[aldistuck]

I was wondering if I could use "IF" statements to search and show specific information.

I would like to create a batch file that upon activation it asks me for a number and upon entering that number it displays information.

example:

I type 123456.
the batch file looks within itself to find a "IF" statement that says something like IF=123456 then show the following information. Ofcourse if the number isnt the right one I would like it not to show the information.

Is this possible, and if so can create one large batch file with tons of "IF" statements like this?

If possible could someone make me a working example because Im having a hard time getting it to work.

basically what I want is after typing the command for it to ask me to enter the number then after I enter the number have it show some information about that number.

Then have it stay on screen until I exit or press any key.

Thank You.

[JohnWill]

While it may be possible to beat the primitive batch capability into doing this, I normally look to 3rd party tools to do this kind of stuff. I suspect you'll find the right stuff to do the trick right here: http://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/batchutil.html

[Alex Ethridge]

I agree with John; but, just to give you some guidance on "IF":

::TEST.BAT
IF "%1"=="123456" GOTO START
IF NOT "%1"=="123456" GOTO EXIT
:START
place command lines to be executed here
:EXIT
EXIT

You would type TEST 123456 to run the batch--note the space between TEST and 123456.

NOTE: If you use letters as well as numbers in your 123456, it is case sensitive.

[Squashman]

What exactly is the purpose of all the IF statements. Sound more like you would want to use a Menu with the Choice command.

[Alex Ethridge]

I use IF statemts in batch files to identify various USB flash drives; different drives for different purposes or different backups will have different identification files on them. That way, I don't have to make a lot of clicks to perform retetitive backups to various drives.

IF statements can also be used to identify which drive letter a certain flash drive is using. Example:

Title Locating NeckDrive
if exist F:\Neck.ID goto F
if exist G:\Neck.ID goto G
if exist H:\Neck.ID goto H
if exist I:\Neck.ID goto I
if exist J:\Neck.ID goto J
if exist K:\Neck.ID goto K
if exist L:\Neck.ID goto L
if exist M:\Neck.ID goto M
if exist N:\Neck.ID goto N
goto NoDrive
:NoDrive
cd\
cls
echo.
echo.
echo No NeckDrive Found
Title No NeckDrive Found
goto exit
:F
F:
CD\
goto Begin
:G
G:
CD\
goto Begin
:H
H:
CD\
goto Begin
:I
I:
CD\
goto Begin
:J
J:
CD\
goto Begin
:K
K:
CD\
goto Begin
:L
L:
CD\
goto Begin
:M
M:
CD\
goto Begin
:N
N:
CD\
goto Begin
:Begin
XXCopy "D:\AC\Netscape\Bookmarks.html" "\FirefoxPortable\Data\Profile\" /d /h /r /c /Y
XXCopy "\FirefoxPortable\Data\Profile\Bookmarks.html" "D:\AC\Netscape\" /d /h /r /c /Y
etc.
etc.
etc.
:Exit

I once had a file that was zipped with encryption. I wrote a batch file that would unzip it if you entered the correct code after typing the name of the batch file.
Example: I typed SEEFILE 4854496 If the parameter was anything but 4854496, the batch would abort with an "Incorrect Parameter" error message. The IF line would read something like this:
IF "%1"=="4854496" [commands]
IF NOT "%1"=="4854496" ECHO Incorrect Parameter
IF NOT "%1"=="4854496" ECHO EXIT

I have a program that will convert a batch file to a .EXE file. Doing that made the batch file unreadable so no one could open the batch and dee the code.

[JohnWill]

When I'm doing automation under Windows, I far prefer AutoIt. Why do it the hard way? AutoIt is free, powerful, and will generate an EXE file with the commands. It runs rings around batch files in capability and ease of use.

[Alex Ethridge]

The hard way? That's relative. It depends on what you already know.

XXCopy works like XCopy except it is much more configurable and powerful. It will do things XCopy can't.
Example: XXCopy C:\*.* C:\Storage /s /r /h /y /c Try that with XCopy and you'll get a 'cyclic copy' error.

XXCopy also uses an exclude list. You can exclude files in a certain path, files of a certain extension, any folder in any path and there is no limit on the size of the exclude file. Mine currently has hundreds of excludes in it. I use it to extract user-created data from a hard disk for backup before formatting or replacing the drive. It makes the saving of a few megs out of several gigabytes very easy.

It will also clone one disk to another or one folder to another. It can be configured to update only the files in the destination that exist at the source and not copy other files at the source. It can be configured to copy only the files at the source that do not exist at the destination.

Each program has its own capabilities and weaknesses.

AutoIt looks interesting, though. Thanks for the link.

[JohnWill]

XXCOPY isn't part of MS-DOS or Windows. Remember that mention of 3rd party applications?

[Alex Ethridge]

Remember that mention of 3rd party applications?

What mention? AutoIt is a third-party app, too. I don't understand that.