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need help with batch file

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First post, by WhiteKenny

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I'm sorry if this has been posted in the past but I was unable to find any other posts about this issue when I searched. I'm trying to create a menu within a batch file to run some old DOS games. the menu seems to work, but no matter which option I select it always launches the 1st game. any help would be appreciated.

here is the batch file I've created.

ECHO OFF
CLS
:MENU
ECHO.
ECHO       ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
ECHO       º          Shall we play a game.          º 
ECHO       ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹
ECHO       º                                         º 
ECHO       º      1 - Wolfenstein 3D                 º 
ECHO       º      2 - The Ultimate Doom              º 
ECHO       º      3 - Evilution                      º 
ECHO       º      4 - The Plutonia Experiment        º 
ECHO       º                                         º 
ECHO       ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ   
ECHO.
ECHO Type 1, 2, 3 or 4 to start the game:  
CHOICE /C:1234 /N 
IF ERRORLEVEL=1 GOTO WOLF3D
IF ERRORLEVEL=2 GOTO DOOMSE
IF ERRORLEVEL=3 GOTO TNT
IF ERRORLEVEL=4 GOTO PLUTONIA

:WOLF3D
cd WOLF3D
WOLF3D.EXE
CD..
GOTO MENU

:DOOMSE
cd DOOM_SE
DOOM.EXE
CD..
GOTO MENU

:TNT
cd TNT
DOOM2.EXE
CD..
GOTO MENU

:PLUTONIA
cd PLUTONIA
DOOM2.EXE
CD..
GOTO MENU

Reply 1 of 8, by 2fort5r

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It's been a long time but I think you have to test them in the reverse order, so 4 first, 3 next and 1 last.

I think ERRORLEVEL=1 actually means ERRORLEVEL>=1 so it will be valid for all values

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Reply 2 of 8, by dr_st

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This is indeed the case. You have to order the errorlevels in descending order.

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Reply 3 of 8, by 2fort5r

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Why was it done this way? Was this something that was copied from CP/M?

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Reply 4 of 8, by ripsaw8080

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The "level" in ERRORLEVEL almost makes the behavior self-explanatory. Almost. 😉

Using an equal sign (=) is superfluous in the MS-DOS syntax, it ends up being nothing more than a separator, and implies a test that is not actually performed. So, if only for the sake of clarity, it's better to just use a space for the separator.

Reply 5 of 8, by 2fort5r

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You're right, it makes sense. An "error level" of 4 implicitly includes levels 3, 2, 1 as well.

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Reply 6 of 8, by WhiteKenny

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hey, thanks everybody, I removed the ='s and reversed the order of the ERRORLEVEL entries and it's working now. my only other question would be, I have it set so that the menu reloads after exiting any of the games so is there any way I can add an option in the menu that will exit the menu back to a DOS prompt? I've tried just manually pressing CTRL+C but that doesn't seem to be doing anything.

Reply 7 of 8, by Qbix

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add

:hi

at the bottom of your menu batchfile and make an item (with the correct error level)

goto hi

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How to ask questions the smart way!

Reply 8 of 8, by WhiteKenny

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Qbix wrote:
add […]
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add

:hi

at the bottom of your menu batchfile and make an item (with the correct error level)

goto hi

that worked perfectly, thanks so much everybody. i promise i'll stop bugging you now...

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