VBscript to Find a File on a Network then output the Results to txt

Essentially, this is what I am aiming to do with a vbscript:

1) It reads a text file that has all computer bios names in it
2) When it reads it it then will look for a filename I choose located in a folder I choose also (ie. c:\windows\test.bak) -- this is on the remote PC
3) If it finds the file, it dumps the result to a text file (which I chose its location and name) with the name of the machine and the resulting file it found (all on the same line). This is done over, say, MANY machines that dump the file to a single output text as it scans the list from #1.
4) If it doesn't find the file OR the network path isn't found to the machine in question, it should report this in the output file listing machine name and reporting "not found" on the same line.
5) As a bonus: is it possible to set a TIMEOUT of, say, 10sec, that if it doesn't poll a result from #1 that it then just moves to the next bios name from #1?

I got #1 completed:

Code:

---

on error resume next

Const ForReading = 1
Const ForWriting = 2

Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objTextFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile ("c:\systemlist.txt", ForReading)
Wscript.echo objtextfile
' *************************************************************
' create the input array
strText = objTextFile.ReadAll
objTextFile.Close
arrComputers = Split(strText,vbcrlf)
' *************************************************************

---

.. but the rest I am clueless. It will read from "c:\systemlist.txt" just fine.

Thanks Vbforums community.

This should get you through 2 and have you ready for 3 and 4. As for 5, it shouldn't take anywhere close to 10 seconds to see if the file exists. This code will only work if it is with admistrative rights on the machines being accessed.

Code:

---

on error resume next

Const ForReading = 1
Const ForWriting = 2

Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objTextFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile ("c:\systemlist.txt", ForReading)
Wscript.echo objtextfile
' *************************************************************
' create the input array
strText = objTextFile.ReadAll
objTextFile.Close
arrComputers = Split(strText,vbcrlf)
' *************************************************************

'Loop through the computer names
For i = 0 To UBound(arrComputers)
        'build the path to where you think the file is
        strFilePath = "\\" & arrComputers(i) & "\c$\windows\test.bak"
        'Check if it is there
        blnExists = objFSO.FileExists(strFile)
       
        If blnExists Then
                'Code to write if the file does exist
                MsgBox "File exists on " & arrComputers(i)
        Else
                'Code to write if the file doesn't exist
                MsgBox "File does not exists on " & arrComputers(i)
        End If
Next

---

Thanks MarkT..

Two things to add also:

1) The search string must also be able to accept wildcards so it looks on the remote PC for "\c$\windows\test*.*"
2) Also, when it finds something called test*.* or multiple instances of it, it will dump the results to the output file like this:

Bios Name FILE
======= ===
RGSA789 TEST01.doc
RGSA789 TEST02.doc

The way you have it is that it reports Either YES ITS THERE or NO ITS NOT. The part of NO ITS NOT THERE is perfect but the first part where it finds something should dump the actual filename to the output file. This is critical actually.

To answer #5 - the reason to have a timeout of, say, 10-15second or something I can set based on milliseconds is because when you do a computer bios search over a network you are searching the DNS name of the machines: this is something we cannot control as the network admins hardcode the # of seconds the timeout is. If this vbscript can keep track of the time between detecting the files on remote PCs this would be utterly huge for us because otherwise it takes up to 2min before it timesout and thats much too long scanning for 2500+ PCs.

Thanks MarkT and community!

The filesystemobject does not have a wildcard search capibility. What you will need to do is loop through all the files in the folder and see if they meet your criteria. That isn't too difficult if you use regular expression to do that.

Code:

---

on error resume next

Const ForReading = 1
Const ForWriting = 2

Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objTextFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile ("c:\systemlist.txt", ForReading)
Wscript.echo objtextfile
' *************************************************************
' create the input array
strText = objTextFile.ReadAll
objTextFile.Close
arrComputers = Split(strText,vbcrlf)
' *************************************************************

Dim objFolder, objFile, TS
Dim strDirectory, strWildCard, strPattern
Dim strLog, blnFound, i
Dim objRegExpr

        'Create an instance of the regexp object
        Set objRegExpr = CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
       
        strWildCard = "test*.*"
       
        'Update the wildcard string to define a valid regular expression
        strPattern = Replace(strWildCard, ".", "\.")
        strPattern = Replace(strPattern, "*", ".*")
        strPattern = "^" & strPattern & "$"
        strPattern = Replace(strPattern, ".*$", ".+$")

        objRegExpr.Pattern = strPattern
        objRegExpr.Global = True
        objRegExpr.IgnoreCase = True

        'Set where you will log your findings
        strLog = "c:\mylog.txt"
        Set TS = objFSO.OpenTextFile(strLog,ForWriting,true)
       

For i = 0 To UBound(arrComputers)
        'Get the directory you are searching
        strDirectory = "\\" & arrComputers(i) & "\c$\windows\"
       
        'Set your found flag
        blnFound = False
       
        'Check that that the directory exists. This shouldn't take 
        'long to retrun false if the machine can't be reached.
        If objFSO.FolderExists(strDirectory) Then
                'Get the current folder
                Set objFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(strDirectory)
               
                'Loop through all the files in the folder
                For Each objFile In objFolder.Files
                        'Check if the file matches the wildcard search
                        If objRegExpr.Test(objFile.Name) Then
                                'Add file to log if found
                                TS.WriteLine(arrComputers(i) & vbTab & objFile.Name)
                                blnFound = True
                        End If
                Next
        Else
                'Note in the log if the machine couldn't be reached
                TS.WriteLine(arrComputers(i) & " can not be reached")
                blnFound = True
        End If
       
        'Add note if the file wasn't found
        If not blnFound Then
                TS.WriteLine(arrComputers(i) & vbTab & strWildCard & " not found")
        End if
       
        'Add an extra line to seperate the machines
        TS.WriteLine("")


Next

TS.Close
Set TS = Nothing
Set objRegExpr = Nothing
       
MsgBox "done"

---

Outstanding MarkT..

My only concern so far is what about setting a Timeout so when the script calls each machine's bios name in the list from #1 that if a result isn't found OR the network path is invalid or doesn't exist it stops checking after, say, 10sec, reports it as it does, then moves to next one. OR.. what about a hard counter per machine bios name so we set each scan in #1 to a hard count of, say, 10sec? I am unsure the script is smart enough to keep track of a network timeout but gather there is a facility to record the time between scanning and reporting on each machine. Possible?

Really appreciate your help in this matter!

I don't think there is a way to have the script timeout. In the script above the line
If objFSO.FolderExists(strDirectory) Then
checks if the directory exists. When I tested it, if the machine can't be reached it returned false after about 2 seconds. If the machine did exist but the directory was invaild it returned false almost immediately. If the machine is accessible and the directory is valid it shouldn't take more than a second or so to loop through all the files.

Quote:

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if the machine can't be reached it returned false after about 2 seconds

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The issue here is that we're dealing with a possible network delay - a computer could theoretically be up on the network but due to lag from the PC running this script to the target machine far off on the network, its essential to have a timeout option as much as 10-15sec. 2secs is much too short a time when dealing with calling out for a response on a large corporate network. I'll have to investigate this.

MarkT - I noticed that when the script completes it adds an extra line at the end of the result file:

Code:

---

**Network Path could not be resolved**

---

taken from:

Code:

---

                'Note in the log if the machine couldn't be reached
                TS.WriteLine(arrComputers(i) & " **Network Path could not be resolved**")
                blnFound = True

---

Is there a reason why thats there and how to remove it?

Btw, still researching the "network timeout between machine names in the list file". So far you can do a timeout via a cscript command line like:

Code:

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cscript //t:60 TEST2.vbs

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Where it runs the .vbs with a timeout of 60seconds before the script discontinues BUT this cancels the entire script. :(

There has to be another method inside vbscript to query the list for a selectable amount of time before it considers the result a TIMEOUT then proceed to next machine in the list?

Try removing this

'Add an extra line to seperate the machines
TS.WriteLine("")

I have.. no difference. Commenting that out only removes the line seperation between results. It doesn't affect the last line of the dump which adds the useless result as mentioned.

I have ran this script on a remote computer \\192.168.1.100\c$

and all it gives me is files located in that folder.

how do i combine, this script which can list all sub directories and files
http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=148928.

with this one, to search all files on a remote computer?

and on top of that i need who is owner and last modifier of the doc

thanks