I've got a simple exe application that writes in a file the first argument with which it gets called, so from command line I can do
MySimpleApp.exe "FOO"
and in the SimpleFile.cfg I get "FOO".
If I try to run this batch (it's in the same folder of the app)
set mypath=%~dp0
%mypath%MySimpleApp.exe "FOO1"
%mypath%MySimpleApp.exe "FOO2"
%mypath%MySimpleApp.exe "FOO3"
every time MySimpleApp gets called Windows ask the administrator permissions to execute the app. I thought that I could just run the batch as administrator, but even if I get no UAC prompt the application doesn't execute.
Is there some option or command that I must use to call an exe file when the batch is launched in administrator mode?
Filenames with spaces MUST be enclosed in quotes.
Always tack a pause at the end of a batch to see how it is interpreting your commands. And likewise if using Echo Off turn it on. Hiding information from yourself about YOUR error is not wise.
So
C:\Users\FirstName LastName\Desktop>C:\Users\FirstName LastName\Desktop\MySimpleApp.exe "FOO3"
'C:\Users\FirstName' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
In a Windows batch file, or in the Command Prompt, what's the difference between calling start mspaint, for example, and mspaint? They appear to do exactly the same thing.
Another example, where all 4 cases appear to do the same thing. Can you please help me understand what are the subtle differences, if any?
taskmgr
C:\Windows\System32\Taskmgr.exe
start taskmgr
start C:\Windows\System32\Taskmgr.exe
Follow-up: it looks like start opens a separate background command prompt to run the program you write after it (source: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770297(v=ws.11).aspx). Is this the same as Linux's myApp & format--where you have the & suffix?
Starting a Program
See start /? and call /? for help on all three ways.
Specify a program name
c:\windows\notepad.exe
In a batch file the batch will wait for the program to exit. When
typed the command prompt does not wait for graphical
programs to exit.
If the program is a batch file control is transferred and the rest of the calling batch file is not executed.
Use Start command
start "" c:\windows\notepad.exe
Start starts a program and does not wait. Console programs start in a new window. Using the /b switch forces console programs into the same window, which negates the main purpose of Start.
Start uses the Windows graphical shell - same as typing in WinKey + R (Run dialog). Try
start shell:cache
Also note the first set of quotes, if any, MUST be the window title.
Use Call command
Call is used to start batch files and wait for them to exit and continue the current batch file.
With Reference to Start and just typing a program name.
Help Windows Find Programs and Documents
Programs and documents can be added to the registry so typing their name without their path in the Start - Run dialog box or shortcut enables Windows to find them.
REGEDIT4
;The bolded name below is the name of the document or program, <filename>.<file extension>
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\IE.txt]
;The # means the path to the file is assigned to the default value for the key.
;The whole path in enclosed in a quotation mark ".
#="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\IE.txt\""
;Optional Parameters. The semicolon means don't process the line. Remove it if you want to put it in the registry
;Informs the shell that the program accepts URLs.
;"useURL"="1"
;Sets the path that a program will use as its' default directory. This is commented out.
;"Path"="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office\\"
For a technical discussion.
CMD preprocesses commands and finds the file then calls CreateProcess. Start - Run dialog or the Start command uses ShellExecuteEx which eventually calls CreateProcess.
This is CreateProcess rules - note CMD provides full paths to CreateProcess. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682425
1.The directory from which the application loaded.
2.The current directory for the parent process.
3.The 32-bit Windows system directory. Use the GetSystemDirectory function to get the path of this directory.
The 16-bit Windows system directory. There is no function that obtains the path of this directory, but it is searched. The name of this directory is System.
5.The Windows directory. Use the GetWindowsDirectory function to get the path of this directory.
6.The directories that are listed in the PATH environment variable. Note that this function does not search the per-application path specified by the App Paths registry key. To include this per-application path in the search sequence, use the ShellExecute function.
ShellExecuteEx is here https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb759784(v=vs.85).aspx
CMD preprocessing is available on my Skydrive - originally from MS web site but no more. See Windows NT Command Shell Ch 2 https://1drv.ms/f/s!AvqkaKIXzvDieQFjUcKneSZhDjw
you need to call start application when you want the application to launch and return immediately to the command shell for further commands.
(on Linux, closest equivalent of start is the & suffix)
Some commands have the ability to do that without start prefix. That's what you're experiencing.
On the other hand, if you want an application returning immediately to "block" the shell, prefix by cmd /c
Try cmd /c taskmgr for instance, you'll see it blocks the command window until you quit it.
About the question about taskmgr, the 3 possibilities amount to the same result:
taskmgr is in system path: with or without full path the system finds it
taskmgr returns to the command window immediately. In that case, start is redundant.
This works (Notepad++):
C:\Anywhere> start notepad++ hello.txt
And this works (SoX for removing silence in sounds):
C:\Anywhere> sox in.wav out1.wav silence 1 0.1 1%
Yet, my PATH variable includes neither (would send on request).
How can I do this with my program?
To run from everywhere.
Also, why doesn't Notepad++ work without the start command?
(I did this workaround by putting the .exe in C:\ and then simply calling C:\Anywhere> /myprogram but I'm still curious about the above.)
To get the indicated scenario where
you can start applications from anywhere using the start command (or the windows Run dialog) without including its parent folder in path variable,
but you can not start the application without the start command from any directory whithout including the full path to reach it (it is not in the path) or being located in the adecuated directory
the applications are included in the registry under the key
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications
note: It is a "merged" view showing the combined contents of
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\Applications
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Applications
If you are not administrator to change the local machine configuration, you can always modify your user registry information to include the applications you need.
edited There is a second place in registry that will allow to include an application in the registry to be executed using start command, Run dialog or from anything that uses the ShellExecute or ShellExecuteEx API calls.
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\
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