Programming Question

sweMesSer

Though I'm still young (well pretty young at least, reaching in on 30). I have written some in order to get DOS to do things for me. However, I can't really say I have utilized them in the last 10 years or so. Nowadays I usually create some command prompt-exe or some graphical windows forms/WPF-tool. This since it makes it easier to improve and extend into something useful that other people can use. What do you use .bat-files for and why do that instead of a program?

Robert Chafer

I still use batch files. I used one yesterday to rename a large group of files. I processed file filenames with a Notepad++ macro and 'massaged' them into a set of copy commands (copied to a safe location). We still use them quite a lot for controlling the build process of our compiler...

torst3n

23 and writing them bats, boss. mainly cause I think it's faster then ps scripting and reason is cause I usually need to check if a task is done before I start another one.

KLPounds

due to the awkward security settings at my work, PS scripts are blocked, WSH scripting is hit or miss, but I can batch script till the screen turns blue. Sometimes it's just the quick and dirty tool for the job. Guess I'm just of the right era as I was a DOS mule as a child learning computers. ASCI based menu systems and command prompt was how my dad rolled. All that point and click and eye candy stuff was for my angsty teenage years.

Wartickler

We use them a lot in SharePoint production deployments. Once our app is ready for prod we package the PS in bat files so the sys admins can just double-click and install.

Josh Riedmiller

I prefer to use PERL to do the heavy stuff but almost always wrap a batch file around it to pass arguments.

reilly96

If by .bat files you mean .cmd files I write and use them all the time

PRISMAY

I still use them quite a bit although I use the .cmd files. ;) I use them from anything like running automated encoding on multiple video files to running automated deployment projects on our servers. I am, however, slowly moving towards WSH just because I can use c# but it'll be a while before I'm there and I don't see ever being weaned competely off of the command prompt as it offers too many handy and quick utillities. :) Just another old fogie I guess.

------- PRISMAY

RubberSideDown

Been trolling for a while; first post (be gentle). I'm 30 and am a HUGE fan of .bat. I manage a small rogue IT shop full of developers WAY smarter & more talented than I'll ever be, but once in a blue moon I stick them with a task & they fire up all sort of fancy VB & other stuff I don't understand only to end up with a program that has more lines than I want to read & is typically less reliable! Long live the DOS (ok fine... command prompt). TIP: .bat works REALLY well in SSIS packages; I assume shell does too, but I haven't found a need to venture outside my comfort zone.

matt314hew

I am currently writing them at my new job. Mainly they are small things that help me with what I am doing instead of having to manually delete logs. I also wrote them at my old job to do the following: Delete a folder on the Build Server, Get Latest Code, Build the code, and then deploy it.

Steven M Hunt

Same here, I'm a young guy and I just wrapped up writing some serious bat files to replace the old mainframe JCL we had hanging around; the government agency I work for (hint: we sent people to the Moon that one time) just turned off our last mainframe this month. -- Steven

Stefan_Lang

Recently wrote some .bat files to automate a nightly build. I know there may be better tools for such tasks, but I still remember bits of DOS from my youth, and therefore can't be bothered to learn another script language. Over the decades I've used various script languages, starting from (C=ommodore) Basic, over BS 2000, Amiga-DOS, Unix sh and bsh, MS-DOS, and a few others, but of these I've only used MS-DOS over the past years. Not because it's so good, but simply because that way I don't need to learn yet another script language :)

PhilLenoir

Yes Dave, but thenI'm another old fart! I use them to ease deployment of new application versions without kicking users out. I drop the new version in the folder, update the BAT file and users pick up the new version on next launch. I also use them to copy new versions to remote sites using a control text file to mark installation (we have lots of sites with slow or unreliable radio links). Now, in the good old days of DOS, I had complete menuing systems running off of BAT files! :-D Phil

Life is like a s**t sandwich; the more bread you have, the less s**t you eat.

Lost User

I still do, just to make my job easier. I've always liked them since I developed my own system with my father's TRS-80 Model I. Setup so, the OS booted and started up BASIC to run games or anything else automatically. They didn't have anything like that long ago... you had to type everything by hand. Now I mainly use it to call my apps to process files and use the batch file to copy the file to the final destination. Multiple projects that interconnect you know. :laugh: :laugh:

PSU Steve

My main project is a "self updating" application, but every once in a while we do something that needs a "special" deployment method. I found that a simple BAT file does the trick and prevents the users from royally screwing stuff up...

xperroni

32 and I still do. Id' rather use Python, but sometimes an script is intended for someone else's use, and there are lots of Windows XP boxes around here, so I have to go with the lowest common denominator.

Smessaert

I'm still quiet young and I use bat in most automated processes: launching applications with parameters. Find which port my harddrive is on before backing-up to it. Dir is still quicker then powershell get-child.

LEKnowlton

At my internship, I was recently tasked with automating backups for a 2003 server. The goal was to do it preferably for free, of course ;) I hadn't a need to create a batch file in years, but knew I could get it done. The first batch file uses ntbackup for regular data. The second one does a backup of SQL data by calling TSQL files (.sql) generated in MS SQL Server Management Studio. This allows the SQL server to not have to be shut down to do backups. The third one date-stamps and copies the backup files to other locations. Each batch file is scheduled to run using the built-in Task Scheduler. Free and fun!

CarlMon

A developer on my team is nicknamed 'The Batman' for this reason. The rest of us write PS scripts.

patfleck

I still use them all the time in EDI systems. For some reason the system I use won't run and exit a .exe correctly unless it is called from a .BAT file. Strange but true...