Re: Batch file (CMD) output into HTA


"mayayana" <mayaXXyana@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uinjG3FeJHA.3856@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The trouble with the term DOS is that that was the name of an o/s that
many
of us are no longer using. Yes, I know some still use w9x, some third
party
DOS lookalikes, and even real DOS. But since is it no longer supported, I
am
not surprised that MS has not created public groups dedicated to it.

This has been discussed before, and IIRC, the consensus was that a
proliferation of batch support groups, one for each possible O/S, would
be
confusing.

I don't see any reason that it needs to be different
for different OSs.

One could argue that "real dos" and the NT (and up) command prompt have
significant enough capabilities that lumping them all together will cause
problems. In fact, I have seen some of the problems when someone asks a
question without specifying which o/s version.

I was just thinking that there should
be a group for console operations, and XP+ console
enhancements could go under that umbrella. DOS...
..command-line ...console? See, I don't know what to
call it. :)

The trouble is that it would be difficult to come up with a name that truly
indicated its scope of coverage.

There seem to be an increasing number of network
admin. types who like to use command line operations.

Granted. But they are all working in the NT world, so the groups I suggested
earlier should suffice:

ms.pub.win2000.cmdprompt.admin
ms.pub.windows.server.scripting

The "win2000" is admitedly a red herring, but creating a new one with
"windows" instead would split the posts between the two.

the .serfver.scripting is rightfully language neutral (imho), as most server
users (admins) are looking for a soluting to a problem and do not want to
crosspost to batch, vbscript, wsh, powershell, and possibly other groups.

That has no connection with VBScript, so I'm
guessing the questions end up here because people
are also using VBS and just don't know where else
to go for questions about console operations.

Exactly right.

But supposing there were a more appropriate newsgroup; how would they know
what its name is, and whether it would be something "console", "batch",
"command prompt", or "DOS". Many would still ask here and be directed
elsewhere. In that case why not just direct them as I suggested?

But there
are also an increasing number of posts from people
who don't seem to even know that there's a difference
between VBS and DOS/Batch -- like the post from
"Luuk" that you responded to the other day.

The only solution I can see would be to rename all the newsgroups so that
the vast majority of people would pick the right one. So this one would be:
microsoft.public.scripting.vbscript.this.is.not.for.DOS.batch.or.command.prompt.questions

I realize that on XP it's not technically DOS, but if
I open a console window on Win9x it's DOS. And the
XP console methods were designed to emulate, and
to be generally backward compatible with, DOS.

I disagree. More like generally backward similar. There are some things that
work differently enough that the syntactical similarity is mainly useful to
get one started. In fact, someone pointed out in one of the batch ng's that
CMD.EXE on XP will process some commands differently based on whether they
were in a .bat or a .cmd file.

They're
Win32 applets, but in practice they're basically the same
thing. You're using DOS commands, in a console window,
and you just happen to have additional command line
applets/commands that don't exist on Win9x. That's why I
call it NTDOS or DOS/Batch. There doesn't seem to be any
closer name for it. Whatever it is, it's entirely different
from VBS.

Exactly so. And still nobody knows its name... ;-)

I don't want to split hairs. The odd DOS/Batch answer
here or there isn't a problem.

I agree. But even more off-topic is raising the old "it is DOS/it isn't DOS"
argument here ;-)

But this is a VBS group. And
personally I have little knowledge of or interest in anything
dating from pre-mouse days. I'm just not a good enough
typist for that. :) So it would be nice if the VBS group
could be mainly dealing with VBS.

Yes. That is not just for your convenience, though, but for the convenience
of those looking for answers to batch questions.

Personally, I think most posts that appear here incorrectly should result in
a suggestion they go to the two ng's I mentioned. There are times, however,
when it does not hurt for a simple question to be answered when one has a
simple answer.

/Al


.

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