Assoc command not working in Windows 7 - batch-file

I am having a need where I want to change the default associated program for a particular file extension from the command prompt. The file that I have is of an extension .ChangeSetInfo which is basically an xml file. I want to associate "Xml Notepad 2007" as the default program for this type of extension. For that I have written a small batch file. The content is as follows
assoc .CHANGESETINFO=
ftype CHANGESETINFO File=
assoc .CHANGESETINFO=CHANGESETINFO File
ftype CHANGESETINFO File="C:\Program Files\XML Notepad 2007\XmlNotepad.exe"
When I execute this batch file then it seems that everything is working fine as I am not getting any error message. But after that when I double click on the file with extension .ChangeSetInfo then the xmlnotepad program is launched but the file is not getting open. But the file is shown properly if I use the File Open option from the Xml Notepad window.
Can somebody please help me on this?
I am using Windows 7 Professional Service Pack 1. I am also using the administrator account on this system.

If you use assoc .doc on your system, it should return something like Word.Document.8. Typing ftype Word.Document.8 produces something like
Word.Document.12="C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\WINWORD.EXE" /n "%1" /o /o "%u"
The "%1" indicates that it should open the file passed as the first parameter on the command line. The quotes around it make sure that any embedded spaces in that filename are not interpreted as command separators.
Therefore, the solution to your issue would be to change the ftype statement to do the same:
ftype CHANGESETINFO File="C:\Program Files\XML Notepad 2007\XmlNotepad.exe" "%1"
As a note: If it were me, I'd change both assoc and ftype to use ChangeSetInfoFile, both because it's easier to read and to remove the embedded space between "CHANGESETINFO" and "File".

Related

Why does my IrfanView command not work on batch file but work when typing directly in CMD?

I'm a first-day user of IrfanView and have a question. I have a bunch of multi-page tiff files and I want to split all of them individually. So I write a batch file with the command like this:
C:\Program Files\IrfanView>i_view64.exe D:\originaldirectory\filename1.tif /extract=(D:\newdirectory,tif)
C:\Program Files\IrfanView>i_view64.exe D:\originaldirectory\filename2.tif /extract=(D:\newdirectory,tif)
...and so on...
I put the batch file on D drive, let's say in folder "batchfolder". But it can't do the job, this message shows up for each unsuccessful case (all of them were unsuccessful):
D:\batchfolder>C:\Program Files\IrfanView D:\originaldirectory\filename1.tif /extract=(D:\newdirectory,tif) 1>i_view64.exe
'C:\Program' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
I guess that has something to do with the batch file location, so I bring it to C drive. But still it can't run properly, this time a different message shows up:
C:\>C:\Program Files\IrfanView D:\originaldirectory\filename1.tif /extract=(D:\newdirectory,tif) 1>i_view64.exe
Access is denied.
This C:\>C:\ makes me think maybe the C:\ part on the batch file was redundant. So I take it out to make it look like this:
Program Files\IrfanView>i_view64.exe D:\originaldirectory\filename1.tif /extract=(D:\newdirectory,tif)
...
But it doesn't work, either with the batch file on D or C drive.
I then try to type it directly in the CMD window and it works normally, like this:
C:\Program Files\IrfanView>i_view64.exe D:\originaldirectory\filename1.tif /extract=(D:\newdirectory,tif)
Can you tell where my batch file goes wrong?
This is another question. Typing (or copy and paste) the batch file contents into the CMD works OK. But upon successful splitting, the original, multi-image file automatically opens. How can I deactivate this feature?
Note: Cross-post here: https://irfanview-forum.de/showthread.php?t=11150&p=47111#post47111. Hope it doesn't violate policy.
enclose paths/filenames with spaces into quotes to tell the interpreter, it's not two words, but one string (or even better: get used to always enclose path/filenames):
"C:\Program Files\IrfanView\i_view64.exe" "D:\originaldirectory\filename1.tif" /extract=("D:\newdirectory",tif)`
Before you build a batchfile with dozends or hundreds of nearly identical lines, use a for loop to process all .tif files in the folder:
#echo off
for %%a in ("D:\originaldirectory\*.tif") do (
"C:\Program Files\IrfanView\i_view64.exe" "%%~fa" /extract=("D:\newdirectory",tif)
)
see for /? for more information.
You need to call the executable with quotes in the batch. Also, the > in the path will not work either. Also consider using a for loop instead of creating single batch lines.
Please try this:
"C:\Program Files\IrfanView\i_view64.exe" "D:\originaldirectory\filename1.tif" /extract=("D:\newdirectory",tif)

Deciphering "Make EXE from BAT" Script written by Jason Faulker

I came across a way to convert my .bat with dependencies on tool to an .exe file. However when I try using the script and run the .exe created, I always getting an error. Seems I modified the script incorrectly.
Anyone can help, please?
Here's the code with my modifications:
#ECHO OFF
ECHO Make EXE From BAT
ECHO Written by: Jason Faulkner
ECHO SysadminGeek.com
ECHO.
ECHO.
REM Usage:
MakeExeFromBat BatFileToConvert -bat MyProgram.bat
REM
REM Required Parameters:
BatFileToConvert -save MyProgram
REM Source batch file to use to produce the output Exe file.
REM
REM Optional Parameters:
IncludeFile -include Tool.exe
REM Additional files to include in the Exe file.
REM You can include external tools used by the batch file so they are available on the executing machine.
SETLOCAL
REM Configuration (no quotes needed):
SET PathTo7Zip=C:\Desktop\
REM ---- Do not modify anything below this line ----
SET OutputFile="%~n1.exe"
SET SourceFiles="%TEMP%\MakeEXE_files.txt"
SET Config="%TEMP%\MakeEXE_config.txt"
SET Source7ZFile="%Temp%\MakeEXE.7z"
REM Remove existing files
IF EXIST %OutputFile% DEL %OutputFile%
REM Build source archive
ECHO "%~dpnx1" > %SourceFiles%
:AddInclude
IF {%2}=={} GOTO EndInclude
ECHO "%~dpnx2" >> %SourceFiles%
SHIFT /2
GOTO AddInclude
:EndInclude
"%PathTo7Zip%\7za.exe" a %Source7ZFile% #%SourceFiles%
REM Build config file
ECHO ;!#Install#!UTF-8! > %Config%
ECHO RunProgram="%~nx1" >> %Config%
ECHO ;!#InstallEnd#! >> %Config%
REM Build EXE
COPY /B "%PathTo7Zip%\7zsd.sfx" + %Config% + %Source7ZFile% %OutputFile%
REM Clean up
IF EXIST %SourceFiles% DEL %SourceFiles%
IF EXIST %Config% DEL %Config%
IF EXIST %Source7ZFile% DEL %Source7ZFile%
ENDLOCAL
This doesn't really convert a bat file to an exe. It just creates a selfextracting archive (exe) which contains the bat file. On execution it extracts the file to a temporary folder and runs it from there. You can even extract the bat from the exe just by using 7zip/rar/winzip or any other archiver.
If you want to convert a bat to an exe for real you should use one of the tools from the web (like this one: http://www.f2ko.de/index.php?lang=en) or concider using a simple script language like AutoIt.
If you pick the second, you can simply execute your bat code with Run("put your bat code in here") and you can compile your script to a "real" exe file.
For an alternative approach, you can basically do the same thing as described in the accepted answer (making a 7z-SFX) with WinRAR. That way, you can also do it with a GUI, and I will try to add some more useful information.
Actually, you can also use the latter approach to generate portable applications and it also works with "converting" every runnable (or openable) file into an .exe.
If you need that "portability hack", you should unpack your .exe or .msi installer with Universal Extractor. Details can be found in this Article, Step 1 to 4. Newer Versions of 7zip or WinRAR also come with comparable features.
Now you add all needed files to the archive. In the easiest case, this is just your .bat script or whatever file you want to "convert" into an .exe applivation. (Step 5 here)
Steps 6 and 7 are just some Settings for the SFX-Archive, 8 is the interesting one, as you select what you actually want to run there. Input the name of your (.bat-)file.
Step 9 lets you select where to unpack to - you do this setting manually and programmatically in the MakeExeFromBat.bat-script.
After this process you created a Portable App in SFX archiever form, enjoy
The word "converting" was put into quotation marks, because running that .exe actually works like this:
The contents of the (SFX-)EXE file are extracted from the "archive part" to a directory as the specified temp directory.
( The config file generated by the script is read. )
The file, that was previously contained in the EXE file and then extracted, is now executed in a new window.
a) This file could besides a .bat be anything - as e.g. an image, a MP3 or a video
b) or also a Python Script (of course your OS needs to know how to deal with that file.
Once finished, the temp files are removed.
You can also derive some limitations from that. If you have a .bat that needs the content of the working directory, you will have a problem. (Say, a batch that renames all files in the current dir from 1 to n.) In some cases that can be dealt with by adding all needed files to the archive too. On Windows Vista and all newer OSes, you might encounter a message box after the script is run. After selecting ‘This program installed correctly’, the message box will not be displayed in the future for this file. Because the EXE file launches in a new window, the typical way of logging output (using the > char) will not work as expected. In order to log the output, you would need to handle this natively in your source script.
All references were already linked, but once again: Big credit goes to Jason Faulkner for providing the Article and 7zip-Approach, binbert for the WinRAR-SFX Solution (which is as hinted much more versatile -> portability) and some credit to creative8 for finding the two and the article comparing them.
Actually, I was develping another solution using AutoHotkey. In my case, I just want to be able to add my .bat to the windows start menu - but the options are not limited to that.
The script itself is just a oneliner and .AHK is easily converted to .exe (I used v1.1.33.09):
run % SubStr(A_ScriptName, 1, -4) ;// run also has the option to run your file minimized or hidden, see the source 2 below
Source 2
What it does is taking its own name, removing the .ahk or .exe respectively (the last 4 characters, hence -4) and running excactly that. Usage could not be easier: you have a runme.bat, so you rename the program I provide to runme.bat.exe. Say you want the .exe to open an image.png - guess what, rename it to image.png.exe. You get the gist - that's it. It dynamically checks its name to find what to run. In my opinion, this is not much less mighty than "unpacking the .bat and then run it", but (again imho) it is much more elegant.
Use it as you wish, I should probably start a public github page or so.

How to create batch file?

I need to run the below command from command prompt. How do i make it a batch file so that I do not have to type the whole command again?
c:\program files (x86)\microsoft ajax Minifier\ajaxmin.exe c:\css\reset.css c:\css\main-styles.css c:\css\lightbox.css c:\css\shortcodes.css c:\css\custom-fonts.css c:\css\custom-colors.css c:\css\admin_menu.min.css -out c:\css\mc.css -clobber
Add the >"file.bat" echo to the start of the command to create a simple batch file.
Quotes around paths and filenames with spaces and & characters are needed too.
>"file.bat" echo "c:\program files (x86)\microsoft ajax Minifier\ajaxmin.exe" c:\css\reset.css c:\css\main-styles.css c:\css\lightbox.css c:\css\shortcodes.css c:\css\custom-fonts.css c:\css\custom-colors.css c:\css\admin_menu.min.css -out c:\css\mc.css -clobber
In some cases certain characters will need escaping but for your example it will work.
Just create a new file with a .bat extension and copy these lines into it.
Then you can run it by double clicking it in Windows explorer or by typing its name in cmd prompt.
There are many ways, by the looks of it you are already running that command from a command prompt, you can write the command to a batch file like this:
echo <command> > mycommand.bat
So:
echo ajaxmin.exe c:\css\reset.css c:\css\main-styles.css c:\css\lightbox.css c:\css\shortcodes.css c:\css\custom-fonts.css c:\css\custom-colors.css c:\css\admin_menu.min.css -out c:\css\mc.css -clobber > mycommand.bat
You can also type the command into notepad or other text editor and save with a .bat extension instead of .txt.
How to create a Batch file:
Right click on your desktop or whereever you want it to
Click new text document
Rename it
Open it in notepad or whatever you want, and now you have a batch file!

create a Batch file with a file path as an input argument

I need to create a batch file which will run a program (which has been created in C#.Net) and also take a path of a text file as an input.
Not quite sure, how to achieve this.
So far, I have the below command working,
C:\>Folder Path to executable>xxxx.exe -console
-console is my predefined command argument to run this program in console mode.
The part until running the program from the console, with -console, works perfectly fine with a hard coded file path. However, I want to give the functionality to the user to give the file path as they want and create a batch file for the same command. Everytime user can update the batch file with new text file path and simply run it.
Thanks,
Are you just wanting to use the -console parameter? Are there any other parameters you wanted to pass in?
If wanting just what you have in your snippet, Save the following into a batch file. (e.g. StartMyProgram.bat)
start "C:\Folder path to executable\xxxx.exe" -console
See start /? for help and more options.
You need to add %~1 to your script: C:\Path\to\executable\xxxx.exe -console %~1
Now you can call it like this: StartMyApp.cmd C:\Docs\readme.txt
%~1 contains the full path of the text-file. You could also ensure that only text-files are passed to your application:
if "%~x1"==".txt" (
C:\Path\to\executable\xxxx.exe -console %~1
) else (
echo Not a textfile! & pause
)

Windows batch file for iterative invocation of other batch files

Consider a directory structure containing the following files:
\1.3\Baseline\GeneratedScripts\One\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Baseline\GeneratedScripts\Two\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Baseline\GeneratedScripts\Three\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch1\GeneratedScripts\One\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch1\GeneratedScripts\Two\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch1\GeneratedScripts\Three\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch2\GeneratedScripts\One\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch2\GeneratedScripts\Two\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch2\GeneratedScripts\Three\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch3\GeneratedScripts\One\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch3\GeneratedScripts\Two\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch3\GeneratedScripts\Three\FullInstall.cmd
I would like to construct a Windows batch file InstallEnvironment.cmd which:
Takes an environment name as a parameter; then
Executes the baseline install script, and each of the patch scripts in turn.
The batch file should automatically execute any additional patches that are added later.
Essentially I need to do something along the lines of this:
for %%_ in (1.3\**\GeneratedScripts\%%1\FullInstall.cmd) do cal %%_
However I'm not sure the wildcard system is rich enough to allow this as I don't get any matches for the ** directory wildcard.
For example, calling with the parameter "Two" should execute the following scripts, in order:
\1.3\Baseline\GeneratedScripts\Two\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch1\GeneratedScripts\Two\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch2\GeneratedScripts\Two\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch3\GeneratedScripts\Two\FullInstall.cmd
This will execute all the *.cmd files in the sub folders based on the argument:
for /r 1.3\ %%X in (GeneratedScripts\%1\*.cmd) do call "%%X"
In my experience, the %1 substitution works within directory names.
This should work:
InstallEnvironment.bat:
\1.3\Baseline\GeneratedScripts\%1\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch1\GeneratedScripts\%1\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch2\GeneratedScripts\%1\FullInstall.cmd
\1.3\Patches\Patch3\GeneratedScripts\%1\FullInstall.cmd
Edit this batch file to add additional patches in order, and it works. If you need to run the same batch file on multiple directories, create another batch file:
call InstallEnvironment.bat %1
call InstallEnvironment.bat %2
If you want to run a batch file in the background, use a vbs file to run that bat file in background instead.
Here is the code:
CreateObject("Wscript.Shell").Run"""" & Wscript.Arguments(0)& """",0,False
Save this exactly as invisible.vbs (or anything) and then make another batch file which will call your batch file to run it in background.
The code for the second batch file is:
wscript.exe "invisible.vbs" "Your_Batch_File.bat"
Then run the second batch file.
Note: WSH should be enabled on your computer, and the invisible.vbs file and the second batch file should be in the same folder. If not then you can give the full path to the invisible.vbs file in the 2nd batch file's script.

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