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BATCH UTIL SETS
(These sets contain a diverse selection of batch utils).
HORST- Batch utility collection.
* * * * * [updated 6-17-98]
Even my limited mind can recognize the diversity, quality, and usefulness of this compilation. From a reader..."All hand-crafted assembler, tiny and incredibly fast. More than a power-users batch toolkit. There is something here for everybody. How can anyone manage without it?" With excellent, separate documentation for each program. Author: Horst Schaeffer, Germany. (1998). Suggested by Robert Bull.
Included programs:
ANSICHK returns errorlevel 0 if ANSI driver detected ANSIEX remove ANSI sequences, emulating cursor movements ASCREEN display screen from file, ANSI emulation BANNER big font looping message BIGFONT display big characters (4 lines high), round pixels CHOIX CHOICE clone with mouse support COUNT Count, add, subtract (variable), fixed length option CRC32 report and check CRC32, optional list processing CRLF convert: lines to be terminated by CR+LF, CR or LF CSCRIPT DEBUG/UU/XXencoded script generator with CRC32 CSOUND sound output to PC speaker / resident beep replacement DELAGE delete/report files by age (days) DREADY disk(ette) ready?, optional check "ready to write"? ESPACE environment variable space report/check with errorlevel EVERY run jobs once a day / on specified days of week FPATH locate path of program file, optional CD INPUT string input, editing of existing variable.. ISDATE compare date (also file date, today) KPUSH stuff keystrokes into keyboard buffer, code test mode LINEX extract [multiple] range of lines from ASCII file LISTMOD make list of commands from input list LOGECHO custom entries for logfiles, with enhanced date handling LOGTRIM trim logfiles (min/max KB) NSET pipe data from STDIN into an environmental variable PACO executable COM file archive (run with prefix) PCHECK checks if (parallel) printer is ready, optional reset QECHO "quote echo" with control codes, defaults without CR/LF RANDOM random number (given range) to STDOUT TIMENOW current time within given period(s)? WAIT wait with prompt, key by errorlevel WAIT4 wait for/until with large "digital clock", options WHAT errorlevel for: hour/minute/year/month/day/day of week
update 6-17-98: New programs added: FPATH, TIMENOW. See Home page for other update information.
download horst31.ZIP (68K)
Batchman.- Multi-function batch program.
unrated [added 07-07-99]
Old (1989) but packs 48 batch functions into a single 6K program. Author: Michael Medford for PC Mag (1989).
Syntax: BATCHMAN [command] [arguments] [/R] /R = Display ErrorLevel CLS [nn] nn[H]=color H=hex CECHO [C] [nn,]string nn=color;C=no CR SETLOOP n n=loops (0-255) DEC decrements SETLOOP EL=SETLOOP QFORMAT [d:] [N] d:=A: or B: N=No ask BREAK EL=1 if break ON PUSHPATH EL=0 if successful POPPATH EL=0 if successful ANSI EL=0 if installed BEEP [m,n[;m,n]...] m=freq. n=1/18 sec WAITTIL hh:mm[:ss] WAITFOR [mm:]ss CURSORTYPE m,n m=start; n=stop line DRIVEEXIST d: EL=1 if exist DIREXIST directory EL=1 if exist ISVOL [d:]volume EL=1 if exist YEAR EL=year from 1980 (0-199) MONTH EL=(1-12) DAY EL=(1-31) WEEKDAY EL=(0-6) Sun=0; Sat=6 HOUR EL=(0-23) MINUTE EL=(0-59) SECOND EL=(0-59) VIDEOMODE EL=(0-19) ROWS EL=display rows COLS EL=display columns SETCURSOR m,n m=row; n=col E43V50 PRTSC [F] F=formfeed COMPARE string string EL=0 if match CANCOPY filespec [d:] EL=0 if room to copy WARMBOOT COLDBOOT SHIFT ALT | CTRL EL=1 if depressed NUMLOCK [ON | OFF] CAPSLOCK [ON | OFF] SCROLLOCK [ON | OFF] RENDIR old new EL=0 if successful ROMDATE display BIOS date GETKEY ['string' n] n=Function key EL=position; EL=scan code if no list DOSVER EL=x where x=(major*32)+minor; eg. DOS 3.30=(3*32+30)=126 MAINMEM n | R main memory; n=K bytes needed; EL=0 if enough; R=report EXPMEM n | R expanded memory EXTMEM n | R extended memory
download vol9n02.zip (59K)
Batpower- Old but useful batch util collection.
unrated [added 09-13-99]
This ancient (1984-87) compilation of batch utils (by various authors) contains some gems that still come in handy:
download batpower.zip (40K)
Also see: Another SWEEP util can be found here (incl. a Win32 version).
BatLite- Batch file to COM converter.
Bat2Exec- Batch file to COM converter.
unrated [added 09-02-99 updated 02-20-00]
Both of these programs compile a DOS batch file into an executable COM file. One of the principle uses is to speed up execution/display of larger batch files. In addition, certain programs (e.g., LinkLn) won't be able to utilize your batch files unless you convert them to a COM/ EXE format. These programs do have basic limitations and a read of the docs is suggested before converting a more complex batch file.
Bat2Exec: The classic no frills PC Mag utility. Author: Doug Boling (1991).
download bat2ex15.zip (33 K)
BatLite: Less well known but includes documentation of limitations of compiling batch files. ".....has extended commands of its own, creates smaller files, and seems to run faster/better." Intended for MS-DOS only. Free for private use only. Author: Pieter A. Hintjens, Belgium (1995).
02-20-00: updated link to v1.73 (1995)- changes since v1.5: updated support for MS-DOS v6.2, many other tweaks, see docs for version changes.
download batl73.zip (76K)
Suggested by H. Schwartz.
"There are many freeware equivalents to the Unix sleep command (wait n seconds before doing the next command." One of these is ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/simtelnet/msdos/batchutl/sleep25.zip ; another is...
SLEEP- Batch util sleeps until event occurrence.
* * * * * [added 3-21-98]
A very flexible command line tool for scheduling events; intended for batch files. "The possible events are: FOR a length of time, TILL a certain time, a question ASKed of the user, certain FILESPECS appear or disappear, the UPS is active, or a SCHEDuled event. Commands can be combined. Sleep is DOS, DesqView (uses DV System Memory), OS/2, and Windows aware.
Usage: INDIRECT COMMAND FILE.Sleep "@"<file> FOR syntax............Sleep for [[hh":"]mm":"]ss TILL syntax...........Sleep till [[hh":"]mm":"]ss ASK syntax............Sleep ask '<prompt string>' <responses> FILESPECS syntax......Sleep ["&"]"+"|"-"<filespec> ... PAR and SER syntax....Sleep par|ser <port adr> <out> "+"<in> "-"<in> SCHED syntax..........Sleep sched <file>
No documentation- type SLEEP /? for extended help screens. Author: John R. Souvestre (1997)
download sleep_47.zip (33K)
COUNTDN- Launch program after countdown- with keypress abort option.
* * *
From the docs... "This program will launch any specified program (EXE, COM, or BAT) after a countdown of a specified number of seconds. The countdown may be aborted and the program launched immediately by pressing the ENTER key. Pressing the SPACE or ESC key will stop the countdown without launching the program.
This is ESPECIALLY useful for programs that run from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file (like Windows) that you may not want to run EVERY time. This is easier than maintaining multiple configuration files. There are two ways to run COUNTDN: Regular mode and Advanced Mode. The difference is that regular mode is very easy to use, but adds a small amount of memory overhead (3-4 K) to the launched program. Advanced mode is a little more complex to use, but does not take any memory from the launched program." Default countdown beeps can be turned off with /Q switch. Released by David C. Filmer. 1994.
Not as flexible as SLEEP- but more "showy" and easy to use.
download countdn.zip (31K)
LMOD- Line and list modification.
unrated [added 12-23-99]
LMOD extracts data from an input source (e.g., redirected DOS screen output or from a text file); the data can then be inserted into a text or command string and sent to STDOUT for redirection into a file. Several options are available for specifying data to be extracted. Windows NT compatible.
Possible uses of LMOD:
Syntax: LMOD options string_with_tokens
Options:
/Ln[-m] line [range] to select (default: first non blank line)
/L[n]* all lines [starting n]
/E include empty input lines (default: no output)
/S.. delimiters for word extraction, instead of default (,;=)
/B.. as /S, but excluding blank space as delimiter
/Nn starting line number (for token [#]), default: /N001
Insert from source line (expression in square brackets):
[p,l $n U|L Rn] default []: complete line
p,l from position p, length l (default rest of line)
$n word number n ("!" for last word)
U|L convert to upper|lower case
Rn right aligned in output field of size n
Other tokens:
[+] insert CR+LF
[-] omit CR+LF at end of output
[#] line number (digits acc. to option, default:3)
[=n] tab to position n in output line
[~n] ASCII code n (decimal)
[".."] quoted char/string (use for redirection symbols)
Author: Horst Schaeffer, Germany. (1999). Home Page.
download lmod10.zip (10K)
Locate- File finder with useful batch creation capability.
"Locate, a file finder, offers some very nice macro/batch features which in combination with simple redirection ( > my.bat), can be used to generate and execute batch files on the found files./O:"string" macro Output /C:"string" run Commands Either may include: &F fully qualified filename C:\WINDOWS\WIN.COM &D directory name, canonical C:\WINDOWS &P directory name with \ C:\WINDOWS\ &N filename WIN.COM &R filename without extension WIN &X extension only COM &S filespec without drive \WINDOWS\WIN.COM &L drive letter C: &A attributes, standard +A -S -H -R &B attribute bits A.... &W Win95 full LFN "C:\Directory Name\Long File Name" &Z Win95 LFN, filename only "Long File Name" &T terminate line && ampersand &E escape &Q quote mark &1 date &2 time &3 file size
To illustrate a most basic application, LOCATE's /O switch can be used as a wildcard "helper" for programs that don't support wildcards. Suppose you wanted to convert all *.txt files, dated today (switch /D:T), from DOS to UNIX format but your converter program (let's say DOS2UNIX) doesn't have wildcard support. Locate can easily generate a batch file that contains a DOS2UNIX conversion command for each *.txt file it finds:
LOCATE *.txt /D:T /O:"DOS2UNIX < &N > &R.unx" >>CONVERT.BAT
A couple lines from the generated CONVERT.BAT might look like this:
DOS2UNIX < one.txt > one.unx
DOS2UNIX < two.txt > two.unx
For each unique *.txt file found by LOCATE (&N), a new UNIX formatted file will be created with the original file basename (&R) and a new extension defined by the user (e.g., .unx). The advantage of using Locate (e.g., vs. FOR) becomes apparent when you realize how easily one can filter for very specific file property combinations (filename, attributes, date, time, etc). Hint: Try using LOCATE /O with XECHO commands- lots of possible text processing applications (e.g., easily create headers/ footers for text files which include filename, date/time).
See description and link to Locate on File Finders and Identifiers page. Author: Charles Dye; Suggested by B. Simonsen.
RAMBAT- Stores batch files in one file, use in RAM disk.
unrated [added 07-07-99]
"Rambat is an interesting utility that stores all your small batch files in one file, and then puts them all in your ramdisk as single batch files." The purpose of the program is to reclaim wasted disk space allocated to (usually) tiny batch files. (You'll have to be willing to accept the memory penalty imposed by a RAM disk.) Author: Jay E. Morris (1992)download rambat1.zip (5K)
REXX- (REGINA, BREXX) Powerful supplement/ alternative to DOS batch.
Although creative geniuses can cajole the DOS batch language into performing near-unthinkable tasks (e.g., math), mere mortals may prefer a less obtuse method of writing command scripts.
REXX is a syntactically comprehensible but powerful procedural language. REXX is different from most other computer languages because it can be used as a macro language for arbitrary applications. REXX can be attractive to the batch user because it explicitly supports many functions absent in DOS batch. It also can call external programs, internal operating system commands, and external REXX libraries. Another plus is that REXX interpreters are available for many platforms, e.g., MAC, LINUX, OS/2 (and more). If you're not a programmer but can write a DOS batch file, learning the basics of REXX should not be a great challenge. REXX interpreters include a trace /debug mode which aids greatly in troubleshooting scripts. Limitations: One of the obvious drawbacks of using REXX as a complement to batch is that it requires additional memory. Also note that some of the functions of Rexx's built-in library are more or less platform dependent. Different implementations of REXX will vary in their compliance to the REXX standard- and may have implementation-specific additions and enhancements (don't assume that a given script will run under any implementation of REXX). Two (unrelated) free REXX interpreters for DOS exist:
1. REGINA: unrated [added 07-29-99 updated 05-29-00] External dynamic libraries (which greatly extend the functionality of REXX) exist for the Win32 version but are lacking in the DOS versions. Sample scripts included. Author: Mark Hessling, Anders Christensen (2000). Notes: "Win95/98 users: Due to a bug in the Windows 95 and 98 command processor; COMMAND.COM, all calls to operating system commands from within Regina will ALWAYS return a zero return code." See http://www.lightlink.com/hessling/ for latest REGINA information. DOS version available as 32-bit DJGPP and EMX-VCPI packages. Extensive documentation is distributed separately. Packages also available for Unix, OS/2 and Win32.
2. BREXX: unrated [added 07-29-99 updated 06-30-00] is available in both 16 and 32 bit versions (and an 8086 package!). BREXX includes some DOS specific external libraries and several sample scripts. Also see an independent review of BREXX. Author: Vassilis N. Vlachoudis, Greece (1999). See http://ftp.gwdg.de:81/pub/languages/rexx/brexx/html/rx.html. Packages are also available for Windows, Linux, Most Unix, MacOS, Windows CE, HP-UX.
06-30-00: v2.02 (02-00) available.
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