Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!mcsun!ukc!axion!planet!prk
From: prk@planet.bt.co.uk (Peter Knight)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: MS-DOS EXEC Question
Message-ID: <prk.653127486@aries>
Date: 12 Sep 90 08:18:06 GMT
References: <1990Sep7.144359.25202@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu>
Sender: usenet@planet.bt.co.uk (Usenet News Manager)
Organization: RT743, BT Research Labs, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, UK.
Lines: 21

west@turing.toronto.edu (Tom West) writes:


>  Does anyone know what the behaviour of the EXEC MS-DOS function is when 
>there is not enough memory to load COMMAND.COM.  

>Specifically, I have a line that is:

>	retcode = spawnve(P_WAIT, "C:\COMMAND.COM", path, environ);

For my two-pennies worth, if your line reads as you have typed it here,
you are bound to run into trouble.  \ is the C string escape char, so the 
line to the program looks like
"C:COMMON.COM", ie the directory information is lost.  (\C goes to C).
If the current directory for C: does not contain a COMMAND.COM, then
you should get some failure.  Better to get the directory information
from the environment variable, COMSPEC.

Peter Knight
BT Research
#include <std.disclaimer>