CMD file will not run my command in the else block - batch-file

I'm writing a CMD script to execute a Java program. The program requires at least one argument so I created an if else block to check that argument one %1 is not blank. When I run the script without providing argument one I get the expected you must provide an argument to run. But when I do provide the argument the program does not execute. Additionally if I don't have #echo off set, the entire script prints out as text in the window when I do provide the proper argument.
Here's the full script:
set APP_HOME=C:\Temp\Hammer
rem Set APP_HOME to the place where you installed Hammer
if ["%1"] == [""] (
echo you must provide a python script to run
) else (
java -cp %APP_HOME%\lib\jython.jar;%APP_HOME%\lib\hammer.jar;%CLASSPATH% bridenstine.hammer.main.Main %1 %2
)
I think this is a problem with the script and not the program itself because when I run the line that's in the else block by itself without the script,
java -cp C:\Temp\Hammer\lib\jython.jar;C:\Temp\Hammer\lib\hammer.jar;%CLASSPATH% bridenstine.hammer.main.Main argument1
The program executes normally. I've been looking at example scripts and cross referencing this site for CMD files and what I have seems to be valid. Do I have a syntax error?
Update:
I'm running the script like so,
cd C:\Temp\Hammer
bin\ProgramScript.cmd argument1
Update 2:
Someone pointed out that when they run this script they get an error message saying Java is not recognized as an internal or external command (the expected message when Java is not set on their PATH) But they made a good point that this means the script is in fact getting inside the else block. I then pointed out the following,
After I run the script with a valid argument it prints out the entire script as text on the command prompt. I am then able to mark the line from inside the else statement (that was printed), copy it, paste it, and it runs the program fine. So the Java command seems to be valid. But you make a good point that the script is obviously getting inside the else block...something is still going wrong here and it doesn't seem to be the program.
Note:
If relevant I am using Windows 8.1 and I am using the standard command prompt, not one that has administrative privileges (the results remained the same regardless of using a command prompt with administrative privileges).

I suggest to use
set APP_HOME=C:\Temp\Hammer
rem Set APP_HOME to the place where you installed Hammer.
if "%~1"=="" (
echo You must provide a Python script to run.
pause
) else (
java.exe -cp "%APP_HOME%\lib\jython.jar;%APP_HOME%\lib\hammer.jar;%CLASSPATH%" bridenstine.hammer.main.Main %*
)
It is always better to enclose an argument string in double quotes if it contains environment variables like CLASSPATH which might have a string value containing 1 or more spaces.
%* is expanded by all arguments passed to the batch file as argument, i.e. %1 %2 ...
It is best to always specify an application like java with full path and file extension as otherwise Windows has to search for a file with a file extension as defined in environment variable PATHEXT in current working directory and all directories defined in environment variable PATH. At least the file extension should be in the batch file if the program files directory of the application varies.

I can only offer a suggestion; I've not tried this.
I would try escaping each ; with a caret ^ thus:
java -cp %APP_HOME%\lib\jython.jar^;%APP_HOME%\lib\hammer.jar^;%CLASSPATH% bridenstine.hammer.main.Main %1 %2
(But I'll admit it's clutching at straws...)

You are missing you she-bang at the top of the script
#!/bin/bash

Related

Batch Scripting percent tilde string and starting a process syntax understanding

I need help with understanding the following Batch script structure:
This is named Profile_something_schedule.bat
call somePath\lib.cmd :someLabel reqPath
call somePath\lib.cmd :someLabel reqKey
%reqPath% "%~someFileName" /vv_pwd=%reqKey% /bProfile_something_schedule /min
I have a lot of difficulty understanding why this script works.
I do not know why the 3rd line is valid. The behavior produced is that the someFileName is run. I understand it as starting the file as a process. Then why isn't the start command needed? I don't see any batch documentation saying you can simply run a file by writing its pathed filename.
I do not understand the syntax of "%~someFileName". From online searching about it almost every source shows you the batch call parameter table, saying things like %~1 expands %1..., %~f1 expands %1 some other way, etc. All of them involve some kind of number from 0 to 9 to correspond to the parameter position. However, I cannot find any specification of %~someString being legal. There is no parameter positional information from the someFileName string, it is a filename.extension string. Still, it is quite likely this line is trying to run this format.
What does "/vv_pwd=%reqKey% /bProfile_something_schedule" mean? In the lib.cmd that was called previously, there were variables reqPath and reqKey and I am quite certain it is trying to pass the value of reqPath and reqKey from the lib.cmd into the variables here and then I guess it is trying to use the reqKey value as a parameter, which is a password required to run the file.
Inspecting the file, it contains some script of some paid software specific format, it only has variable name v_pwd inside but not vv_pwd. I do not know what the /bProfile_... is for. The part without the /b is exactly this batch file's name. But together with the /b I don't know what it means. The /v and /b look like some kind of options to me but I cannot see any specification explaining as there is no command beginning line 3 just some path. I guess the /min option refers to starting window minimized which is an option for the command start, yet there is no option of /v. The /B in start means to start application without creating window, which is quite unnecessary to have /min if you are not going to create a window in the first place. And it doesn't make sense to use /B directly followed by some string of Profile_something_Schedule.
FYI, the lib.cmd starts with call %*, which I would consider as trying to call all passed parameters and assuming those parameters are actually batch files that can be called.
Another thought I have is that the 2nd line call connects with the 3rd line so the 3rd line may not need a command. But I can't make sense of it. The someFileName is not of the Batch extension so I doubt it can be called as the call doc says it is for batch programs. If I want to run non-batch programs I need to use start right?
Would greatly appreciate your help!
The variable pathext contains a semicolon-separated list of executable filenames that may be appended as an extension to myexecutable. if the first string on a batch line is not a cmd internal command (like set, for etc.) then cmd tries to find myexecutable + each of the extensions in pathext in turn, first in the current directory, and then in each directory in the path (another semicolon-separated list of directories) and runs the first name found, or fails if none are found. That first string may also have an Associated extension, which then runs the application with which the extension is associated (like .txt runs notepad by default)
Neither do I, and I can't see that even knowing what the actual strings being executed by %reqPath% are would assist. See for /? from the prompt for more documentation on other ~ operators - or search SO for thousands of uses.
vv_pwd=%reqKey% : %reqKey% is replaced by the value of the variable reqKey evidently returned by the previous line. / is used in Windows to mean "here's a switch parameter for the executable", so evidently /vv_pwd=[the contents of reqKey], /bProfile_something_schedule and /min mean something to the executable %reqPath%. Quite what is anyone's guess.
The fact that lib.cmd's first line is call %* would mean that lib.cmd contains a library of routines. Since each call you have shown is of the form :string1 string2 then the resultant command executed would be call :string1 string2. call :string1 will call the routine contained within "lib.cmd" with the label string1: supplying string2 (and presumably optionally string2 string3... as parameters. Evidently, string2 is the name of the variable into which lib.cmd places the required data.
Without the :, string1 would be any executable that cmd can locate using the method in (1). It does not have to be a batch, but commonly is a batch.

how to determine name of an exe file using wild card character and execute that file in cmd/batch file

I have a project which builds an application and whenever it builds the application the names it generates are like this MyApp1.1.exe, myapp1.2.exe, myApp,1.3.exe etc. I would like to deploy the application in another environment whenever there is a new build. But the problem is that I'm using the following in command in the batch script, which is is keep throwing me an error
MyApp1.*.exe
But it always throws an error in the command line saying that 'MyApp1.*.exe' is not recognized as internal or external command, operable program or batch file. I know that this should be very simple but I could not seem to find any solution
cmd, which is used to run batch-files, requires that you run for loops to do something for each item. You therefore need to give for some criteria and it will return the list based on that. You can then do something with these metavariables.
#echo off
for %%i in (MyApp*.*.exe) do echo start "" "%%~i"
For the purpose of this demonstration, I am not actually running the executable's, instead I just echo the full command. If you feel that it is suitable for this purpose, then simpy remove echo from the echo start "".. section.

Is it possible to run two batch files from Jenkins?

I have the following case. In jenkins I have one build which is running on different envoironments. That's why I have build with parameters with two options PROD/TEST. The build is invoking shell script with parameter PROD or TEST.
Here is example of the script A which jenkins is invoking:
if %1%==TEST(
start F:\test.bat
)
The script A itself is invoking another script - B.
Here is example of script B:
copy test.xt copyFolder\
The problem is that Jenkins only invoking the first script - A - and the second script B doesn't run.
Why does this happen?
You will need to call the batch file, not start it because it creates a new cmd.exe instance, so it can run a called batch file asynchronously (as mentioned by jeb here):
if "%~1" == "TEST" (
call F:\test.bat
)
Here, I want to note some things:
%1% will be interpreted as the first argument of the batch file (if any) and an extra percent-sign (%). You probably wanted here the first argument, so I have replaced %1% with %1. If it is not this what you wanted, then replace it with your variable name, but remember that it should not start with a number!
%1 was replaced by %~1 and quoted because:
%~1 means the first argument without any surrounding quotes.
Quoting the values in an if statement is always the best practice, but if there were quotes, the comparison would fail.
Added a space between ==, just to make the code clearer.
For an one-liner, see aschipfl's comment, it is:
if /I "%~1"=="TEST" (call "F:\test.bat")
See call /? and if /? in cmd for more information about how these commands work.

Escape characters of a file path argument for a batch file

I was making a batch file to take dragged-and-dropped folders for program input. Everything was working fine until I passed a folder, which for the sake of this post, called foo&bar.
Checking what %1 contained inside the batch file looked like C:\path\to\foo or C:\path\to\foo\foo. If the file path were in quotes it would work, so the only working code that slightly takes this into effect is :
set arg1=%1
cd %arg1%*
set arg1="%CD%"
Which changes directory to the passed argument using wildcards. However this only works once for if there is another folder with un-escaped characters inside the parent folder, passing the child folder would result in the parent folders' value.
I tried the answer of this post, which suggests to output the argument using a remark and redirection statement during an #echo on sequence. However no progress occurred in rectifying the problem. Any suggestions?
To recap, I am looking for ways to pass folders with un-escaped characters as arguments to a batch file. The implementation should preferably be in a batch file, but answers using VBScript are welcome. However the starting program must be in batch as this is the only program of the 3 that accepts files as arguments.
To test this, create a batch file with following code:
#echo off
set "arg1=%~1"
echo "the passed path was %arg1%"
pause
Then create folders called foobar and foo&bar. Drag them onto the batch file to see their output. foo&bar will only return C:\path\to\foo.
OK, so the problem is that Explorer is passing this as the command line to cmd.exe:
C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /c ""C:\path\test.bat" C:\path\foo&bar"
The outermost quotes get stripped, and the command becomes
"C:\working\so46635563\test.bat" C:\path\foo&bar
which cmd.exe interprets similarly to
("C:\working\so46635563\test.bat" C:\path\foo) & bar
i.e., bar is considered to be a separate command, to be run after the batch file.
The best solution would be to drag-and-drop not directly onto the batch file but onto, say, a vbscript or a Powershell script or a plain old executable. That script could then run the batch file, either quoting the argument appropriately or putting the directory path into an environment variable rather than on the command line.
Alternatively, you can retrieve the original command string from %CMDCMDLINE% like this:
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set "dirname=!CMDCMDLINE!"
set "dirname=%dirname:&=?%"
set "dirname=%dirname:" =*%"
set "dirname=%dirname:"=*%"
set "dirname=%dirname: =/%"
for /F "tokens=3 delims=*" %%i in ("%dirname%") do set dirname=%%i
set "dirname=%dirname:/= %"
set "dirname=%dirname:?=&%"
set dirname
pause
exit
Note the exit at the end; that is necessary so that cmd.exe doesn't try to run bar when it reaches the end of the script. Otherwise, if the part of the directory name after the & happens to be a valid command, it could cause trouble.
NB: I'm not sure how robust this script is.
I've tested it with the most obvious combinations, but YMMV. [It might be more sensible to use delayed expansion exclusively, I'm not sure. It doesn't seem to be necessary except in the first set command. Jeb's answer here might be a better choice if you're going this route.]
For the curious, the script works like this:
Load the original command line into dirname [necessary for the reason pointed out by jeb]
Replace all the & characters with ?
Replace all the quote marks with *
If a quote mark is followed by a space, suppress the space.
NB: it is necessary to suppress the space to deal with both the case where the path contains a space (in which case Explorer adds quote marks around it) and the case where it doesn't.
Replace all remaining spaces with /
NB: ? * and / are illegal in file names, so these replacements are safe.
At this point the string looks like this:
C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe//c/**C:\path\test.bat**C:\path\foo?bar**
So we just need to pull out the third asterisk-delimited element, turn any forward slashes back into spaces and any question marks back into ampersands, and we're done. Phew!

Stupid Batch File Behavior. Tries to execute comments

I have tried prefixing lines with semicolons, 'REM', etc.. but no matter what when I run my batch file I keep getting "unknown command REM whatever"
"REM test" It is not recognized, and it is windows vista. I simply get "rem" output back to my console.
That's entirely normal behavior. Batch files are simply sequences of commands that are run one after another. So every line will get output to the console as if it were typed there.
H:\>echo rem test > test.cmd
H:\>test
yields the output
H:\>rem test
as if I typed rem test directly to the console.
You can suppress this by either prefixing the line with #:
#rem test
or by including echo off in the batch file:
#echo off
rem test
If I put ":: test" and execute it I get back "Test".
Can't reproduce here.
If I put "; test" it recursively executes itself
A semicolon at the start of the line seemingly gets ignored.
If you're talking about cmd.exe batch files under Windows, you can use:
rem this method or
:: this method.
For bash and a lot of other UNIX-type shells, you use:
# this method.
I'm pretty certain you're not using cmd.exe since that would give you an error like:
'rem' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
rather then:
Unknown command ...
If you are using a UNIX-type shell, the # character is almost certainly what you're after. If you let us know exactly the shell you're using, we can probably help out further.
you probably created an UNICODE file. These files contain 2 bytes header named BOM
which is not shown by any editor but cmd attempts to execute them and fails.
To make sure this is indeed an issue: type any other command at the very beginning
of your file and see it throws the same error - for example #echo test
To fix it, just create a new plain text file and copy content of the original file there.
then remove the original file and replace it by the newly created one.
In my case the problems are line endings. Somehow Maven or the Jenkins pipeline running on a Linux machine changed the line endings from Windows style (CR LF) to Unix style (LF). Changing them back solves the issue for me.

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