BatchRun Type Application

[jlandes]

Hello all,

I've been tasked at work with writing a small application that can call a so-called command file and execute the commands in the file. The first problem that I'm having is that I want to have the ability to add comments and have those comments omitted from the commands to be run. For example, I might setup a file like this:

; This is a comment
C:\TEST\COMMAND.EXE  ; This is another comment
C:\TEST\COMMAND2.EXE ; This is a third comment

; This is a forth comment
C:\TEST\COMMAND3.EXE ; This is a fifth comment

As you can see, the ; will be used to designate a comment and that can appear at the beginning of a line or anywhere in the middle. The only thing my program should then see is:

C:\TEST\COMMAND.EXE
C:\TEST\COMMAND2.EXE
C:\TEST\COMMAND3.EXE

Heres the code that Ive come up with so far:

$hFile = FileOpen("test.txt", 0)

; Check if file opened for reading OK
If $hFile = -1 Then
    MsgBox(0, "Error", "Unable to open file.")
    Exit
EndIf

; Read in lines of text until the EOF is reached
While 1
    $sLine = FileReadLine($hFile)
    If @error = -1 Then ExitLoop
    $iLocation = StringInStr($sLine, ";")

    If $iLocation > 0 Then
        $sLine = StringLeft($sLine, $iLocation - 1)
    EndIf

    If $sLine <> "" Then
        MsgBox(0, "Line read:", $sLine)
    EndIf
Wend

FileClose($hFile)

Whats the best way to do this?

The second thing I'd like to do is expand all the AutoIt macros, so that I can type in the command file @ProgramFilesDir or @WindowsDir and that will resolve to the actual directory. How can this be done?

Thanks for any help.

[SumTingWong]

One way is to set your command file up as an INI file and use Valik's IniReadSection.

This function will ignore comment lines but I am not sure about comments on valid Key/Value lines. Perhaps Valik can confirm whether these comments are also ignored.

Anyway, back to your command file, here's an example:

[Commands]
; This is a comment
Command1=C:\TEST\COMMAND.EXE ; This is another comment
Command2=C:\TEST\COMMAND2.EXE; This is a third comment

; This is a forth comment
Command3=C:\TEST\COMMAND3.EXE; This is a fifth comment

[Valik]

Comments are not part of the "standard" INI file as far as I know. Besides, an INI file can't treat ; on a line as a comment start, otherwise, lines containing a semi-colon would be truncated. Then there would have to be an escape sequence. Thats just a little more complicated than an INI file should be. Keep in mind, its not just that comment lines are skipped, any line not matching the "key=value" format is ignored. These are equivalent "comments":

[Main]
Key1=Value2
; This is a comment
Key2=Value2
This is a comment

Jeremy, have a look here for something you can either use for reference. It shows one way to expand "variables" in an INI file which may help you with your second problem. I say use it for reference because its very old (Pre-ReDim). Its also not very elegant and clunky to use. However, how/if you use it is up to you.

[sugi]

Why not make it easy?

: Save as commands.cmd. You can use ":" or "REM" at the start of the line to mark a comment.
C:\Test\Command1.exe
C:\Test\Command2.exe

And the AutoIt script:

RunWait('commands.cmd')

Well, the AutoIt script isn't really needed...

And for replacing AutoIt macros you just have to read the file into a string and use StringReplace. Then write the file to the tempdir and run it.

Edited February 28, 2005 by sugi

[DeadMeat]

As you can see, the ; will be used to designate a comment and that can appear at the beginning of a line or anywhere in the middle.  The only thing my program should then see is:

Whats the best way to do this?

Actually, you might want to use StringSplit. StringSplit will take a line of text and will split it on the delimiter you specify and will store the results in an array.

eg.

$myString = "C:\Directory\File.exe ; this is a comment"

$cmds = StringSplit ($myString, ";")

This will yield:

$cmds[1] = "C:\Directory\File.exe"

$cmds[2] = " this is a comment"