Can you run .bat files on a mac?

I have batch file i need to run in terminal. I have tried running it in terminal but it didn't work. Is there anyway of doing running this? Or is it a windows only file?

Windows only (well, more accurately a DOS file)

But what is the BAT file designed to do, its function could probably be replicated on the mac

Ok thanks, It is used as a emulator for Linux for a University project I am doing so will have to use windows for it!

You want to run linux on a mac then?

It is a project which is supposed to get us used to linux commands. Their is no GUI and just using commands to see what the outcomes are.

You could us terminal which is just UNIx or install ubuntu in a VirtualBox virtual machine to use linux

tomelk31 said:

It is a project which is supposed to get us used to linux commands. Their is no GUI and just using commands to see what the outcomes are.

Click to expand...

That's pretty funny.

So, a batch file is just a series of DOS commands structured in such a way as to perform a series of actions. My guess is your .bat file probably has a series of prompts and responses that make the Windows Command Prompt look like Linux.

What is really interesting about this is that your Mac essentially uses the same shell as many Linux distributions (bash). So, you can use the commands for real right on your Mac without having to run any sort of "emulator".

I would also recommend to the educator that he or she simply burn the class some Linux "live" CDs to practice with.

cwa107 said:

That's pretty funny.

So, a batch file is just a series of DOS commands structured in such a way as to perform a series of actions.

Click to expand...

Correct.

A Bat file may be used by an IT department to connect to a series of drives for users on the network.

Granted the users could do this themselves but the bat file automates it and is pushed out to all users on the network.

This may be done to ensure the correct drives are loaded and to compensate for users who may be unaware of how to do this.

clive12 said:

Correct.

A Bat file may be used by an IT department to connect to a series of drives for users on the network.

Granted the users could do this themselves but the bat file automates it and is pushed out to all users on the network.

This may be done to ensure the correct drives are loaded and to compensate for users who may be unaware of how to do this.

Click to expand...

There's lots of uses for a batch file, mapping drives being one of them. I wasn't really asking a question here, more like explaining what a .bat file does and why it's sort of silly that one would be used for the purposes of emulating Linux.

cwa107 said:

There's lots of uses for a batch file, mapping drives being one of them. I wasn't really asking a question here, more like explaining what a .bat file does and why it's sort of silly that one would be used for the purposes of emulating Linux.

Click to expand...

Sorry my mistake.

Depending on the requirements, you would probably be better off using a Linux VM to do this. The set of available commands in OS X and more importantly, the filesystem layout, are different enough such that you may notice inconsistencies. While 90% of what you do will be the same across platforms, you're probably better off taking the time to create a Linux VM and use that.