Q57931: EXE Does Nothing If BC.EXE Compiled from GW-BASIC Binary Code

Article: Q57931
Product(s): See article
Version(s): 6.00 6.00b 7.00 7.10
Operating System(s): MS-DOS
Keyword(s): ENDUSER | buglist6.00 buglist6.00b buglist7.00 buglist7.10 | mspl13_basic
Last Modified: 20-SEP-1990

Programs saved in the Binary (the default tokenized) format in the
GW-BASIC or BASICA Interpreter will appear to compile in BC.EXE and
LINK into an .EXE program without error in the BASIC compilers listed
further below. However, the resulting .EXE file created from a Binary
GW-BASIC or BASICA source program does nothing when run -- it just
drops back to DOS.

The BC.EXE compiler fails to abort and give an error message when you
mistakenly give it GW-BASIC or BASICA Binary files. Microsoft has
confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft BASIC Compiler versions
6.00 and 6.00b; in Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System
(PDS) versions 7.00 and 7.10; and in Microsoft QuickBASIC versions
4.00, 4.00b, and 4.50 (buglist4.00, buglist4.00b, buglist4.50). We are
researching this problem and will post new information here as it
becomes available.

To correctly create an EXE file from a GW-BASIC or BASICA program, it
must first be saved in ASCII (text) format in the GWBASIC.EXE or
BASICA.EXE editor. The following GW-BASIC or BASICA statement will
save TEST.BAS in ASCII format:

   SAVE "TEST",A

Binary format is the default SAVE format in BASICA and GW-BASIC; thus,
you must explicitly save with the A (ASCII) option before BC.EXE can
handle the source file.

BASICA is an interpreter shipped in the ROM of some IBM and COMPAQ
computers. Microsoft GW-BASIC Interpreter is shipped with some
versions of DOS, depending upon the hardware vendor or the version of
MS-DOS.

Additional reference words: B_QuickBas B_GWBasicI

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