MAKEMSI quickly and reliably creates MSI files in a non-programmatic way\Tips and TricksBatch Files

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Batch Files

A batch file at its simplest is simply a set of commands listed one per line, this is a simple (if useless) example:

@echo off
cls
del "%temp%\*.tmp"
del "%windir%\temp\*.tmp"

You may find some of my free Windows and DOS tools useful for use in batch file ("LOG.EXE" in particular).

You may be executing the batch file as a custom action at install time, if so please ensure it returns a decent return code (don't just use the "AnyRc" attribute). You should also question whether what the batch file is doing could be done natively by the MSI, if so do the work up front, it will pay off in the end.

Some links to other sections of this document are:

• Batch File Tricks
• Batch File Custom Actions
• Tools

Batch Files - External Links

Some good external links:

• microsoft.public.win2000.cmdprompt.admin (best batch file newsgroup)
• Batch Function Library for Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003
• Windows Platform Comparison Environment Variable Reference

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