creating a shortcut for a exe from a batch file

Question

how to create a shortcut for a exe from a batch file.

i tried

call link.bat \"c:\\program Files\\App1\\program1.exe\" \"C:\\Documents and Settings\\         


        

Answer 1

Your link points to a Windows 95/98 version and I guess you have at least Windows 2000 or XP. You should try the NT version here.

Alternatively use a little VBScript that you can call from the command line:

set objWSHShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
set objFso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

' command line arguments
' TODO: error checking
sShortcut = objWSHShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings(WScript.Arguments.Item(0))
sTargetPath = objWSHShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings(WScript.Arguments.Item(1))
sWorkingDirectory = objFso.GetAbsolutePathName(sShortcut)

set objSC = objWSHShell.CreateShortcut(sShortcut) 

objSC.TargetPath = sTargetPath
objSC.WorkingDirectory = sWorkingDirectory

objSC.Save

Save the file as createLink.vbs and call it like this to get what you originally tried:

cscript createLink.vbs "C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Desktop\Program1 shortcut.lnk" "c:\program Files\App1\program1.exe" 
cscript createLink.vbs "C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Start Menu\Programs\Program1 shortcut.lnk" "c:\program Files\App1\program1.exe" 

That said I urge you not to use hardcoded paths like "Start Menu" since they're different in localized versions of windows. Modify the script instead to use special folders.

Answer 2

Additional note: the link.bat you're using is for Windows 95/98 only:

This batch file is for Windows 95/98 only. I will post the NT equivalent in the NT newsgroup soon.

NT version is posted at http://www.robvanderwoude.com/amb_shortcutsnt.html instead. You might try that for a .bat approach if preferred over vbscript.

Answer 3

Alternative method, using a third party utility:

Creating a Shortcut from the command line (batch file)

XXMKLINK:

With XXMKLINK, you can write a batch file for software installation which has been done by specialized installation programs. Basically, XXMKLINK is a tool that gathers various information from a command line and packages it into a shortcut.

xxmklink spath opath 

where 

  spath     path of the shortcut (.lnk added as needed)
  opath     path of the object represented by the shortcut