csc - Dave's Blog

Two-for Script File

2007 Aug 6, 5:40I was messing with the XSLT to XSL Converter source which is a javascript file that can be run with cscript.exe. I've changed it to be like a very basic version of xsltproc that simply runs an XML file through an XSLT. I also wanted to run this from the command prompt without writing "cscript ..." everytime. I decided to make like perl programmers I've seen and make a JS file that works as a batch file and a JS file at the same time.

Here's a basic version of what I ended doing applied to a 'hello world' script named helloworld.cmd:

/* 2> NUL
@echo off
cscript /e:javascript /nologo "%~f0" %*
@goto :eof

    Hello World
        Says 'Hello world.' when you run it.
*/

var outText = 'Hello world.';
WScript.Echo(outText);

Running this on a command prompt gives the following:

C:\Users\davris>helloworld

C:\Users\davris>/*  2>NUL
Hello world.

However, after a little more experimentation I found this was slightly overkill for my purposes since if I rename the file to helloworld.js and just type its name like a command it is run by cscript:

C:\Users\davris>helloworld
Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.7
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Hello world.

So this time I didn't need all that but if ever in the future I need to run a batch file then a JS file I can do it with one file...cmd js technical cscript batch xslt xsl javascript

Lazy

2003 Mar 8, 8:15Finals week is closing in quickly. This quarter seemed to go by faster than usual. With the end of the quarter almost here I've got a variety of assignments to finish. Today is supposed to be the day I work on them all, but I'm easily distracted. For instance, I had read Ken Thompson's Reflections on Trusting Trust a few days ago. As the author suggested, I tried writing my own self-reproducing program. Rather than brevity, I went for clarity and good style. That was my intent anyway. Now I'm avoiding work by writing in this journal. Last night I lost my money fairly early on during poker. After that Scott gave me a dollar which, surprisingly, lasted me much longer than the previous five. Though despite that, It was a good time.