Here's some more explanation of the batch file used in the InstantTrack Eudora tutorial.
@echo off |
This turns off the echoing of each line in the command file as it executes. This is really optional, since the window where this is happening closes right away, without giving you much time to look at it, but it should reduce the amount of stuff that flashes by on the screen. | |
c: cd \it |
These two commands set the default drive to the drive containing your InstantTrack
directory, and the default path to that directory. Here I'm assuming that
C:\IT is your InstantTrack directory.
If we don't do this, the program will be run in Eudora's default directory. InstantTrack might not be able to find its database files if run from there. |
|
copy it.orb itorb.bak |
This command creates a backup of your satellite database. That way, you can back out the effects of the most recent auto-update. | |
dir %1 >>kepupd.log |
This command puts a directory listing for the temporary file created by Eudora into
a log file. This records not only the filename and directory, but also
the date and time of the update. We're going to delete the temporary file
when we're done, but the log file may help to debug some kinds of problems.
The "%1" syntax means to take the first value from the command line used to invoke the batch file. We told Eudora to put the name of the temporary file on the command line, so this first (and only) argument is that name. The ">>kepupd.log" syntax means to append the output of the dir command to the end of a file named kepupd.log, creating the file if it doesn't already exist. The log file is created in the current directory, which is your InstantTrack directory. |
|
it /f %1 |
Finally! This command runs InstantTrack in auto-update mode. The "/f" switch tells InstantTrack to treat the next argument as a filename and read it in as Keplerian elements (in Update mode). The "%1" is replaced with the name of the temporary file Eudora created. Use "itncp" instead of "it" if you normally need to run itncp (because you're using an old computer without a numeric coprocessor). | |
del %1 |
Lastly, we delete the temporary file. If we don't do this, temporary files will build up indefinitely in whatever directory Eudora chose for them. This just uses up disk space for no reason, so we clean up after we're done. |
Return to the InstantTrack Eudora tutorial.
Last updated 11 October 2000. Comments to KB5MU, kb5mu@amsat.org