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From: kneller@cgl.ucsf.edu (Don Kneller)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: HELP: MSC system call
Message-ID: <11624@cgl.ucsf.EDU>
Date: 25 May 89 20:24:43 GMT
References: <4267@druhi.ATT.COM>
Sender: daemon@cgl.ucsf.edu
Reply-To: kneller@socrates.ucsf.edu.UUCP (Don Kneller)
Distribution: comp
Organization: UCSF Computer Graphics Lab
Lines: 28

In article <4267@druhi.ATT.COM> deln@druhi.ATT.COM (SloaneN) writes:
>I'm having a problem with the return code from system().  What
>appears to happen is that the return code (as the manual states)
>indicates whether command.com could successfully execute the command
>or not.  How do I get the exit code of the spawned command?
>
>eg.  exit_code= system( "cl -E ......" );
>
>if "cl" fails, I still get a zero return code because the "system"
>command successfully spawned "cl".  What I want is the exit code
>from "cl".

The problem (which has been there forever), is that the system()
call actually spawns the following:

	command /c cl -E ...

That is, command.com is spawned and it in turn spawns cl.  However,
command.com does not return the return code of "cl -E ...", it returns 0.
At one time I thought a version of MSDOS had fixed this, but it is still
a problem in PCDOS 3.3, so maybe it was just a wishful thought.

- don
-----
	Don Kneller
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