Programming Question

[bonjedward]

They're useful for calling other programs. For example here if perl is not in the PATH on all PCs - if it is, that's the one to use, but if not, try a known location: perl c:\Offline\Computer\GMobileSubsets\scripts\perl\fetch.pl HNG %1 %2 if ERRORLEVEL 1 goto tryagain exit pause :tryagain C:\perl\bin\perl c:\Offline\Computer\GMobileSubsets\scripts\perl\fetch.pl HNG %1 %2 if ERRORLEVEL 1 goto err exit pause :err pause >nul Perl error! Contact IT. Press any key (I always have pause after exit, so I can quickly add REM in front of exit when testing The same applies in a mixed 32/64 bit environment: C:\Program Files (x86)\ or C:\Program Files\ Also, when calling sequences of taskkill, file copy/delete, etc - you can put a shortcut on the desktop to it. Easier than remembering a long list of services to be restarted in a particular order, etc. Useful for colleagues if your not available - "just log in to the server and click on the shortcut" Also, on Windows 7, some users need local administrator rights to run taskkill, etc, but need their own identity when accessing network files. Create an exe file to run a bat file as admin, but use it only on those batfiles requiring it: C:\Offline\Computer\GMobileSubsets\sw\runaLocalAdmin.exe C:\Offline\Computer\GMobileSubsets\scripts\bat\stopall_reqadmin.bat

[Thomas Vanderhoof]

I'm 36 and use .bat files to backup data in certain folders using robo copy commands on a scheduled task. Why pay for backup programs when you can make a quick script for free.

[Member 4551201]

Do you still use Edlin? ;)

[User 8634007]

I do it daily! Good Ole'bats! I hard code all internet pages and have a slick program built in access that creates the bat and ftp to do all of my bidding. Its safer, cleaner, fast and far better than drag and drop or any other method I can find for ftping. The access programs archives and does just about evrything else too. But... in computer years, I too am an "Old fogie." It's sort of odd when you have been programming vb longer than some of young'ns who are programming today have been alive, and that says nothing of having worked the basic "Basic". But hey don't let the gray hair fool you, I can still keep up with the best of them! hmmm... So I hear through the grape vine that you were "the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post"

[GI_Giorgio]

Do not feel alone! we are a bunch of programmers that we use bat files to do daily tasks (stored procedures por instance). And not just in DOS also in UNIX... everything to do the job! Greatings @GI_Giorgio

[samuel adams]

Looks like there are a lot of old fogies here:) I don't write as many as I used to, but there are cases where a bat file is quicker/easier to write and anyone can maintain. It also keeps me from having to rewrite all the dos commands that already exist. If microsoft ever gets rid of the command line, I'm switching to Linux.

[Erik Rude]

I do. They are incredibly good for some tasks. Tasks that would take 4 hours in a quick and dirty VBA app hacked by an apprentice can take mere minutes if you remember the DOS commands, thus saving the day. Now do you use the vi-editor?

[jcdmelo]

I do write BAT files - and have never gave up on them ever since my IBM PCJr. - once in a while to: - automate repetitive shell commands - setup a path - perform string or repetitive operations on a bunch of files which depends on a search in the current directory. To "kill the snake and show the stick" (a popular saying in Brazil which denotes "to show that you have really done it") here's a simple example: for /D %%i in (*) do dir /s "%%i" >> dirs.txt Julio Cezar

[jsc42]

I still use BAT files as they are straight forward and capable of some useful tricks. One of my recent applications had a GUI front end but the users wanted a batch interface to start / stop / pause / resume it remotely. Simple with batch files: start = single command line to run the application, others = single command line to post a message to the application's input queue (e.g. ECHO PAUSE >>%TEMP%\_applicationname__StatusChange.txt). Then all I had to do was to create shortcut desktop icons to run the batch files and they think that they have a button controlled interface.

[SkipSailors]

JCL R00lz!

Ship it!

[jsc42]

For several years, I was involved with helping at a programming competition run by one of Europe's foremost national computing organisations (name not disclosed for obvious reasons). We had the brightest and best teams from academia and professional companies competing in it. We never told the teams that our sophisticated testing, scoring, and marking system that compiled, ran, timed, and collated all of their competition entries was a single monolithic BAT file. Admittedly, it grew over the years as more languages and external dependencies were added to the scope of the competition, but it was still a BAT file.

[Isfeasachme]

Hey! My first job was repairing those things for the Dept of the Navy :) ... in 1992... in Nashville. Figure that out! LOL

[Isfeasachme]

I'll be interested to hear how I should be doing this... but I've got batch files sitting on remote servers that create a quick backup of existing code, deploy code from subversion and sync up secondary servers.

[Unused Account Safe to Delete]

Well, here in Cuba the whole process of grading the National Programming Contest for High School students is done using bat files. The last one I made for that earned me the nickname "batman".

[richard_k]

Actually, on Unisys mainframes it is called 'Work Flow Language' (WFL, or as everyone called it 'wiffle'). I wrote a lot of that in the mid 80s.

[Floydslips]

I still write an occasional batch file, although I use the newer .CMD file extension. For more advanced needs, I rely on WinBatch.

[Conan Callen]

Whateva does the job. My favorite has always been Kornshell. Powershell is cool, but seems to lack the elegance of some of the Unix Shells. .bat files are quick and easy, take very little setup/configuration. However, I emphisize with younger programmers, who want to use something new, or improve make thier skill set more competitive. Just remember that if you dont want to box yourself in (kill any oportunity for promotion), dont make it so complex that someone will never be albe to replace you.

[Derek Altamirano]

I still use .cmd files quite a bit (haven't done .bat's since moving to NT; I still use the term batch file, though I think the proper term for a .cmd is command file :-D). Although I am learning to use PowerShell more, I can still usually whip out a batch file much quicker, depending on what I am doing, though I expect that will change as I become more fluent in PS. I have written some pretty neat and complex batch scripts in recent years (man do I love that for command!).

[galumpa]

I'm 4 years out of the university and have only used a .bat file recently when I switched companies. Previously I used shell scripts.

[Earl Truss]

My first real program in my first real programming job was written in CDC 6000 assembler on two boxes of cards. I try to forget how I would have to make corrections to the cards and then read them back in again to test it. Oh, and yes, I still have a few BAT files that are in use. Don't write very many new ones much any more.