Is the use of batch files the only way to accomplish some things?

John,

Thank you for your help.

Some history might help. Several years ago there was a portable Ruby project on About.com, which I built and 'lost' somewhere (it's several versions old in any case). If you do a search for 'portable Ruby,' plenty of links come up referencing that series of articles. While you can see the pages courtesy of the Wayback Machine, the files About.com (template, script, etc) are no longer available.

Perhaps I am over-complicating things because of that experience. The script involved was several hundred lines long (possibly necessitated by an older version of the PAF), so I had it in my mind that the 'modern' procedure might still be somewhat complicated and I overlooked the obvious - seeing how a 'normal' install functions and going from there - a rookie mistake.

For what it's worth, generally my process is to carefully document what I have, document what I am going to change, make the changes, test the changes, and document the results.

I installed Ruby in a normal fashion, and the start menu shortcut is this:

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /E:ON /K C:\Ruby200\bin\setrbvars.bat

The actual setrbvars.bat file contains this:

@ECHO OFF
REM Determine where is RUBY_BIN (where this script is)
PUSHD %~dp0.
SET RUBY_BIN=%CD%
POPD

REM Add RUBY_BIN to the PATH
REM RUBY_BIN takes higher priority to avoid other tools
REM conflict with our own (mainly the DevKit)
SET PATH=%RUBY_BIN%;%PATH%
SET RUBY_BIN=

REM Display Ruby version
ruby.exe -v

I created my RubyPortable.ini (launcher.ini) to read:

[Launch]
ProgramExecutable=Ruby\bin\RubyPortable.bat

I created 'RubyPortable.bat' in 'Ruby\bin' (which is how my directory structure is, and it contains the original (above) with the following change:

1) I placed the startmenu target command inside the batch file and I removed the 'C:' drive reference from it
2) I changed the 'Ruby200\bin' to 'Ruby\bin' to mirror my setup

Here is my version of the batch file:

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /E:ON /K \Ruby\bin\setrbvars.bat
@ECHO OFF
REM Determine where is RUBY_BIN (where this script is)
PUSHD %~dp0.
SET RUBY_BIN=%CD%
POPD

REM Add RUBY_BIN to the PATH
REM RUBY_BIN takes higher priority to avoid other tools
REM conflict with our own (mainly the DevKit)
SET PATH=%RUBY_BIN%;%PATH%
SET RUBY_BIN=

REM Display Ruby version
ruby.exe -v

The launch generator doesn't throw off any errors (I haven't checked the log), but when I try to test it I get a command window labeled 'C:WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe' with this inside of it:

D:\PortableApps\RubyPortable>C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /E:ON /K \Ruby\bin\setrbvars.bat
The system cannot find the path specified.

D:\PortableApps\RubyPortable>

'ruby -v' reports the version if done from withing 'Ruby\bin' (it throws up an error message from anywhere else) which means the interpreter is running, but I still haven't gotten the path problem figured out.

So I think I am getting close. Apart from getting it to work properly, my question is now 'Do I need to use that original batch file to accomplish my goal, or can it all be done from the launcher.ini (RubyPortable.ini)?'

Thanks again for your help. While I am still struggling to get it working, your reply helped me get the command window part working.

3D1T0R,

Thank you for taking the time again to help me out.

I've detailed my situation more fully in my reply to John above.

I would like to get irb working as well of course, and for your refernce, below are both the start menu target and the actual batch file:

C:\Ruby200\bin\irb.bat
@ECHO OFF
IF NOT "%~f0" == "~f0" GOTO :WinNT
ECHO.This version of Ruby has not been built with support for Windows 95/98/Me.
GOTO :EOF
:WinNT
@"%~dp0ruby.exe" "%~dpn0" %*

Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.

As a postscript, I'm sure you are aware that requests for a portable version of Ruby have appeared multiple times on your site... I'm willing to offer my copy once I get it working, and to keep it updated as necessary.