FIX: U1001 w/ Corrupted MAKEDIR Macro in Real Mode NMAKE 1.11

 Last reviewed: September 11, 1997
Article ID: Q61978
1.11 MS-DOS kbtool kbbuglist kbfixlist

The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for MS-DOS, version 1.11

SYMPTOMS

NMAKE version 1.11 may produce a U1001 "syntax error: illegal character <character> in macro" while building a project because of a problem with the MAKEDIR macro. The problem occurs only with the DOS version of NMAKE 1.11 and not the protected mode version.

CAUSE

NMAKE has an internal macro, MAKEDIR, which contains the full drive and path to the directory from where NMAKE was invoked. This macro is corrupted in NMAKE version 1.11 under DOS. Rather than the correct pathname, the macro contains "garbage" or graphics characters. This macro can cause the U1001 "illegal character" error message.

To display the contents of MAKEDIR, invoke NMAKE with the /P switch. This switch causes all macros to be displayed to the screen.

RESOLUTION

 To work around this problem, manually set MAKEDIR in the .MAK file for the
project. Set it to the drive and path where the project is being built. If MAKEDIR is manually set in the .MAK file, it will override the default setting and correct the problem.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in NMAKE version 1.11. This problem was corrected in NMAKE version 1.12.

Additional reference words: 1.11 buglist1.11 fixlist1.12
KBCategory: kbtool kbbuglist kbfixlist
KBSubcategory: NmakeIss
Keywords : kb16bitonly
Solution Type : kbfix

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Last reviewed: September 11, 1997
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