ID Number: Q73409
6.00 | 6.00
MS-DOS | OS/2
buglist6.00
Summary:
The Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) version 6.0 may overwrite a
source file or generate a file access error if the /Ta option is used
to specify a filename without an extension and no period is specified
at the end. If a period is added to the end of the filename, the
assembler functions as expected.
More Information:
To illustrate this problem, assume an assembly source file called TEST
(with no extension) exists in the current directory and the following
command line is used to invoke the assembler:
ML /c /Ta TEST
Under DOS, this results in the loss of the source file TEST,
regardless of whether or not the source file assembles successfully.
Without the trailing period, the assembler fails to add the .OBJ
extension to the object module that it tries to produce. If the file
assembles cleanly, then the new object file (named TEST) overwrites
the original source. If there is an error in the original TEST source
file, then the file is simply deleted because the assembler deletes
the incomplete .OBJ (now named TEST) during cleanup after the error.
Under OS/2, the command line above may cause the assembler to generate
the following error:
fatal error A1000: cannot open file : test
The same problem occurs with a long filename under HPFS. For example,
an A1000 error will be generated under OS/2 with this command line:
ML /c /Ta "This is a long file name test"
The workaround for all cases is to simply add a period to the end of
the filename. For example:
ML /c /Ta TEST.
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in MASM version 6.0. We
are researching this problem and will post new information here as it
becomes available.