Batch Files

A batch file is to DOS what a macro is to Microsoft word. Basically it's a set of preprogrammed commands. So instead of having to open DOS and type in all the commands manualy you can write a batch file to do it for you.

In this tutorial I will be listing most Batch file commands. As a Batch file is just a list of DOS commands this will also be a list of DOS commands :) Two for the price of One. I will include some minor examples of how to use some of the commands.

CD [folder]: -Change Folder. Use 'CD ..' to go up a folder.
ProgamName: Just type the name of a program to run it.
ECHO [OFF/ON]: Stop/Start displaying each command on the screen. eg. 'ECHO OFF'
ECHO Text: Display the following so in this case it would display the word Text.
@command: Stops that line being displayed on the screen.
DEL [filename]: Delete the named file eg. 'DEL telnet.exe' or all files of a certain type
eg. 'Del *.tmp' to delete all .tmp files in the current directory. Can also use full path 'Del C:\Windows\command.exe'
PAUSE: Pauses the program.
IF EXIST file command: Checks to see IF a file exists in the current folder and if it does it carries out the command. Can also do 'IF NOT EXIST'.
GOTO marker: Makes the code jump to the marker named. A marker must have a : before it such as :HERE so 'GOTO HERE' would take you to :HERE.
COPY file1 file2: Make a copy of file1 called file2.
MORE<file: Display the contents of the file to the screen.
COMMAND>file: Save the output to a file. Just replace file with a file name and and extension. So 'ECHO Test>c:\windows\desktop\test.doc' would make a text file on the desktop called test.doc. If you open test.doc it would show the text 'Test'. You can also do DIR>test.txt to save directory listings.
MD name: Make a Directory called name.
RD name: Delete the Directory called name. Directory must be empty.
DIR: List the contents of the current directory. 'DIR name' will display the contents of the named directory.
CLS: Clears the screen.
START filename: Open the file. Used for .txt, .bat, .doc, .bmp, and all none exe files really.

Remember - anywhere you have to supply a file or folder name, either for creation, reading, or deleting, you can put the full path such as 'DEL C:\windows\desktop\*.txt' would delete all .txt files on the desktop (remember that different versions of windows have different paths).

Parameters -

To do parameters in a batch file we use %x (%1, %2, %3 etc). So ECHO %1 %2 %3 would display parameter 1 parameter 2 parameter 3. To better understand make a batch file called abc (just open up notepad and save the file with a .bat extension) with the following code -

	@ECHO 1 = %1 2 = %2 3 = %3

Now place the batch file in your C drive and goto Run. Now type in

	'C:\abc.bat x y z.'

Displayed we see

	'1 = x 2 = y 3 = z'

(if it closes to fast put the PAUSE command on a new line after the '@ECHO 1 = %1 2 = %2 3 = %3'). We give our parameters in our call to run the bat file. The parameters are seperated by spaces. Goto Run again but this time put -

	'C:\abc.bat abc cry oz'

Displayed we see

	'1 = abc 2 = cry 3 = oz'

You should know understand how parameters work.
As you can guess we can only have 9 parameters (1 - 9). But there is a way to use more. We do this using the SHIFT command. What shift does is delete parameter 1, then make parameter 2 parameter 1, parameter 3 becomes parameter 2. to demonstrate we're gonna make the ABC.BAT batch file again with the following commands -

	@ECHO OFF
	ECHO 1 = %1 2 = %2 3 = %3
	SHIFT
	ECHO 1 = %1 2 = %2 3 = %3

Now goto run and type -

	'C:\abc.bat abc 123 xyz 456'

Yes the file only uses 3 parameters but it will ignore any over the required amount. Displayed we see this -

	'1 = abc 2 = 123 3 = xyz'	
	'1 = 123 2 = xyz 3 = 456'

Hopefully this should explain how shift works. The first parameter is emptied then all the others are moved up a place.

There are a lot more commands you can use in Batch files and in DOS but this is just meant as a introduction and not a full blown tutorial.

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