Automating things with batch files

They also work on computers these days!

If you are familiar with MS-DOS, you will remember that it is a command-controlled operating system that performs the functions emitted in the:> indicator. C. The only way to get an MS-DOS computer to do something was to write a command at that prompt and if you can imagine, it was a pretty cumbersome way to use a computer.

For example, to load the Microsoft simple editing program, you must type the name of the drive in which the program is located, the directory in which the program is located, and then the program name. So if Microsoft Edit was in a directory or folder called "Process, " You can start the program by typing, "C:> processedit.com " Then, and only then the program load for use. 

This is a small order, but imagine if you had a program that was deeply nested in a series of folders. You can end up typing a command as wide as your computer screen or worse, long enough for the whole command to wrap in the next line! Now Imagine having to write these long commands every time you want to start a program. Oh!

This is one of the reasons why batch files have become so popular. Batch files are small textual documents that contain a lot of these commands on their own lines. Once executed, they would process each order without the user having to write them all.

When Windows was developed, the need to write commands was essentially deleted by introducing the point-and-click Interface (mouse). But this did not prevent batch file fever that started under MS-DOS-and in some small circles, batch files are still as popular as they were at first.

Even if you can use Windows XP or Vista, batch files can save you tons of time by automatically starting several programs and doing different tasks at the click of a button. They do not require an extensive programming background and do not need to be encrypted with a somewhat rare and expensive compiler. Batch files are plain text files, and you can create one for your own personal use with Windows Notepad.

You can make a batch file that loads your favorite websites at once for example, or you can make a batch file that fills your desktop with the most important applications for the day. To do this, you only need a little bit of knowledge about the location of these applications.

Let's say that every day we need to load the Yahoo Web browser, Microsoft Word and then the calculator that comes with Windows. Instead of doing this by hand, we could write a batch file to do it for us.

First, we load the Notepad and type the following text:

Start "http://www.Yahoo.com "

Start "C:/Program Files/Microsoft Office/office/Winword. EXE "

Start "C:/Windows/Calc. EXE "

Then we will save this data to a file called "My tasks. BAT "On the desktop for easy access. Every time we double-click this file, the Yahoo site is loaded, Microsoft Word will start, and the simple pop-up calculator.

Since we want these programs to be loaded every day, we could create a shortcut to that file and then place the shortcut in the Startup folder of our computer. This way these three programs will be charged every time we turn on the computer. If you want these programs to start to a minimum, you can type the following text into a batch file instead:

Start http://www.Yahoo.com/m

Start "C:/Program Files/Microsoft Office/office/Winword. EXE "/m

Start "C:/Windows/Calc. EXE "/m

This will run the three programs as before, but the configuration "/M" will minimize them so that they do not clutter the desktop.

Other people have found much more creative and effective ways to use batch files, but the important thing is that you know they are a resource that you can use to save a few seconds or a few minutes in executing important tasks. We've gone a long way to MS-DOS, but it's still a valuable source of automation that anyone can use without any programming knowledge.

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