Bat is a superset of the Windows batch language.
In this repository, you can find how to use the basic features of bat.
For example, you can find how to use the for loop, the if statement and how to add comments.
In bat language, you can add comments by using the rem keyword.
For example, you can add a comment like this:
rem This is a comment
As you know, variables are used to store data. It is the same for bat.
You can declare a variable by using the set keyword.
For example, you can declare a variable like this:
set my_variable=Hello World!
You can also use the set keyword to change the value of a variable.
For example, you can change the value of the my_variable variable like this:
set my_variable= hey!
The echo command is used to print text to the console. If you worked with other programming languages, such as Python, you should know what the print function does.
For example, you can print the value of the my_variable variable like this:
echo %my_variable%
why is there a
%before the variable name?
The % is used to tell bat that the variable is a variable. If you don't use the %, bat will print the variable name instead of the variable value.
The for loop is used to repeat a block of code a specific number of times.
For example, you can print the numbers from 1 to 10 like this:
for /l %%i in (1,1,10) do echo %%i
/l is used to specify that the loop is a numeric loop.
%%i is the variable that will be used in the loop.
(1,1,10) is the range of the loop. The first number is the starting number, the second number is the increment and the third number is the ending number.
echo %%i is the code that will be executed in the loop. As I mentioned below, echo is used to print text to the console.
The if statement is used to execute a block of code if a condition is true.
For example, you can print Hello World! if the value of the my_variable variable is Hello World! like this:
if "%my_variable%"=="Hello World!" echo Hello World!
%my_variable% is the variable that will be checked.
== is the operator that will be used to check if the variable is equal to Hello World!.
You can get your ip address with the ipconfig command.
For example, you can get your ip address like this:
ipconfig | findstr /r /c:"IPv4 Address.*:"
ipconfig is the command that will be used to get the ip address.
Of course, you can use the ipconfig command without the | findstr /r /c:"IPv4 Address.*:" part, but it will print a lot of useless information.
| is used to pipe the output of the ipconfig command to the findstr command.
findstr is used to find a specific string in the output of the previous command.
/r is used to make the search case insensitive.
/c:"IPv4 Address.*:" is the string that will be searched for.
Also, there is a space before the :. If you don't add the space, it will print the ip address with the : at the end.
To be honest, I don't use this command very often. I'll talk about a better way to get the ip address later.
The pause command is used to pause the execution of the script until the user presses a key.
For example, you can pause the execution of the script like this:
pause
I use this command a lot when I'm testing my scripts. You know that when you run a script, the console closes immediately. If you want to see the output of the script, you have to use the pause command.
The cls command is used to clear the console.
For example, you can clear the console like this:
cls
The start command is used to open a file or a website.
For example, you can open a website like this:
start https://github.com
The setlocal and endlocal commands are used to create a local scope.
If you declare a variable inside a local scope, it will be deleted when the local scope ends. Or if you familiar with other programming languages, such as Java, Javascript it is the same as the try and finally blocks. If you declare a variable inside a try block, it will be deleted when the finally block ends.
For example, you can create a local scope like this:
setlocal
set my_variable=Hello World!
echo %my_variable%
endlocal
Before to talk about this, I want to talk about the > operator.
The > operator is used to redirect the output of a command to a file.
For example, you can redirect the output of the ipconfig command to a file like this:
ipconfig > ipText.txt
ipText.txt is the file that will be created. If the file already exists, it will be overwritten.
Let's get started with the script.
@echo off
setlocal
set "ip=
for /f "tokens=1,2 delims=:" %%a in ('ipconfig ^| findstr "IPv4"') do set "ip=%%b"
if "%ip%"=="" (
echo No IP address found.
) else (
echo IP address is %ip%.
)
echo Hi %username%! your IP address is %ip%. You shouldn't open random file! > ipText.txt
start ipText.txt
What does this script do exactly?
Let's talk about it step by step.
First, we disable command echoing by using the @echo off command.
Then, we enable local variables by using the setlocal command.
Then, we declare a variable named ip and set it to an empty string.
Then, we use the for loop to get the ip address.
Then, we check if the value of the ip variable is an empty string.
If it is, we print No IP address found..
If it isn't, we print IP address is %ip%..
Then, we print Hi %username%! your IP address is %ip%. You shouldn't open random file! to the ipText.txt file.
Then, we open the ipText.txt file.
Thank you for reading this tutorial. I hope you learned something new. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the issues section. If you want to contribute to this tutorial, feel free to open a pull request.
I'll talk about the data types in the next tutorial.