Tag Archives: Batch

How to monitor file stats using a batch script

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The use case for this batch script is to monitor SQL Server files using Windows task manager scheduled to run the file every 5 minutes. The batch scripts gathers the stats of  every file in a referenced directory. The script can obviously be adapted however to something that suits your specific needs.

Note: Running this script against the C drive on a laptop took 15 minutes and produced a text file that was around 50 Mb. The script is best utilized in scenarios such as monitoring file sizes on drives used by applications that do not generate thousands of files, e.g. backup directories etc.

There is two scripts presented below. The first is the simpler of the two scripts, it just records the file stats of a single directory.

Directions for use:

Take either script below and save it as a batch file called FileStatsLogger.

Two variables need to be updated to use the script:

“LogPath=C:\Log\” Change C:\Log\ to another directory if you want the output file written somewhere else.

“ScanDir=C:\FolderToScan\” Change C:\FolderToScan\ to the directory you want to gather file stats from.

The file that will be created, FileStats, will record the following information:

  • A timestamp of when the batch script was run
  • A reference to each parent directory
  • Every file creation date and time
  • File size in Kbs
  • Every file owner
  • The name of the file
  • How many files are in the directory and their collective size

The output file will look like this when opened.

FileStats

Each time the script is run it will update the text file FileStats.

@ECHO OFF

REM SET TIMESTAMP VARIABLE
SET Timestamp=%date:~6,8%%date:~3,2%%date:~0,2%%time:~0,2%%time:~3,2%%time:~6,2%

REM SET FILE LOGGING VARIABLES
SET "LogPath=C:\Log\"
SET "LogFileName=FileStats.txt"
SET "Log=%LogPath%%LogFileName%"
SET "ScanDir=C:\FolderToScan\"

REM CREATE FILE IF DOES NOT EXIST
IF NOT EXIST "%Log%" ECHO File Created Timestamp: %Timestamp% > "%Log%"

REM TIMESTAMP ENTRY
ECHO/ >> "%Log%"
ECHO Entry Timestamp: %Timestamp% >> "%Log%"
ECHO/ >> "%Log%"

REM SCAN DIRECTORY
DIR /a %ScanDir% >> %Log%

To scan multiple directories create a text file called DirectoryList and populate the the file with the directories you want to scan. Each directory on a new line, for example:

L:\
D:\
T:\

It is assumed the directory list text file will be kept in the same directory as the batch file FileStatsLogger but you should add the full file path to were DirectoryList.txt is referenced in the script to avoid any problems.

Note: L, D & T are the naming convention for the Log, Data and tempdb drive names for SQL Server. These are just drive letters examples but you can be more specific like C:\Users\UserName\Desktop\ just be sure to include the backslash at the end of the reference.

This script will create a new log file for each day as the files can be large. The filename will following the format FileStats_YYYYMMDD.

As before you will have to:

“LogPath=C:\FileStats\” Change C:\Log\ to another directory if you want the output file written somewhere else.

“ScanDir=C:\FileStats\DirectoryList.txt” Change to the directory you will store DirectoryList.txt.

Though it is recommended you keep everything in a folder like this (potentially writing the FileStats log to a directory off of the host server):

FileStatsDirectory

@ECHO OFF

REM SET TIMESTAMP VARIABLES
for /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%G in ('wmic os get localdatetime /value') do set datetime=%%G
SET "dd=%datetime:~6,2%"
SET "mth=%datetime:~4,2%"
SET "yyyy=%datetime:~0,4%"
SET "hh=%time:~0,2%"
SET "mm=%time:~3,2%"
SET "ss=%time:~6,2%"

SET "FileNameDate=%yyyy%%mth%%dd%"
SET "Timestamp=%yyyy%%mth%%dd%%hh%%mm%%ss%"

REM SET FILE LOGGING VARIABLES
SET "LogPath=c:\FileStats\"
SET "LogFileName=FileStats_%FileNameDate%.txt"
SET "Log=%LogPath%%LogFileName%"


REM CREATE FILE IF DOES NOT EXIST
IF NOT EXIST "%Log%" ECHO File Created Timestamp: %Timestamp% > "%Log%"

REM TIMESTAMP ENTRY
ECHO/ >> "%Log%"
ECHO Entry Timestamp: %Timestamp% >> "%Log%"
ECHO/ >> "%Log%"

REM READ DIRECTORY LIST AND SCAN EACH DIRECTORY REFERENCED 
FOR /f "tokens=*" %%x IN (c:\FileStats\DirectoryList.txt) DO DIR /a /s /q "%%x" >> %Log%

Finally you can create a Windows task scheduler task to run the script at an interval that suits your needs.

The description of the task could be something along the lines of:

This task runs the batch script “FileStatsLogger” every 5 minutes which
logs the stats for each file of each directory referenced in the file
Directory List. The stats are recorded in the FileStats txt file.
All resources related to this tasks are contained in the FileStats directory.

How to capture command prompt output and write it to text file

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Say you have a batch script that you run that throws back information you want to keep. Well maybe the best way to do that is to have the output written to a text file. This technique can then be combined with a task scheduler so you have an  automated task that creates a log file.

The below batch script below has two main parts. The first part creates a file to capture the command output. The second part is the command prompt command to run.

Creating the file takes the following 2 parameters:

  • filePath: Where you want the file written, defaulted to your desktop
  • baseName: What the file will be called exclusive of a time stamp, defaulted to Output

The script will then take these parameters to create the parameter fileName, which combines the directory location, with what you want the file to be called along with a time stamp, e.g. User\Desktop\Output20170213111157

The command prompt command goes between the parenthesis (). The results of this command will be written to the file.

@ECHO off
REM SET FILE OUTPUT DIRECTORY
SET "filePath=%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\"
REM SET THE BASE OF THE NAME FOR THE OUTPUT FILE 
SET "baseName=Output"
REM CREATE TIMESTAMP
SET timeStamp=%date:~6,8%%date:~3,2%%date:~0,2%%time:~0,2%%time:~3,2%%time:~6,2%
REM CREATE VARIABLE TO HOLD FILENAME WITH A TIMESTAMP
SET "fileNameStamp=%baseName%%Timestamp%"
SET "fileName=%filePath%%fileNameStamp%"
REM CAPTURE COMMAND OUTPUT TO TEXT FILE
> %fileName%.txt (
REM This is where the commands go!
ECHO Text Captured
)

The following working example captures your computer network information and writes it to the file NetworkInfo(time stamp) on your desktop.

@ECHO off
REM SET FILE OUTPUT DIRECTORY
SET "filePath=%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\"
REM SET THE BASE OF THE NAME FOR THE OUTPUT FILE 
SET "baseName=NetworkInfo"
REM CREATE TIMESTAMP
SET timeStamp=%date:~6,8%%date:~3,2%%date:~0,2%%time:~0,2%%time:~3,2%%time:~6,2%
REM CREATE VARIABLE TO HOLD FILENAME WITH A TIMESTAMP
SET "fileNameStamp=%baseName%%Timestamp%"
SET "fileName=%filePath%%fileNameStamp%"
REM CAPTURE COMMAND OUTPUT TO TEXT FILE
> %fileName%.txt (
REM This is where the commands go!
echo Checking your network information, Please wait...

systeminfo | findstr /c:"Host Name" 
systeminfo | findstr /c:"Domain"

ipconfig /all | find "Physical Address" 

ipconfig | find "IPv4" 
ipconfig | find "Default Gateway"
)
An icon depicting a calendar and clock

How to create a datetime stamp within a batch script in the format YYYY-MM-DD

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Below is a batch script that populates the variable Timestamp with a datetime value in the format YYYY-MM-DD_HH:MM:SS.

This technique can then be used when creating files etc.

To try out the example below copy the text and paste it into a text editor like notepad. Save the file as timestamp with the extension .bat and then double click on the filestamp.bat file.

This code example will display the current datetime in windows command shell. It will also create a blank file called Test along with the current datetime in the format yyyymmddhhmmss in the same directory the batch script is run from.

@ECHO off
CLS
ECHO Date format = %date%

REM Breaking down the format 
FOR /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%G in ('wmic os get localdatetime /value') do set datetime=%%G
ECHO dd = %datetime:~6,2%
ECHO mth = %datetime:~4,2% 
ECHO yyyy = %datetime:~0,4%
ECHO/
ECHO Time format = %time%
ECHO hh = %time:~0,2%
ECHO mm = %time:~3,2%
ECHO ss = %time:~6,2%
ECHO/

REM Variable format 1
SET Timestamp=%date:~6,8%-%date:~3,2%-%date:~0,2%_%time:~0,2%:%time:~3,2%:%time:~6,2%
ECHO New Format 1: %Timestamp%
ECHO/
REM Variable Format 2
SET Timestamp=%date:~6,8%%date:~3,2%%date:~0,2%%time:~0,2%%time:~3,2%%time:~6,2%
ECHO New Format 2: %Timestamp%
ECHO/
REM Building a timestamp from variables
SET "dd=%datetime:~6,2%"
SET "mth=%datetime:~4,2%"
SET "yyyy=%datetime:~0,4%"
SET "Date=%yyyy%%mth%%dd%"
ECHO Built Date from variables: %Date%
ECHO/

REM Write Timestamp into file name
REM BREAK>Test%Timestamp%.txt 
PAUSE

 

How to run multiple SQL scripts automatically in order.

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If you’ve been working towards a new deployment to a live database chances are you have written several scripts (possibly dozens) that have been developed/tested against the the development server.

Now the time has come to put the update live. Which would require executing each script against the live database.

This task can be automated by using a very handy batch script to run against the directory the files are saved in.

Caveat: This process does not take into account error handling or rollbacks, it’s just a simple example people can build on.

In order for this to work the files must have been named in a manner that the necessary order of execution corresponds to ascii sort order, i.e. 001_CreateTable.sql, 002_PopulateTable etc. This is standard practice for sql file naming conventions.

Simply create a .BAT file with the following command:
(Swap servername and databaseName for your required server and database names, TIP: SELECT @@servername can provide you with the full server name.)

for %%G in (*.sql) do sqlcmd /S servername /d databaseName -E -i"%%G"
pause

Place this .BAT file in the directory from which you want the .SQL files to be executed, double click the .BAT file and the command will loop and execute every SQL script in the folder.

How to copy only files from a folder and respective subfolders using a batch script

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Ok so here’s a nifty little batch script that will loop through all the directories in a directory to gather all the subsequent files into a new directory. (Code at bottom of the page)

(For those of you that don’t know what a batch script is here’s a quick definition. A batch file is a text file that contains a sequence of commands for a computer operating system. It’s called a batch file because it batches (bundles or packages) into a single file a set of commands that would otherwise have to be presented to the system interactively from a keyboard one at a time.)

Here’s a diagram explaining how the batch script provided at the bottom of the page works. (Note that the folders aren’t copied just the files.)

diagram of process

So why would you use this?

Lets say you’re dealing with a system that has outputted thousands of folders into a single folder and each folder contains files.

You could be looking at millions of files to be gathered, a process that cannot be done manually.

Or a simpler use case might be you’ve downloaded thousands of movies and each was put into a separate folder. Now you just want the media files in one location.

How to use:

Open the program notepad.

Copy the code below and past it into notepad saving the file with the extension .bat

Place the batch file in the parent folder, i.e. the folder all the other folders are in.

Double click the batch file.

The batch file will create a folder one directory level above where the parent folder is located and copy all the files to this location.

An example of how to use the file is as follows:

If you had the parent folder “My Movies” on your desktop.

Pasting the batch file into this folder, and double clicking on it, would copy every movie into a folder called “Copied from My Movies” on your desktop.

And here’s the code,
Adiós.


@ECHO OFF
TITLE WAIT !
:: ASSIGN THE FILE PATH OF BATCH FILE TO A VARIABLE
SET "sourceDir=%CD%"
:: GET THE NAME OF THE FOLDER WHICH THE BATCH FILE IS IN
FOR %%a IN (.) DO SET currentFolder=%%~na
:: GO UP ONE DIRECTORY
CD ..
:: MAKE A DYNAMIC FOLDER NAME
::SET folderName=Copied From %currentFolder%
SET "folderName=Copied from %currentFolder%"
:: CREATE A FOLDER TO PUT THE COPIED FILES IN
:: IF FOLDER ALREADY EXISTS DELETE IT
IF EXIST "%folderName%" RMDIR "%folderName%" /S /Q
MKDIR "%folderName%"
:: ASSIGN DESTINATION FOLDER TO A VARIABLE
SET "destinationFolder=%CD%\%folderName%"
:: CREATE A LOG FILE IN DESTINATION FOLDER
SET "_report=%destinationFolder%\logxcopy.txt"
:: CREATE ERROR MESSAGE
IF NOT EXIST "%sourceDir%" (ECHO.Could not find %sourceDir% &GoTo:DONE)
:: OVERWRITE PREVIOUS LOG
>"%_report%" (
echo.%date% – %time%
echo.—————————————————
echo.
)
:: COPY FILES
FOR /F "Delims=" %%! IN ('DIR "%sourceDir%\" /b /s /a-d 2^>NUL') DO (
@ECHO.%%! &(
@XCOPY "%%!" "%destinationFolder%\" /i /y /h /f /c >>"%_report%",2>&1)
)
:DONE
TITLE,Done…….
ECHO.&PAUSE>NUL

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batch copy file

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