How to? Get the return code from an external program...

[mathewsdw]

I can't help but feel I'm missing something obvious here, but I don't know what that is. As usual, a TCC session transcript.

   Mon  Jan 14, 2013  10:00:06p

TCC  14.03.53 x64   Windows 7 [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright 2012 JP Software Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Registered to Daniel Mathews

[Z:\]CD "Development\C, C++\Utilities\DuplicateRemover\Release"

[Z:\Development\C, C++\Utilities\DuplicateRemover\Release]DuplicateRemover /A /B
Fatal Error: Invalid switch "/A"
Fatal Error: Invalid switch "/B"
Program is being terminated due to error(s).
[Z:\Development\C, C++\Utilities\DuplicateRemover\Release]Echo %_? %?
0 0

[Z:\Development\C, C++\Utilities\DuplicateRemover\Release]Echo %@ExecStr[DuplicateRemover /A /B] >NUL:
Fatal Error: Invalid switch "/A"
Fatal Error: Invalid switch "/B"
Program is being terminated due to error(s).
[Z:\Development\C, C++\Utilities\DuplicateRemover\Release]Echo %_ExecStr
8

[Z:\Development\C, C++\Utilities\DuplicateRemover\Release]

The first time I just ran it directly from the command line with invalid arguments and it printed an error message and exited, presumably with a return code of 8. However, both %_?, which you would expect, and %?, which you would not, are zero.

So I ran it again with exactly the same arguments through @ExecStr and then checked %_ExecStr, and it was 8 as expected.

Unfortunately, it would be really nice for a calling batch file to have access to the return code to detect error(s), and @ExecStr and @ExecArray are both not satisfactory because the program is able to output an arbitrarily large number of lines.

The questions, therefore, are simple. What am I doing wrong when executing it directly from the command line? What do I misunderstand? And if I am misunderstanding something, how do I accomplish what I am trying to accomplish?

 

[vefatica]

Not a clue, Dan. %? seems to be working correctly (see far below). Is DuplicateRemover.exe a subsystem:console application? TCC doesn't, by default, wait for subsystem:windows apps to end. Can you pare it down to something small that misbehaves?

l:\projects\return\release> type ..\rv.cpp
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
 
INT wmain ( INT argc, WCHAR **argv )
{
        if ( argc < 2 )
                return 666;
        INT rv = _wtoi(argv[1]);
        wprintf(L"%d\n", rv);
        return rv;
}
 
l:\projects\rv\release> do i=1 to 5 ( rv %i & echo %? )
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5

 

[mathewsdw]

Vince, it's just a pure single-threaded console-only app, nothing at all Windows GUI related, not even message boxes. Tomorrow I'm going to cut out almost all of the code and add back it step-by-step until I find the point where it breaks. (But I have a hard time even understanding how this could happen at all given that @ExecStr catches the condition code correctly.)

 

[mathewsdw]

I found the problem! And it was just a stupid mistake on my part (so stupid I'm embarrassed to post it here) so never mind! (If there's any demand to see what the problem was I will post it here; however the chances of anyone else making this mistake a quite low.)

 

[Charles Dye]

I found the problem! And it was just a stupid mistake on my part (so stupid I'm embarrassed to post it here) so never mind! (If there's any demand to see what the problem was I will post it here; however the chances of anyone else making this mistake a quite low.)

Running a program in PRE_INPUT / PRE_EXEC / POST_EXEC / your prompt?

 

[Frank]

... If there's any demand to see what the problem was I will post it here ...

Come on, let us know. I have made stupid errors as well. Perhaps I can learn something from it.

 

[mathewsdw]

All right, all right, I've given in to the pressure. I've had a PRE_INPUT alias for quite a long time and it (originally!) worked OK because it saved the return code on entry and quit with it when it was done processing. I made a change to the batch file where I wiped out the return code because I forgot about it.

 

[Frank]

:)

 

[mathewsdw]

Actually, an embarrassed icon would be more appropriate for me, but there doesn't seem to be one...