Jason Mayer wrote:

> Hi!
> 
> I've been learning ruby for a little while, but I'm having trouble
> figuring out how to do this (and I must be using the wrong keywords in
> my google search).  I do tech support, and I'm looking to automate
> some basic troubleshooting over a web interface for my coworkers and
> new hires.
> 
> What I'd like to do is script the windows ping command and scrape the
> results.  Anyone know where I can find good references on this?
> 
> So I guess my question could be clarified as How do I script windows
> command line commands via ruby (I understand that in linux I could
> just use `ping xxx`)?

Yes, that's right, and it works in Windows (under Ruby) the same way. But
clearly this didn't work for you. So, what did you try, and what was the
result?

Have you tried:

data = `ping -n 1 hostname`.chomp
 
> The second question would be 'How do I scrape the output of a windows
> cmd.exe command and use it in the rest of my script?'

This should work:

data = `cmd.exe /C command`.chomp

Again, it would help to see what you tried and what you got.

-- 
Paul Lutus
http://www.arachnoid.com