Github Actions example workflow for building a batch file

bat.yml

# Action name and trigger conditions.
# workflow_dispatch means: this can be manually re-triggered, and not just by push/pr.
name: Batch File Continuous Integration
on:
  push:
    branches: [ "main" ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ "main" ]
  workflow_dispatch:

# Can have multiple jobs, but this example is just one build job.
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    steps:
    
      # 1. Check out repository to current directory.
      - name: Checkout Files
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        
      # 2. Use cmd shell to build the batch file, parameters may be passed to it,
      #    and if it exits with ERRORLEVEL != 0 it will halt.
      #    The text output from the batch file will be in the log.
      - name: Build ROM
        shell: cmd
        run: build_rom.bat param

      # 3. Set the build machine time zone to have consistent artifact timestamps.
      - name: Select Time Zone
        uses: szenius/[email protected]
        with:
          timezoneWindows: "Eastern Standard Time"

      # 4. Use powershell to gather files for the artifact, and generate a filename.
      #    Note that the output of commands is not shown in the log unless it causes an error.
      #    The artifact copying could be done by the batch file,
      #    but I liked having an example of how to do it in powershell.
      #    If a file is optional, -ErrorAction Ignore can be used to keep going if it doesn't exist.
      #    'git log -1' lists information about the last commit.
      #    It is used to get the 7-letter short SHA hash (%h),
      #    and a formatted date for the commit's authoring (%ad).
      #    The local time zone is selected (--date=format-local)
      #    rather than the comitter's time zone (--date=format).
      #    By appending "NAME=VALUE" to the special file $env:GITHUB_ENV,
      #    it sets an environment variable that we can use in later steps.
      #    This is apparently the best way to get a short SHA,
      #    because actions only have a long SHA built in,
      #    and YAML is not very good at string manipulation.
      - name: Prepare Artifact
        shell: pwsh
        run: |
          mkdir artifact
          cp test3.txt artifact
          cp build/bt.txt artifact
          cp missing.txt artifact -ErrorAction Ignore
          cp missing2.txt artifact
          echo "BUILD_TAG=$(git log -1 --format="%h--%ad" --date=format-local:"%Y-%m-%d-%H%M%S")" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV

      # 5. Attach the artifact to the job.
      #    Here we used the environment variable we created in the previous step.
      - name: ROM Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: name-${{ env.BUILD_TAG }}
          path: artifact/