exit /B 0 does not work...

Question

Hi,

I have the following problem:

I have created a batch script which calls itself in there (for being able to write a log in parallel). In the script I start another process (like start startServer.bat) which starts up a java process and keeps opened up all the time.

In my original script I wait 30 seconds, check if the process is running and do an:

exit /B 0

Unfortunately that does not work, the window shows that the exit /B 0 is being evaluated, but the window still keeps open. When I close the window with the other process (meaning the "child" processes started up in my .bat) my script continues its run.

So:

scriptA.bat

-> in there I call: start startServer.bat
-> wait 30 seconds
-> check is server is started
-> exit /B 0
Process hangs up!

What's very odd, if I wrap another script around, like:

scriptB.bat

-> call scriptA.bat
-----> in there I call: start startServer.bat
-----> wait 30 seconds
-----> check if server is started
-----> exit /B 0
-> scriptA.bat continues without any hangup!

I also tried the same with exit 0 (without /B) also, same result! In the first case it hangs up, in the second case my window closes as expected...

Has anyone of you ever had such a problem before and knows what's wrong here? Process hangs up!

Answer 1

There's a good explanation of all the options for exiting a batch script here: http://www.robvanderwoude.com/exit.php

Specifically, from that page: The DOS online help (HELP EXIT) doesn't make it clear that the /B parameter exits the current instance of script which is not necessarily the same as exiting the current script. I.e. if the script is in a CALLed piece of code, the EXIT /B exits the CALL, not the script.

So you definitely don't want exit /b 0 in this case. If just exit 0 doesn't work, try GOTO:EOF.

Answer 2

I found an answer - I do not know why this is not working but:

When I call the script with "call scriptA.bat | tee log.txt" the script hangs up and waits for the windows to close down. When I call the script with "call scriptA.bat > log.txt" the script does not wait and it works.

Has anyone an idea why this is happening???

Answer 3

I guess your problem lies within the start command. The following excerpt from the start /? help might point to the issue:

command/program

If it is an internal cmd command or a batch file then the command processor is run with the /K switch to cmd.exe. This means that the window will remain after the command has been run.

If it is not an internal cmd command or batch file then it is a program and will run as either a windowed application or a console application.

As a solution you could try to modify the start command like this:

start "" cmd /c "startServer.bat"