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Q150287: FIX: Custom Build Commands Fail When Built from Command Line

Article: Q150287
Product(s): Microsoft C Compiler
Version(s): 4.0,4.1,4.2
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbusage kbide kbVC kbVC500fix kbGrpDSTools
Last Modified: 14-MAR-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual C++, versions 4.0, 4.1 
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Enterprise Edition, version 4.2 
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Professional Edition, version 4.2 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you build a Microsoft Visual C++ project from the command line with
Nmake.exe, the custom build commands you specify in the build settings fail, and
cause the build to fail. However, when you build the project within Developer
Studio, the commands work correctly. This behavior occurs when you specify
multiple build commands for a file or group of files, and specify more than one
output file that is created by the build commands.

CAUSE
=====

The problem is caused by a backslash (\) character added to the end of each
build command in the .mak file.

RESOLUTION
==========

There are two possible workarounds:

- Modify the .mak file, changing the \ at the end of each build command to an
  asterisk (*) character. Note that the IDE overwrites the .mak file whenever
  you change any project settings, and the \ is put back.

-or-

- Instead of specifying the multiple commands in the build settings, specify a
  single command that is a batch (.bat) file to invoke the commands. You need
  to pass parameters to the batch file in order to specify the input and output
  file names for the custom build commands.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the
beginning of this article. This bug was corrected in Visual C++ version 5.0.

MORE INFORMATION
================

This behavior occurs because Developer Studio writes the makefile so the
multiple commands are invoked on one command line. This causes the command
interpreter (Cmd.exe on Windows NT, and Command.com on Windows 95) to report an
error, because the result is not a valid command line. The commands need to be
passed on separate command lines, or separated by a command line separator, such
as the ampersand (&).

Also, because there are multiple output files, the same commands are invoked
repeatedly for each output file.

Additional query words: kbVC400bug

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Keywords          : kbusage kbide kbVC kbVC500fix kbGrpDSTools 
Technology        : kbVCsearch kbVC400 kbAudDeveloper kbVC410 kbVC420 kbVC32bitSearch
Version           : :4.0,4.1,4.2
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

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