Q27857: Old LINKer "Unrecognized Switch Error: ‘EX’" when "Make EXE"

Article: Q27857
Product(s): See article
Version(s): 4.00 4.00b 4.50
Operating System(s): MS-DOS
Keyword(s): ENDUSER | B_BasicCom | mspl13_basic
Last Modified: 15-JAN-1990

When making an EXE file from within the QB.EXE Version 4.00, 4.00b, or
4.50 editor and QBX.EXE (from Microsoft BASIC PDS Version 7.00)
editor, the following message is generated when the wrong version of
LINK.EXE is used:

   Unrecognized switch error: "EX"

When running an older linker from DOS with a newer switch (such as
mistakenly using the /NOE option with the LINK.EXE Version 3.05
provided with DOS Version 3.30), you can also get an "Unrecognized
switch error" message.

You must use the LINK.EXE that comes with QuickBASIC or the BASIC
Compiler (or a later version of the linker). To find out the version
number, invoke LINK from your working directory, and the linker
displays a version number. This number can be compared with the number
displayed by LINK.EXE on the product release disk.

QuickBASIC Version 4.00 and QBX.EXE from BASIC PDS 7.00 each comes
with its own copy of the LINK utility (LINK.EXE, Version 3.61 and
Version 5.05 respectively). This version of the linker supports (and
later versions support) the new /EX (/EXEPACK) switch. The function of
this switch is to remove sequences of repeated bytes from object
files. As a result, the switch provides a means for creating smaller
EXE files. When the Make EXE option is chosen inside the editor from
the Run menu, this switch is automatically used when the linker is
invoked. Subsequently, if the wrong version of the linker is found
(that is, one that does not support the new /EX switch), the error
message "Unrecognized switch error" is generated.

Because the message correctly indicates that the wrong version of
LINK.EXE is being used, the workaround is to either remove all older
versions of the linker from the machine or modify the DOS path
statement so that the correct version of the linker is the first one
found.

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