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Q67776: NMK.COM Will Execute PWB.SHL If it Exists

Article: Q67776
Product(s): See article
Version(s): 1.00 1.11
Operating System(s): MS-DOS
Keyword(s): ENDUSER | S_C S_PWB S_QUICKC S_NMK | mspl13_basic
Last Modified: 28-DEC-1990

NMK.COM will execute the PWB.SHL file if it exists in the subdirectory
specified by the TMP environment variable. After spawning NMAKE to
parse the desired makefile, PWB.SHL will be executed as a batch file
with the commands listed in reverse order.

This is expected behavior since NMK actually spawns NMAKE with the /z
option. This instructs NMAKE to preprocess the makefile, writing out
the commands to be performed into the file PWB.SHL, which is placed in
the directory pointed to by the TMP environment variable. After NMAKE
is finished, NMK reads the PWB.SHL file and executes the required
commands. Once it is finished, the PWB.SHL file is set to 0 bytes or
deleted.

To see this behavior, create a file and name it PWB.SHL, placing the
following two lines in it:

   type listing.txt
   dir > listing.txt

Place this file in the subdirectory pointed to by the TMP environment
variable. The following command will spawn NMAKE /z in an attempt to
parse PROGRAM.MAK, and then execute PWB.SHL:

   nmk /f program.mak

PWB.SHL will be set to 0 bytes or deleted after all commands have been
executed.

If PROGRAM.MAK does not exist, NMAKE will report an error informing
you of that fact, and then NMK will proceed to execute PWB.SHL as
described above.

If you do not have a TMP environment variable, PWB.SHL will be
executed if it exists in the current subdirectory.

A side effect to be aware of is the following scenario. If you have
shelled out of the Programmer's WorkBench to run your program (from
the Execute selection on the Run menu) and your program hangs, forcing
you to reboot, a PWB.SHL file will be left in your TMP subdirectory.
If, after rebooting, you happen to run NMK before going into PWB, NMK
will find the PWB.SHL file in the TMP subdirectory and execute it,
causing PWB to be invoked even though you had not explicitly invoked
PWB since the reboot.

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