Q37346: RUN "PROG.EXE" Fails in QB.EXE Editor; Use RUN "PROG" Instead

Article: Q37346
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: 12-JAN-1990

If you want to RUN a QuickBASIC program, such as PROG.BAS, from within
the environment, you must type RUN "PROG" instead of RUN "PROG.EXE".
RUN "PROG" successfully loads and executes the source file PROG.BAS.
RUN "PROG.EXE" will fail in the editor (as designed) but will succeed
in an .EXE running outside the editor.

You cannot use the RUN statement to invoke a non-QuickBASIC
application from within the QB.EXE editor environment; however, you
can use the RUN statement from a compiled .EXE program running outside
the editor.

To invoke a non-QuickBASIC application from within the QB.EXE editor,
you can SHELL to it or exit QuickBASIC before invoking it.

The above information applies to Microsoft QuickBASIC Versions 4.00,
4.00b, and 4.50 for MS-DOS, to Microsoft QuickBASIC 4.00 and 4.00b
that come with Microsoft BASIC Compiler 6.00 and 6.00b for MS-DOS, and
to QBX.EXE, which comes with Microsoft BASIC PDS Version 7.00 for
MS-DOS.

QB.EXE Version 4.50 fails to give you an immediate error message if
you RUN an executable file from inside the editing environment. QB.EXE
Version 4.50 attempts to load and execute the .EXE or .COM program as
a text module, which will fail. QBX.EXE which comes with Microsoft
BASIC PDS Version 7.00 behaves the same as QB.EXE 4.50. It loads the
.EXE or .COM file and attempts to execute it as BASIC source code. This
is not considered to be a problem with those products but is a result
of incorrect use of the RUN statement in the environment.

To illustrate the problem, execute (SHIFT+F5) the following program in
the QB.EXE editor:

   RUN "WORD.COM"  'Any executable .EXE or .COM file will demonstrate

QB.EXE Version 4.50 attempts to load in WORD.COM as a document; this
produces garbage characters in the edit window. (WORD.COM is taken
from Microsoft Word.) The environment windows are redrawn, and an
"Expected: Statement" error box appears. At this point, you can exit
QuickBASIC, and no harm is done.

If this program is compiled with BC.EXE, the resultant .EXE file
successfully transfers control to WORD.COM.

The results of testing with QuickBASIC versions earlier than 4.50 are
as follows:

1. QuickBASIC Version 4.00b does not produce an error message, but
   opens a new module ("Untitled"). If compiled with BC.EXE Version
   4.00b, the .EXE file runs as expected.

2. QuickBASIC Version 4.00 produces a "Bad File Mode" on the RUN
   "WORD.COM" statement when run inside the environment, but executes
   properly when compiled to an .EXE file.

3. In QuickBASIC Versions 2.00, 2.01, and 3.00, the QB.EXE editor
   successfully executes RUN "WORD.COM" and removes QuickBASIC from
   memory.

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