Why does the first line of a batch file fails to execute?

Question

I am trying to understand why the first line of my batch file fails to execute. My code is as follows: if exist reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion" goto OptionOne exit :OptionOne some code goto:eof It never goes to the OptionOne subroutine. Instead, it just exits. I do have a solution to this problem written differently (so I don't want examples to make it work) but I want to understand why this one line fails to execute. Is the syntax improper? Google says it is correct. Poorly designed code? I know this registry key exists so this is not the case. Is it something with the return value and its correct syntax, but needs to be further written out on the else statements? JavaScript questions and answers, JavaScript questions pdf, JavaScript question bank, JavaScript questions and answers pdf, mcq on JavaScript pdf, JavaScript questions and solutions, JavaScript mcq Test , Interview JavaScript questions, JavaScript Questions for Interview, JavaScript MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions)

Answer 1

The code you have doesn't work because if exist is used only to check if folders or files exist. Its syntax is: if exist "C:\foldername\" (do something) else (optionally do something else) for folders and: if exist "C:\filename" (do something) else (optionally do something else) for files. My suggested solution (as mentioned in comments) is the following: reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion" >nul 2>&1 if %errorlevel% EQU 0 (goto :OptionOne) else (echo Registry key not found. & pause>nul & exit /b 1) :OptionOne some code goto :eof which checks if the command returned errorlevel different than equal to 1 or bigger (the registry key exists) or 1 or bigger (it doesn't exist).