What does "!" around a variable name, as in

if !LINECNT!==TEST

mean?

                            Thanks, Alan

Try these batch files:
@echo off
set Number=
for /L %%a in (1,1,10) do (
  set Number=%%a
  echo Number=%Number%
)

@echo off
SetLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set Number=
for /L %%a in (1,1,10) do (
  set Number=%%a
  echo Number=!Number!
)

See the difference?

Yes.  But why?

In this batch file

@echo off
set Number=
for /L %%a in (1,1,10) do (
  set Number=%%a
  echo Number=%Number%
)

the following lines of code

for /L %%a in (1,1,10) do (
  set Number=%%a
  echo Number=%Number%
)

are treated as one single line of code. The command processor reads this
"single" line, then resolves its variables. Since the variable "%Number% is
set to "nothing" at the beginning, it remains at "nothing". To force a
rescan, you must do two things:
- You must enable "delayed expansion"
- You must replace the %Number% with !Number!.

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