I download bash.exe from SourceForge and added it to my path in Powershell, but I can't get it to clear the console. clear.exe is missing from the zipfile that was downloaded, so it makes sense that that command doesn't work. However, using Ctrl+L also does not clear the powershell console.
How can I get the powershell console to clear when I'm using bash in it?
Note: I've tried adding an alias called clear to my .bashrc as alias clear=echo <many enters>, but it doesn't work quite the way I've expected (i.e. only echoes 4 or 5 newlines). Also, echo "\n\n" just prints out literal \n\n.
In the absence of a clear or tput utility, and given that the usual ANSI escape sequences don't work with the (built-in) printf, you must call out to either cmd.exe or PowerShell to effect clearing the screen:
bash$ powershell -noprofile -c cls
Using cmd is faster, but the problem is that the win-bash invokes external programs by double-quoting each argument behind the scenes, which causes a command such as cmd /c cls to malfunction; the following workaround mostly works, but prints the cmd.exe prompt string once after clearing the screen.
# !! Clears the screen, but prints the cmd.exe prompt string once.
bash$ echo cls | cmd
I have multiple doskeys defined in following fashion:
doskey ll=dir $*
doskey grep=findstr $*
doskey make=mingw32-make $*
I want to use them in conjunction in one-line commands such as:
ll | grep my_folder
or
make && make install
But after first pipe/not/and operator, the doskeys no longer appear to exist since the cmd won't recognize the commands. For example, while single make command works, calling echo hello && make will tell me the make is not recognized as a command.
Is there a way to preserve the doskey context so I can chain them together as written above?
Also, the same issue applies to running batch files using the doskeys, is there a way to preserve the context for that too?
I've heard about the $T argument of doskey, but I am not quite sure if I understand it.
Thanks for help in advance
I had a similar issue...
Following macro was not handling the section after the | character:
doskey system=systeminfo | findstr /C:"OS"
But, the following did:
doskey system=systeminfo $B findstr /C:"OS"
So, looks like doskey's pipe symbol is $B.
I'll keep it brief, I'm trying to run the following code to install vmware, the variables are defined and fully functional, however when this is interperated into the batch file, they aren't escaped and show exactly as they're defined in the code (displayed below).
$cmd = 'cd "Single Sign On" & start /wait VMware-SSO-Server.exe /S /L1033 /v"/qr CONFIG_TYPE=Setup SETUP_TYPE=Basic SSO_DB_SERVER_TYPE=Bundled MASTER_PASSWORD=${sso_pwd} RSA_DBA_PASSWORD=${sso_pwd} RSA_USER_PASSWORD=${sso_pwd} COMPUTER_FQDN=test"'
In a windows bat file to define a variable you have to use SET and then to use these variable you have to put them between %
You'll better try like this :
#echo off
cd "Single Sign On"
start /wait VMware-SSO-Server.exe /S /L1033 /v /qr CONFIG_TYPE=Setup SETUP_TYPE=Basic SSO_DB_SERVER_TYPE=Bundled MASTER_PASSWORD=%${sso_pwd}% RSA_DBA_PASSWORD=%${sso_pwd}% RSA_USER_PASSWORD=%${sso_pwd}% COMPUTER_FQDN=test"
Assuming the paste is from your manifest, it doesn't work because you are using single quotes. Therefor variables are not expanded during manifest evaluation.
You will need to use
$cmd = "cd \"Single Sign On\" & start /wait ..."
Be careful to escape all double quotes, but other than that I see no special characters you need to worry about.
Is there a way to make all DOS shells on my Windows 7 system have this command alias?
doskey h=doskey /history
Is this possible, in the same way that a Bash shell can load a .bash_profile ? I am looking for an answer that does not require PowerShell.
Well DOS isn't really the right word here. In current versions of Windows, you have the CMD.exe shell that has many of the same commands as DOS (dir, copy, etc). You may also have PowerShell. In PowerShell it is easy to configure an alias to always be available. Create a file called $home\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1 and create your alias like so:
New-Alias h Get-History # Don't execute as it already exists
However, PowerShell has already created this particular alias for you. Just open PowerShell, execute a few commands and then execute h.
As for CMD.exe this blog post describes how to configure CMD.exe to do the same.
In short: No. The command processors (cmd.exe and command.com) do not support aliases as you know them from bash and other shells.
Longer answer: you could create a "fake" alias by crafting clever batch files that take the arguments (%1 etc.) and pass them along to to the real command. This has the potential to break down in many glorious ways but it might provide a serviceable workaround in your situation.
Based on Keith Hills answer, here is the batch file I created to do this:
#ECHO OFF
:: to install, place this dos_profile.bat script in the location you want
:: it to reside and then run this batch script with the argument "register"
ECHO Commands defined by dos_profile.bat : F7, h, ls, cp, mv
IF "%1"=="register" (
REG.exe ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\Autorun" /ve /t REG_SZ /d "%CD%\dos_profile.bat" /f
ECHO The DOS profile is registered. Load a new command prompt and test a command.
)
#DOSKEY LS=DIR $*
#DOSKEY CP=COPY $*
#DOSKEY MV=MOVE $*
#DOSKEY H=DOSKEY /HISTORY
I want to run two commands in a Windows CMD console.
In Linux I would do it like this
touch thisfile ; ls -lstrh
How is it done on Windows?
Like this on all Microsoft OSes since 2000, and still good today:
dir & echo foo
If you want the second command to execute only if the first exited successfully:
dir && echo foo
The single ampersand (&) syntax to execute multiple commands on one line goes back to Windows XP, Windows 2000, and some earlier NT versions. (4.0 at least, according to one commenter here.)
There are quite a few other points about this that you'll find scrolling down this page.
Historical data follows, for those who may find it educational.
Prior to that, the && syntax was only a feature of the shell replacement 4DOS before that feature was added to the Microsoft command interpreter.
In Windows 95, 98 and ME, you'd use the pipe character instead:
dir | echo foo
In MS-DOS 5.0 and later, through some earlier Windows and NT versions of the command interpreter, the (undocumented) command separator was character 20 (Ctrl+T) which I'll represent with ^T here.
dir ^T echo foo
A quote from the documentation:
Source: Microsoft, Windows XP Professional Product Documentation, Command shell overview
Also: An A-Z Index of Windows CMD commands
Using multiple commands and conditional processing symbols
You can run multiple commands from a single command line or script using conditional processing symbols. When you run multiple commands with conditional processing symbols, the commands to the right of the conditional processing symbol act based upon the results of the command to the left of the conditional processing symbol.
For example, you might want to run a command only if the previous command fails. Or, you might want to run a command only if the previous command is successful.
You can use the special characters listed in the following table to pass multiple commands.
& [...]
command1 & command2
Use to separate multiple commands on one command line. Cmd.exe runs the first command, and then the second command.
&& [...]
command1 && command2
Use to run the command following && only if the command preceding the symbol is successful. Cmd.exe runs the first command, and then runs the second command only if the first command completed successfully.
|| [...]
command1 || command2
Use to run the command following || only if the command preceding || fails. Cmd.exe runs the first command, and then runs the second command only if the first command did not complete successfully (receives an error code greater than zero).
( ) [...]
(command1 & command2)
Use to group or nest multiple commands.
; or ,
command1 parameter1;parameter2
Use to separate command parameters.
& is the Bash equivalent for ; ( run commands) and && is the Bash equivalent of && (run commands only when the previous has not caused an error).
If you want to create a cmd shortcut (for example on your desktop) add /k parameter (/k means keep, /c will close window):
cmd /k echo hello && cd c:\ && cd Windows
You can use & to run commands one after another. Example: c:\dir & vim myFile.txt
You can use call to overcome the problem of environment variables being evaluated too soon - e.g.
set A=Hello & call echo %A%
A number of processing symbols can be used when running several commands on the same line, and may lead to processing redirection in some cases, altering output in other case, or just fail. One important case is placing on the same line commands that manipulate variables.
#echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set count=0
set "count=1" & echo %count% !count!
0 1
As you see in the above example, when commands using variables are placed on the same line, you must use delayed expansion to update your variable values. If your variable is indexed, use CALL command with %% modifiers to update its value on the same line:
set "i=5" & set "arg!i!=MyFile!i!" & call echo path!i!=%temp%\%%arg!i!%%
path5=C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp\MyFile5
cmd /c ipconfig /all & Output.txt
This command execute command and open Output.txt file in a single command
So, I was trying to enable the specific task of running RegAsm (register assembly) from a context menu. The issue I had was that the result would flash up and go away before I could read it. So I tried piping to Pause, which does not work when the command fails (as mentioned here Pause command not working in .bat script and here Batch file command PAUSE does not work). So I tried cmd /k but that leaves the window open for more commands (I just want to read the result). So I added a pause followed by exit to the chain, resulting in the following:
cmd /k C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\regasm.exe "%1" /codebase \"%1\" & pause & exit
This works like a charm -- RegAsm runs on the file and shows its results, then a "Press any key to continue..." prompt is shown, then the command prompt window closes when a key is pressed.
P.S. For others who might be interested, you can use the following .reg file entries to add a dllfile association to .dll files and then a RegAsm command extension to that (notice the escaped quotes and backslashes):
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.dll]
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"
#="dllfile"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile]
#="Application Extension"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\Shell\RegAsm]
#="Register Assembly"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\Shell\RegAsm\command]
#="cmd /k C:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\Framework\\v4.0.30319\\regasm.exe \"%1\" /codebase \"%1\" & pause & exit"
Now I have a nice right-click menu to register an assembly.
In windows, I used all the above solutions &, && but nothing worked
Finally ';' symbol worked for me
npm install; npm start
Well, you have two options: Piping, or just &:
DIR /S & START FILE.TXT
Or,
tasklist | find "notepad.exe"
Piping (|) is more for taking the output of one command, and putting it into another. And (&) is just saying run this, and that.
In order to execute two commands at the same time, you must put an & (ampersand) symbol between the two commands. Like so:
color 0a & start chrome.exe
Cheers!
I try to have two pings in the same window, and it is a serial command on the same line. After finishing the first, run the second command.
The solution was to combine with start /b on a Windows 7 command prompt.
Start as usual, without /b, and launch in a separate window.
The command used to launch in the same line is:
start /b command1 parameters & command2 parameters
Any way, if you wish to parse the output, I don't recommend to use this.
I noticed the output is scrambled between the output of the commands.
Use & symbol in windows to use command in one line
C:\Users\Arshdeep Singh>cd Desktop\PROJECTS\PYTHON\programiz & jupyter notebook
like in linux
we use,
touch thisfile ; ls -lstrh
I was trying to create batch file to start elevated cmd and to make it run 2 separate commands.
When I used & or && characters, I got a problem. For instance, this is the text in my batch file:
powershell.exe -Command "Start-Process cmd \"/k echo hello && call cd C:\ \" -Verb RunAs"
I get parse error:
After several guesses I found out, that if you surround && with quotes like "&&" it works:
powershell.exe -Command "Start-Process cmd \"/k echo hello "&&" call cd C:\ \" -Verb RunAs"
And here's the result:
May be this'll help someone :)
No, cd / && tree && echo %time%. The time echoed is at when the first command is executed.
The piping has some issue, but it is not critical as long as people know how it works.
One more example: For example, when we use the gulp build system, instead of
gulp - default > build
gulp build - build build-folder
gulp watch - start file-watch
gulp dist - build dist-folder
We can do that with one line:
cd c:\xampp\htdocs\project & gulp & gulp watch
Yes there is. It's &.
&& will execute command 2 when command 1 is complete providing it didn't fail.
& will execute regardless.
With windows 10 you can also use scriptrunner:
ScriptRunner.exe -appvscript demoA.cmd arg1 arg2 -appvscriptrunnerparameters -wait -timeout=30 -rollbackonerror -appvscript demoB.ps1 arg3 arg4 -appvscriptrunnerparameters -wait -timeout=30 -rollbackonerror
it allows you to start few commands on one line you want you can run them consecutive or without waiting each other, you can put timeouts and rollback on error.
Try to create a .bat ot .cmd file with those lines using doskey key and $T which is equivalent to & to do several command line in just one line :
touch=echo off $T echo. ^> $* $T dir /B $T echo on
It'll create an empty file.
Example:
touch myfile
In cmd you'll get something like this:
But as mentioned previously by others, it is really advised to use & operator to do many command line in one line from CMD prompt.
Enjoy =)
When you try to use or manipulate variables in one line beware of their content! E.g. a variable like the following
PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\somewhere;"C:\Company\Cool Tool";%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;
may lead to a lot of unhand-able trouble if you use it as %PATH%
The closing parentheses terminate your group statement
The double quotes don't allow you to use %PATH% to handle the parentheses problem
And what will a referenced variable like %USERPROFILE% contain?
It's simple: just differentiate them with && signs.
Example:
echo "Hello World" && echo "GoodBye World".
"Goodbye World" will be printed after "Hello World".