Getting full output from cmd.exe command in VBScript

Question

I'm using the following code to get the output of an nslookup command:

Dim oShell
Dim strCmdOutput

If DO_DEBUG="n" Then On Error Resume Next

Set oShell = WScript.CreateObject ("WScript.Shell")
Set shellOut = oShell.Exec("cmd.exe /C nslookup www.bbc.co.uk 8.8.8.8")
strCmdOutput = shellOut.StdOut.ReadAll()

WScript.Scho strCmdOutput

The output I get into strCmdOutput is different from the output I get by manually running the command.

For example, manually I get:

Server:  google-public-dns-a.google.com
Address:  8.8.8.8

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    www.bbc.net.uk
Addresses:  212.58.244.71
      212.58.246.95
Aliases:  www.bbc.co.uk

And using the script I get:

Server:  google-public-dns-a.google.com
Address:  8.8.8.8

Name:    www.bbc.net.uk
Addresses:  212.58.244.69
      212.58.246.93
Aliases:  www.bbc.co.uk

The outputs can vary wildly, is there a way I can get the outputs to match?

just to hi-lite the difference, one has "Non-authoritative answer:" and the other doesn't — Oliver
– Oliver, Commented Jul 6, 2017 at 11:39

Ansgar Wiechers · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-06 11:51:43Z

4

The line Non-authoritative answer: is written to STDERR, so you need to merge that into STDOUT to get the entire output.

Change the line

Set shellOut = oShell.Exec("cmd.exe /C nslookup www.bbc.co.uk 8.8.8.8")

to

Set shellOut = oShell.Exec("cmd.exe /C nslookup www.bbc.co.uk 8.8.8.8 2>&1")

and the problem will disappear.

answered Jul 6, 2017 at 11:51

Ansgar Wiechers

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