Microsoft Windows Shell Script Programming For The Absolute Beginner

401 Pages·2007·34.05 MB·English

by  Andy Harris

Microsoft
®
Windows
®
Shell Script
Programming
™
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Microsoft
®
Windows
®
Shell Script
Programming
™
JERRY LEE FORD, JR.
ANDY HARRIS, S eries Editor
© 2004 by Premier Press, a division of Course Technology. SVP, Retail Strategic Market Group:
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced Andy Shafran
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To Alexander, William, Molly, and Mary.
k d n
A n le g e t
c ow m s
A
number of individuals deserve credit for their work on this book. I especially
want to thank Todd Jensen, who served as the book’s acquisitions editor
and who has worked with me on numerous other writing projects. I also
want to thank the book’s project editor and copy editor, Dan Foster, for his guid-
ance and suggestions. Finally, I want to acknowledge the book’s technical editor
and CD-ROM developer, Keith Davenport, as well as everyone else at Premier Press
for all their hard work.
ut A o
A o t e u h r
b h t
J
erry Lee Ford, Jr. is an author, educator, and IT professional with over 15
years of experience in information technology, including roles as an
automation analyst, technical manager, technical support analyst, auto-
mation engineer, and security analyst. Jerry is a MCSE and has earned Microsoft’s
MCP and MCP+ Internet certifications. In addition, he has a master’s degree in Busi-
ness Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.
Jerry is the author of 12 other books, including Learn JavaScript in a Weekend,
Learn VBScript in a Weekend, Microsoft Windows Shell Scripting and WSH
Administrator’s Guide, VBScript Professional Projects, and Microsoft Windows XP
Professional Administrator’s Guide.
He has over 5 years of experience as an adjunct instructor teaching networking
courses in Information Technology. Jerry lives in Richmond, Virginia, with his wife,
Mary, and their children, William, Alexander, and Molly.
te t
C n n s a a
o t
c
l n e
G a
Introduction xvii
CHAPTER 1 Introducing Windows Shell Scripting 1
CHAPTER 2 Interacting with the Windows Shell 25
CHAPTER 3 Windows Shell Scripting Basics 57
CHAPTER 4 Storing and Retrieving Information in Variables 87
CHAPTER 5 Applying Conditional Logic 123
CHAPTER 6 Creating Loops to Process Collections of Data 155
CHAPTER 7 Creating Procedures and Subroutines 201
CHAPTER 8 Debugging and Error Handling 241
APPENDIX A Windows Shell Scripting Administrative Scripts 297
APPENDIX B What’s on the CD-ROM? 341
APPENDIX C What Next? 349
Glossary 355
Index 365
te
C n n s
o t
Introduction ...............................................................................xvii
1
Introducing
CHAPTER
Windows Shell Scripting 1
Project Preview: The Knock Knock Joke .....................................2
Overview of Windows Shell Scripting ........................................4
What Can Shell Scripts Do?.....................................................6
Supported Microsoft Operating Systems...............................7
Alternatives to Windows Shell Scripting ....................................7
The Windows Script Host.........................................................7
Third-Party Scripting Languages...........................................10
Understanding the Windows Shell............................................10
Assembling Your First Windows Shell Script...........................13
Creating a Scripting Environment .............................................15
Back to the Knock Knock Joke ...................................................17
Designing the Game...............................................................17
The Final Result.......................................................................22
Summary .....................................................................................24
2
Interacting with
CHAPTER
the Windows Shell 25
Project Preview: The Unpredictable Command Prompt..........26
Command Shell Command Syntax...........................................27
Starting Windows Shell Sessions..............................................29
Working with the CMD Command.........................................30
Working with the START Command .....................................32