SQL Server Magazine

Finding Unique Items
Ideally, on the output side, you'd like to see test results grouped by server and have all like items displayed together in alphabetical order. So, the first step toward that goal is to sort the entries in ServerStatusInput.csv by server names. To do so, you embed the Sort command in a For command, as Listing 1 shows. The Sort command reorders the server names that the script reads from the input file. If a name is the same as the previously read name, the code moves on to the next name. If the name is unique, the script proceeds to the code under the :Unique label. As Listing 2 shows, the Unique module tests the items listed in the ServerStatusInput.csv file.

Findstr Pattern Matching
After you have a unique server name from your input list, you need to extract the information that tells you which server to ping, which service to test, and which share to test. Many scriptwriters are unaware that they can use the Findstr command to perform elementary pattern matching in shell scripting. Take, for example, the code at callout A in Listing 2. This code uses the Findstr command to find the entries that contain the ping-test input. The [0-9]* syntax denotes the occurrence of any number of digits separated by "\.", which is a literal period. The %TestObj% variable specifies the input file (i.e., ServerStatusInput.csv).

The share-input entries contain a server path to the share, so to obtain the shares for which you want to test for existence, you can use the command sequence that callout C in Listing 2 highlights. The Sort command in the command sequence puts the shares in alphabetical order. Note that the code uses the pipe symbol (|) to chain together the Findstr and Sort commands. You need to use the caret symbol (^) to escape out the pipe symbol if you use the pipe symbol inside a For command.

Locating the service-input entries is a little more difficult than finding the other types of entries because the service-input entries don't have any distinguishing characters or character sequences for which to search. The simple way to locate these entries is to use the pattern matching from the previous example, except use the /V option with Findstr to locate items that don't match the pattern, as the code at callout B in Listing 2 shows. By eliminating the ping-input and share-input entries, you're left with the service-input entries.

For Command Loop Syntax Options
One of the For command tricks that I use frequently is to set an environment variable, then perform other operations on that variable by using a label to call another section of code. You can write the code to accomplish this task several ways. One way is to use the ampersand character (&) to join the commands, as follows:

For /F "tokens=2,3 delims=,"
 %%i in ('Findstr /I
 "\\%Server%" "%TestObj%" ^|
 Sort') Do (Set Friendly=%%i)
 & (Set SharePth=%%j) &
  (Call :TriShare)

Another way is to place a carriage return after the starting parenthesis, then put each item on a separate line followed by a closing parenthesis, as the code at callouts A, B, and C in Listing 2 shows. For even easier reading, I used tabs to indent the code inside the For command loop. If you use the latter technique, be sure to place a carriage return after each variable or you might accidentally add a space to a variable, thereby causing problems later. You need to decide which option is easiest to follow. Many scriptwriters find the second option similar to other programming languages' syntax and therefore easier to read.

In the second part of the script, you need to process command output similarly to the way you processed the input list. For example, the code that Listing 3 shows checks the Ping response. The added Else comment clarifies that if the script doesn't find the string Reply in the Ping command output, the assumption is that the machine isn't reachable.

Get It Working
ServerStatus.bat runs on Windows XP and Win2K (any service pack level). To get the script working in your environment, follow these steps:

1. Create the ServerStatusInput.csv file. Use the format that Figure 1 shows. Note that leading and trailing spaces can cause the ServerStatus.bat script to fail.
2. Verify that you have adequate permissions on servers and shares that you plan to test.
3. Configure the ServerStatus.bat script with the location of your CSV input file, the CSV report file, and the Netsvc utility. Listing 4 shows the code that you need to configure.
4. Run the script and review the report file.

You can use the pattern-matching and Sort routines that the script contains on a variety of other files (e.g., Web server log files, Event Viewer logs, exported Performance Monitor logs) that you probably encounter on a daily basis.

The ability to quickly sort and locate information can help make your administrative tasks faster and more accurate. Also, after you introduce the script into your environment, you'll find that you can perform other tasks while your script is processing the list and locating the data you need.

End of Article

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