Hey there, arod,
Welcome to our forums.
Programming batch files can be pretty neat when using for run-of-the-mill administrative tasks that would be either boring or too much to handle manually on a day-to-day basis. You pop up notepad, write your batch script that does what you were supposed to do, and then run it - voila.
However, in your situation I sense that you are trying to code a slightly complex or rather complex application. I'm sure it can be done with batch and you should focus on how to invoke delays. A rather foolproof method do implement delays in a batch files is
using ping time-outs. Sure, this sounds like insane and that it has nothing to do with it. However, the script must stop and ping the specified address (which should not exist) for the amount of time you specified without any output at all and then it moves on. You see, this is a rather simple and naive way to workaround a simple delay.
Batch Code:
 Original
- Batch Code |
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PING 1.1.1.1 -n 1 -w %1000 >NULL
The -n specifies the count of ping requests (1) while the -w explicitly states the number of wait time for each request (1000 ms = 1 second). NULL, as always, sets the output for the ping requests (technicall, NoWhereLand).
Now to be on topic, I would advice writing your "application" in WSH. On the long-run you will be glad that you did. Sure, like I said, at first batch files look promising and quick solutions and we still should use them when we need to
automate everyday administrative and/or boring tasks. But in your case you are planning to create a pretty neat utility that should run for hours or so I have understood.
You have picked Sound Recorder and indeed that's what I would also too. It is also more light-weight and definitely faster/quicker/more efficient than WMP is/was/will be. There's no real need to involve WMP in this task. So, here's how I would do this in WSH.
VB Code:
| Original
- VB Code |
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strSoundFile = "C:\Temp\test.wav"
Set objShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
strCommand = "sndrec32 /play /close " & chr(34) & strSoundFile & chr(34)
objShell.Run strCommand, 0, True
Wscript.Sleep 1000
The first line declares the variable. The second line of the code sets to create a new object shell which is going to be the Sound Recorder. The third line executes and specifies the parameters for sndrec32. In this case we also set them to play the file, automatically close at the end, and we use a trickier approach to insert the necessary double quotes in order to specify the exact path of the sound file. Char 34 stands for double quotes ("). The fourth line of code runs the object where 0 is the parameter that explicitly specifies the script to be executed in hidden window, while the latter True stands for "wait until the sound file hasn't finished playing" - you need to use False each time you want to move on and execute further commands without waiting out the end of the audio file. Like when you want a message box to appear right away as your audio file is played (Ding! Error Box!). You need to do both at the same time, thus, you need to use False in order to execute the error msgbox command too [like Msgbox "Oh God, error!"]. The final line of the code is very straightforward and puts the script on sleep (delay).
Hope it helps. You can use the same approach as presented above to reference to the audio files even with batch. But I still suggest moving over to WSH for the flexibility that it rather offers. Batch was all neat and cool in the 90s. Now it's all outdated and, to be honest, I haven't used it for my tasks since ages. If we think about it, batch is not even a programming language, it's just a scripting language that is based totally on DOS commands. Whereafter, WSH is a full-throttled and offers access/possilities to fully maintain and code lots of Microsoft-administration and -tedious tasks such as anything from sending mails (or even creating a mass-mailer) up to log parsing and whatnot.
For more information and as a reference source on WSH - I would advice reading the article published by my very best friend - Robert "Nilpo" Dunham. Find his profile(s) over
ASP Free and check out some of his WSH material/content; I'm linking both of his profiles because he's special and has two:
Nilpo as a Staff Writer and
Just Nilpo. He's written a lot on the subject (more than a few dozens of tutorials!).
Cheers. If you have more questions or whatnot, please, don't hesitate to post. I might leave a PM to him if we both need assistance/help in order to accomplish your task. Because if we do that, then the guru will come and enlighten us.
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March 27th, 2008, 02:22 AM
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