DOCUMENT:Q86814  24-DEC-1999  [utilities]
TITLE   :BUG: NMAKE TOOLS.INI Commands Ignore Environment Variables
PRODUCT :Microsoft Programming Utilities
PROD/VER:MS-DOS:1.2,1.3,1.4; NT:1.4,1.5
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:

======================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft NMAKE Utility for MS-DOS, versions 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 
 - Microsoft NMAKE Utility for Windows NT, versions 1.4, 1.5 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SYMPTOMS
========

Commands placed in the TOOLS.INI file may not recognize an environment variable
macro and proceed as if the macro was undefined.

RESOLUTION
==========

There are two methods to work around this problem, as follows:

 - Define the macro on the command line instead of as an environment variable.

-or-

 - Place the commands that depend on the environment variable in the makefile
   rather than in the TOOLS.INI file.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in NMAKE versions 1.2, 1.3, and
1.4. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

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

Perform the following four steps to demonstrate this problem.

1. Edit your TOOLS.INI file to add the following section:

         [NMAKE]
         TEST=okay
         !IFDEF ENV_VAR                        #  Place these commands in
         TEST = $(TEST) Environment is defined #  the makefile to resolve
         !ENDIF                                #  the problem.

2. At the MS-DOS command prompt, type the following to define the ENV_VAR
   environment variable:

   " SET ENV_VAR=1" (without the quotation marks)

3. Create a file named makefile that contains the following:

   " ALL:
   @echo $(TEST)" (without the quotation marks)

4. At the MS-DOS prompt, type "NMAKE" (without the quotation marks).

NMAKE displays the following on the screen:

   okay

instead of the following expected output:

   okay Environment is defined

Additional query words: 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.50

======================================================================
Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbVCsearch kbAudDeveloper kbNMAKESearch kbNMAKE120DOS kbNMAKE130DOS kbNMAKE140DOS kbNMAKE140NT kbNMAKE150NT
Version           : MS-DOS:1.2,1.3,1.4; NT:1.4,1.5

=============================================================================

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