Can anyone please explain why it is that the following program will run as expected:

use strict;
use Win32::Process;
use Win32;

Win32::Process::Create($Win32::Process::Create::ProcessObj,
    "/my files/jim/perl monks/tkwarn.exe", # path to executable
    '',                                    # command line args
    0,                                     # Don't inherit stuff
    DETACHED_PROCESS,                      # flags for creation
    "C:/my files/jim/perl monks") or       # current dir.
die print_error();

sub print_error() {
    return Win32::FormatMessage( Win32::GetLastError() );
}
[download]

Yet, if I make a slight change:

    "C:/my files/jim/perl monks/tkwarn.exe", # path to executable
[download]

I get the error message:

    The system cannot find the file specified.
[download]

Now ordinarily I wouldn't think this was so strange, except the Perl Cookbook has the example:

# loader - starts Perl scripts without the annoying DOS window
use strict;
use Win32;
use Win32::Process;

# Create the process object.

Win32::Process::Create($Win32::Process::Create::ProcessObj,
    'C:/perl5/bin/perl.exe',            # Whereabouts of Perl
    'perl realprogram',                 #
    0,                                  # Don't inherit.
    DETACHED_PROCESS,                   #
    ".") or                             # current dir.
die print_error();

sub print_error() {
    return Win32::FormatMessage( Win32::GetLastError() );
}
[download]

I wondered if the "current dir" path I gave would cause a similar problem so I gave an invalid directory for "current dir" and received an error message:

    The directory name is invalid.
[download]

So . . . it likes "C:" in the current dir spec, but not in the executable file spec? If anyone could help me to understand this I would be most grateful.

"It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one's doubts." -- G. B. Burgin

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