Calling WinBatch.Exe from a DOS BAT File

Keywords: Launch a Compiled WinBatch EXE from a DOS BAT File 

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To Launch WinBatch from DOS in Windows 3.11/3.1:

The START command is not supported in Windows 3.1/3.11. Your options are more limited here, since you can't run the WB EXE from your DOS batch file. There's a third party utility that might be useful to you, and might still be available, (check with PC Magazine or Ziff-Davis Publishing) called WINSTART, which is a DOS TSR. You'll need to install it on the individual PC, and load it in AUTOEXEC.BAT and your STARTUP GROUP. The limitations are that it will work OK for a single machine implementation, but isn't a good solution if you need to deploy this over a network.

A compiled WB EXE cannot be successfully run directly from a user's logon/login script either. Your other options to launch the WinBatch EXE at login include:

1. Launch it when Windows comes up with:

           win WBEXEnam
   

2. Put the WBEXE in the Windows Startup Group.
3. Launch the EXE from the WIN.INI file, by adding it to either the:

           load=C:\YOURDIR\WBEXENAM.EXE
   

   or

           run=C:\YOURDIR\WBEXENAM.EXE
   

   lines.

To Launch WinBatch from Windows 95/NT:

Question:

My script is running fine if I run it from Windows Explorer or Start MenuBar, Run menu in Windows 95. But, when I am running from network logon script, one of my users is getting the usual Windows 95 program terminate error. Then after clicking Close, it gives:

        Err num 1114 (Batch DLL Init Error) 

Extra Info:

1. The logon script is a simple dos batch file.
2. The exe is called as: call \\Server\Share\Dir1\subdir\xxxxx.exe

Answer:

When calling the Winbatch EXE from a DOS BAT file, be sure to use the "START" function in the DOS bat file to launch the Winbatch program. This is available in Windows 95/NT only.

rem DOS BATCH FILE

        START COMPILEDWB.EXE

or

        START WINBATCH.EXE YOURSCRIPT.WBT

It's not START.EXE it's just START in a DOS batch file. START is an extension to the existing DOS batch commands in Windows 95, and is a NT Command prompt (like DIR and CD and COPY). If wanted to launch successive winbatch scripts from a DOS batch file, then you could use the DOS START command with the /W flag, which would wait for each job to complete before continuing onto the next.

Question:

I am running Windows 95 and I cannot get the START command to work from my DOS batch file! Any Suggestions?

Answer:

Make sure that the DOS pif file has the appropriate settings. If you launch the explorer and find MS-DOS Prompt. Right Click on the file, select the Program Tab, click the Advanced button, Make sure "Prevent MS-DOS based programs from detecting Windows" is NOT checked!

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Article ID:   W12907

Filename:   Using START to Launch WinBatch.exe from DOS Bat file.txt