I am using windows 8 to write a batch file and I got stuck in implementing the timer in batch file. I want to ask input from the user and give them one minute to type their input. Once the time hit a minute then display message like 'the time is over'. So, the time will start from 1 second and ends at 60 seconds OR start from 60 seconds and going down to 0 second. Either works just fine.
Additionally, I want timer to be displayed somewhere on screen so that they can see the countdown. Also, while the timer is running I want the user to be able to type a word and hit enter. This program will not make user wait, but it will wait until the time is over OR as soon as the user enter a word (whichever comes first). After they enter a valid word then I want to store that word in certain variable and do something like (goto VALIDWORD OR echo That is a valid word!)
I don't know if this is possible in batch file and there are more advanced language to use, but I want to complete this program using batch scripting. Thank you.
Following is my concept:
#echo off
:Start
color EC
set /a time =60
:loop
cls
if %time% EQU 0 goto Timesup
if %time% LEQ 60 goto CONTINUE
:CONTINUE
ping localhost -n 2 >nul
set /a time-=1
set /p cho= Enter your word:
echo Remaing Time: %time%
goto loop
:Timesup
echo The time is over!
exit
Any ideas or support would be appreciated. Again Thanks!
Batch files are not designed for tasks like this one, but it is possible to perform certain advanced managements although in a limited manner. The subroutine below use choice command to get input keys, so it does not allow to end the input with Enter key nor to delete characters with BackSpace; it use 0 and 1 keys for such tasks.
#echo off
setlocal
call :ReadTimedInput 60 word=
echo Word read: "%word%"
goto :EOF
:ReadTimedInput seconds result=
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set /A seconds=100+%1
set "letters=ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
for /F %%a in ('copy /Z "%~F0" NUL') do set "CR=%%a"
for /F %%a in ('echo prompt $H ^| cmd') do set "BS=%%a"
echo Enter a word; press 0 to End, press 1 to Clear
:clear
set /P "=X!CR! !CR!" < NUL
set "result="
:loop
set /P "=X!BS! !CR!%seconds:~-2%: %result%" < NUL
choice /C ¡10%letters% /N /CS /T 1 /D ¡ > NUL
if %errorlevel% equ 1 goto tick
if %errorlevel% equ 2 goto clear
if %errorlevel% equ 3 echo/& goto endInput
set /A char=%errorlevel%-4
set "result=%result%!letters:~%char%,1!"
:tick
set /A seconds-=1
if %seconds% gtr 100 goto loop
echo !CR!00
set "result=Time out"
:endInput
endlocal & set "%2=%result%"
exit /B
Related
Below, I wrote some code. It detects if a Micro-SD card is inserted into the computer and if so, it will ask to enter your pin. After you enter the pin, it will look through the card for a text file that contains a list of pins.
:start
cls
echo.
echo.
if exist E:\ (
goto enterPin
) else (
echo INSERT YOUR CARD
)
timeout 1 >nul
goto start
:enterPin
echo Enter Account Pin: %chip%
set /p pin=": "
:: Finding the specified pin
findstr /m "%pin%" E:\Chip\CardInfo.txt >Nul
if %errorlevel%==0 (
echo Pin "%pin%" is valid
timeout 1 >nul
goto account
)
if %errorlevel%==1 (
echo Pin "%pin%" is invalid
pause
goto start
)
:account
cls
:: Finds the name of the account owner and continues
setlocal enableextensions disabledelayedexpansion
for /F "tokens=2 delims=/" %%a in ('findstr /I "%pin%/" E:\Chip\CardInfo.txt') do set "user=%%a"
for /F "tokens=3 delims=/" %%b in ('findstr /I "%pin%/%user%/" E:\Chip\CardInfo.txt') do set "balance=%%b"
echo.
echo.
echo Welcome, %user%.
echo.
echo ACCOUNT BALANCE: $%balance%
echo.
echo 1=Deposit / 2=Withdraw / 3=Exit / 4=Refresh
choice /c 1234 >nul
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 1 goto deposit
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 2 goto withdraw
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 3 exit
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 4 goto account
:deposit
echo.
echo.
set /p add="Money to Deposit: "
set /a moneytoadd=%balance%+%add%
call jrepl "%pin%/%user%/%balance%" "%pin%/%user%/%moneytoadd%" /f E:\Chip\CardInfo.txt /o -
goto account
:withdraw
echo.
echo.
set /p sub="Money to Withdraw: "
set /a moneytosub=%balance%-%sub%
call jrepl "%pin%/%user%/%balance%" "%pin%/%user%/%moneytosub%" /f
E:\Chip\CardInfo.txt /o -
goto account
endlocal
Here's when the issue comes in. A pin consists of 4 numeric characters (ex. 1234), but if there's two pins with the same characters (ex. 1234, 6543), it will say the pin is valid. So for example, if I type 4, it will just look for just the number 4 in the file. And will say the pin is valid. Even though, just the number 4 is not an existing pin. My guess is that it's a flaw with "findstr". But I'm not sure.
Contents of "CardInfo.txt":
1234/Test User/1000
6543/Another Test User/2000
use REGEX (using <StartOfLine><PIN></>):
findstr /m "^%pin%/" E:\Chip\CardInfo.txt >Nul
where ^ is "Start of Line".
Here is what exactly does what you want:
#echo off
::add your path below
for /f %%a in (file.txt) do (
call :funch %%a
)
:funch
set input=%1
set "modifiedinput=%input:~0,4%"
set /p pin=Enter Account Pin:
if %modifiedinput% equ %pin% ( goto authentication_passed) else ( goto authentication_failed)
:authentication_passed
echo auth passed
rem your code
pause >nul
exit
:authentication_failed
echo auth failed
goto funch
it will read the input from file and then extract first four characters which in your case is the pin.
I rewrote the entire batch file to be more fail safe on execution:
#echo off
setlocal EnableExtensions DisableDelayedExpansion
rem endlocal is executed implicitly by cmd.exe on exiting batch file processing.
:Begin
cls
echo\
echo\
if exist E:\ goto enterPin
echo INSERT YOUR CARD
%SystemRoot%\System32\timeout.exe /T 1 >nul
goto Begin
:enterPin
set "pin="
set /p pin="Enter account pin for %chip%: "
if not defined pin goto enterPin
set "pin=%pin:"=%"
if not defined pin goto enterPin
for /F delims^=01234567890^ eol^= %%I in ("%pin%") do goto enterPin
rem Finding the specified pin.
%SystemRoot%\System32\findstr.exe /B /L /M /C:"%pin%/" E:\Chip\CardInfo.txt >Nul
if errorlevel 1 (
echo Pin "%pin%" is invalid.
pause
goto Begin
)
echo Pin "%pin%" is valid.
%SystemRoot%\System32\timeout.exe /T 1 >nul
:account
cls
rem Finds the name of the account owner and continues
for /F "tokens=2,3 delims=/" %%I in ('%SystemRoot%\System32\findstr.exe /B /L /C:"%pin%/" E:\Chip\CardInfo.txt') do set "user=%%I" & set "balance=%%J"
echo/
echo/
echo Welcome, %user%.
echo/
echo ACCOUNT BALANCE: $%balance%
echo/
echo 1=Deposit / 2=Withdraw / 3=Exit / 4=Refresh
%SystemRoot%\System32\choice.exe /c 1234 >nul
if not errorlevel 1 goto account
if errorlevel 4 goto account
if errorlevel 3 exit /B
if errorlevel 2 goto withdraw
:deposit
echo/
echo/
set "add="
set /P "add=Money to deposit: "
set /A moneytoadd=balance + add
call "%~dp0jrepl.bat" "%pin%/%user%/%balance%" "%pin%/%user%/%moneytoadd%" /L /f E:\Chip\CardInfo.txt /o -
goto account
:withdraw
echo/
echo/
set "sub="
set /P "sub=Money to withdraw: "
set /A moneytosub=balance - sub
call "%dp0jrepl.bat" "%pin%/%user%/%balance%" "%pin%/%user%/%moneytosub%" /L /f E:\Chip\CardInfo.txt /o -
goto account
Issues fixed with this code:
There is the command START. For that reason it is not advisable to use the string start as label although it is possible.
It is advisable to avoid an IF (...) ELSE (...) condition if a simple IF condition with GOTO can be used too.
The usage of full qualified file names wherever possible avoids a batch file not running as expected on environment variables PATH (too often) or PATHEXT (rarely) are corrupted on the user´s machine.
A user has the freedom to enter on a prompt done with set /P really anything from nothing to something resulting in further processing in a syntax error with an immediate exit of batch file execution on code not being prepared for any user input. For that reason the first set /P prompt is improved and validates if the user entered a string consisting only of digits.
The usage of FINDSTR is done with additional options to find the pin only at beginning of a line case-sensitive with a literal search and the next character must be a slash character.
The recommended syntax for ERRORLEVEL evaluation is used in the code.
The arithmetic expressions are written using the recommended syntax to work even if the user enters nothing or a string which cannot be converted to an integer number at all.
The command EXIT is used with option /B to just exit the processing of the batch file and not the entire command process.
For understanding the used commands and how they work, open a command prompt window, execute there the following commands, and read entirely all help pages displayed for each command very carefully.
call /?
choice /?
cls /?
echo /?
findstr /?
for /?
goto /?
if /?
pause /?
rem /?
set /?
setlocal /?
timeout /?
Useful pages regarding to the improvements on code:
How does the Windows Command Interpreter (CMD.EXE) parse scripts?
Why is no string output with 'echo %var%' after using 'set var = text' on command line?
How to stop Windows command interpreter from quitting batch file execution on an incorrect user input?
Syntax error in one of two almost-identical batch scripts: ")" cannot be processed syntactically here
DosTips forum topic: ECHO. FAILS to give text or blank line - Instead use ECHO/
Single line with multiple commands using Windows batch file
Safe number comparison in Windows batch file
so I'm just wondering if it's possible to to make a batch file read a line of text but split every letter up into it's own variable, ex:
#echo off
:start
set /p text=input:
set out=
set out2=
set /p text=input:
:loop
set out=%out% %text:~0,1%
set out2=%out2:~1% %text:~1%
set text=%text:~1%
if defined text goto loop
echo %out% -%out2%
pause
goto start
What I've written here doesn't work (I was just fiddling around trying to find the answer)
But what I was trying to do was to make "out" and "out2" into 2 separate values. Where "out" would be the first letter typed, and "out2" would be the second letter and so on. (planning to have about 16 out's that can read the first 16 letters of whatever the user inputs and make it into separate varibles)
ex: typing "ab" in the same line would result in "out" being "a" and "out2" being b
Another thing I couldn't figure out either was how to stop "out" from reading everything after the first letter. If anyone could help me with this issue, please explain what you've done to fix it. Thanks in advance
Here is a little trick you can use with CMD.exe and the /U option. The FOR /F command is necessary to capture the output to assign to a variable. I then build a pseudo array with the cnt variable. The SET out command is just used to display all the variables in the pseudo array.
#echo off
setlocal
SET /P "text=INPUT:"
set "cnt=0"
for /F "delims=" %%G IN ('cmd /u /c "echo %text%"^|find /V ""') do (
set /A cnt+=1
CALL SET "out%%cnt%%=%%G"
)
FOR /L %%G IN (1,1,%cnt%) DO CALL echo %%out%%G%%
endlocal
pause
And here is just a quick run of the code.
C:\Users\Squashman\Desktop>so.bat
INPUT:foobar
out1=f
out2=o
out3=o
out4=b
out5=a
out6=r
Press any key to continue . . .
Here is the answer you provided but I fixed your logic errors.
#echo off
setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
title Test
color a
mode 150
:start
cls
echo test
echo.
set /p text=Input:
set "texttmp=%text%"
set cnt=0
:Reader1
set /a cnt+=1
echo Val-%cnt% = !texttmp:~0,1!
set c[%cnt%]=!texttmp:~0,1!
set "texttmp=%texttmp:~1%"
if "%texttmp%" NEQ "" goto Reader1
I found an easy solution which is way easier to understand (for me at least)
#echo off
setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
title Test
color a
mode 150
:start
cls
echo test
echo.
set /p text=Input:
set pos=1
:Reader1
echo Val-%pos% = !text:~%pos%,1!
set c[%pos%]=!text:~%pos%,1!
set /a pos=%pos%+1
if "!text:~%pos%,1!" NEQ "" goto Reader1
pause
I actually wanted to create a timer using batch program and when I run the code the output is not the way I want. The screen continues flicking without decreasing the second. Can someone Help me. Thanks alot.
#echo off
set countdown=10
:loop
if %countdown% == 0 goto end
cls
echo %countdown%
timeout /t 1 /NOBREAK
set/a count=%countdown%-1
goto loop
:end
cls
echo Time's up!
pause
You should replace this line set/a count=%countdown%-1 by this one set /a countdown=countdown-1 or by a shortened set /a countdown-=1.
#echo off
set "countdown=10"
:loop
if "%countdown%" EQU "0" goto end
cls
echo %countdown%
set /a countdown-=1
timeout /t 1 /NOBREAK>nul
goto loop
:end
cls
echo Time's up!
pause
A way to do it without the goto / label
#echo off
Set count=10
Setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
For /L %%a in (1,1,!count!) DO (
Set /a count=!count! - 1
(ECHO <esc>[1;1H<esc>[K!count!)
(
TIMEOUT 1 >nul
)
)
ECHO times up!
pause
<esc>[1;1H<esc>[K Sets the position of the text (line;column) and clears the line from that point. <esc> represents the ANSI escape character.
Using the ANSI cursor positioning allows you to refresh text on screen selectively, without having to clear the whole screen.
I have no experience with command prompt whatsoever, but I'd like to make a batch script (for fun and learn) that would print a text file from a given location, line by line, with a 1 second delay.
I would also want it to be able to pause/unpause when I press a designated key (ex: space) and feed me an extra line (on top of those already programmed to run) when I press another key (ex: enter).
I know I can add a 1 second delay by pinging localhost ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 > nul
And I know I can see the content of a text file using more text.txt, but I don't know how to iterate through an entire text file until EOF is met and I don't know how to pause/resume and feed extra line.
Hope it doesn't sound stupid or out of scope in this context, but it's just something that interests me right know and I know a lot people here have the knowledge to do this.
1) If you have experience in programming, you will know using a for loop is the most common way to do things one by one, e.g. line by line.
2) You can simply use ping localhost -n 2 >nul for 1 second delay, the 2 in the ping is not indicating 2 seconds, but 1 second instead. (I have no idea about that, just get used to it)
3) You can't pause/unpause when cmd is pinging, I mean there's no way to force the program to pause/unpause because the delay process is executed in just a line of code! Or you can magically add some code into it like ping localhost -n 2 pause while(KeyDown(SPACE)) >nul (just kidding :) )
4) Extra lines? Hmm... Remember batch is not a powerful language so... Yeah
Here is a simple code to print text line by line each second in a .txt file
for /f %%a in (your_text.txt) do (
echo %%a
ping localhost -n 2 >nul
)
You could do it synchronously with choice /t 1 (for a 1-second timeout) and some key other than Spacebar. Perhaps P for Pause?
#echo off
setlocal
set "textfile=notes.txt"
echo Hit P to pause / resume, Q to quit.
echo;
for /f "tokens=1* delims=:" %%I in ('findstr /n "^" "%textfile%"') do (
echo(%%J
choice /t 1 /c €pq /d € >NUL
if errorlevel 3 exit /b 0
if errorlevel 2 (
pause >NUL
ping -n 1 -w 750 169.254.1.1 >NUL
)
)
exit /b 0
Unfortunately, choice only allows a-z, A-Z, 0-9, and extended characters 128-254. There's no way to make it listen for Enter or Space. And choice is the only Windows command of which I'm aware that'll accept a single keypress and do something meaningful based on which key was pressed.
I think you'll have to use some sort of compiled language (or possibly PowerShell with a .NET class?) to listen for keypress events on the console. You could probably do it in JavaScript, but you'd have to display your output in a web browser or HTA window.
A "scrolling editor"? It is a crazy idea, isn't it? I LIKE IT! ;-) I adopted your project and add some points...
#echo off
rem ScrollEditor.bat: "dynamic" very simple line editor
rem Antonio Perez Ayala aka Aacini
if "%~1" neq "" if "%~1" neq "/?" goto begin
echo ScrollEditor.bat filename.ext
echo/
echo File lines will be continually scrolling, one per second.
echo/
echo You may pause the scroll via P key. In the "paused" state, the last displayed
echo line is named "current line", and the following commands are active:
echo/
echo #L Return/advance the listing to line #; continue the scroll from there.
echo [#]D Delete [from previous line # up to] current line.
echo I Insert lines after current line; end insert with *two* empty lines.
echo P End "paused" state; continue the scroll from current line on.
echo E End edit and save file, keep original file with .bak extension.
echo Q Quit edit, not save file.
goto :EOF
:begin
if not exist %1 echo File not found & goto :EOF
rem Load file lines into "line" array
set /P "=Loading file... " < NUL
setlocal DisableDelayedExpansion
for /F "tokens=1* delims=:" %%a in ('findstr /N "^" %1') do (
set "line[%%a]=%%b"
set "lastLine=%%a"
)
echo last line: %lastLine%
echo To pause scrolling, press: P
echo/
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set "validCommands=LDIPEQ"
set currentLine=1
:command-P End "paused" state
:ScrollLine
if %currentLine% gtr %lastLine% (
set "currentLine=%lastLine%"
echo EOF
goto GetCommand
)
set "num= %currentLine%"
echo %num:~-4%: !line[%currentLine%]!
set /A currentLine+=1
choice /C PC /N /T 1 /D C >NUL
if errorlevel 2 goto ScrollLine
rem Enter paused state
set /A currentLine-=1
:GetCommand
echo/
set /P "command=Command [#L,#D,I,P,E,Q]? "
set "letter=%command:~-1%"
if "!validCommands:%letter%=!" equ "%validCommands%" goto GetCommand
goto command-%letter%
:command-L Go to line #; continue scrolling
set "currentLine=%command:~0,-1%"
goto ScrollLine
:command-D Delete from line # to current line
set "prevLine=%command:~0,-1%"
if not defined prevLine set "prevLine=%currentLine%"
rem Move lines after last deleted one into deleted lines
set /A currentLine+=1, newCurrent=prevLine-1, lines=currentLine-prevLine
for /L %%j in (%currentLine%,1,%lastLine%) do (
set "line[!prevLine!]=!line[%%j]!"
set /A prevLine+=1
)
set /A currentLine=newCurrent, lastLine=prevLine-1
if %currentLine% equ 0 set "currentLine=1"
echo %lines% line(s) deleted (current=%currentLine%, last=%lastLine%)
goto GetCommand
:command-I Insert lines after current one
echo End insert with *two* empty lines
echo/
rem Read new lines into "ins" array
set "newLine=%currentLine%"
:insertLine
set "line="
set /A newLine+=1
set "num= %newLine%"
set /P "line=+%num:~-3%: "
set "ins[%newLine%]=!line!"
rem The most complex part: end in two empty lines...
if not defined line (
set /A newLine+=1
set "num= !newLine!"
set /P "line=+!num:~-3!: "
if defined line (
set "ins[!newLine!]=!line!"
) else (
set /A newLine-=2
)
)
if defined line goto insertLine
rem Move old lines to new place to make room for new lines
set /A lines=newLine-currentLine, currentLine+=1, newLast=lastLine+lines
for /L %%j in (%lastLine%,-1,%currentLine%) do (
set "line[!newLast!]=!line[%%j]!"
set /A newLast-=1
)
rem Insert new lines in old place
for /L %%j in (%currentLine%,1,%newLine%) do set "line[%%j]=!ins[%%j]!"
set /A lastLine+=lines, currentLine=newLine
echo %lines% line(s) inserted (current=%currentLine%, last=%lastLine%)
goto GetCommand
:command-E End edit, save file
echo Saving file...
move /Y %1 "%~N1.bak"
(for /L %%i in (1,1,%lastLine%) do echo(!line[%%i]!) > %1
:command-Q Quit edit
echo End edit
This program have multiple problems: don't check for valid input in commands, may have problems with special Batch characters and if the first character of a line is a colon, eliminate it. However, it is a good starting point for this project!
Perhaps you may be interested in this similar project.
I have created the following batch file that makes Wait "| / -- \" animation. I want to use it during processing mysql restore database command mysql -u %DBuser% -p %DB% < "%thefile%" where thefile is the sql dump file path
#Echo OFF
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
for /f %%a in ('copy /Z "%~f0" nul') do set "CR=%%a"
SET p=-1
set num=1
set "st[1]=| "
set "st[2]=/ "
set "st[3]=--"
set "st[4]=\ "
if /i %p% lss 0 (
set p=2
call :LOOP
call :DoSomeThing
)
:LOOP
if /i %num% lss 4 (
set /a num=num+1
) else (
set num=1
)
<nul set /P "=Wait !st[%num%]!!CR!"
TIMEOUT /T 1 >NUL
GOTO :LOOP
:DoSomeThing
TIMEOUT /T 10 >NUL
echo Doing...
Here, :DoSomeThing is for testing purposes and It should be replaced or include the mysql command. I get the problem that :LOOP works for ever and there is no call to :DoSomeThing
I tried to call :DoSomeThing before call :LOOP but the LOOP started after DoSomeThing is finished so it becomes useless! Is there any way to make the DoSomeThing or the MySQL command works in the background while the animation wait loop works too?
EDIT: Some explanations added
In order to fulfill your request it is necessary to execute two threads simultanously, so one thread execute the mysql command and the other thread execute the looping wait animation. Both threads can be synchronized using a flag file that is created before mysql execution starts and is deleted after it ends, so the wait animation loops until the flag file is deleted.
The way to create a new thread is via start command, that may run a second Batch file that execute the mysql command and delete the flag file. However, in order to keep all the code in the same place, the start command may run the same Batch file (represented by "%~F0" in the code below). The key that allows this trick to work is a special parameter that indicate if the Batch file was re-executed from inside itself, so in this case the code just goto the section that execute the mysql command and delete the flag file.
#Echo OFF
rem If the Batch file was re-executed with the special parameter (second thread)
rem go to the section that execute the mysql command
if "%~1" equ ":DoSomething" goto %1
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
for /f %%a in ('copy /Z "%~f0" nul') do set "CR=%%a"
set num=0
set "st[0]=| "
set "st[1]=/ "
set "st[2]=--"
set "st[3]=\ "
rem Do here anything you want before the mysql command...
echo Doing something for 10 seconds...
rem Create the flag file
echo X > DoingSomething
rem Re-start this Batch file with the special parameter
start "" /B "%~F0" :DoSomething
rem Simultaneously execute the waiting animation
call :LOOP
rem Do here anything you want after the mysql command...
rem ... and terminate
goto :EOF
:LOOP
set /a num=(num+1) %% 4
<nul set /P "=Wait !st[%num%]!!CR!"
TIMEOUT /T 1 >NUL
IF EXIST DoingSomething GOTO :LOOP
echo Ending loop
goto :EOF
:DoSomeThing
rem Place here the mysql command
TIMEOUT /T 10 >NUL
rem Delete the flag file
del DoingSomething
rem And terminate the second thread
goto :EOF