Many clever tricks are mentioned on my other pages, e.g. Solutions found on alt.msdos.batch.
Every now and then a real "jewel" is sent to me by mail or otherwise.
A selection of these tricks will be displayed on this page.
CMD /C "somecommand" "argument1" "argument2"
It will return an error message like this one:
Note the missing outer doublequotes in the error message.'somecommand" "argument1" "argument2' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
CMD /C or CMD /K starts as well as ends with a doublequote, that entire command line is interpreted as a single (command) string.@ before the first doublequote (sorry, whitespace won't work):
CMD /C @"somecommand" "argument1" "argument2"
This works flawlessly, as expected.CMD /C ("somecommand" "argument1" "argument2")
CMD /C ""somecommand" "argument1" "argument2""FOR %%A IN ("somecommand") DO CMD /C %%~sA "argument1" "argument2"Or I might add:whoami /groups | find "12288" && echo Elevated
or
whoami /groups | find "12288" || echo Not Elevated
WHOAMI /GROUPS | FIND "12288" >NUL
SET /A Elevated = 1 - %ErrorLevel%OPENFILES is that the WHOAMI method will work in both 32-bit or 64-bit processes in 64-bit Windows.AT depends on a service that is often disabled; I often use OPENFILES instead to check for elevated privileges), but it did make him look for and find a way to not only check elevation level, but raise it as well:[The] trick for checking for elevation suddenly stopped to work for me:
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Not enough storage is available to process this command.
14:38:03 C:\Windows\system32>
echo %errorlevel%
0
14:38:08 C:\Windows\system32>
at
14:38:10 C:\Windows\system32>
echo %errorlevel%
1
So it yields the same errorlevel now as when run without Admin privileges. (I'm using Windows Vista Enterprise SP2. Maybe some update introduced a bug.)
So I use another trick http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4051883/batch-script-how-to-check-for-admin-rights/4054937#4054937 now. Here is how I use it, in Evan's routine sites.google.com/site/eneerge/scripts/batchgotadmin that elevates a batch script itself:
:: Ensure ADMIN Privileges
:: adaptation of https://sites.google.com/site/eneerge/home/BatchGotAdmin and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4051883/batch-script-how-to-check-for-admin-rights/4054937#4054937
@echo off
:: Check for ADMIN Privileges >nul 2>&1 "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\cacls.exe" "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\config\system"
if '%errorlevel%' NEQ '0' (
REM Get ADMIN Privileges
echo Set UAC = CreateObject^("Shell.Application"^) > "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
echo UAC.ShellExecute "%~s0", "", "", "runas", 1 >> "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
"%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
del "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
exit /B
) else (
REM Got ADMIN Privileges
pushd "%cd%"
cd /d "%~dp0"
@echo on
)
Thanks DenisSometimes you have to be running with admin privileges to get something done.
With Windows 7 you have 2 security token when you login with admin.
Noobs admins don't always right-click and run as administrator so you must check.
Here are some code snippets to check inside the script.
In VBS:
Function IsADM
'detects if admin or Elevated
'Trick: AT > NUL returns %errorlevel% = 0 if you are Administrator/Elevated
Set WshShell = CreateObject( "WScript.Shell" )
Dim iErrNumber : iErrNumber = 0
Dim sErrDescription, sMsgText, iErrorCode
On Error Resume Next 'in case exe fails
iErrorCode = WshShell.Run( "CMD /C AT > NUL", 1, True ) 'True = Wait for completion.
iErrNumber = Err.number
sErrDescription = Err.Description
On Error Goto 0 'Turn error reporting back on (and clears Err object)
If iErrorCode = 0 Then
IsADM = True
Else
'WScript.Echo "you are NOT admin"
IsADM = False
End If
End Function
In CMD:
@ECHO OFF
::Test If script has Admin Priviledges/is elevated
AT > NUL
IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 (
ECHO you are Administrator
) ELSE (
ECHO you are NOT Administrator. Exiting...
PING 127.0.0.1 > NUL 2>&1
EXIT /B 1
)
In PowerShell:
$currentPrincipal = New-Object Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal( [Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent( ) )
if ( -not ($currentPrincipal.IsInRole( [Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole]::Administrator ) ) )
{
Write-Error "This script must be executed in admin mode." -ErrorAction Stop
}
PUSHD "%~dp0" ever since, as the first command in any batch file that could be run from a UNC path.PUSHD command, the start/working directory of the batch file will be changed to %windir%\System32.PUSHD "%~dp0" is by far the most reliable way to do this, and it will work with RUNAS, PSEXEC, UNC paths, UAC and Explorer's "Run as..." option.Doing basic string substitution as described on www.robvanderwoude.com/ntset.php was pretty easy when using constant values.
But it took me a while to figure out how to do substitution when the string being substituted was determined programmatically.
Now that I have it figured out I'd like to share it with you so that you might be able to share it with all of your readers...Prerequisite:
Delayed expansion must be enabledScript:
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
SET HOSTS_FILE=C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
SET VARIABLE_HOSTS_FILE=!HOSTS_FILE:%SystemRoot%=%%SystemRoot%%!
ECHO HOSTS_FILE=%HOSTS_FILE%
ECHO VARIABLE_HOSTS_FILE=%VARIABLE_HOSTS_FILE%
ENDLOCAL
GOTO:EOFOutput:
HOSTS_FILE=C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
VARIABLE_HOSTS_FILE=%SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\etc\hostsI used this kind of substitution to create machine independent instructions for fellow developers and testers to re-run my unit tests under their machine's source code location.
Here's a sample of my script's output:
ECHO To repeat this test run use the following command: pushd "%_LCSROOT%\dev\server\eps\CollaborationApi\utest\OotyTests\" & runall /run=x& popd
SET /A to work with really large numbers?I want to submit these scripts/subroutines for the world to use, it allows one to multiply two numbers that are much larger than the limitations of
SET /A.
I don't know if I have plans to create more math related subroutines, but it seemed to be a necessity to do math in batch and not have to use some third party tool or another script language.The point of Multiply.cmd and IsLarger.cmd is to work with number beyond the command lines ability.
You can Multiply an integer of hundreds of digits by another integer of many if not hundreds of digits.
Also IsLarger.cmd can compare integers of thousands of digits long.
The best part is this is all native NT Shell scripting tested on Windows XP, Windows 2003, and Windows Vista. (It might work on Windows 2000 - don't know haven't tried). No third party utilities are needed or reliance upon vbscript or some other language.I submitted these as batch files, but the subroutines starting with the labels
:Multiplyand:IsLargeris all you need to paste in your batch file to start using these - one other requirement, you have to haveSETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSIONin your script for this to work.Syntax in your script:
CALL :MULTIPLY CrazyLongNumber OtherCrazyLongNumber MyFavoriteVariableDo not surround your variables with percents or bangs (you are passing a reference to the variable, not the actual variable)
CALL :MULTIPLY VariableContainingBigNumber OtherVariableConatiningBigNumber_GiveItToMeVariableor if you use my script as is its just
MULTIPLY.CMD 121390487120394780398 123498712304981703948097and you get the answer.
Multiply.cmd 2 2
4Same thing with IsLarger, prints TRUE, FALSE, or EQUAL (you are saying, is this first number larger than this second number?)
IsLarger.CMD 2948372948273234234 2342983472938472938472342342342342234234
FALSE
IsLarger.CMD 5 4
TRUE
IsLarger.cmd 1 2
FALSE
IsLarger.cmd 2 2
EQUALIf you use just the subroutine, no percents or bangs:
CALL :IsLarger _BIGNUMBER1 _BIGNUMBER2 _MYVARIABLE
FOR /L %%B IN (0,1,9) DO SET _NUMVAR=!_NUMVAR:%%B=%%B !FOR loop.Combined with Carlos M.'s extension of the available variables in FOR loops, we can now, in theory at least, nest up to 75 FOR loops!Hi, I have discovered that we can use numbers in the variable FOR command, like this:
FOR /L %%ˆ6 IN (1 1 10) DO (
ECHO %%ˆ6
)
FOR /D /R %%ˆ2 IN (*) DO (
ECHO %%ˆ2
)
FOR /F "tokens=1,2,3" %%ˆ0 IN ('VER') DO (
ECHO.%%ˆ0 %%ˆ1 %%ˆ2
)
FOR %%ˆ1 IN ("%~nx0") DO (
ECHO %%~nxtˆ1
)
FOR /F "tokens=1" %%ˆ7 IN ('VER') DO (
ECHO.%%ˆ7
)
FOR %%ˆ1 IN ("%~nx0") DO (
ECHO %%~nxatdˆ1
)
SET /P commands:@echo off
set /p "suma=2+2 : " # La suma, my comment
if %suma% equ 4 (
echo.Bien
) else (
echo.Mal
)
set suma
@echo off
set /p "suma=2+2 : " // La suma
if %suma% equ 4 (
echo.Bien
) else (
echo.Mal
)
set suma
@echo off
set /p "suma=2+2 : " /* La suma */
if %suma% equ 4 (
echo.Bien
) else (
echo.Mal
)
set suma
@echo off
set /p "suma=2+2 : " ' Comment
if %suma% equ 4 (
echo.Bien
) else (
echo.Mal
)
set suma
@echo off
set /p "suma=2+2 : " Comment
if %suma% equ 4 (
echo.Bien
) else (
echo.Mal
)
set suma
@echo off
for %%. in (H e l l o _ W o r l d) do (
call :show %%.
)
goto:eof
:show
<nul set /p "=%*" // Comentario
ping -n 1 loopback > nul
goto:eofFOR /F loop (I added some highlighting to discriminate between the individual lines):
Wow! I need a wider screen.I just discovered that you can use more than 26 characters in the command
for /f, so we can reach a limit of 31 tokens.
In orderfor /f "tokens=1"or simplyfor /fcan use the following characters:& : <
We can start from and arrive at characters within this range from low to high:> ? @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ˆ _ ` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z { | }
Note: The following characters must be escaped with a caret (ˆ):ˆ < > | &as follows:ˆˆ ˆ< ˆ> ˆ| ˆ&
Finally a few examples:
@echo off
set palabras=p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6 p7 p8 p9 p10 p11 p12 p13 p14 p15 p16 p17 p18 p19 p20 p21 p22 p23 p24 p25 p26 p27 p28 p29 p30 p31 p32 p33 p34 p35
for /f "tokens=1" %%ˆ& in ("%palabras%") do (echo %%ˆ&)
for /f "tokens=1" %%ˆ< in ("%palabras%") do (echo %%ˆ<)
for /f "tokens=1,2,3" %%ˆ> in ("%palabras%") do (echo %%ˆ>%%?%%@)
for /f "tokens=1-31" %%? in ("%palabras%") do (echo %%?%%@%%A%%B%%C%%D%%E%%F%%G%%H%%I%%J%%K%%L%%M%%N%%O%%P%%Q%%R%%S%%T%%U%%V%%W%%X%%Y%%Z%%[%%\%%])
for /f "tokens=1-31" %%ˆˆ in ("%palabras%") do (echo %%ˆˆ%%_%%`%%a%%b%%c%%d%%e%%f%%g%%h%%i%%j%%k%%l%%m%%n%%o%%p%%q%%r%%s%%t%%u%%v%%w%%x%%y%%z%%{%%ˆ|)
for /f "tokens=1-31" %%_ in ("%palabras%") do (echo %%_%%`%%a%%b%%c%%d%%e%%f%%g%%h%%i%%j%%k%%l%%m%%n%%o%%p%%q%%r%%s%%t%%u%%v%%w%%x%%y%%z%%{%%ˆ|%%})
pause
updated
The value of my discovery is that for example if, before declaring:
for /f "tokens=1-4" %%Y in ("p1 p2 p3 p4") do (echo %%Y%%Z...)
and wanted to show the token 1,2,3,4 we could only show the token 1 and 2, because then comes %%Y and %%Z then ... we did not know that letter came.
So now we can do:
for /f "tokens=1-4" %%Y in ("p1 p2 p3 p4") do (echo %%Y%%Z%%[%%\)
The other, the documents said 52 variables, ie 26 + 26 (az) and (AZ) for an inside another for, or for using a single letter of the alphabet any case, but now we have more than 65 variables, for example:
@echo off
for /f "tokens=1-10" %%ˆ> in ("El cmd.exe es el interprete de comandos en OS2 y") do (
for /f "tokens=1-10" %%H in ("sistemas basados en Windows NT incluyendo Windows 2000 Windows XP") do (
for /f "tokens=1-8" %%R in ("Windows Server 2003 y Windows Vista. Es el") do (
for /f "tokens=1-12" %%Z in ("equivalente de command.com en MS-DOS y sistemas de la familia Windows 9x.") do (
for /f "tokens=1-10" %%f in ("A diferencia de su antecesor command.com este programa es tan") do (
for /f "tokens=1-14" %%p in ("solo una aplicacion no es una parte del sistema operativo y no posee la") do (
echo %%ˆ>%%?%%@%%A%%B%%C%%D%%E%%F%%G%%H%%I%%J%%K%%L%%M%%N%%O%%P%%Q%%R%%S%%T%%U%%V%%W%%X%%Y%%Z%%[%%\%%]%%ˆˆ%%_%%`%%a%%b%%c%%d%%e%%f%%g%%h%%i%%j%%k%%l%%m%%n%%o%%p%%q%%r%%s%%t%%u%%v%%w%%x%%y%%z%%{%%ˆ|%%}
)
)
)
)
)
)
pause
So, in summary, my discovery increases the maximum of 26 to 31 tokens, and the maximum for the global variables, from 52 to over 65, more say in the example just because they are used within the range, but not individual characters.
Written by Carlos M.
Nice trick, and it can be used for KiXtart scripts too!The purpose is to be able to execute AutoIT code directly from inside a batch file (and so not having to worry about .au3 being associated with autoit).
.CMD file begins :
-------------------------------------------
; ::Batch code ,cmd.exe will run the lines beginning with comma and exit
; @echo off
; start C:\AutoIT\AutoIT3.exe %0 %*
; exit
; :: AutoIT code , autoit will ignore the lines beginning with semicolon
MsgBox (0 , "Box" , "Just A Box")
-------------------------------------------
.CMD file ends
KIX32.EXE is in the PATH) it will display the current date and time in YYYYMMDDHHmmss format:; @ECHO OFF
; KIX32.EXE "%~f0"
; EXIT
$RC = SetOption( "ASCII", "ON" )
SubStr( @Date, 1, 4 )
SubStr( @Date, 6, 2 )
SubStr( @Date, 9, 2 )
SubStr( @Time, 1, 2 )
SubStr( @Time, 4, 2 )
SubStr( @Time, 7, 2 )Marvellous!Recently I came across a little trick using the REN command (tested on XP).
It is possible to use REN to delete every character after the last occurrence of a character by using the wildcard * followed by the desired character:
REM Rename filename.ext to filena
REN filename.ext *a
If you wanted to use a space or ampersand it would need to be contained in double quotes i.e.
REN "good&bad" "*&"
If you use a dot "*." the dot will also be trimmed off by windows because it doesn't allow file names to end with a dot.
Very simple but seemingly undocumented...............
@ECHO OFF
REM Code:
ECHO Hello
REM Comments:
(COMMENT
HELLO!
HI!@ECHO OFF
CALL :Put Me canse de escribir tantas lineas ...
CALL :Put Este es el typewritter effect reloaded
CALL :Put o echo dinamico xD
>NUL PAUSE
GOTO:EOF
:Put
IF NOT DEFINED .m_ SET.m_=%*
IF NOT DEFINED .m_ GOTO:EOF
<NUL SET /P .m_=%.m_:˜0,1%
>NUL PING -n 10
SET .m_=%.m_:˜1%
IF DEFINED .m_ (GOTO:Put) ELSE (ECHO.)
GOTO:EOFI was looking at you tips and tricks section and noticed you have a way to get the first and last line of a text file, but what it you want the /nth /line of text...
This trick takes advantage of two features of NT batch, calling batch labels and GOTO :EOF, which of course ends a call(or batch). The folowing will get the third line of a text file and set it to the variable TEXT_LINE.
SET NthLine=3
SET /A NthLine-=1
CALL :LINEGRAB
GOTO RESTOFFILE
:LINEGRAB
FOR /F "skip=%NthLine% tokens=*" %%G IN (TEXTFILE.TXT) DO SET TEXT_LINE=%%G&&GOTO :EOF
:RESTOFFILE
There is one limitation to this, because for /f skips blank lines any blank lines will cause the line grabbed to be off.
SET /A NthLine -= 1
TYPE textfile ˆ| MORE /E +%NthLine% > "%Temp%.\~nthline.tmp"
SET /P TextLine= < "%Temp%.\~nthline.tmp"SET NthLine=3
SET /A NthLine -= 1
CALL :LINEGRAB
GOTO RESTOFFILE
:LINEGRAB
FOR /F "tokens=*" %%A IN ('MORE /E +%NthLine% TEXTFILE.TXT') DO (
SET TextLine=%%A
GOTO:EOF
)
:RESTOFFILE• For the DIR command, adding the /S flag to the /B will fully qualify file and directory names. Of course, using the /S flag will search all subdirectories which may not be what you want.
Examples:
DIR /B /S C:\Temp
C:\Temp\A.txt
C:\Temp\B.txt
DIR /B C:\Temp
A.txt
B.txt
• If you add the /S flag when deleting a specific file, you will get a resulting message with the file name fully qualified. Again, use the /S flag with caution on a delete. Without the /S flag, you do not get a message.
Example:
C:\Temp>DEL /S A.txt
Deleted file - C:\Temp\A.txt
C:\Temp>
Rob,
I feel your pain about finding a logged-on user... but there is hope from the most unlikely of places... using Netsh.
netsh diag show computer /v
Checkout near the bottom:UserName =
If there is no username, there is no logged-on user. Sweet!
Programmatically in Batch:
FOR /F "tokens=3" %%a IN ('netsh diag show computer /v ˆ| FIND /i "username"') DO ECHO %%a
Remotely using Batch via Psexec:
SET REMOTE_COMPUTER=%1
FOR /F "tokens=3" %%a IN ('PSEXEC.exe \\%REMOTE_COMPUTER% netsh diag show computer /v ˆ| FIND /i "username"') DO ECHO %%a
Note: this only gets you the locally logged-on user: Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services Users will not show up on this.
-r \\%REMOTE_COMPUTER% switch should do the trick without the need for PSEXEC, but my own tests using this switch failed.NETSH Diag Show Computer /V command, there is a lot of valuable information available.SET /P to read the first line of a file and store it in an environment variable.SET /P TestVar=<C:\boot.ini
SET TestVar
FOR /F "tokens=*" %%A IN (C:\boot.ini) DO SET TestVar=%%A
SET TestVarSET /P reads the first line,
whereas FOR /F reads the last line!Wow! Great!Sometimes it is necessary to get a Driveletter from a mapping.
Normally you will define a fixed Driveletter which you will map to your Remote path.
After you have done all things you will delete the drive mapping.
I found an simple solution for Windows Server 2003. Maybe it's also working in Windows 2000.
WithPUSHD \\Server\Share\[path]the system automatically creates a driveletter for you and jumps to it.
In the next step you can get the current Drive with %CD%.
When you usePOPDyou will jump back and the drivemapping is also deleted.
Attention: BecausePUSHDcan be nested you have to make sure that withPOPDyou don't delete your current directory!
In my scripts I will use the following lines to Map a remote path:
PUSHD \\Server\Share\path
SET rmt=%CD%
CALL %rmt%\script.cmd
PUSHD \\server\sharename
CD >> C:\pushdtest.log
POPD
CD >> C:\pushdtest.logX:\
C:\
X:\
C:\Under XP (And I assume NT/2000 as well) it is possible to create a group of commands from the command line (not a batch file). This is useful for, among other things, copy&pasting scripts off of the internet for testing without saving. To do this, just type "(" and hit enter, enter each command one by one (or paste a previously copied list of commands), then type ")" and hit enter.
As well, it allows for groups of commands intended to be executed sequentially to be entered beforehand then allowed to run, useful if you are running external programs that you need to wait for and don't want to write a batch file for that specific job.
Output for every command may also be redirected at the end of the block, in the same manner as Tip 7 on the Clever Tricks page: ") > log.txt" instead of just ")"
C:\>(
More? cd
More? echo %windir%
More? echo This may be useful to someone wanting
More? echo to enter multiple commands in a row...
More? )
C:\
C:\WINDOWS
This may be useful to someone wanting
to enter multiple commands in a row...
C:\>
ECHO before each command.C:\>(
More? (
More? echo @echo off
More? echo echo This may be useful to someone wanting
More? echo echo to enter multiple commands in a row...
More? ) > test.bat
More? test.bat
More? )
This may be useful to someone wanting
to enter multiple commands in a row...
C:\>Thanks, Chris.Well, now I just found something more useful: A way to increase readability.
After thinking about why this works under NT/etc, I realized its because under windows, a physical linebreak is represented by 2 characters, and the escape character only escapes one of them, leaving the other there. My guess is that under OS/2, a linebreak is only a single character.
After some testing, I found that using just the second half of the linebreak, its possible to make it all neat and non-spaced out (the hex value is shown in notepad as a square, it won't provide a physical linebreak):
ECHO testˆ<hex 0A>
testˆ<0A>
testˆ<0A>
test
will result in:
test
test
test
test
To use in a SET command:
SET var=testˆˆˆ<0A><0A>ˆ<0A>
testˆˆˆ<0A><0A>ˆ<0A>
testˆˆˆ<0A><0A>ˆ<0A>
test
ECHO %var%
will result in:
test
test
test
test
The reason that the <0A> is repeated twice is that the first one is ignored, which would be interpreted asˆˆˆˆwhich is not what is wanted. Having a few control codes on the end instead of excessive linebreaks is much more readable, while providing the same behaviour. The only requirement is that you be able to enter the correct value.
I have [...] discovered that you can run '
egather2 -local' to output the native XML file rather than the .eg2 file.
You can also specify which information is output by egather2 by specify the probe name on the command line, eg:
egather2 -local -probe SYSTEM_SUMMARY
You can get a list of probe names to specify by running
egather2 -listprobes
Well, this sure is a nice simple replacement for my (now obsolete) SNDisk2.bat.
Thanks, Martin
And thanks Thomas Salein for the latest download link.
Continuing Martin's research I have discovered even more undocumented command line switches.
I used the command:
STRINGS -a EGATHER2.EXE | FINDSTR /R /B /I /C:"-[A-Z0-9][A-Z0-9]"to find the following possible switches:
-Y2 -ht -wB -binaryfile -xmlfile -textfile -asciifile -dgmlfile -vpd -stdout -local -probe -probes -listprobes -html -filename -level -debug -step -nolimit -silent -batch -help -64OS -zcTry the
-help switch and you'll notice that most of these switches are indeed undocumented.EGATHER2 -html -batchEGATHER2 -html -batch -filename\\remoteserver\remoteshare\%ComputerName%-filename and the actual file name; and no extension, the -html switch will take care of that)| Note: | SNDisk3.bat has become obsolete again, as IBM keeps changing the inner workings of EGatherer. Try SNDisk4.bat with EGatherer 2.51.*, which produces a large XML file with the results of a full inventory. |
REGSVR32 %systemroot%\apppatch\slayerui.dllFrom that moment on you can choose to run any program in Windows 95 or NT 4 compatibility mode.
ECHO Press Enter to continue . . . SET /P =Unlike PAUSE, which accepts any key, SET /P will only accept the Enter key.
SET /P =Press Enter to continue . . .
DIR,which is shorthand for:
DIR /AWorks only in COMMAND.COM (tested in Windows 2000).
:: bootdrv1.bat @ECHO off :: By Laurence Soucy :: http://web.archive.org/web/20091104082534/http://users.telenor.dk/~dsl645578/batfiles.htm:: :: To place drive letter into variable ECHO %comspec%|choice.com/n/c%comspec% set bootdrv=>%temp%.\bootdrv$.bat FOR %%c in (CALL DEL) do %%c %temp%.\bootdrv$.bat ECHO "%bootdrv%"The same trick could be used to determine the current drive letter:
@ECHO OFF CD | CHOICE /N /C:ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ SET curdrive=>%temp%.\curdrv$.bat FOR %%A IN (CALL DEL) DO %%A %temp%.\curdrv$.bat ECHO "%curdrive%"Tip (and the bootdrv* batch files themselves) provided by Laurence Soucy
command1 > logfile.log command2 >> logfile.log command3 >> logfile.logIn Windows NT4/2000/XP command grouping can be used to simplify the code:
( command1 command2 command3 ) > logfile.logTip provided by Dave Denholm
VER | NET USE * \\server\share [ /USER:domain\user ]Note: this will skip the drive mapping and display an error message if the user ID/password combination is invalid (in other words: if you don't have the rights you just won't get the drive mapping)
PING server | FIND "TTL=" >NUL IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ECHO Error pinging serverIn Windows 95/98/NT this will result in 4 tries from PING to detect the presence of server.
PING server -n 1 | FIND "TTL=" >NUL IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO Next PING server -w 3000 | FIND "TTL=" >NUL IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ECHO Error pinging server :NextTip provided by Mark Johnson, and improved (using "TTL=" instead of "TTL") by Richard Parvass
RUNDLL USER.EXE,SwapMouseButton
RUNDLL32 USER32.DLL,SwapMouseButton
CONTROL MAIN.CPLor:
RUNDLL32 SHELL32.DLL,Control_RunDLL MAIN.CPL,@0,1
START RUNDLL32 RNAUI.DLL,RnaDial exact name of dialer entry TRACERT -h 1 -w 1The RUNDLL command starts DUN, the TRACERT command is supposed to actually start the dialing process. Since I do not have access to any PC with DUN installed, I could not test the TRACERT command's effect.
FOR /F "tokens=2 delims= " %%A IN ('PING -a %1 ˆ| FIND "[%1]"') DO ECHO.%%A
The HostName.bat examples use this trick.FIND /V part if you expect host names containing the (sub)string "TTL".DEBUG < %0.BAT GOTO Around (do not skip this blank line) (original DEBUG script goes here) (do not skip this blank line) :AroundTechnique first seen at McAfee's site
The win98 tasks scheduler creates .JOB files when you setup a program to run on a certain occasion.
These .JOB files contain information about some things like the path to the program that should be run and probably when it will run.
I've also seen that there's allways a character that indicates whether the .JOB file is active or not.
Checking if a certain task will be run or not could then be done in a batch file:
TYPE C:\Windows\Tasks\Thejobb.job | FIND "%character%" >NUL IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 ECHO Job not active! IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ECHO Job is active!
Where %character% is the one character that will disappear from the .JOB file when it's activated.
I've found that the ASCII 196 is a pretty safe bet, but you should scan the file you want to test, both when you have it activated and when it is inactive.
Then check if it's really this character that differs (I suggest looking at it in notepad, thats how I did it).
If you're really unlucky the active-or-not charcter could be found twice in the file, on its active-or-not position and some other place, this test will then not work.
Check also that your program's name does not contain the control character.
Tip provided by Oskar Bäckström
Uncommon use of NT's SET /A switch:
As you may or may not be aware, it isn't necessary to specify a variable when using SET /A.
Try this:
SET /A 0XFF
and you should see the number 255 (the decimal value of the hexadecimal number FF) on screen.
Used without a variable, the result of the mathematical expression is displayed on screen.
As explained on my "Useless Tips" page in more detail, the result is displayed without a carriage return/line feed at the end!
Tip provided by Ken Gould
A final word of thanks to all who sent me their tips and tricks.
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