From: firewind <firewind AT metroid DOT dyn DOT ml DOT org>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject: Re: Executing a program and obtaining its return value
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 21:15:30 -0600
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On Wed, 8 Apr 1998, John M. Aldrich wrote:

> system()'s return value is the program's exit code.  If this doesn't
> seem to work for you, post a small example that demonstrates it.  I have
> done it myself with success.

Well, almost; system() returns whatever the command processor returns, which
may or may not be what the executed program returned. MS-DOS's 'command.com,'
for instance, is infamous for providing not-quite-accurate return codes.

> There are two major problems.  The first is that the program's exit code
> is only 8 bytes in the operating system, 

It is? How do you know? (Oh, wait-- this is a crosspost. Nevermind. :)

-- 
(initiator of the campaign for grumpiness where grumpiness is due in c.l.c)

Attempting to write in a hybrid which can be compiled by either a C compiler
or a C++ compiler produces a compromise language which combines the drawbacks
of both with the advantages of neither.
    -- John Winters <john AT polo DOT demon DOT co DOT uk> in comp.lang.c