Commands and Scripting
Many actions can be defined using Ketarin's user interface. Some advanced behaviours require custom scripts though.
In the Commands tab of each application and in the settings of Ketarin you can enter a command which is to be executed before every update. Before update means before it is attempted to download, when an update has been found. By returning various exit codes (eg. exit 1 when using a batch script) you can influence the behaviour of Ketarin:
| Exit code | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Abort download, mark as failed. |
| 2 | Skip downloading, mark as update available (since version 1.5). |
| 3 | Skip downloading, but update the last updated date of the application and mark as update downloaded. Allows you to use an external download application to download the file, but still mark it as properly updated in Ketarin. |
In the Commands tab of each application and in the settings of Ketarin you can enter a command which is to be executed after every update. This is useful for unzipping ZIP packages, virus scans, installations in background and other purposes.
In the settings of Ketarin you can define a command that is executed after all applications have been updated, for example to execute cleanup tasks or sync the results to another location.
The commands that can be entered are executed in the following order:
- Default
pre-update commandin settings - Application specific
pre-update command - Download of update
- Default
post-update commandin settings - Application specific
post-update command - Command to execute
after updating all applications
If the update fails then the When application update fails command (in settings) will be executed instead of any post-update commands.
Ketarin supports Batch scripts and C# scripts. Below every text box in which you can enter a script is a button which lets you choose the script type.
Batch scripts are simple and useful. They allow you to execute any command you would usually execute on command line. Typical possibilities are renaming, copying and deleting files. Note that several of the commands here rely upon third-party software such as Wget, 7-zip, and NirCmd. To make use of these applications you'll need to either use the full path to the local location for the application, or include the application somewhere in your path.
By default, Ketarin waits for the script to be finished before proceeding with the next step. If you do not like that, you can put an "&" at the very end of the script to execute it in background. You can also temporarily disable a line in the script by adding rem (including the space) at the beginning.
| Command | Task | Requires |
|---|---|---|
| 7zc x -y -o"{root}PATH" "{file}" | Extract the downloaded file to a given path on the drive where Ketarin.exe is located | 7-zip |
| 7zc x -y -r -o"{root}PATH" "{file}" *.exe *.dll | Extract the specified file types from the downloaded file to a given path on the drive where Ketarin.exe is located | 7-zip |
| 7zc e -y -o"{root}PATH" "{file}" | Extract the downloaded file to a given path on the drive where Ketarin.exe is located; flat, not preserving the directory structure | 7-zip |
| 7zc x -r -o"%temp%" "{file}" *.exe | Extract the specified file types from the downloaded file to the temp directory | 7-zip |
| UniExtract.exe "{file}" "{root}PATH" | Extract the downloaded file to a given path on the drive where Ketarin.exe is located | UniExtract or LupoPenSuite |
| start "" /wait UniExtract.exe "{file}" "%temp%" | Extract the downloaded file to to the temp directory | UniExtract or LupoPenSuite |
| copy /y "%temp%*.exe" "{root}PATH" | Copy files of the selected type from the temp directory to a path on the drive where Ketarin.exe is located | N/A |
| robocopy "%temp%" "{root}PATH" *.exe /e /b /np | Copy files of the selected type from the temp directory to a path on the drive where Ketarin.exe is located | Robocopy |
| ren "{file}" ABC.msi | Rename a file (with wildcard support) | N/A |
| del /s /q "{file}" | Delete a file | N/A |
| rd /s /q "PATH" | Delete a folder | N/A |
| start "" /wait COMMAND | Start a command and wait until it finishes | N/A |
| nircmd elevate cmd /c copy /y "{file}" "%ProgramFiles%" | Copy a file with elevated privileges | NirCmd |
| nircmd elevate cmd /c | Start an elevated command prompt | NirCmd |
| nircmd inisetval "{root}PATH\install.ini" "section" "key" "1" | Write value to INI | NirCmd |
| nircmd shortcut "%ProgramFiles%\procexp.exe" "~$folder.desktop$" "{appname}" | Create a shortcut to a file on the desktop | NirCmd |
| wget.exe --output-document="{root}PATH{file:filename}" "{preupdate-url}" | Download using Wget download manager | Wget (some background) |
| aria2c --seed-time=0 --dir="{file:directory}" --torrent-file="{file}" | Process a torrent with aria2 | aria2 |
| aria2c --bt-require-crypto=true --seed-time=0 --dir="{file:directory}" --torrent-file="{file}" --select-file=1 --index-out=1="{appname:regexreplace:([\s\t\r\n-\&/]+):_}-{version}.iso" | Process a torrent with aria2 and name the output ISO from the first item within the torrent based on the app name and version number | aria2 |
| rd /s /q "{file:directory}\mySubfolder" mkdir "{file:directory}\mySubfolder" aria2c --seed-time=0 --dir="{file:directory}\mySubfolder" --torrent-file="{file}" |
Purge previous downloads, then process a torrent with aria2 | aria2 |
| swithmail.exe /s /from "[email protected]" /pass "YourPassword" /server smtp.example.com /p 465 /ssl /toaddress "[email protected]" /subject "Ketarin update {appname:replace:&:^&}" /body "{appname:replace:&:^&} {version:replace:&:^&}" | Email yourself when an update is downloaded with SwitchMail. | SwitchMail |
In addition to Batch scripts you can also create C# scripts. C# can be considered much more powerful than Batch, and you can also directly access the internal data structure of Ketarin. If you know C# (numerous tutorials available on the internet), you can write scripts which perform any actions you like. For simplicity, you do not have to define classes or functions, just the code.
Provided here is a simple C# script that is meant for use after downloading a file. It creates a file containing a string which is the MD5 checksum of the downloaded file. For instance file.bin gets downloaded by Ketarin, file.bin.md5 will be created by the script containing the MD5 text string.
Example C# Code:
string fileName = app.PreviousLocation;
System.IO.FileStream file = new System.IO.FileStream(fileName, System.IO.FileMode.Open);
System.Security.Cryptography.MD5 md5 = new System.Security.Cryptography.MD5CryptoServiceProvider();
byte[] retVal = md5.ComputeHash(file);
file.Close();
System.Text.StringBuilder sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
for (int i = 0; i < retVal.Length; i++)
{
sb.Append(retVal[i].ToString("x2"));
}
using (System.IO.StreamWriter outfile = new System.IO.StreamWriter(fileName + @".md5"))
{
outfile.Write(sb.ToString().ToUpper());
}
Use C# to email yourself when an update is downloaded:
System.Net.Mail.MailMessage message = new System.Net.Mail.MailMessage();
message.To.Add("[email protected]");
message.Subject = app.Variables.ReplaceAllInString("Ketarin update {appname}");
message.Body = app.Variables.ReplaceAllInString("{appname} {version}");
message.From = new System.Net.Mail.MailAddress("[email protected]");
System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient smtp = new System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient("smtp.example.com");
smtp.Send(message);
Note: The current official version of Ketarin requires PowerShell 5.0 to run.
PowerShell is similarly powerful as C# but easier to use, and you can also directly access the internal data structure of Ketarin.
Provided here is a simple PowerShell script that is meant for use after downloading a file. It creates a quick launch shortcut to a given app.
$WShell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
$ShortCut = $WShell.CreateShortcut("$env:AppData\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\$($App.Name).lnk")
$Shortcut.TargetPath = "$env:SystemDrive\$($App.Name)\$($App.Name).exe"
$Shortcut.WorkingDirectory = "$env:SystemDrive\$($App.Name)"
$Shortcut.IconLocation = "imageres.dll,-65"
$Shortcut.Save()
You can use the $app and $globalvars variables for accessing Ketarin data. Check the forum for some additional samples.
To resolve any of the usual variables in Ketarin, you can use a method of the $app object like this:
$app.variables.ReplaceAllInString("{VAR}")
Using the Command button, you can also save and open code snippets. You can create snippets for many generic commands so you won't have to copy/write them again every time.
| Option | Function |
|---|---|
| Insert snippet | Insert a custom saved snippet at the current cursor position (select a snippet from the dropdown menu). |
| Save as | Saves the currently selected text (or the contents of the text area if none is selected) as snippet. You can save as new or overwrite an existing one. |
| Delete snippet | Delete a snippet (select a snippet from the dropdown menu). |