Batch files hold the computing world together. They are often the tool of choice when automating routine tasks. Most of the time these batch files work quietly in the background, often out of sight of our end users; but sometimes we create files that may need to interact with their users. Recently while creating such a file it occurred to me that instead of a simple text based interface I could use the Windows API to facilitate user interaction. MBox was the result, it displays a Windows(tm) message box in accordance with command-line input and returns an error code based on which button user pushes. Hopefully others will find it as useful as I have when creating batch files in a Windows-based environment.

   Button_Type   Resulting Buttons
        OK            OK
        OKCAN         OK Cancel
        YN            Yes No
        YNC           Yes No Cancel
        RC            Retry Cancel
        ARI           Abort Retry Ignore

   Icon    Description     Sample
   WARN    Warning          
   INFO    Information      
   QUEST   Question         
   STOP    Stop             

   Return Code       Button Pushed
        1                  OK
        2                  Cancel
        3                  Abort
        4                  Retry
        5                  Ignore
        6                  Yes
        7                  No 

@echo off

mbox.exe OKCAN "Continue with install?" QUEST

if %errorlevel% == 1 goto continue

if %errorlevel% == 2 goto end

echo Unexpected return value, abort.

goto end

:continue

echo Install commands go here.

:end