title: What is the reason for "( was unexpected at this time." on an IF command line with %var%?
body: <p>When I start the batch file as posted below, I got this error 
  <strong>( was unexpected at this time.</strong><br>
  I think this happens on the <strong>IF</strong> command line <code>if %ad%==60 (</code> but I am not sure.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>( was unexpected at this time.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <pre><code>@echo off
  color 0f
  title TITLE
  mode con cols=50 lines=25
  set ad = 0
  
  set s = 0
  set m = 0
  set h = 0
  set d = 0
  
  if exist start.txt (
      del start.txt
      goto :1
  ) else (
      exit
  )
  :1
  if %ad%==60 (
  :: Something here
  set ad = 0
  )
  
  :: MINUTES
  if %s%==60 (
  set /a m=m+1
  set s = 0
  )
  :: HOURS
  if %m%==60 (
  set /a h=h+1
  set m = 0
  )
  :: DAYS
  if %h%==24 (
  set /a d=d+1
  set h = 0
  )
  
  cls
  echo Something here...
  timeout 1 &gt; nul
  set /a ad=ad+1
  set /a s=s+1
  goto :1
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What could be the reason for this error message on execution of the batch file?</p>