.bat file runs other .bat file unexpectedly [duplicate] - windows

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What's the relative order with which Windows search for executable files in PATH?
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I created the following TcpConn.bat script that gets the information on open tcp connections from an android device, with an interval of two seconds, running in the adb shell.
:startTCP
adb shell cat /proc/net/tcp
timeout /t 2
goto startTCP
When testing this in my /dev/test/ folder the script ran as expected and gave me the expected output of sl local_address rem_address st tx_queue rx_queue tr tm->when retrnsmt uid timeout inode.
However when I moved it to my /dev/batchFiles/ folder it started running the contents of a different .bat script in that folder (called adb.bat). with the contents
cd C:\Android\sdk\platform-tools
adb logcat -s Unity PackageManager dalvikvm DEBUG
Now in my TcpConn.bat script I execute "adb shell...", which matches the name of "adb.bat" without the extension, so it seems to make a call to this.
My question is though, why would it execute that script? I don't want it to execute the script, but run the adb command
I'm not:
providing the complete filepath/filename (which would be c:/dev/batchFiles/adb.bat), nor am I using it as a string like "adb"
I'm not using call as explained here
not using start
Do batch scripts always check the directory for a file matching part of a command and run that file, even if it doesn't have an extension appended to it? If so is there a way to disable this behaviour?
I'm aware I can just rename the "adb.bat" file and be done with it. But want to know why it gets run.
The only thing i could somewhat related to this is "How to run batch script without using *.bat extension"

As long as there is a batch file in the same directory as the one you are executing then it will execute that adb.bat file because the windows command prompt will look in the current directory first in search of an executable when you tell your batch file to execute a command.
As far as a solution to your problem I would say if it is possible then change the name of your adb.bat file to something else like adbFile.bat that way you won't be calling it every time you need to call your adb tools from that specific directory.

Related

WinSCP script file works in Windows 10 but not in Windows 7

I want to automate really simple ftp transfers with WinSCP (Example script file shown below. The real file would handle many files, but all simple stuff.)
open ftp://username:password#ftp.site.com/
option confirm off
cd remotedirectory
get file.csv
close
exit
A batch file containing:
winscp.com /script="staging get.txt"
opens a command prompt window and executes correctly in Windows 10, but in Windows 7 the command window opens and then immediately closes, and no files are transferred. WinSCP is in the path in both environments. I assume that a parameter or command is missing from one or the other file, but I don't know what it would be.
I was making a couple of small syntax errors. I couldn't see them because the command prompt window closed almost immediately, but the log file showed me what was happening and it was easy to fix. The lesson is - always create a log file.

pushd not working in batch file but is in command prompt?

I'm trying to make a scheduled task that runs a python script in a particular directory located on a network drive. I figured I need a batch file in order to achieve this.
I'm running the following in command prompt successfully:
pushd \\mydrive\somedirectory
Z:\>
But I'm trying to do the same thing in a batch file and get:
The network name cannot be found,
The system cannot find the path specified.
What might I be doing incorrectly?

prevent Windows .bat file from quiting

I have a very simple Windows .BAT file:
set PATH=c:\xxx;%PATH%
call foo.pl
set VAR=true
I thought "call" will start a new batch process, without affecting the current one. However, the batch file exited immediately after the foo.pl finished executing. The set VAR=true has never been called.
Is there a way to fix it?
foo.pl is not a batch file, it is a Perl script.
So you need to use
path c:\xxx;%PATH%
"Path to\Folder With\perl.exe" "foo.pl"
rem Additional batch code executed after Perl script execution finished.
In other words you have to run the console application perl.exe best with full path, or with just perl.exe if program files folder of Perl is not the same on all computers on which this batch file is used and hopefully PATH contains also the directory containing perl.exe.
If you specify on a command line or in a batch file just foo.pl, Windows looks in Windows registry which application is associated with .pl for action Open. If there is such a file association, Windows runs this application in a separate process like when using command start.
So using call foo.pl is like using start foo.pl.
PATH is not only an environment variable, but also an interal command written for changing the value of environment variable PATH at any time within a batch file. This is the reason why I removed set from first line. It is better to use internal command path for modifying environment variable PATH.

Build output from Visual Studio 2010 external tools in output window

I run a batch file as an external tool (by adding it in Tools->External tools) in VS2010 (I've checked the "Use Output Window" option). This batch file performs compilation as in VS command prompt. The project that I'm working on has makefiles for various folders, so I use the mk command to build.
In the batch file, I set up the VS environment and then run the following commands:
cd $directoryWhichContainsFileToBuild
mk
cd main //This directory contains the executable that is to be built
mk
I see the output of the first mk in the Output window but after that it just hangs. I also tried to use an echo after the first mk but even that doesn't get printed in the output window (the ones before it can be seen).
Somewhere I read that there is an issue with VS 2010 output window where it hangs after showing some output, although I couldn't really be sure that that is what's the issue here.
Do I need to enable some other VS setting? Has anybody else encountered this issue?
Thanks.
Update: I unchecked the "Use Output Window" and "Close on exit" option, and I see an extra statement: "Press any key to continue". On doing that however, their is no further processing of the batch file.
Update2: Got it to work by prefixing mk with "call".
Thanks all who tried.
It is always good in batch files to specify executables with full path and file extension instead of just the file name. This avoids often lots of problems.
Here was just mk used instead of mk.bat. Therefore on every compile the command line processor cmd.exe searches for mk.* and then checks if any of the found files have an extension listed in environment variable PATHEXT. The order of file extensions separated by a semicolon in PATHEXT defines the order of execution in case of a directory contains multiple mk.* files.
If a command being specified in a batch file not being an internal command of cmd.exe without path, command line processor searches first for a file with given name in current working directory. This is often one more cause of error. What is the current working directory on execution of the batch file?
Next if no file to execute can be found in current working directory, the command line processor searches in all folders being listed in environment variable PATH separated by semicolons.
So specifying in batch files edited only rarely an external application or another batch file with full path, file name and file extension, in double quotes if necessary because of 1 or more spaces in path or file name, helps command line processor to more quickly execute that application or batch file and avoids problems because of executable not found (unknown command).
Sure, when typing commands in a command prompt window, nobody wants to enter the executables with full path, name and extension. But for batch files it is always good to be not lazy and type files to be executed with full path and extension.
TripeHound has given already the explanation why the observed behavior occurred here.
If a batch file is executed from another batch file without using command call, the command line processor continues batch execution in the other batch file and does never come back. In a C/C++ program this is like using goto with the difference that parameters can be passed to the batch file containing the further commands to be executed next.
But running from within a batch file another batch file with call results in continuation of execution below the line calling the other batch file once the other batch file reaches end, except command exit is used in the called batch file without parameter /B.
So the solution here is using:
cd /D "Directory\Which\Contains\File\To\Build"
call "Path\Containing\Batch\File\To\Build\mk.bat"
rem With mk.bat not changing current working directory change working
rem directory to the directory containing the executable to be built.
cd main
call "Path\Containing\Batch\File\To\Build\mk.bat"
BTW: exit exits command processor, exit /B exits just current batch file. I'll give you three guesses why the parameter is B and not a different letter. Yes, B is the first letter of batch.
Writing as a separate answer instead of an update in the question itself as many readers see the header and skim to the answer: got it to work by prefixing mk with "call". (#TripleHound has also posted the conceptual reason for it in the comment above.)

How to prevent batch file (.bat) from closing terminal when running commands?

On a Windows 7 machine if I run a PHPUnit Selenium command like this manually in the terminal:
phpunit --verbose --log-junit _selenium_tests\results\home.xml _selenium_tests\frontend\home.php
It spawns a browser and runs the test just fine. Then it outputs the following on the screen:
Time: 10 seconds, Memory: 3.50Mb
OK (1 test, 3 assertions)
And the terminal stays open.
Now if I copy and paste the exact command in an empty file and save it as test.bat and click it, it also runs the test. I can see the browser open and all tests run. Only problem is it closes the terminal prompt right after. So I can't see the above output.
An even bigger problem is, since it closes the terminal if I add more commands for other tests after that initial one they don't run.
I tried adding:
pause
at the end of the bat file but no luck, it still closes. Any idea how to prevent this and be able to run one command after another without the terminal ever closing?
Your question is similar to this one. Try using call in front of your command. If you run a .bat file from another .bat file and don't use call, control doesn't return to the first batch file, so pause doesn't get executed.
Try cmd /K phpunit --verbose --log-junit _selenium_tests\results\home.xml _selenium_tests\frontend\home.php
The /K option in cmd /K string Carries out the command specified by string but remains,see http://www.computerhope.com/cmd.htm
Also, I don't know the file type of the phpunit command you execute - I'm not familiar with selenium. If it is batch file (i.e. ends with .bat), you just can't call them from another batch file: everything below the call to the second batch file will never get executed.
You then need to use the CALL command. CALL Enables a user to execute a batch file from within another batch file, see http://www.computerhope.com/call.htm

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