Creating Batch Files and Windows Batch File Programming

Are you a developer, system administrator, operations, tech support professional, or an advanced user involved with Windows batch file programming, debugging, and / or execution?

Are you looking for a way to cut down on repetition? Do you want to automate your computer or complex business processes? Easily debug even the most complex scripts? Save time and frustration? Are you frustrated with the limitations of CMD batch file commands and Windows batch scripting? Do you yearn for a real Windows batch programming language and an integrated IDE and debugger?

A batch file in Windows is a text file that contains one or more commands, and has a .bat or .cmd filename extension. Windows batch files, which are also called bat files or cmd files, allow you to simplify and automate routine or repetitive system administration tasks.

Creating batch files is typically done with an editor like Notepad. CMD batch files then can be executed as if they were executable programs. When you type the file name at the command prompt, the Windows command processor runs the commands sequentially as they appear in the file. Bat file commands can be either internal command processor commands (like COPY or DEL), or external applications. You can pass arguments ("batch parameters") to your script by entering them on the command line following the batch file name. You can even run a batch file from within another batch file.

The program that runs batch files in Windows is the command processor (also called the command shell) CMD.EXE. Unfortunately, the Windows command shell has always lacked even the most basic batch file programming features compared to the shells available in other operating systems such as Linux (which has bash, tcsh, zsh, etc.). And CMD hasn't changed significantly since its first appearance in Windows NT 3.1, way back in 1993. Because of the limitations inherent in CMD, users have often been forced to use the GUI for inappropriate tasks, or to write custom programs to perform simple tasks that CMD should have been able to handle. (Or even to try to force a command shell designed for Linux into a Windows-centric environment for programming batch files.)

Even worse, creating batch files in Windows has always been tedious and usually painful for any non-trivial scripts. Windows provides very little support for creating bat files, and none at all for debugging them. Most developers, system adminstrators and advanced users are resigned to using the crude and inefficient (or frequently non-existent!) tools provided with Windows for batch file programming.

But programming batch files doesn’t have to be aggravating. Take Command is the ideal solution to your batch file woes. With over 20 years of offering command line and batch file programming solutions, JP Software has perfected batch programming tools that are easy to use, customizable, and well supported (via our extensive online documentation and active support forums). Take Command is a complete CMD replacement that provides you with a vastly better UI, compatibility with existing CMD batch file commands, and thousands of other features that are not available in CMD (or even in those vaunted Linux shells).

Take Command is a rich development and operations environment that allows you to:

• Combine the power of the Windows command line with the ease of use of Explorer. Manipulate files at the command line and graphically see the results, and drag and drop files into tab windows, other applications, or the desktop.
• Run multiple console and GUI applications simultaneously in tabbed windows, including our own Take Command Console (TCC), CMD, PowerShell and bash. Take Command will display output much faster (up to 10x!) than running the application in a standard Windows console window.
• Browse command line and directory history, filename and directory completion, and use numerous cut and paste options (even with console applications that have no internal cut and paste support) with the advanced line editor.
• Customize filename completion for any internal or external command or alias. This allows Take Command to intelligently select and display filenames based on the command you are entering.
• Find any directory on your system by entering only part of its name with extended directory searches.
• View your files with the best text and binary file viewer available for Windows, including bidirectional scrolling, hex listings, multiple rulers (fixed and/or floating), grid lines, extensive searching and printing features, and much more.
• Customize Take Command, including multiple themes, colors, menus, toolbars, status bars, and windows.
• Redefine your commands or directory names with aliasing, create new commands and functions for your regular tasks, and assign frequently used commands to a single keystroke.
• Create your own commands or variables with plugins, or select from the many third-party plugin libraries.

Programming batch files doesn’t have to be repetitive and frustrating. Take Command has a variety of features that make creating .bat files easy:

• Creating bat files is easy with the integrated graphical IDE. The IDE includes tabbed edit windows and a sophisticated debugger with single stepping, breakpoints, syntax coloring, code folding (for command groups, DO loops, IF blocks, and SWITCH blocks), tooltips, bookmarks, and tabbed environment, batch variable and watch windows.
• Batch files can optionally be compressed and encrypted, which can be useful in a corporate environment where you do not want the end users to modify the scripts.
• The TCC Windows batch programming language is a massive superset of CMD, with 182 internal commands, 290 internal functions, and 177 system variables. Almost all of the CMD commands (such as DIR, COPY, DEL, START, etc.) are enhanced with hundreds of additional options, and TCC adds more than 140 new commands. You don't have to learn a new batch file programming language to start using Take Command. But when you're ready to try the enhanced commands, you will find that Take Command can usually do in one or two lines what takes dozens of lines when programming batch files with CMD (if it can do it at all).
• The TCC batch scripting language includes a complete set of flow control structures including IF-Then-Else, DO and FOR loops, SWITCH and CASE, subroutines, batch libraries, and more. The conditional tests (DO, FOR, IF, etc.) have a much broader selection of comparison tests..
• Environment variable substitution is greatly enhanced, including nested variables, indirect variables, delayed variable expansion, multidimensional array variables and read/write access to the default, system, user, and volatile variables in the registry.
• Take Command runs your batch scripts faster than CMD.
• Send keystrokes to any window to automate your processes.
• Your batch files can use multiple types of redirection, including redirecting and piping to STDERR, "here-document" and "here-string" redirection, and TEE and Y pipe fittings.
• Easily synchronize your directories (even network drives, UNC sharenames, and FTP servers).
• Select or exclude files by date, time, size, owner, description, and extended wildcards or regular expressions for extraordinary flexibility in file management.
• Most file processing commands (i.e., COPY, DEL, MOVE, etc.) support multiple filenames, or optionally the name of a file that contains the filename arguments. (COPY even supports multiple targets in addition to multiple sources.)
• Customize your directory displays with PDIR, an extensively customizable DIR command..
• Handle compressed files with built-in compression / decompression support for GZIP, TAR, and ZIP archive files.
• Take Command includes support for ANSI x3.64 colors for colorized output.
• Monitor your system's hardware and software events, and execute commands when an event is triggered. You can monitor directory changes, the clipboard, event logs, network connections, services, processes, and USB and Firewire connections.
• You can access FTP, TFTP and HTTP (including SSL and SSH) directories and files in all file-handling commands (COPY, DEL, MD, MOVE, RD, etc.).
• Send SMTP, SMPP, and SNPP messages from your batch files.
• Query the Windows Management Interface to retrieve system configuration information.
• Display floating text (without a window) on your monitor (like TV or monitor setup prompts) with the OSD command.
• Take Command includes internal support for Perl, Ruby, REXX, Python, Tcl/tk, and any Active Scripting language (such as VBScript and Javascript). You can even combine multiple languages in your Windows batch files.
• And thousands of other features -- see the online help for more details.

Learn more about Windows batch file programming and Take Command. Windows Command Line. Creating Batch Files. CMD Commands. Tabbed Windows.

Take Command is compatible with any version of Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later), 2003, Vista, 2008, and Windows 7, and is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

There are two editions of Take Command, so you can use the version that's perfect for your needs. See Comparing Take Command, TCC/LE, and CMD.