[Solved] Loop with N iterations (& a counter) in DOS 7 batch file?

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Judago January 21, 2012 at 19:43:38 Pacific

Can you explain what the following line does In the original context it added the line "set incr=" into "__setnum.bat". "set incr=" was to clear the variable before use, this is very important because the variable isn't just set to, it is inserted to. If the variables aren't cleared then anything in the variable before execution comes along for the ride. The position is important too, it is before the loop, that way it is cleared before any work starts, but is not cleared during the work. As for the safety measures - Since it's just a boot disk your scripts are in control of the entire environment so this is minor. If you decide to split up the scripts you shouldn't even have to check for existence, if they don't exist the disk is probably corrupt which means bigger problems. One thing to watch out for is that the variables used(incr, plus1 and done) are overwritten in a persistent manner, so the important thing is not to use them for other purposes.. So in practice, did you use it as a self contained package like you provided, or did you use the sub-scripts pre-made? I believe I used to use them separately to avoid the hit from constantly creating the files. The main reason I did it like that was so that I didn't have to try to explain how to name/create every script.

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sburtchin January 21, 2012 at 21:16:50 Pacific

Your explanation makes a lot of sense, which I think means you are telling me that this line should read: >> __setnum.bat echo set incr= which is what I thought when I first looked at it, but since everything was producing the right output, I thought I would leave well enough alone. I am just guessing, but I think the line: >> __setnum.bat set incr= is being interpreted as two separate commands: ">> __setnum.bat" (append nothing to __setnum.bat) and "set incr=". Anyway, I have tested it both ways and the results have been the same.

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Judago January 21, 2012 at 23:28:05 Pacific

You pointed it out and I still missed it! Now I understand that it was missing echo, I just glazed over it ;) The variable really should be cleared, especially because the script is going to be called multiple times. If you separate the scripts you might find that the fist use is fine and the second has problems. It only works fine now because it is clearing the variable inside add1, with the null resulting output(nothing) being sent to file.

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sburtchin January 25, 2012 at 13:39:45 Pacific

"'So in practice, did you use it as a self contained package like you provided, or did you use the sub-scripts pre-made?' I believe I used to use them separately to avoid the hit from constantly creating the files. The main reason I did it like that was so that I didn't have to try to explain how to name/create every script." There ought to be a 'best of both worlds' and there is! I finished putting in some safety measures and an enhancement to keep it self contained. Also some notes about what you might want to clean up after done using it. Performance is only slightly worse than what I posted in reply #6 above. I tested it on a RAM drive and got loop times of less than 0.2 sec per itteration which is more than fast enough for what I want to do. My next task is to configure the RAM drive and the environment which can be found here: Configuring to Run Ghost 2003 from a RAM Drive . Here is the revised script: @echo off :: ADD1.BAT Author: Judago :: Increment positive integer by 1. Keeps leading zeroes if present. :: Result is stored in environment variable "plus1" :: This batch program requires CHOICE.COM in the current directory. :: This batch program has been tested in MS-DOS v7.10. :: Revised 2012/01/22: Added header, error messages, environment cleanup :: by sburtchin : and checks for existence of called batch files :: NOTE: This batch program creates files "__setnum.bat" and "__incr.bat" :: in the current directory. These files and the environment variable :: "plus1" may be deleted after use, or at the end of the batch program :: which calls ADD1.BAT. :: SYNTAX: ADD1 integer or call ADD1 integer if "%1"=="" goto ERRMSG1 if NOT '%done%'=='' goto ERRMSG2 if NOT '%incr%'=='' goto ERRMSG3 if exist __setnum.bat goto havesetnumbat rem __setnum.bat reverses the number and trims of excess rem from the choice output string. > __setnum.bat echo @echo off >> __setnum.bat echo set incr= >> __setnum.bat echo :loop >> __setnum.bat echo shift >> __setnum.bat echo set incr=%%1,%%incr%% >> __setnum.bat echo if not "%%3"=="" goto loop :havesetnumbat if exist __incr.bat goto haveincrbat rem __incr.bat adds one using if > __incr.bat echo @echo off >> __incr.bat echo set done= >> __incr.bat echo set plus1= >> __incr.bat echo :loop >> __incr.bat echo if "%%done%%"=="1" set plus1=%%1%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%done%%"=="1" if %%1==0 set plus1=1%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==0 set done=1 >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%done%%"=="1" if %%1==1 set plus1=2%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==1 set done=1 >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%done%%"=="1" if %%1==2 set plus1=3%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==2 set done=1 >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%done%%"=="1" if %%1==3 set plus1=4%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==3 set done=1 >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%done%%"=="1" if %%1==4 set plus1=5%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==4 set done=1 >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%done%%"=="1" if %%1==5 set plus1=6%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==5 set done=1 >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%done%%"=="1" if %%1==6 set plus1=7%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==6 set done=1 >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%done%%"=="1" if %%1==7 set plus1=8%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==7 set done=1 >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%done%%"=="1" if %%1==8 set plus1=9%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==8 set done=1 >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%done%%"=="1" if %%1==9 set plus1=0%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo shift >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%1"=="" goto loop >> __incr.bat echo if "%%done%%"=="" set plus1=1%%plus1%% :haveincrbat rem choice splits the option string with commas echo a|choice.com /c:a%1a __setnum.bat > __pass.bat call __pass.bat call __incr.bat %incr% goto end :ERRMSG1 echo No input to ADD1.BAT - Hit Ctrl-C to terminate batch job and correct problem. pause goto end :ERRMSG2 echo Environment variable "done" is about to be overwritten - Hit Ctrl-C to stop! pause goto end :ERRMSG3 echo Environment variable "incr" is about to be overwritten - Hit Ctrl-C to stop! pause goto end :end del __pass.bat set done= set incr= If there is anything you would change, please let me know.

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Judago January 25, 2012 at 15:51:40 Pacific

It looks good, I tried some optimising myself and made some changes, I'm not sure if it will be faster but it certainly looks cleaner. • Removed the variables "done" and "incr". "plus1" is now used both as the temp and output variable. • Made "__setnum.bat" call "__incr.bat" so only "__pass.bat" needs to be called in the main script. • Converted the comments to help text and combined the one remaining error into the help. • Changed the logic of adding to only loop the logic if a nine is passed through with other numbers remaining. • Added a dummy character("q") to the reversed number to make a shift loop easier. • Added "if exist" before deleting "__pass.bat" • Removed a superfluous goto. @echo off if not "%1"=="" goto work echo No input to ADD1.BAT - Hit Ctrl-C to terminate batch job and correct problem. echo. echo. ADD1.BAT Author: Judago echo. echo. Increment positive integer by 1. Keeps leading zeroes if present. echo. Result is stored in environment variable "plus1" echo. echo. This batch program requires CHOICE.COM in the current directory. echo. echo. This batch program has been tested in MS-DOS v7.10. echo. echo. Revised 2012/01/22: Added header, error messages, environment cleanup echo. by sburtchin : and checks for existence of called batch files echo. echo. NOTE: This batch program creates files "__setnum.bat" and "__incr.bat" echo. in the current directory. These files and the environment variable echo. "plus1" may be deleted after use, or at the end of the batch program echo. which calls ADD1.BAT. echo. echo. SYNTAX: ADD1 integer or call ADD1 integer echo. goto :end :work if exist __setnum.bat goto havesetnumbat rem __setnum.bat reverses the number and trims of excess rem from the choice output string. > __setnum.bat echo @echo off >> __setnum.bat echo set plus1= >> __setnum.bat echo :loop >> __setnum.bat echo shift >> __setnum.bat echo set plus1=%%1,%%plus1%% >> __setnum.bat echo if not "%%3"=="" goto loop >> __setnum.bat echo set plus1=q,%%plus1%% >> __setnum.bat echo __incr.bat %%plus1%% :havesetnumbat if exist __incr.bat goto haveincrbat rem __incr.bat adds one using if > __incr.bat echo @echo off >> __incr.bat echo set plus1= >> __incr.bat echo :loop >> __incr.bat echo shift >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==0 set plus1=1%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==1 set plus1=2%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==2 set plus1=3%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==3 set plus1=4%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==4 set plus1=5%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==5 set plus1=6%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==6 set plus1=7%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==7 set plus1=8%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==8 set plus1=9%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==9 set plus1=0%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==9 if not "%%2"=="" goto loop >> __incr.bat echo if %%1==9 set plus1=1%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo :args >> __incr.bat echo shift >> __incr.bat echo set plus1=%%1%%plus1%% >> __incr.bat echo if not "%%2"=="" goto args :haveincrbat rem choice splits the option string with commas echo a|choice.com /c:a%1a __setnum.bat > __pass.bat call __pass.bat :end if exist __pass.bat del __pass.bat > nul

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sburtchin January 27, 2012 at 03:12:19 Pacific

This has been a real learning experience for me. Thanks for returning the enthusiasm. I really like what you did to combine the header and help. I'm working on a batch file to run Ghost that has 5 screenfulls of help information. I can't say how many hours have been devoted to keeping the header and the help synchronized! You cut the number of commands about in half, so I expected performance should almost double. Results were good, but a little surprising. I created a loop with counter and a large integer that is also incremented each time (ie. two calls to ADD1.BAT each time through the loop). Here are the results of my testing (time per itteration): Version1 Version2 Version3 Floppy 3 min 15 sec 2 min 10 sec 1 min 10 sec Hard Drive 3.4 sec 1.2 sec 0.9 sec RAM drive 0.12 sec 0.12 sec 0.12 sec Recently I have begun to do version control on my batch files. Things were getting out of hand with assorted versions floating around on various floppies and HDD folders, so I created the directory "J:\Development_Projects\_DOS_BAT_File_Masters". Officially for my own records I created the files ADD1_v1.00.BAT, ADD1_v2.00.BAT and ADD1_v3.00.BAT in there. I also created a file ADD1.BAT.use.txt in there that lists the floppies (or other places) it is used, and any other important information that's not part of the header (eg. the url to this thread). The version information gets stripped from the filename to create the working batch program. 1> The file ADD1_v1.00.BAT is exactly as you provided in Reply #2 above with the exception that I corrected for the missing "echo". 2> I did some tweaks to the header info (in version 2) to make it compatible with the header in the final version, and also added help the way I had been doing it. The file ADD1_v2.00.BAT is the same as I posted in Reply #10 above except that it begins with: @echo off :: ADD1.BAT Author: Judago :: Increment positive integer by 1. Keeps leading zeroes if present. :: Result is returned in environment variable "plus1" :: v1.00 2012/01/20 (Judago) Initial Release. :: v2.00 2012/01/22 (sburtchin) Added header, error messages, environment :: cleanup and checks for existence of called batch files. Added the :: line "::+++...+++80___4" so you can always know where character :: position "80" or "84" is at. Added help. :: This batch program requires CHOICE.COM in the current directory. :: This batch program has been tested in MS-DOS v7.10. :: NOTE: This batch program creates files "__setnum.bat" and "__incr.bat" :: in the current directory. These files and the environment variable :: "plus1" may be deleted after use, or at the end of the batch program :: which calls ADD1.BAT. :: SYNTAX: ADD1 [/?³/h³/H] or ADD1 integer or call ADD1 integer ::++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++80___4 goto BEGIN :help echo: echo ADD1.BAT Author: Judago echo: echo Increment positive integer by 1. Keeps leading zeroes if present. echo Result is stored in environment variable "plus1" echo: echo v1.00 2012/01/20 (Judago) Initial Release. echo v2.00 2012/01/22 (sburtchin) Added header, error messages, environment echo cleanup and checks for existence of called batch files. Added the echo line "::+++...+++80___4" so you can always know where character echo position "80" or "84" is at. Added help. echo: echo This batch program requires CHOICE.COM in the current directory. echo: echo This batch program has been tested in MS-DOS v7.10. echo: echo NOTE: This batch program creates files "__setnum.bat" and "__incr.bat" echo in the current directory. These files and the environment variable echo "plus1" may be deleted after use, or at the end of the batch program echo which calls ADD1.BAT. echo: echo SYNTAX: ADD1 [/?³/h³/H] or ADD1 integer or call ADD1 integer echo: goto END :BEGIN if "%1"=="/?" goto help: if "%1"=="/h" goto help: if "%1"=="/H" goto help: if "%1"=="" goto ERRMSG1 and ends with: :end del __pass.bat > nul set done= set incr= with everything in the middle remaining the same. 3> The file ADD1_v3.00.BAT begins with the tweaked header (as follows) to be compatible with version 2, with everything else being the same as in your Reply #11 above. @echo off if not "%1"=="" goto work echo No input to ADD1.BAT - Hit Ctrl-C to terminate batch job and correct problem. echo. :help echo. echo. ADD1.BAT Author: Judago echo. echo. Increment positive integer by 1. Keeps leading zeroes if present. echo. Result is returned in environment variable "plus1" echo. echo. v1.00 2012/01/20 (Judago) Initial Release. echo. v2.00 2012/01/22 (sburtchin) Added header, error messages, environment echo. cleanup and checks for existence of called batch files. Added the echo. line "::+++...+++80___4" so you can always know where character echo. position "80" or "84" is at. Added help. echo. v3.00 2012/01/25 (Judago) Removed variables "done" and "incr". "plus1" is echo. now used both as the temp and output variable. Made "__setnum.bat" echo. call "__incr.bat" so only "__pass.bat" is called in main script. echo. Converted comments to help text and combined the one remaining error echo. into the help. Changed the logic of adding to only loop the logic echo. if a nine is passed through with other numbers remaining. Added a echo. dummy character ("q") to the reversed number to make a shift loop echo. easier. Added "if exist" before deleting "__pass.bat". Removed a echo. superfluous goto. pause echo. echo. This batch program requires CHOICE.COM in the current directory. echo. echo. This batch program has been tested in MS-DOS v7.10. echo. echo. NOTE: This batch program creates files "__setnum.bat" and "__incr.bat" echo. in the current directory. These files and the environment variable echo. "plus1" may be deleted after use, or at the end of the batch program echo. which calls ADD1.BAT. echo. echo. SYNTAX: ADD1 [/?³/h³/H] or ADD1 integer or call ADD1 integer echo. ::++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++80___4 goto :end :work if "%1"=="/?" goto help: if "%1"=="/h" goto help: if "%1"=="/H" goto help: In case you are wondering, that is not the pipe character in the line: echo. SYNTAX: ADD1 [/?³/h³/H] or ADD1 integer or call ADD1 integer Set font to "Terminal" in Notepad to see what it looks like in DOS.

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Judago January 27, 2012 at 04:32:15 Pacific

You cut the number of commands about in half, so I expected performance should almost double. Yeah it isn't actually doing that much less work. Sometimes more code can even mean better performance, not often, but sometimes. Results were good, but a little surprising. I'm not very surprised that the ramdisk result is the same, a lot of that 0.12/sec is probably going to overhead with command filling argument buffers/switching contexts. That disk result is a little strange, my guess is that is may have something to to with a on disk write buffer that also reads.... Anyway I'm glad I could help and I hope you get that disk sorted ;)