escape double quotes in a variable when using echo|set /p=

Question

echo|set /p= can output a variable without a newline.

I am trying to loop a text file like this

for /f %%a in (zen.txt) do (
    set var=%%a
    echo !var!
    echo|set /p=!var!
)

There are some lines with only one ", for example:

"he said...

echo outputs the line like above correctly while echo|set /p= output nothing.

Is it possible to escape double quotes in a variable when using echo|set /p=.

Answer 1

We will need to provide set/p with additional quotes to consume. You can try with something like (without the test file creation, of course)

@echo off
    setlocal enableextensions disabledelayedexpansion

    rem TESTING - Create a input file
    >zen.txt (
        echo "He said...
        echo It was not me!
        echo It was "the thing"!
        echo ...
        echo ^& it was all"  ( The end )
    )

    for /f "delims=" %%a in (zen.txt) do (
        <nul set /p="%%a "
    )

echo|set /p simulates a return key press to terminate the set/p prompt, but it creates separate cmd instances for each side of the pipe making it slow. A <nul input redirection is enough to get the same result but faster and with less resources usage.