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My lecturer gave the following as an in lecturer lab but i'm having trouble understanding how to do it. There are two scripts involved. The following is the first.

A9: Move the second batch script file into the “Processing” subfolder.

A10” Go to the root directory of the C: drive (This command must work the same from whichever drive, folder or subfolder the script is currently in.)

A11: Run the second batch script file.

A12: Update the folder search path for batch script file execution to include the “Processing” subfolder, and then display the folder search path. (Make sure you preserve the folders that were already in the search path.)

A13: Run the second batch script file again, by specifying only the file’s name.

how exactly would I do this.

what I don't understand is how you would get the batch script to run in any directory. In this case how would I be able to run the script from the root of the c drive when the script is located in the /processing file without specifying a path. I have looked into various thing including %~dp0 but I don't understand this.

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3 Answers 3

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In windows (and other OSes, including linux), the OS searches for executable files in directories specified by the global PATH variable. To see what is currently in that variable, in your CMD console type the following:

set PATH

If you want to add another folder to the path (as the instructions seem to say in A12), and to preserve the current folders, you would say

set PATH = %PATH%;C:/Some/Directory/Path

The %PATH% expands out to the old values, so you preserve them while adding something new. Under windows the separator may be a different character than ;, but the principle should be the same. By adding your own folder to the folders searched for executable files, you can easily run a batch script in any folder without setting the full path.

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I input: set PATH = %PATH%;c:Scripts/"Hellow World.bat (where the second script is lcoated). I then entered the scriptname from the root and it returned an error.
You would want to do set PATH = %PATH%;C:/Scripts/ - you add directories to the PATH, not individual files. Windows will search the directories in the PATH for any file matching the name of the one you are trying to run.
set PATH = %PATH%;C:/Scripts/ if I use this how do i search for the Hello World.bat script and run it
If you use that, then you should not have to "search" for it - Just call your batch file from any folder. You may have some trouble though because your file has a space in the name. Typing "Hello%20World.bat" in a different folder should invoke that file (If that truly how to rewrite spaces, that is.)
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If some folder is included in Path env variable, files from there (batch scripts and exe among others) will be available from any directory.

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set PATH = %PATH%;C:/Some/Directory/Path as in another answer. If you're running that from batch file, you may use setlocal/endlocal in order to modify path variable only temporary.
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If you are using a windows 7 PC, you can set the path variable by hitting the windows key and searching for edit the system environment variables

  1. Click the "Environment Variables" button
  2. In system variables section find the entry for "Path" and click "Edit"
  3. Append your path to the end of the "Variable value" field ensuring your new value is separated from the existing values by a semi colon ;
  4. Click Ok

If you are using an earlier version of windows then you can get to the System Properties by right clicking on the "My Computer" icon (Desktop and/or Start Menu) and selected "Properties"

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