Lmhosts File Is Incorrectly Parsed When Alternate Block Inclusion Is Used

ID: Q247682

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 4.0, 4.0 SP1, 4.0 SP2, 4.0 SP3, 4.0 SP4, 4.0 SP5, 4.0 SP6, 4.0 SP6a

SYMPTOMS

An Lmhosts file that uses #BEGIN_ALTERNATE / #END_ALTERNATE tags with #INCLUDE statements parses all Lmhosts files that are pointed to using the #INCLUDE statements. For example:


#BEGIN_ALTERNATE
#INCLUDE \\Lmhostsrv1\Public\Lmhosts    
#INCLUDE \\Lmhostsrv2\Public\Lmhosts 
#END_ALTERNATE

NOTE: In this example the Lmhosts files from both Lmhostsrv1 and Lmhostsrv2 are parsed.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because the #ALTERNATE_INCLUDE condition is satisfied if one of the #INCLUDE statements is successful. This means that only one Lmhosts file should be parsed. The first successful #INCLUDE statement is the only Lmhosts file that should be parsed, but all Lmhosts files that are pointed to using #INCLUDE statements are parsed.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows NT 4.0.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q102725 LMHOSTS File Information and Predefined Keywords

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbnetwork
Version : winnt:4.0,4.0 SP1,4.0 SP2,4.0 SP3,4.0 SP4,4.0 SP5,4.0 SP6,4.0 SP6a
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug