Guest someone watching Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 In the old DOS days I used a program called 'ASK' in batch files which allowed me to select a response to a question. According to the answer (eg, Y/N) the batch file would then branch (goto to the appropriate label) according to the answer. Does XP have an equivalent? If so, is there also a help file you can point me to for syntax and errorlevel information? Thanks Vic
Guest Pegasus \(MVP\) Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 Re: 'ask' in XP "someone watching" <nospam@bogusaddress.com> wrote in message news:eDaMV690IHA.1240@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... > In the old DOS days I used a program called 'ASK' in batch files which > allowed me to select a response to a question. According to the answer > (eg, Y/N) the batch file would then branch (goto to the appropriate > label) according to the answer. Does XP have an equivalent? If so, is > there also a help file you can point me to for syntax and errorlevel > information? > > Thanks > Vic > Start a Command Prompt, then type set /? and watch for the /P option. The user input can be anything, not just Y/N, but you need to check it yourself.
Guest someone watching Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 Re: 'ask' in XP Wow, I saw the /P help you mentioned. Wish they had 'instructions for dummies'. Tried fiddling using the expressions in a file (test.cmd) but am not making headway. If anyone can help with a simple example it would sure be appreciated! eg. echo. (command) Would you like to go to label A or label B? AB if errorlevel 2 goto B if errorlevel 1 goto A ___ "Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com.oz> wrote in message news:#b7$BE#0IHA.4040@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > > "someone watching" <nospam@bogusaddress.com> wrote in message > news:eDaMV690IHA.1240@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... > > In the old DOS days I used a program called 'ASK' in batch files which > > allowed me to select a response to a question. According to the answer > > (eg, Y/N) the batch file would then branch (goto to the appropriate > > label) according to the answer. Does XP have an equivalent? If so, is > > there also a help file you can point me to for syntax and errorlevel > > information? > > > > Thanks > > Vic > > > > Start a Command Prompt, then type set /? and watch for > the /P option. The user input can be anything, not just Y/N, > but you need to check it yourself. > >
Guest Pegasus \(MVP\) Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 Re: 'ask' in XP "someone watching" <nospam@bogusaddress.com> wrote in message news:O48h%23O%230IHA.4848@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > Wow, I saw the /P help you mentioned. Wish they had 'instructions for > dummies'. Tried fiddling using the expressions in a file (test.cmd) but > am not making headway. If anyone can help with a simple example it would > sure be appreciated! > > eg. > > echo. > (command) Would you like to go to label A or label B? AB > if errorlevel 2 goto B > if errorlevel 1 goto A Not quite. You need to forget about the clumsy ErrorLevel stuff used by ask.com. Try this instead: @echo off :again set /P name=Please enter your name: if "%name%"=="" goto :eof if /i "%name%"=="Peter" goto Sales if /i "%name%"=="Jane" goto Accounting echo Sorry, I don't know a person named "%name%". goto again :Sales .. . . goto :eof :Accounting .. . .
Guest someone watching Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 Re: 'ask' in XP Looks like that's the kind of 'detail for dummies' I needed <g>! One last question; noticed the :eof, is this a 'hidden' label which stands for end of file? or is it like using the exit command? Thanks Pegasus, your response was very helpful! Vic __ "Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com.oz> wrote in message news:OSDpFZ#0IHA.1628@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > > "someone watching" <nospam@bogusaddress.com> wrote in message > news:O48h%23O%230IHA.4848@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > > Wow, I saw the /P help you mentioned. Wish they had 'instructions for > > dummies'. Tried fiddling using the expressions in a file (test.cmd) but > > am not making headway. If anyone can help with a simple example it would > > sure be appreciated! > > > > eg. > > > > echo. > > (command) Would you like to go to label A or label B? AB > > if errorlevel 2 goto B > > if errorlevel 1 goto A > > Not quite. You need to forget about the clumsy > ErrorLevel stuff used by ask.com. Try this instead: > @echo off > :again > set /P name=Please enter your name: > if "%name%"=="" goto :eof > if /i "%name%"=="Peter" goto Sales > if /i "%name%"=="Jane" goto Accounting > echo Sorry, I don't know a person named "%name%". > goto again > > :Sales > . . . > goto :eof > > :Accounting > . . . > >
Guest John Waller Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 Re: 'ask' in XP http://www.ss64.com/nt/goto.html See also http://www.ss64.com/nt/index.html http://commandwindows.com/ -- Regards John Waller
Guest someone watching Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 Re: 'ask' in XP More great helpful information, thanks! Vic ___ "John Waller" <johnw@REMOVETHISpinnacleweb.com.au> wrote in message news:usbpkrA1IHA.2384@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > http://www.ss64.com/nt/goto.html > > See also > http://www.ss64.com/nt/index.html > > http://commandwindows.com/ > > -- > Regards > > John Waller
Guest someone watching Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 Re:follow-up questions Re:follow-up questions At the risk of seeming pesky: Found I have CHOICE.EXE from W2K (I think, 21KB Dec 21, 1999). Tried using that in a CMD file. All is well except it does not accept input from the Esc key. I like to use Esc as the ultimate abort (escape hatch <g>). Is it possible to have CHOICE accept Esc as a choice? Lastly, have not tried the set /p command with acceptance of Esc character. Do you know if set /p will accept Esc key input? Thanks Vic ___ "someone watching" <nospam@bogusaddress.com> wrote in message news:eDaMV690IHA.1240@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... > In the old DOS days I used a program called 'ASK' in batch files which > allowed me to select a response to a question. According to the answer > (eg, Y/N) the batch file would then branch (goto to the appropriate > label) according to the answer. Does XP have an equivalent? If so, is > there also a help file you can point me to for syntax and errorlevel > information? > > Thanks > Vic > >
Guest Pegasus \(MVP\) Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 Re: Re:follow-up questions Re: Re:follow-up questions "someone watching" <nospam@bogusaddress.com> wrote in message news:etj7zgG1IHA.4040@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > At the risk of seeming pesky: > > Found I have CHOICE.EXE from W2K (I think, 21KB Dec 21, 1999). Tried using > that in a CMD file. All is well except it does not accept input from the > Esc key. I like to use Esc as the ultimate abort (escape hatch <g>). Is it > possible to have CHOICE accept Esc as a choice? > > Lastly, have not tried the set /p command with acceptance of Esc > character. Do you know if set /p will accept Esc key input? > > Thanks > Vic AFAIK, choice.exe was a Win98, not a Win2000 command. About pressing Esc - why don't you give it a try yourself to see what happens? Note that in my first response I gave you the standard method for handling blank input. Not also you that the you MUST press Enter after typing your response.
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