I have a build.bat file which uses %1 internally... so you might call:
build 1.23
I wanted it to read the parameter from a separate file, so I tried putting "1.23" in version.txt and doing:
build < version.txt
But it doesn't work. Isn't this how piping works? Is what I want possible and if so how?
The FOR command in DOS has a form which parses files and assigns the tokens it finds to variables, which can then be used as arguments to other batch files. Assuming version.txt contains the single line "1.23", this batch file will open it, assign 1.23 to the variable, then call your original batch file, passing the variable's value as a command-line argument.
#echo off
for /f %%i in (version.txt) do call build.bat %%i
If version.txt contains more than one line, build.bat is called once for each line. Type help for at a DOS prompt to see what other features you might be able to use.
I think it would make more sense if you handle the file processing within the batch file on the off chance that version.txt is not edited correctly.
You should modify your script to parse the file to get the version if the .bat file is executed as:
build FILE version.txt
Related
I have a text file with lots of commands in it and I want to sent those commands to a software called thermocal. It is a console application. I found the command below, but it doesn't work for me.
Do I need to put this .exe file in the same folder of the batch file to make it work or any thing else?
type somefile.txt | Thermocal.exe
Batch scripts can be considered as a collection of lines you could also type in a command line prompt one after another. With respect to this it might be helpful for you, to play with cmd in order to get a feeling for what is happening.
About starting thermocal: Assuming thermocal is not part of PATH then the batch file either needs to change the current directory to the one with termocal.exe. Alternatively you might be able to call thermocal.exe with adding a path like C:\ProgramFiles\Thermocal\thermocal.exe . Play with cmd to find out, what works and what doesn't
When you are able to start thermocal from the command line prompt window, you can start experimenting with the call. You will probably end of with something like this in your command line window:
C:\ProgramFiles\Thermocal> thermocal argument1 argument 2
If this works, you can start with batch programming :)
Assuming your arguments are stored in somefile.txt like this:
argument1 argument 2
TYPE does nothing more than printing a file:
TYPE somefile.txt
Now you need to use the result of the output as command line arguments:
for /f %%i in ('type somefile.txt') do (thermocal.exe %%i)
The code in batch file is :XCOPY "D:\hosts" "C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc" /R /Y. But it doesn't work. cmd run like :
How do I fix this?
Based on the output, I'd say you've called your batch file xcopy.cmd or `xcopy.bat.
That means, when it tries to call the actual xcopy executable, it instead calls itself in an infinitely recursive loop.
If that is the case, you have a couple of options:
Rename your batch file to something more sensible, such as copy_hosts.cmd, something that's not likely to clash with a real command; or
Make sure you call xcopy.exe explicitly from your batch file, so it goes and gets the real one.
I was wondering if I could get some help with regards to writing a batch file that could take user input. (Or guidance if a batch file is not the way to go.)
I usually have a task that I do by opening CMD, navigating to a specific folder and running the following command
rda -v 848 -i "C:\me\rda-tools-1.7.0.Ra1\Input" -o "C:\me\rda-tools-1.7.0.RC1\Output"
Now this task is repetitive, and the only thing that changes each time is the number (848 in my example).
Can you guide me on how to write a batch file that navigates to the specific folder, asks me for that 3 digit number for input and then runs the command above?
Please note I have very little knowledge on batch files.
Thanks.
You can pass parameter to a batch file.
Follow below article on how to pass parameter to a batch file
How do I pass command line parameters to a batch file?
You can pass parameters to a batch file. They're taken in sequence, from %1 to %9 (you can use more, but you have to shift them to get them into position to use). (Technically, there is a %0 - it's the full path and filename of the batch file itself.)
For example, put the following into a batch file (for instance, RunRDA.bat):
#echo off
rda -v %1 -i "C:\me\rda-tools-1.7.0.Ra1\Input" -o "C:\me\rda-tools-1.7.0.RC1\Output"
Run it from a command prompt with your version:
C:\RDA>RunRDA 848
For more information, see How to pass command line parameters to a batch file?
I have a batch file that first creates another batch file containing a ClearCase cleartool command and second, runs it:
ECHO cleartool lsactivity -long "%ACTIVITY%"^>"%OUTPUTFILE%">FILETORUN.bat
CALL FILETORUN.bat
When running the batch, FILETORUN.bat is generated with the correct format, but the CALL to it is completely ignored.
If I ECHO output after the CALL to a log file, I can see that the script just skips over it.
What could it be?
I have tried removing CALL but it makes no difference.
EDIT: SOLUTION
Thank you all for the input. I found the problem. Before the write to batch and batch call in the script there was a command that read information into a variable from a file:
SET /p FILETODELETE=<rmname_%CLEARCASE_USER%.tmp
It reads only the first line. For some reason this created a conflict with temporary batch file, and I have no idea why. I used a different solution for reading the first line from a file and the conflict doesn't happen anymore:
(set FILETODELETE=)
for /f "delims=" %%q in (rmname_%CLEARCASE_USER%.tmp) do if not defined FILETODELETE set FILETODELETE=%%q
If anyone can shed some light it would be great!
SET /P waits for user input, so it actually will finish the command with what you are trying to execute after that and consume the input buffer, which might produce different results on each machine.
See set command reference for more details
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.