How to run multiple .BAT files within a .BAT file

batch-filecmd

I'm trying to get my commit-build.bat to execute other .BAT files as part of our build process.

Content of commit-build.bat:

"msbuild.bat"
"unit-tests.bat"
"deploy.bat"

This seems simple enough, but commit-build.bat only executes the first item in the list (msbuild.bat).

I have run each of the files separately with no problems.

Best Answer

Use:

call msbuild.bat
call unit-tests.bat
call deploy.bat

When not using CALL, the current batch file stops and the called batch file starts executing. It's a peculiar behavior dating back to the early MS-DOS days.

Related Solutions

How to pass arguments to a batch file

Another useful tip is to use %* to mean "all". For example:

echo off
set arg1=%1
set arg2=%2
shift
shift
fake-command /u %arg1% /p %arg2% %*

When you run:

test-command admin password foo bar

the above batch file will run:

fake-command /u admin /p password admin password foo bar

I may have the syntax slightly wrong, but this is the general idea.

Windows – Batch file to delete files older than N days

Enjoy:

forfiles -p "C:\what\ever" -s -m *.* -d <number of days> -c "cmd /c del @path"

See forfiles documentation for more details.

For more goodies, refer to An A-Z Index of the Windows XP command line.

If you don't have forfiles installed on your machine, copy it from any Windows Server 2003 to your Windows XP machine at %WinDir%\system32\. This is possible since the EXE is fully compatible between Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP.

Later versions of Windows and Windows Server have it installed by default.

For Windows 7 and newer (including Windows 10):

The syntax has changed a little. Therefore the updated command is:

forfiles /p "C:\what\ever" /s /m *.* /D -<number of days> /C "cmd /c del @path"

Best Answer

Related Solutions

How to pass arguments to a batch file

Windows – Batch file to delete files older than N days

Related Topic