Intermediate File Error During Pipe Command

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5 and 3.51
• Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5 and 3.51

SYMPTOMS

Under certain conditions, the pipe command sometimes fails. This error occurs when you use the pipe command with a .pif file, but may occur under other circumstances. You can test for this problem by building a test.bat file as follows and running it under the environment that is producing the error:

   test.bat ::
   dir c:\winnt35 > output.msg
   type output.msg |more

CAUSE

Under certain conditions, Windows NT has difficulty creating a unique file name for the intermediate file used with the pipe.

RESOLUTION

To correct this problem, do either of the following:

• Instead of "{command 1} | {command 2}", use the MS-DOS redirect command ">" to explicitly create an intermediate file name; for example, "{command 1} > {filename}" then "{command 2} < {filename}".

  -or-

• Upgrade to Windows NT version 4.0.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.5 and 3.51. This problem was corrected in Windows NT version 4.0.