WinBatch Overview

WinBatch is a full-blown scripting environment for Windows desktops. From keystrokes to OLE automation objects, it can control everything imaginable in Windows.

Scripting tools include a professional-grade editor, a keystroke/mouse recorder, and a Roboscripter dialog manipulator. A graphical dialog editor enables rapid dialog construction.

The simple scripting in WinBatch provides a framework for more than 400 scripting functions. Over four hundred additional extended, or special purpose, functions are in 30 special purpose libraries called "extenders". Many of these are potent weapons in the quiver of every IT administrator. A large collection of 2,500 code samples and case studies, scripting tools, and support round out WinBatch.

Wilson WindowWare Software 2002 Upgrades. What's new?

WinBatch, WinBatch+Compiler and WebBatch are now available in the second major upgrade in as many years. WinBatch customer requirements drive development. Windows client network administration was difficult in 2001 and 2002. What began as a mere update to WinBatch quickly grew to include 318 new script functions as network functionality needed revision. In addition, we added a new dialog editor, a graphic file manipulation extender, and a host of network security enhancements.

The 2002 upgrade features are summarized below. At the bottom of this page are links to complete function lists.

Networking

Network security management has been enhanced. Many of the Windows networking functions can use security descriptors (SIDs). Network functions are newly capable of using user and group security management objects. Network administrators will like the increased speed of the updated wntUserList functions.

WinBatch 2002 ties into WMI, the Windows Management Instrumentation capability built into 2000 and XP and available for 98 and Me. Object collection capability in WinBatch includes instantiating the objects and handling collections in WinBatch variables. WinBatch scripts seamlessly accommodate WMI and OLE automation objects.

Graphics

Graphics capabilities abound in the new WinBatch. Dialog boxes can have bitmaps, so can text boxes. A new Dialog Editor speeds GUI development. Dialogs can remain resident as they show updated information. All this adds up to more information in a more professional package.

New Dialog Controls

Sixteen controls (up from seven offered in old dialogs)

select…pushbutton…radio button…check button…picture button…edit…multiedit…fixedtext…vartext…spinner…combo…bitmap…directory…list…calendar…group

Windows XP increases expectations for graphic content in dialogs. WinBatch 2002 has event-driven dialogs capable of displaying bitmaps in backgrounds, picture buttons and picture objects. A new dialog editor doubles the number of controls and provides automated construction features. The text boxes used for installation splash screens can hold bitmap images such as logos and diagrams.

New Dialog Editor

Dialog shows picture buttons, font with color. Editor shows alignment tools and control picker.

WinBatch 2002 has a new editor for all the new dialogs. The number of controls is doubled. New alignment tools speed layout. Graphics can take over the entire dialog as background images. They can also be used as buttons and pictures. In the editor, they can be sized by simply dragging bounding boxes. Text can have custom font and color properties. Controls can be made invisible under script control. This allows a general template dialog to be used for many different purposes. Scripts can update the content of the new dialogs while they are viewed by users.

New EHLLAPI and Terminal Server Extenders

The reach of WinBatch now insinuates WinBatch into host systems via Windows PCs. An EHLLAPI extender works with terminal emulation software from IBM, Attachmate, WRQ and others. The green screen can be scraped. It can be used by WinBatch to communicate with host systems.

Windows terminal services are not ignored. A second new extender, Terminal Server, gives WinBatch peek and poke capabilities over terminal services sessions on Windows NT/XP. Users of Citrix MetaFrame and MetaFrame/XP software will find they gain WinBatch power to automate operations quickly and effortlessly.

New Graphic File Operations Extender

The 2002 WinBatch lineup includes "Pixie", our new graphic file manipulation extender. It's got 50 functions for rotating, sizing, sharpening and otherwise manipulating GIF, JPEG, and bitmap files.

Combined with the batch language in WinBatch, the production of bitmap images will be a productive addition for WinBatch and WebBatch users.

 WinBatch Version Enhancements

WinBatch 2002 H, J All versions, Nov 2002, New ItemExtractCSV() functions obtain field content from CSV file records. Many dialog box capabilities increase in capacity. Multiple monitor support firmed up in several functions like MousePlay. A new ObjectTypeGet() function, among other Object functions, enumerates object types for WinBatch variables containing, of course, objects. This improves WinBatch-COM interoperability to the point where COM works nicely as a WinBatch accessory.

WinBatch 2002 A-G All versions, July 2002, 318 new functions including 158 system parameter get and set functions in SysParamInfo() function. Main features: graphic capability in dialogs and text boxes. New Dialog Maker with new controls and enhanced productivity. Collection object support for COM programming from WIL. Network security administration objects. SysParamInfo() for desktop property management. New defined subroutines work like User Defined Functions, but variable scope is global with the host script.

WinBatch 2002D, June 2002, New Dialog Editor with bitmap graphics and new controls. Dialogs can now run event driven in the fashion of Windows applications. New graphic file manipulation extender for batch graphic conversions. AskColor and AskFont functions for obtaining formatting information. UDF's in a script file can now total 200. Extenders can have more than 100 functions. New #DefineSubroutine and #EndSubroutine UDF's in which variables are global, not private, as in previous UDF's.

WinBatch 2002C, January 31, 2002, SysParamInfo function gets and sets 158 parameters for UI effects, power settings, window parameters, screen savers, menu display, input (keyboard and mouse), icon display and accessibility. Data return from SysParamInfo includes 13 tab delimited lists of parameters of access timeout, toggle keys, sticky keys, sound settings and non-client window metrics. Two new object types for service display and object type are accepted by 8 network administration functions. Three object collection functions use OLE automation object collections in Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) programming.

WinBatch 2002B, January 7, 2002, Bitmap images allowed in text display boxes, SendKeys keystrokes now include Windows keys, Disk information functions can now return format options, 24 Windows network administration functions now use (optionally) security identification strings (SIDs), 8 Windows administration functions accept new object types for desktop objects and for window station objects. Windows service instantiation functions are now capable of getting & setting service descriptions and service failure recovery settings.

WinBatch 2002A, December 24, 2001. Array display in WinBatch Studio Editor/Debugger improved. Compilation icon specification process improved.

WinBatch 2001
WIL, Windows Interface Language, gets arrays and UDFs, user defined functions. For 2001, 358 new functions are added. The networking extenders have been extensively rewritten to accommodate Windows XP and Windows 2000, while maintaining compatibility with Windows 95 and 98.

New extenders include a magnificent Netware Administration extender, NetwareX, a flat file database extender, LAFFDB, and an ADSI extender.