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From: PEPRBV%CFAAMP.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.EDU (Bob Babcock)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: 1 Turbo C question (used to be 2)
Message-ID: <9074@brl-adm.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 31-Aug-87 14:12:43 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-adm.9074
Posted: Mon Aug 31 14:12:43 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 4-Sep-87 05:45:36 EDT
Sender: news@brl-adm.ARPA
Lines: 23

>>    Does anybody know a way of getting MS-DOS to use the return
>>    value of an exit(value) that comes from a C program
>>    termination?  I.e. I'd like to know (at a DOS level) whether
>>    a program terminated with exit(0) or exit(1).

If you are running the program in question  from another program,
you can get the return  code with INT 21h, function  4dh.  If you
are running  the program  from the DOS prompt,  I think the error
code  is lost  by the time  you  get  back  to the  prompt.   The
solution  is to run the program  from a batch  file and use an IF
ERRORLEVEL  test.   You could  have  a BAT file called  RUN which
looked something like this:

    ECHO OFF
    %1
    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ECHO %1 RETURN CODE WAS NOT ZERO

Then say RUN program_name  instead of program_name.   It would be
nice if DOS told you the return  code, but I guess the philosophy
is that the program  should give a useful error message,  and the
only use for the return  code is controlling  the flow of a batch
file or letting the invoking  program know (since it doesn't  see
screen messages).