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For Automated Testing, Better Alternatives To DOS Batch Files?
An anonymous reader writes "I am working on a project that would allow our customers to test out sending different PCL commands to LAN printers. My initial thought was that a DOS batch file will allow users to select some simple options, send the tests to printers, and even generate a small web page which, when launched from the batch file, will provide email feedback on the tool. This all worked. To spice it up I added some ANSI color commands to the menus, though the implementation of that may prove tricky without resorting to .COM files or forcing the load of the ansi.sys via the command.com shortcut. And this implementation goes against my initial idea that I want the entire thing to be contained in a standalone batch file. My questions are: Is there a better option for this? Are DOS Batch files too 1990s to be taken seriously in 2010? The application needs to (1) be simple (2) be easy to update (3) be able to send PCL commands to LAN-attached printers and (4) allow email feedback. I don't know what other programming language would allow this and be as simple. I tend to think that I have found the best tool for the job but if you have another idea let me know. Call me crazy but I love DOS."
DOS Is dead use visual basic
Its a great tool thats free, and has good GUI and has good scripting capabilities too:
http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/index.shtml
Python is much easier to write and much more maintainable than a batch script. Unfortunately it can be unfeasible to require this dependency on Windows machines.
Good dependency-free (albeit platform-specific) alternatives are .vbs (visual basic script) and .js. Both allow access to more modern dialog boxes etc. Either script should be executed under wscript.exe (windows scripting host) but I believe there is an automatic file association by default (at least for .vbs files).
For a more modern alternative, try Powershell, however it is only present by default on Windows 7.
I'll second this one. The place that I work runs almost all of its commands via bat jobs that run from simple to complex. When I started here, I installed Strawberry Perl on my win32 system. I have, since, replaced every functionality that the bat jobs used to do with perl scripts (primarily for my own purposes, but most of my coworkers don't mind them either). The primary reason I did this was readability. I can set up my perl scripts in such a manner that I can look at them a year later and know exactly what I did and how I did it. All I had to do was be a little disciplined about script formatting and variable names (it's really not that hard).
So far, I've gotten Strawberry perl to print to all of the printers on my network, run some old fortran programs successfully, update an in-house wiki automatically, automate e-mails to my co workers, and crash our entire network (that last one wasn't so much a feature, but hey, it shows just how powerful perl is). That said, I think with a bit of time and research you could probably get Strawberry perl to do exactly what you needed pretty easily. But I will warn you, when it comes to perl, I find that user experiences vary greatly.
Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
Oh, I should caveat one thing. In order to develop perl scripts into a distributable, platform independent, one click executable, I've been using the PAR packager module for perl. Sometimes it produces slightly bloated .exe's (since it has to bring in all of the relevant code from any external modules and dependencies), but it seems to produce very stable executables on win32 systems.
Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
"If it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid."
There are plenty of doges you can use, perl, python, bash, and lots more. But all of them add a level of complexity to this that the batch file doesn't have. Which leads me to my second saying:
"If it's simple and it works, it's elegant."
Sounds like you've found an elegant solution to a problem. I'd stick with it if it works for you.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
PowerShell is the new Batch File Scripting, so if you need more power, learn PowerShell and use that. (I am assuming you're in a Windows environment where change of OS isn't an option.)
But DOS batch files still work just fine. In my last job at $major-hardware-vendor, we used DOS batch file-based menus all the time; because they were simple, they got the job done, and all the people who had any need to maintain them knew all about them. Some were particularly large/gnarly batch files, too. (Think 3 KB of one single .bat file menuing to do a few dozen tasks.) When choice is used liberally, along with variables, you can make it very simple to maintain, too. (We used it for updating various things, and the very first section was where all the variables were set, all you had to do when it came time to update was throw the updated file in the right place, and change a number in the batch file.)
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
I would also look to Powershell to solve his issue.
Before Powershell, I would have went with VB Script.
Because he was wanting a bit more of a GUI, HTA (HTML Application) would be a simple option. It is a local web page named .hta instead of .html and it runs with application security on the local computer. Any script you can put in a .vbs file, you can also put into a script block of a .hta. This is one of those little tricks that not to many people know about.
I use hta when I want to keep the flexibility of html/script as an alternative to a compiled vb.net app.
Im a gamer, not a grammer major. This post is full of spelling and grammer mistakes.
AutoHotKey or AutoIt are better and they are free unlike Visual Basic.
Mod this up. I've used C++, Java, Perl, Ruby, vbscript, batch, and likely a few more to do this kind of thing in Windows over the years. For something this small I haven't found anything that beats AutoIt. It's so easy to learn and is fantastic for creating small, standalone executables with a GUI on Windows. This task is a perfect fit.
I reflect your pompous signature back upon you.