Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Why to Use Variables in Batch Files?

When you write your own batch file, you usually have no need to use  many variables in your code. Batch files with all their GOTOs and old syntax make you hard-code all needful data directly into the batch file instead of trying to make your code a bit flexible. Is this a good practice? We suppose it isn't.
Once written, code with variables can be easily copied to many different new batch scripts. Any you have no need to waste time trying to understandd your old code. Using variables makes your code much more readable and reusable, and this is the main advantage of using them.
The most useful tip is to use system variables instead of hard-coding different Windows folders. For example, it's better to use %SystemRoot% instead of writing directly "c:\Windows". You can watch all system variables by running SET command without any parameters. You can also see all actiual values of system variables in Dr.Batcher. Tools -> Environment Variables:
We kindly remind that Dr.Batcher is the best program to create batch file, both .BAT and .CMD, try it if haven't tried it yet.

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