Q36570: Percent (%) Character in Filenames

Article: Q36570
Product(s): See article
Version(s): 1.00   | 1.00
Operating System(s): MS-DOS | OS/2
Keyword(s): ENDUSER | buglist1.00 | mspl13_basic
Last Modified: 20-OCT-1988

The Microsoft Editor cannot handle a percent sign as the first
character in the filename (%test.dat). While this is a valid DOS
filename, it will cause garbage to be printed on the status line and
may generate a run-time error.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Version 1.00. We are
researching this problem and will post new information as it becomes
available.

If you fill a line with 250 characters (the maximum), then press HOME
to go to the beginning of the line and delete the line by pressing
CTRL-Y, the editor will crash with the following error:

        run-time error R6003
        -integer divide by 0

Both of the above problems only occur when a percent sign is used as
the first character in the filename. To work around this problem, do
not use the percent sign as the first character.