Intermediate File Error During Pipe Command (154042)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51

This article was previously published under Q154042

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.

Modification Type:	Major	Last Reviewed:	12/16/2003
Keywords:	KB154042