Running Mathematica code from a command line

Question

How can I schedule custom Mathematica code to run on my windows machine?

I need to schedule some code to run on my computer (Windows, Mathematica 10.0). I'm trying to get something to run via a command prompt so that I know I'm on the right track.

I'm under the impression that I wouldn't be able to run a .nb file from a command line, so I've written the following test code using 'Begin' and 'End', which I think makes it a package:

BeginPackage["mkTest`"]
Print["abc"]
a = {{1, 2, 3}, {7, 6, 5}};
Export[NotebookDirectory[] <> "\\test.xlsx", "testCmd" -> a];
End[]

I've placed this directly in the Mathematica folder:

"C:\Program Files\Wolfram Research\Mathematica\10.0"

The following is a screen print of various command line attempts:

It seems the code isn't working or I'm not calling it properly, since no Excel file appears in my directory. Each of these attempts resulted in a window such as the following:

1. Is it necessary to write a package to run Mathematica code at the command line?

2. Can anyone point out why my attempts above fail?

3. How can I schedule custom Mathematica code to run on my windows machine?

Answer 1

From this answer: mathematica start front end and eval notebook from command line

This runs a .m file called first.m

cd C:\Program Files\Wolfram Research\Mathematica\7.0
MathKernel -noprompt -initfile firstgo.m

The answer also shows how to run it from a batch file which can be run by Windows Scheduler.

Additionally calling the front end as the example shows may be unnecessary for your purpose, in which case firstgo.m would contain your code.