TO BATCH OR NOT TO BATCH
by Bill Buckels, Starving Programmer
December 16, 1988

That Numb Feeling...

Since I was first forced behind a Computer Screen by a well meaning
drafting instructor after going back to school at the age of 33, I have
walked around with a Numb Feeling in my head from thinking too much or
something...and lately I have become acquainted with the Computer
Magazine Article Bug and That Numb Feeling has never been worse. But by
virtue of my new associations with programmer-types after acquiring my
"PeeCee" I have managed to glom some old magazines from those old-days
of 4 or 5 years back when everything was still written in English with
lots of little Basic Beginner-Type programs & Stuff that I can try-out
and I realized that yesterday's writers are probably the same ones
writing today, but they have grown up with the Industry, and do not
allow for the new guys like me...

Recently I have been playing around a bit with "Batch Files"...they're
the "Programs" that can be made in the word processor and then run like
any other program...really easy to get together with just a limited
knowledge of a word processor like Wordstar or Wordperfect, etc, and the
help of a trusty DOS Manual.
 
Rules of the Game: Batch Files...

Rule Number 1- Must end with .bat ...

For example : Autoexec.bat - This is the program that "sets-up" your
computer when you first turn it on, and is a neat one to customize
because you can have your computer start your favorite program without
bothering with the rest of the system...which is really bad too, because
lots of people that work on a computer have been spoon-fed in this
manner and because of that don't know what exists beyond their little
world.)

Rule number 2- Must be written in "non-document" (ASCII) plain text
format

What this means is that Word Processors write "Documents" so that the
printer will make them look nice, and how they do this is they insert
all sorts of printer commands that you don't see when you type a letter.
This kind of "Format" can cause your computer to freak-out if you use it
to write Batch Files. Word processors as a rule also allow you to write
in "Non-Document" format...and this is the Text-Only "ASCII" type of
programming that you need for "Batch Files" and, oh yes, "BASIC"
programs too...

Rule Number 3- Must Do Something.

A program must do something. If you have some pet peeve about your
computing system, or some other little task that you don't have a
program for, this is the best excuse to learn abit about your system and
using a batch file to try and solve the problem...

A batch file is simply a way of typing commands into your computer that
you might normally do one-after-the-other on the keyboard so... just
imagine that you are typing the commands in line by line when you make
up the batch file ...

Rule Number 4- Must be Run in DOS...

This means that you can't start-up your favorite program and then expect
to run a batch file inside of your program...it's just not intended to
do that.

Observations on PCDOS Batch Processing On the IBM PC and Compatibles

The IBM PC operating system command line (DOS prompt) is a most
efficient way for the average user to issue instructions to the
processor, but it is also the most overlooked when it comes time for
most of us to consider ways and means to process our various computing
tasks.
 
All too often we opt for a memory hog of a familiar applications program
or a routine several layers thick in BASIC's "bog and mire" to issue one
or two little instructions that are probably available in a tiny .Com or
.Exe program that came with that confusing pile of stuff on our Dos
Disk. (If we had taken the time to wade through the mounds of
documentation we would understand that the Many Features on the Face of
Dos are a deliberate effort to make the system more friendly and
efficient than confusing and time-consuming.)

This is where most of us as users fail, and after "wearing our fingers
to the bone" typing each and every command in sort of an emulation of
"hunt and peck" on the manual typewriter, we spring for the latest
version of "The Fakeware Window Menu Mouse Commando" and become forever
ineffective whining "memory junkies."

Command.Com and the "Train of Command" 

But imagine for a moment if you knew the modules of DOS well enough that
you could combine each one that does one job well into a batch job (or
chain of command as it were) and to save all that tedious typing, you
let the short "program" that you have created in your word-processor
simply "dump" each command one-by- one on the system and with no "bells
and whistles" the job is done.

Without all the "overhead" of typing into an interactive command
interpreter, batch jobs run in a fraction of the time...with a bit of
forethought and knowledge on the part of the user.

For many tasks the batch job is the shortest distance between points and
all serious DOS users should be fully familiar with its usage.

Not the Universal Panacea

Batches are not the Universal Panacea but are a most efficient way to
begin making best use of the environment. With the PC came the ability
of the applications operator to manage the environment as well as the
Data. With that ability comes the challenge to use that power wisely.

-Bill Buckels
December 16, 1988
