In the old DOS days I used a program called 'ASK' in batch files which
allowed me to select a response to a question. According to the answer
(eg, Y/N) the batch file would then branch (goto to the appropriate
label) according to the answer. Does XP have an equivalent? If so, is
there also a help file you can point me to for syntax and errorlevel
information?

Thanks
Vic

"someone watching" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In the old DOS days I used a program called 'ASK' in batch files which
> allowed me to select a response to a question. According to the answer
> (eg, Y/N) the batch file would then branch (goto to the appropriate
> label) according to the answer. Does XP have an equivalent? If so, is
> there also a help file you can point me to for syntax and errorlevel
> information?
>
> Thanks
> Vic
>

Start a Command Prompt, then type set /? and watch for
the /P option. The user input can be anything, not just Y/N,
but you need to check it yourself.

Wow, I saw the /P help you mentioned. Wish they had 'instructions for
dummies'. Tried fiddling using the expressions in a file (test.cmd) but
am not making headway. If anyone can help with a simple example it would
sure be appreciated!

eg.

echo.
(command) Would you like to go to label A or label B? AB
if errorlevel 2 goto B
if errorlevel 1 goto A

___

"Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:#b7$BE#(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "someone watching" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > In the old DOS days I used a program called 'ASK' in batch files
which
> > allowed me to select a response to a question. According to the
answer
> > (eg, Y/N) the batch file would then branch (goto to the appropriate
> > label) according to the answer. Does XP have an equivalent? If so,
is
> > there also a help file you can point me to for syntax and errorlevel
> > information?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Vic
> >
>
> Start a Command Prompt, then type set /? and watch for
> the /P option. The user input can be anything, not just Y/N,
> but you need to check it yourself.
>
>

"someone watching" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:O48h%23O%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Wow, I saw the /P help you mentioned. Wish they had 'instructions for
> dummies'. Tried fiddling using the expressions in a file (test.cmd) but
> am not making headway. If anyone can help with a simple example it would
> sure be appreciated!
>
> eg.
>
> echo.
> (command) Would you like to go to label A or label B? AB
> if errorlevel 2 goto B
> if errorlevel 1 goto A

Not quite. You need to forget about the clumsy
ErrorLevel stuff used by ask.com. Try this instead:
@echo off
:again
set /P name=Please enter your name:
if "%name%"=="" goto :eof
if /i "%name%"=="Peter" goto Sales
if /i "%name%"=="Jane" goto Accounting
echo Sorry, I don't know a person named "%name%".
goto again

:Sales
.. . .
goto :eof

:Accounting
.. . .

Looks like that's the kind of 'detail for dummies' I needed <g>!
One last question; noticed the :eof, is this a 'hidden' label which
stands for end of file? or is it like using the exit command?

Thanks Pegasus, your response was very helpful!

Vic
__
"Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:OSDpFZ#(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "someone watching" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:O48h%23O%(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Wow, I saw the /P help you mentioned. Wish they had 'instructions
for
> > dummies'. Tried fiddling using the expressions in a file (test.cmd)
but
> > am not making headway. If anyone can help with a simple example it
would
> > sure be appreciated!
> >
> > eg.
> >
> > echo.
> > (command) Would you like to go to label A or label B? AB
> > if errorlevel 2 goto B
> > if errorlevel 1 goto A
>
> Not quite. You need to forget about the clumsy
> ErrorLevel stuff used by ask.com. Try this instead:
> @echo off
> :again
> set /P name=Please enter your name:
> if "%name%"=="" goto :eof
> if /i "%name%"=="Peter" goto Sales
> if /i "%name%"=="Jane" goto Accounting
> echo Sorry, I don't know a person named "%name%".
> goto again
>
> :Sales
> . . .
> goto :eof
>
> :Accounting
> . . .
>
>

http://www.ss64.com/nt/goto.html

See also

http://www.ss64.com/nt/index.html

http://commandwindows.com/

--
Regards

John Waller

More great helpful information, thanks!
Vic
___
"John Waller" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> http://www.ss64.com/nt/goto.html
>
> See also
> http://www.ss64.com/nt/index.html
>
> http://commandwindows.com/
>
> --
> Regards
>
> John Waller

At the risk of seeming pesky:

Found I have CHOICE.EXE from W2K (I think, 21KB Dec 21, 1999). Tried
using that in a CMD file. All is well except it does not accept input
from the Esc key. I like to use Esc as the ultimate abort (escape hatch
<g>). Is it possible to have CHOICE accept Esc as a choice?

Lastly, have not tried the set /p command with acceptance of Esc
character. Do you know if set /p will accept Esc key input?

Thanks
Vic
___
"someone watching" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In the old DOS days I used a program called 'ASK' in batch files which
> allowed me to select a response to a question. According to the answer
> (eg, Y/N) the batch file would then branch (goto to the appropriate
> label) according to the answer. Does XP have an equivalent? If so, is
> there also a help file you can point me to for syntax and errorlevel
> information?
>
> Thanks
> Vic
>
>

"someone watching" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> At the risk of seeming pesky:
>
> Found I have CHOICE.EXE from W2K (I think, 21KB Dec 21, 1999). Tried using
> that in a CMD file. All is well except it does not accept input from the
> Esc key. I like to use Esc as the ultimate abort (escape hatch <g>). Is it
> possible to have CHOICE accept Esc as a choice?
>
> Lastly, have not tried the set /p command with acceptance of Esc
> character. Do you know if set /p will accept Esc key input?
>
> Thanks
> Vic

AFAIK, choice.exe was a Win98, not a Win2000 command. About
pressing Esc - why don't you give it a try yourself to see what happens?
Note that in my first response I gave you the standard method for
handling blank input. Not also you that the you MUST press Enter
after typing your response.