I am looking for a way to customise some of the Windows command prompt (cmd.exe) commands. I would like the new command to be called instead of the one defined by Windows to do almost the same thing except some minor customisations. An example could be with the pushd command print a message saying which directory is changing to. This could be useful, for example, to have the output a .bat script parsed by another tool.
As an example, pushd.bat would look like:
#echo off
pushd %1
echo Entering directory `%cd%'
...but where should I put this so that it gets called instead of the internal command pushd?
You should not customize internal commands because some of these commands go all the way back to DOS and have hidden bugs and features that some tools might rely on and it is unlikely that you will implement them correctly.
You can add custom aliases with doskey. These are better than batch files. They allow you to add certain mini scripts that help you in your daily command line usage. These can actually override the names of internal commands.
doskey pushd=echo Entering $*^&pushd $*
pushd c:\Windows
You can add your doskey commands to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun in the registry but you really need to be careful if you use it to change existing commands. I recommend that you invent new names for your commands.
Related
Where are the commands located for Command Prompt? I know this is possible in Linux, but what about windows?
I want to rename certain commands so I can make my own using the original name.
Im doing this on a 32bit Windows XP if that helps.
More specifically, where can I find the tree command?
https://superuser.com/questions/312926/windows-equivalent-of-which-command-in-linux
in windows 7 there's the where command.
You can overwrite the standard commands, but this will break a lot of stuff.
You would also have to modify your path environment variable
in windows 7 tree is located in C:\Windows\System32\tree.com
This might be a useful site for you
http://ss64.com/nt/
Use a bat file of the same name to override an inbuilt external command. Some commands are internal so you have to specify .bat. Also if calling the overridden program specify the extension.
There are two types of commands in Windows command prompt. The internal commands are built-in inside the command processor program, that is called cmd.exe. You may inspect such commands if you open cmd.exe file with an Hex editor, or even directly with Notepad (although doing that requires a lot of patience!); to know the location of cmd.exe file, type: set comspec. Examples of internal commands are DIR, COPY, TYPE, MD, etc. (the simplest ones) and all Batch-file commands, like GOTO, IF, FOR, REM, etc. There is no way to change the name of an internal command, unless you modify the cmd.exe file (for example, using the same Hex editor) that, although possible, is NEVER recommended!!!
The external commands reside in disk files with .com or .exe extension that are grouped in certain subdirectories, usually in C:\Windows\System or C:\Windows\System32; these subdirectories must appear in %PATH% variable in order to execute the external commands directly in the command prompt. You may locate the folder where an executable file resides using the following command, that review folders included in PATH variable only (you can not use wild-cards in this case):
for %a in (tree.com tree.exe) do #echo/%~$PATH:a
You may directly change the name of any command-name.exe file; however, this practice is not recommended. A simpler option is create a Batch file with the same name of a standard command (and .bat extension) and place it in a folder that will be included in PATH variable before the standard commands folder (or in the current directory). For example, create a file named tree.bat and place it in C:\Users\MyName\MyCommands; then, modify PATH variable this way: path=C:\Users\MyName\MyCommands;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32. If you need to use the standard tree command inside your tree.bat file, just include the proper extension: tree.com.
I am a beginner in VBScript. I googled it & got to know that we can run VBScript from command line by executing below command:
For Example my vbscript name is Converter.vbs & it's present in folder D:\VBS.
I can run it through following methods:
CScript "D:\VBS\Converter.vbs"
OR
WScript "D:\VBS\Converter.vbs"
Now I would like to execute above VBScript without Cscript or Wscript command by simply typing the name of VBscript name i.e. Converter.
I DON'T WANT TO SPECIFY THE FULL PATH OF VBSCRIPT EVERYTIME.
Can anyone please guide me on how to do that ?
I'll break this down in to several distinct parts, as each part can be done individually. (I see the similar answer, but I'm going to give a more detailed explanation here..)
First part, in order to avoid typing "CScript" (or "WScript"), you need to tell Windows how to launch a * .vbs script file. In My Windows 8 (I cannot be sure all these commands work exactly as shown here in older Windows, but the process is the same, even if you have to change the commands slightly), launch a console window (aka "command prompt", or aka [incorrectly] "dos prompt") and type "assoc .vbs". That should result in a response such as:
C:\Windows\System32>assoc .vbs
.vbs=VBSFile
Using that, you then type "ftype VBSFile", which should result in a response of:
C:\Windows\System32>ftype VBSFile
vbsfile="%SystemRoot%\System32\WScript.exe" "%1" %*
-OR-
C:\Windows\System32>ftype VBSFile
vbsfile="%SystemRoot%\System32\CScript.exe" "%1" %*
If these two are already defined as above, your Windows' is already set up to know how to launch a * .vbs file. (BTW, WScript and CScript are the same program, using different names. WScript launches the script as if it were a GUI program, and CScript launches it as if it were a command line program. See other sites and/or documentation for these details and caveats.)
If either of the commands did not respond as above (or similar responses, if the file type reported by assoc and/or the command executed as reported by ftype have different names or locations), you can enter them yourself:
C:\Windows\System32>assoc .vbs=VBSFile
-and/or-
C:\Windows\System32>ftype vbsfile="%SystemRoot%\System32\WScript.exe" "%1" %*
You can also type "help assoc" or "help ftype" for additional information on these commands, which are often handy when you want to automatically run certain programs by simply typing a filename with a specific extension. (Be careful though, as some file extensions are specially set up by Windows or programs you may have installed so they operate correctly. Always check the currently assigned values reported by assoc/ftype and save them in a text file somewhere in case you have to restore them.)
Second part, avoiding typing the file extension when typing the command from the console window.. Understanding how Windows (and the CMD.EXE program) finds commands you type is useful for this (and the next) part. When you type a command, let's use "querty" as an example command, the system will first try to find the command in it's internal list of commands (via settings in the Windows' registry for the system itself, or programmed in in the case of CMD.EXE). Since there is no such command, it will then try to find the command in the current %PATH% environment variable. In older versions of DOS/Windows, CMD.EXE (and/or COMMAND.COM) would automatically add the file extensions ".bat", ".exe", ".com" and possibly ".cmd" to the command name you typed, unless you explicitly typed an extension (such as "querty.bat" to avoid running "querty.exe" by mistake). In more modern Windows, it will try the extensions listed in the %PATHEXT% environment variable. So all you have to do is add .vbs to %PATHEXT%. For example, here's my %PATHEXT%:
C:\Windows\System32>set pathext
PATHEXT=.PLX;.PLW;.PL;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.COM;.EXE;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC;.PY
Notice that the extensions MUST include the ".", are separated by ";", and that .VBS is listed AFTER .CMD, but BEFORE .COM. This means that if the command processor (CMD.EXE) finds more than one match, it'll use the first one listed. That is, if I have query.cmd, querty.vbs and querty.com, it'll use querty.cmd.
Now, if you want to do this all the time without having to keep setting %PATHEXT%, you'll have to modify the system environment. Typing it in a console window only changes it for that console window session. I'll leave this process as an exercise for the reader. :-P
Third part, getting the script to run without always typing the full path. This part, in relation to the second part, has been around since the days of DOS. Simply make sure the file is in one of the directories (folders, for you Windows' folk!) listed in the %PATH% environment variable. My suggestion is to make your own directory to store various files and programs you create or use often from the console window/command prompt (that is, don't worry about doing this for programs you run from the start menu or any other method.. only the console window. Don't mess with programs that are installed by Windows or an automated installer unless you know what you're doing).
Personally, I always create a "C:\sys\bat" directory for batch files, a "C:\sys\bin" directory for * .exe and * .com files (for example, if you download something like "md5sum", a MD5 checksum utility), a "C:\sys\wsh" directory for VBScripts (and JScripts, named "wsh" because both are executed using the "Windows Scripting Host", or "wsh" program), and so on. I then add these to my system %PATH% variable (Control Panel -> Advanced System Settings -> Advanced tab -> Environment Variables button), so Windows can always find them when I type them.
Combining all three parts will result in configuring your Windows system so that anywhere you can type in a command-line command, you can launch your VBScript by just typing it's base file name. You can do the same for just about any file type/extension; As you probably saw in my %PATHEXT% output, my system is set up to run Perl scripts (.PLX;.PLW;.PL) and Python (.PY) scripts as well. (I also put "C:\sys\bat;C:\sys\scripts;C:\sys\wsh;C:\sys\bin" at the front of my %PATH%, and put various batch files, script files, et cetera, in these directories, so Windows can always find them. This is also handy if you want to "override" some commands: Putting the * .bat files first in the path makes the system find them before the * .exe files, for example, and then the * .bat file can launch the actual program by giving the full path to the actual *. exe file. Check out the various sites on "batch file programming" for details and other examples of the power of the command line.. It isn't dead yet!)
One final note: DO check out some of the other sites for various warnings and caveats. This question posed a script named "converter.vbs", which is dangerously close to the command "convert.exe", which is a Windows program to convert your hard drive from a FAT file system to a NTFS file system.. Something that can clobber your hard drive if you make a typing mistake!
On the other hand, using the above techniques you can insulate yourself from such mistakes, too. Using CONVERT.EXE as an example.. Rename it to something like "REAL_CONVERT.EXE", then create a file like "C:\sys\bat\convert.bat" which contains:
#ECHO OFF
ECHO !DANGER! !DANGER! !DANGER! !DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!
ECHO This command will convert your hard drive to NTFS! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DO THIS?!
ECHO PRESS CONTROL-C TO ABORT, otherwise..
REM "PAUSE" will pause the batch file with the message "Press any key to continue...",
REM and also allow the user to press CONTROL-C which will prompt the user to abort or
REM continue running the batch file.
PAUSE
ECHO Okay, if you're really determined to do this, type this command:
ECHO. %SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\REAL_CONVERT.EXE
ECHO to run the real CONVERT.EXE program. Have a nice day!
You can also use CHOICE.EXE in modern Windows to make the user type "y" or "n" if they really want to continue, and so on.. Again, the power of batch (and scripting) files!
Here's some links to some good resources on how to use all this power:
http://ss64.com/
http://www.computerhope.com/batch.htm
http://commandwindows.com/batch.htm
http://www.robvanderwoude.com/batchfiles.php
Most of these sites are geared towards batch files, but most of the information in them applies to running any kind of batch (* .bat) file, command (* .cmd) file, and scripting (* .vbs, * .js, * .pl, * .py, and so on) files.
When entering the script's full file spec or its filename on the command line, the shell will use information accessibly by
assoc | grep -i vbs
.vbs=VBSFile
ftype | grep -i vbs
VBSFile=%SystemRoot%\System32\CScript.exe "%1" %*
to decide which program to run for the script. In my case it's cscript.exe, in yours it will be wscript.exe - that explains why your WScript.Echos result in MsgBoxes.
As
cscript /?
Usage: CScript scriptname.extension [option...] [arguments...]
Options:
//B Batch mode: Suppresses script errors and prompts from displaying
//D Enable Active Debugging
//E:engine Use engine for executing script
//H:CScript Changes the default script host to CScript.exe
//H:WScript Changes the default script host to WScript.exe (default)
//I Interactive mode (default, opposite of //B)
//Job:xxxx Execute a WSF job
//Logo Display logo (default)
//Nologo Prevent logo display: No banner will be shown at execution time
//S Save current command line options for this user
//T:nn Time out in seconds: Maximum time a script is permitted to run
//X Execute script in debugger
//U Use Unicode for redirected I/O from the console
shows, you can use //E and //S to permanently switch your default host to cscript.exe.
If you are so lazy that you don't even want to type the extension, make sure that the PATHEXT environment variable
set | grep -i vbs
PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.py;.pyw;.tcl;.PSC1
contains .VBS and there is no Converter.cmd (that converts your harddisk into a washing machine) in your path.
Update wrt comment:
If you 'don't want to specify the full path of my vbscript everytime' you may:
put your CONVERTER.VBS in a folder that is included in the PATH environment variable; the shell will then search all pathes - if necessary taking the PATHEXT and the ftype/assoc info into account - for a matching 'executable'.
put a CONVERTER.BAT/.CMD into a path directory that contains a line like cscript p:\ath\to\CONVERTER.VBS
In both cases I would type out the extension to avoid (nasty) surprises.
I am wondering why you cannot put this in a batch file. Example:
cd D:\VBS\
WSCript Converter.vbs
Put the above code in a text file and save the text file with .bat extension. Now you have to simply run this .bat file.
Why don't you just stash the vbscript in a batch/vbscript file hybrid. Name the batch hybrid Converter.bat and you can execute it directly as Converter from the cmd line. Sure you can default ALL scripts to run from Cscript or Wscript, but if you want to execute your vbs as a windows script rather than a console script, this could cause some confusion later on. So just set your code to a batch file and run it directly.
Check the answer -> Here
And here is an example:
Converter.bat
::' VBS/Batch Hybrid
::' --- Batch portion ---------
rem^ &#echo off
rem^ &call :'sub
rem^ &exit /b
:'sub
rem^ &echo begin batch
rem^ &cscript //nologo //e:vbscript "%~f0"
rem^ &echo end batch
rem^ &exit /b
'----- VBS portion -----
Dim tester
tester = "Convert data here"
Msgbox tester
You may follow the following steps:
Open your CMD(Command Prompt)
Type 'D:' and hit Enter. Example: C:\Users\[Your User Name]>D:
Type 'CD VBS' and hit Enter. Example: D:>CD VBS
Type 'Converter.vbs' or 'start Converter.vbs' and hit Enter. Example: D:\VBS>Converter.vbs Or D:\VBS>start Converter.vbs
Under *nix I can set SVN_EDITOR to gvim --nofork to do the trick, but that doesn't seem to work under Windows. Is there any solution for that?
If you have installed the batch files (c:\windows\gvim.bat), just set EDITOR to gvim -f, the batch file processes the -f argument and sets the no-fork option.
The trick in the batch file is running START /WAIT path\to\gvim.exe %* (see the /WAIT argument).
If you don't have the batch files, just create a new one with the command above, and set EDITOR to the newly create batch file.
This answer was written for Git, but should directly apply.
To make this work, try the following.
Create a one-line batch file (named svn_editor.bat) which contains the following:
"path/to/gvim.exe" --nofork "%*"
Place svn_editor.bat on your PATH.
Set SVN_EDITOR=svn_editor.bat
With this done, SVN should correctly invoke the gvim executable.
NOTE 1: The --nofork option to gvim insures that it blocks until the commit message has been written.
NOTE 2: The quotes around the path to gvim is required if you have spaces in the path.
NOTE 3: The quotes around "%*" are needed just in case git passes a file path with spaces.
If the problem is passing parameters to prevent forking to gvim (your question was a little vague), then you can either create a batch file that calls gvim with the required parameters or you could simply add the following to your vimrc (NOT gvimrc) and point SVN_EDITOR at gvim.exe:
set guioptions+=f
This tells vim not to fork when creating the GUI and has the advantage of not having to mess around with batch files. For more information, see:
:help gui-fork
As described in one of the answers to SO question "Any way to use a custom diff tool with cleartool/clearcase?" I have installed WinMerge and a single diff opens fine in WinMerge based on a command of the form
cleartool diff -g filename filename##clearcase-virtual-path-to-version-I-want-to_compare-to
But when I run that command in cygwin, it does not return to the command prompt until I exit WinMerge.
I want to execute a few such commands from a .bat file or shell script (one for each file in the change set of a given ClearCase activity) and have it either open multiple WinMerge instances, or multiple windows in a single WinMerge instance.
I was able to do that once but I've forgotten how. Can someone remind me?
I sense that this is not really a ClearCase question, but perhaps a DOS or shell question about spawning processes from the cygwin command line ...
Put an ampersand at the end of the line to run it in the background:
cleartool diff -g filename filename##clearcase-virtual-path-to-version-I-want-to_compare-to &
As mentioned in the Winmerge Command Line man page
/s limits WinMerge windows to a single instance. For example, if WinMerge is already running, a new compare opens in the same instance. Without this parameter, multiple windows are allowed: depending on other settings, a new compare might open in the existing window or in a new window.
So you could call WinMerge multiple time:
either through a background process (like troelskn suggests)
or through a DOS call
call "c:\Program Files (x86)\WinMerge\WinMergeU.exe" /s ...
should be able to launch only one WinMerge instance and continue the DOS script.
Note: this does not work with the map file I mention in this other SO answer, since a map file needs:
an executable (.bat or .cmd will not work)
no options (WinMergeU.exe works, WinMergeU.exe /s will not)
I'm porting a Linux tool-set that makes frequent use of shell functions to provide certain functionality. These functions are automatically sourced when you start a new shell and include things like changing the working directory, which is nigh impossible with stand-alone programs because child processes can't change their parent's environment.
For example, there is a function cdbm which changes the working directory to one that was previously bookmarked. Now I want to do the same on Windows, but I'm stuck with cmd.exe. As far as I understand the scripts could be ported to jscript, vbscript or plain batch, which shouldn't be a problem. But how do I make sure they automatically get sourced on startup and live in the shell's environment?
According to help cmd:
If /D was NOT specified on the command line, then when CMD.EXE starts, it
looks for the following REG_SZ/REG_EXPAND_SZ registry variables, and if
either or both are present, they are executed first.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun
and/or
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun
As a test, in regedit I created a new key in the HLM branch shown above called "AutoRun" with the string value "echo Hi". When I started a new instance of cmd I got:
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Hi
C:\Users\Username>
You could put in the name of a script to run instead (I would put in a fully specified path to the script or one with a environment variable in it like "%HOMEPATH%\scripts\scriptname" (including the quotes in case there are spaces in the name).
Edit:
The registry key has some side effects. One example is help. If I have the echo command above, for example, in the AutoRun when I type help vol I get a "Hi" right above the help text. Doing vol /?, though doesn't do that.
You can set either of the following registry keys to a batch file or other executable to run that program when CMD is started:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun
A batch file should be able to change the current directory of the executing CMD process with the CD command, as it doesn't run as a subprocess. You can disable the autorun behaviour by supplying /D as a switch to CMD.
See CMD /? for more details.
Since cmd doesn't allow you to define functions in global scope, I'm a little at a loss to understand what exactly you're trying to achieve by auto-sourcing a script at startup. I tend to include a batch file directory in my path where you can put batch files I regularly need.
Look at cygwin.