Batch/CMD File Accept User Input for Timeout

Question

I'm looking for a way to accept user input for timeout in a batch file. Basically, when the batch program starts, the user will have the option to input a timeout in minutes which will be calculated into seconds and passed as a variable until the next step proceeded.

Unfortunately I couldn't find anything on the web ;(

@echo off
REM set timeout by using the input of the user
shutdown -f -s -t (here comes in user input * 60)

Would something like this be possible with CMD?

What exact strings did you search for? Because set /p will do what you want. — SomethingDark
– SomethingDark, Commented Feb 6, 2015 at 18:37
The usage for set /p is set /p variable=prompt where prompt is what the script shows the user when it asks for input and variable is the variable that the input gets stored in. — SomethingDark
– SomethingDark, Commented Feb 6, 2015 at 19:26

Jonny Henly · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-16 13:57:17Z

2

There is actually a native TIMEOUT method for this:

set /p mtime="Enter time in minutes: "
set /a stime=%mtime%*60
timeout /t %stime%

Append /nobreak to ignore user key strokes. Otherwise if the user does press a key, execution will resume immediately.

edited Oct 16, 2018 at 13:57

Jonny Henly

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answered Feb 6, 2015 at 18:53

meatspace

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1 Comment

Omar Abdirahman Over a year ago

Thank you for that @meatspace! Your approach as well works, but I'm familiar with the suggestion of @theglossy1 If I could I would mark the suggestion as correct answer!

theglossy1 · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-06 18:51:34Z

1

set /p TIMEOUT="In how many minutes should the server shut down? "
set /a TIMEOUT = %TIMEOUT% * 60

This will set the TIMEOUT variable to whatever the user enters. As per your initial post, you could then call it with shutdown -f -s -t %TIMEOUT%

answered Feb 6, 2015 at 18:51

theglossy1

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