Friday, January 8, 2016

How to Write a Batch File

A batch file contains a series of DOS commands, and is commonly written to automate frequently performed tasks. Instead of typing the same commands over and over, you can simply double-click the batch file. Writing a batch file is easier than it looks; the difficult part is making sure that everything happens in the right order. Well-made batch files can save you a lot of time over the long run, especially if you deal in repetitive tasks.

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    Open Notepad. Notepad allows you to create code as a text file and then save it when you're done as a batch file. You can open Notepad by clicking Start → Programs → Accessories → Notepad. You can also enter notepad into the Run box.
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    Learn some basic batch commands. Batch files run a series of DOS commands, so the commands that you can use are similar to DOS commands. Some of the more important ones include:
    • ECHO - Displays text on the screen
    • @ECHO OFF - Hides the text that is normally output
    • START - Run a file with it's default application
    • REM - Inserts a comment line in the program
    • MKDIR/RMDIR - Create and remove directories
    • DEL - Deletes a file or files
    • COPY - Copy a file or files
    • XCOPY - Allows you to copy files with extra options
    • FOR/IN/DO - This command lets you specify files.
    • TITLE - Edit the title of the window. [1]
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    Write a program to create a directory. One of the easiest ways to learn how to create batch files is to focus on doing basic tasks first. For example, you can use a batch file to quickly create multiple directories:[2]
    MKDIR c:\example1
    MKDIR c:\example2
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    Save the file. Once you have entered your code, you can save the file using the Batch filetype. Click File → Save As.
    • Click the "Save as type" dropdown menu.
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    • Select "All files".
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    • Enter a name for the program followed by .bat or .cmd.
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    • Make sure the encoding is ANSI and save the file
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    Write the code to make a basic backup program. Batch files are great for running multiple commands, especially if you configure it to be able to run multiple times. With the XCOPY command, you can make a batch file that copies files from select folders to a backup folder, only overwriting files that have been updated since the last copy:
    @ECHO OFF 
    XCOPY c:\original c:\backupfolder /m /e /y
    • This copies over files from the folder "original" to the folder "backupfolder". You can replace these with the paths to the folders you want. /m specifies that only updated files will be copied, /e specifies that all subdirectories in the listed directory will be copied, and /ykeeps the confirmation message appearing every time a file is overwritten.
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    Save the file. Once you have entered your code, you can save the file using the Batch filetype. Click File → Save As.
    • Click the "Save as type" dropdown menu.
    • Select "All files".
    • Enter a name for the program followed by .bat or .cmd.
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    Write a more advanced backup program. While simply copying the files from one folder to another is nice, what if you want to do a little sorting at the same time? That's where the FOR/IN/DO command comes in. You can use that command to tell a file where to go depending on the extension:
    @ECHO OFF 
    cd c:\source
    REM This is the location of the files that you want to sort
    FOR %%f IN (*.doc *.txt) DO XCOPY c:\source\"%%f" c:\text /m /y
    REM This moves any files with a .doc or 
    REM .txt extension from c:\source to c:\text
    REM %%f is a variable
    FOR %%f IN (*.jpg *.png *.bmp) DO XCOPY C:\source\"%%f" c:\images /m /y
    REM This moves any files with a .jpg, .png, 
    REM or .bmp extension from c:\source to c:\images
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    Save the file. Once you have entered your code, you can save the file using the Batch filetype. Click File → Save As.
    • Click the "Save as type" dropdown menu.
    • Select "All files".
    • Enter a name for the program followed by .bat or .cmd.

    • ips

      • You will have to use quotes if you want to open a directory or file with spaces in its name, like start "C:\Documents and Settings\".
      • Batch files can also have a .cmd extension beginning with Windows 2000. There is no difference in operation, but the .cmd files use 32-bit execution while the .bat files use 16-bit execution.
      • You can use third-party editors such as UltraEdit to edit your batch file, but for the most part, these are a waste of time when writing simple batch files.

      • Batch files can also have a .cmd extension beginning with Windows 2000. There is no difference in operation, but the .cmd files use 32-bit execution while the .bat files use 16-bit execution.
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