Passing Variables with the SYSTEM Call

MS-DOS                    | OS/2           | WINDOWS NT

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft FORTRAN for MS-DOS, versions 4.1, 5.0, and 5.1
• Microsoft FORTRAN for OS/2, versions 4.1, 5.0, and 5.1
• Microsoft FORTRAN PowerStation for MS-DOS, versions 1.0 and 1.0a
• Microsoft FORTRAN PowerStation 32 for Windows NT, version 1.0 and 4.0

SUMMARY

The C Run-time function, SYSTEM, is available within the FORTRAN Run Time Library. It is possible to pass a variable argument within that function call. The variable can also be a concatenated variable. Below is an example demonstrating this feature.

NOTE: SYSTEM is a C function within the FORTRAN Library. Any limitation or characteristics that are encountered are those of the C convention and not of FORTRAN (for example, null terminated strings).

MORE INFORMATION

Sample Code

c...This program will demonstrate the use of a concatenated c...variable argument for the SYSTEM function call. It has c...the same effect as typing DIR *.FOR at the MS-DOS prompt.

c..Interface statement

      interface to integer*2 function system[c]
     +(string[reference])
      character*1 string
      end

      integer*2 system
      character*4 str
      character*5 ing
      character*9 all
      str='dir'
      ing='*.for'c   ! c treats this as a null terminated C string
      all=str//ing   ! Concatenate the string as 'dir *.for'
      i=system(all)  ! Pass a variable to SYSTEM
      end