RUN.EXE: A Logon Script Exit Utility (142028)

SUMMARY

Local area network administrators often want users running MS-DOS clients (Lan Manager 2.2c, Network Client 3.0) to go directly into Microsoft Windows or to run some application immediately upon logging on. This is often attempted by executing the application at the end of a logon script. Unfortunately, memory problems are often experienced because logon scripts are spawned on a second copy of COMMAND.COM, and NET.EXE still resides in memory from the unfinished execution of NET LOGON.

RUN.EXE is a utility in the Lan Manager Resource Kit (version 2.1) that allows you to specify a command to execute upon the completion of your logon script. It provides support similar to Novell NetWare's login script option:

EXIT "cmdline"

RUN.EXE avoids the memory problems mentioned above by executing your command at the original MS-DOS prompt. It works with logon scripts in both the Lan Manager server and Windows NT server environments.

MORE INFORMATION

HOW RUN.EXE IS USED

The following files are included with RUN.EXE

    Filename        Description
    --------        -----------
    RUN.EXE         Executable
    README.TXT      This file

Place RUN.EXE in your current working directory or somewhere in your path. At the end of your logon script add:

RUN <cmdline>

where <cmdline> specifies the command line for the application that you want to start after you have logged in. <cmdline> is limited to 14 characters (see "Important Notes" below).

Example:

Suppose you would like to have Windows start up after your logon script executes. Place RUN.EXE somewhere in your path, and add the following line to the end of your logon script:

RUN WIN

Windows will immediately start after your NET LOGON command finishes, without the memory loss caused by NET.EXE and a second copy of COMMAND.COM running.

HOW DOES RUN.EXE WORK?

RUN.EXE simply takes the command line you specify and dumps it into the keyboard buffer. The keyboard buffer will be emptied at the first available opportunity. If you use RUN.EXE at the end of your logon script, the first opportunity will be after NET LOGON has finished executing. Therefore, your original MS-DOS prompt will receive the input.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The keyboard buffer is limited to 16 characters. Therefore, because one character is taken for the line feed and another for the tail pointer, <cmdline> is limited to 14 characters. If more than 14 characters are specified, RUN.EXE will ignore them.

RUN.EXE was designed to be run exclusively on MS-DOS. It is a real mode application that will not execute from OS/2. The whole reason for running RUN.EXE is lost in OS/2 since the memory problem is not an issue. Similarly you should be careful when logging in from Windows. Again the functionality of this utility in such an environment would be questionable. Limited tests have shown that RUN.EXE has no effect when logging on from Windows.

If you need more than 14 characters to specify the command(s) that you need to execute, create a batch file and have RUN.EXE call your batch file. This would be useful if you wanted to do something like set a variety of environment variables.

RUN.EXE writes directly to the keyboard buffer. Computers that are not fully IBM-compatible could have some problems with RUN.EXE. It has been successfully tested on a variety of AT-compatible computers as well as some PS/2's.

Persistent Connections are restored after the logon script executes. If a Persistent Connection requires a password, the command line specified with RUN.EXE will be inserted at the password prompt and thus will not run at the MS-DOS command line. If you are using RUN.EXE, be careful that this does not happen. If you need to connect to a share that requires a password different from the one you logged on with, you should add the NET USE for this share to the batch file that RUN.EXE executes.