I'm writing a messenger for me and my brother to use at our house. I'm Just having a little trouble with it.

Here's what I have so far,

Code: [Select]ECHO OFF

IF EXIST Writer.bat (
IF EXIST READER.bat (GOTO DONE
) ELSE (
GOTO Reader
)
) ELSE (
GOTO Writer
)

:Reader

ECHO ECHO OFF>Reader.bat
ECHO.>>Reader.bat
ECHO :Loop>>Reader.bat
ECHO.>>Reader.bat
ECHO CLS>>Reader.bat
ECHO TYPE Messages.txt>>Reader.bat
>>Reader.bat ECHO TIMEOUT /t 2
ECHO GOTO Loop>>Reader.bat

ATTRIB +H Reader.bat

ECHO Reader Successfully Created.

IF EXIST Writer.bat (GOTO Done
) ELSE (
GOTO Writer
)

:Writer

ECHO ECHO OFF>Writer.bat
ECHO.>>Writer.bat
ECHO ECHO Enter your name:>>Writer.bat
ECHO SET /p User="">>Writer.bat
ECHO.>>Writer.bat
ECHO :Loop>>Writer.bat
ECHO.>>Writer.bat
ECHO CLS>>Writer.bat
ECHO ECHO Enter your message:>>Writer.bat
ECHO SET /p Message="">>Writer.bat
>>Messages.txt ECHO ECHO %%User%% - %%Message%%>>Writer.bat
>>Messages.txt ECHO ECHO.>>Writer.bat
ECHO GOTO Loop>>Writer.bat

ATTRIB +H Writer.bat

ECHO Writer Successfully Created.

IF EXIST Reader.bat (GOTO Done
) ELSE (
GOTO Reader
)

:Done

PAUSE
START Reader.bat
START Writer.bat
EXIT
The parts I'm having troubles with  is:

Code: [Select]>>Writer.bat ECHo ECHO %%User%% - %%Message%%>>Messages.txt
>>Writer.bat ECHO.>>Messages.txt
And:

Code: [Select]>>Reader.bat ECHO TIMEOUT /t 2
The first one I really wasn't expecting to work, does anybody know a way around it?

And the second, I really don't know why it's not working. Any Ideas?>>Reader.bat ECHO TIMEOUT /t 2 No problems with this line, it appears it will be written to Reader.bat but does Timeout have a /t switch?

Code: [Select]>>Writer.bat ECHO ECHO %%User%% - %%Message%%>>Messages.txt
>>Writer.bat ECHO.>>Messages.txt
Escape the second >> using the caret like
Code: [Select]>>Writer.bat ECHO ECHO %%User%% - %%Message%%^>^>Messages.txt
>>Writer.bat ECHO ECHO.^>^>Messages.txt
This doesn't mean your script will run, I think there are other problems for you to sort out..

FYI to save a lot of repetitive typing you could use

(
ECHO ECHO OFF
ECHO ECHO.
ECHO SET /p User=Enter your name:
ECHO ECHO.
etc...
.
.
etc...
)>writer.bat

Good luck.Ahh, thank you very much!

I am aware of the bugs, and am still working on them. These two were the ones stumping me.

And by the way:

Code: [Select]C:\>timeout /?

TIMEOUT [/T] timeout [/NOBREAK]

Description:
    This utility accepts a timeout parameter to wait for the specified
    time period (in seconds) or until any key is pressed. It also
    accepts a parameter to ignore the key press.

Parameter List:
    /T        timeout       Specifies the number of seconds to wait.
                            Valid range is -1 to 99999 seconds.

    /NOBREAK                Ignore key presses and wait specified time.

    /?                      Displays this help message.

NOTE: A timeout value of -1 means to wait indefinitely for a key press.

Examples:
    TIMEOUT /?
    TIMEOUT /T 10
    TIMEOUT /T 300 /NOBREAK
    TIMEOUT /T -1

C:\>
Thanks for the suggestions!Timeout /t  SORRY about that, it's your Win 7 vs my Win XP.  LOL Haha yeah, not a problem! Thanks again. Quote from: Dusty on AUGUST 17, 2010, 09:28:32 PM

FYI to save a lot of repetitive typing you could use

(
ECHO ECHO OFF
ECHO ECHO.
ECHO SET /p User=Enter your name:
ECHO ECHO.
etc...
.
.
etc...
)>writer.bat

Good luck.

WOW! You can actually do that?