Q61616: CL.EXE Command-Line Switches Are Order Dependent

Article: Q61616
Product(s): See article
Version(s): 6.00   | 6.00
Operating System(s): MS-DOS | OS/2
Keyword(s): ENDUSER | | mspl13_c
Last Modified: 25-MAY-1990

With the Microsoft C version 6.00 compiler, command-line switches are
order dependent. For instance, the -Zr switch, which checks for null
pointers and out-of-range far pointers, must appear AFTER the -qc
switch. The option -Zr can be used only with the -qc (quick compile)
option. Therefore, the following is the correct method:

   cl -qc -Zr

The following is the incorrect method:

   cl -Zr -qc

Also, if two options are for the same feature, the last option
specified on the command-line will be used. Finally, CL environment
variables are added to the beginning of the command line, which may
alter the order of certain switches. The following are three examples:

1. CL /Ox /Od foo.c

2. CL /Od /Ox foo.c

3. set CL=/Od
   CL /Ox foo.c

Example 1 will disable optimizations, and Example 2 and 3 will enable
optimizations.

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