm currently using the Find command(FIND /C "" *.TXT) but would like to be more specific in search.

Answer 1

From a command line prompt, type 'help set' and look at environment variable expansion. Read the part that says "May also specify substrings for an expansion." It shows an example that uses ~10,5 to start at offset 10 and get the next 5 characters. Of course,
this means that you will need to you will need to loop through each line. Use the FOR command; type 'help for' and start reading from "Some examples might help." It shows how you can parse a text file:
FOR /F %%i IN (myfile.txt) do @echo %%i
In a batch file, use two percent signs. At the command line, use one percent sign. 
After the 'do' in the FOR command, you can use a CALL :Someprocedurename %%i, which would pass the line from the file into a sub and you can use the SET command to parse it.
The Help mentions Command Extensions. At command prompt, type 'help setlocal' and read about ENABLEEXTENSIONS. At the bottom of the Help, they give you an example of how to add this to a batch file. You will need this to use the SET command to parse lines
from the file.
If you want to save the output, use the redirects, > or >> (create output file or append to output, respectively). Use the same for HELP output: help for > for-help.txt. In your line parser, you would do something more like this:
[code]
:ParseLine
@echo %1 >> outputfile.txt
exit /b
GoTo :Eof
[end code]
To exit a sub, use either exit /b or goto :eof. Exit will allow you to return a value or error code. Goto :eof simply goes to end of file and returns control to the caller (in our case the FOR command). Of course, you can type 'help exit' to learn more.
Outside of a subroutine, exit will end the batch file script and return to command prompt. This can be useful when you call this batch file from another script, but if you are starting it from Windows you may want to keep the command prompt open to show user
the results or simply tell them to look at the output file.
You can find good samples on Rob Van Der Woude's website.
http://www.robvanderwoude.com/batchstart.php
A major geek...