If you're like me - god help us - then you have this constant itch to automate every single part of your existence. The following two scripts will give a blueprint for creating your own start-my-dev-environment scripts.
Step 1 - Launching apps in batch file
We'll be launching 3 programs:
- Spotify
- Chrome
- Visual Studio Code
additionally, we'll start an OpenVPN client connection.
You'll want to create a batch file like so:
@ECHO OFF
tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq Spotify.exe" 2>NUL | find /I /N "Spotify.exe">NUL
if NOT "%ERRORLEVEL%" == "0" start "spotify_play_lofi-playlist.vbs" "C:\Users\<username>\Documents\batch_scripts\spotify_play_lofi-playlist.vbs" && TIMEOUT 5
tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq chrome.exe" 2>NUL | find /I /N "chrome.exe">NUL
if NOT "%ERRORLEVEL%" == "0" start "chrome.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"
start " " "C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\bin\openvpn-gui.exe" --command disconnect_all
start "openvpn-gui.exe" "C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\bin\openvpn-gui.exe" --connect my_conf.ovpn
tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq Code.exe" 2>NUL | find /I /N "Code.exe">NUL
if NOT "%ERRORLEVEL%" == "0" start "Code" "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\Code.exe"
Here, the tasklist commands are there to make sure we don't run a second instance of an app. For OpenVPN, it's easier to just reconnect.
Step 2 - Spotify Autoplay Script
The spotify VB script is there to launch Spotify and start a playlist in shuffle mode. Save it in the same folder as your batch script, for safekeeping.
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Comandline = "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Spotify\Spotify.exe"
WScript.sleep 500
CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Run("spotify:playlist:74sUjcvpGfdOvCHvgzNEDO")
WScript.sleep 3000
WshShell.SendKeys " "
WScript.sleep 100
WshShell.SendKeys "^{RIGHT}"
You can get the playlist URI by right-clicking the playlist > Share > Copy Spotify URI.
Step 3 - Shortcut Placement
This is simple, create a shortcut to your batch file and place it in your Start Menu Programs folder (%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs). You may then move it to the quick-launch bar if you wish.
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