CODEWITHSUNDEEP
powershellbackground-process
Tehc
Tehc

Reputation: 689

PowerShell background jobs (multiple .cmd files at the same time)

I'm trying to synchronize different tasks at the same the time in PowerShell because they each take around 2-4 hours. The Script i have right now just processes each task one after another. I know there is an option called background jobs in PowerShell. Is there a way to transform the following code so it processes multiple .cmd files at the same time?

$handler_button1_Click= 
{
$answer= $finalcheck.popup("text",0,"text",4)
If($answer-eq 6) {
   [Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show("text", "Information", [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons]::OK, [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxIcon]::Information)
   $listBox1.Items.Clear();    
    if ($checkBox1.Checked)    { 
    Try{ 
    & K:\sample.cmd
    }catch [System.Exception]{
    $listBox1.Items.Add("Error")}
    }

    if ($checkBox2.Checked)    { 
    Try{ 
    & K:\sample2.cmd
    }catch [System.Exception]{
    $listBox1.Items.Add("Error")}
    }

Upvotes: 0

Views: 288

Answers (1)

Chris Dent
Chris Dent

Reputation: 4240

You can use Start-Job:

$job = Start-Job { & K:\sample.cmd }

At this point you are likely to need to add some code to watch the state of jobs you've started. Potentially you can periodically inspect $job.State.

Extending on this, you might refuse to start a job of the same type if one is already running.

In addition to Start-Job you should take a look at:

  • Get-Job - To get any jobs (running or otherwise)
  • Receive-Job - To get results back
  • Remove-Job - To remove a job once you're finished with it.
  • Stop-Job - To stop the job if you need to kill it.

Upvotes: 1

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