PRB: "Invalid or Missing .EXE" w/ Backslashes in Folder Names

ID: Q112083

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft FoxPro for Macintosh, version 2.5b, 2.6a
Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Macintosh, version 3.0b

SYMPTOMS

The Macintosh allows folder names to include characters like the backslash (\). If a backslash is placed in the FoxPro for Macintosh folder name, an "Invalid or missing .EXE" error may result when you try to load FoxPro and will prevent the program from starting.

MORE INFORMATION

The "FoxPro Readme" file, the "Installation and Macintosh Features Guide", and the online Help topic "Cross-Platform Development" contain the following information:

   Do not use backslashes as embedded characters in folder names. Although
   the Macintosh accepts backslashes as valid characters in a folder name,
   FoxPro uses MS-DOS path delimiters and tries to interpret a folder name
   containing a backslash as two separate folders. For example, if a single
   folder is named FOXPRO\APPS, FoxPro for Macintosh tries to find a folder
   called APPS in a folder called FOXPRO.

If a backslash is included at any level of the hierarchical path (including the volume name), an "Invalid or missing .EXE file" error will result.

NOTE: This error message can also occur in two other situations. One, if the local drive and a network drive have the same names, the error will occur. Two, if the hard drive name contains just a period, the error will occur.

Additional query words: invalid or missing exe file back slash

Keywords          : kberrmsg kbMAC kbVFp FxprgGeneral 
Version           : 2.50b 3.00b
Platform          : MACINTOSH
Issue type        : kbprb