PRB: Build Errors Caused by Incorrect TMP Variable Setting

• The Microsoft C/C++ Compiler
  • Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition, versions 1.0, 1.5

SYMPTOMS

An attempt to build an application in Visual C++ version 1.0 fails and one of the following messages appears:

• If you attempt to build an application in the Visual Workbench or from an MS-DOS prompt in Windows, the Resource Compiler generates a message such as the following:

  
        Fatal Error C1007: unrecognized flag '\RC23' in 'c1'
        RC: fatal error RW1016: RC terminating after preprocessor errors 

  -or-
  
  

  
        fatal error C1023: cannot open source file ''
        RC: fatal error RW1016: RC terminating after preprocessor errors 




• If you attempt to build an application in MS-DOS when Windows is not running, the results of the NMAKE, CL, or LINK command is similar to the following:

  
        Phar lap err 58: Can't create VM swap file of size 0 in
           directory C:\ \ 

CAUSE

The TMP environment variable is not valid. The Resource Compiler creates a RC23 file in the TMP directory to store information between compiler passes. If the TMP environment variable ends with a space, the filename appears to the Resource Compiler as an option switch.

If the TMP environment variable points to a read-only drive, then RC cannot write the temporary file or it cannot read it back which results a C1023 error.

When any of the MS-DOS-extended utilities (such as NMAKE versions 1.3, 1.4, C/C++ versions 8.0, 8.0c, or LINK versions 5.5, 5.6) are invoked from MS-DOS outside Windows, they immediately return with the Phar lap error because the MS-DOS-extender attempts to create a temporary file for virtual memory storage.

RESOLUTION

Verify that the TMP environment variable is valid. It must point to a valid directory on a read-write drive that has enough available free space to store the temporary files.

It may be difficult to detect a trailing space in the TMP environment variable. It is specified in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file with a statement similar to the following:

   SET TMP=C:\TMP 

Additional query words: 1.00 1.50 1.30 1.40 3.11 5.50 8.00 8.00c DOSXNT

Keywords          : kb16bitonly kbCompiler TlsMisc 
Version           : 1.00 1.50
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : 

Last Reviewed: July 26, 1999