PRB: "RUN/! Command Failed" with Windows NT

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0
• Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b, 2.6

SYMPTOMS

When you are running FoxPro for Windows under the Microsoft Windows NT operating system, the error message "RUN/! command failed" occurs when you are using the RUN command to execute an MS-DOS command.

CAUSE

When the FoxPro RUN command is used without the /N parameter, FoxPro will stop execution and wait until the RUN command has completed successfully and the MS-DOS session is closed. However, because Windows NT is a preemptive multitasking operating system, it switches control back and forth between FoxPro and the RUN command. This can cause FoxPro to time out while it is waiting for the RUN command to complete.

NOTE: This problem affects the SetupWizard in the FoxPro Distribution Kit, which also uses a RUN command, causing it to fail at the point where compression starts.

RESOLUTION

Use the /N parameter on the RUN command to stop FoxPro from waiting for the RUN command to complete. The following is an example of using the RUN command with the /N parameter to execute FOXRUN.PIF. This example also uses the /C parameter to send a specific command to the command shell.

   RUN /N FOXRUN.PIF /C DIR

STATUS

This behavior is by design.