SPAWN command bug

[LUH WILLIAM <luhw(at)ecf.utoronto.ca>]

Hi, I'm having trouble with using really long commands with spawn. Here's
an example:

strCommand = '"c:\program files\spectral\spec.exe" ' + $
             string(x) + ' ' + string(y) + ' "' + strOutput + '"'

where x = 25, y = 25 for example

Now call Spawn, strCommand:

Case 1:
-------
for strOutput = '.\OUT\output.dat', everything works fine.

Case 2:
-------
for strOutput =
'c:\program files\spectral\develop\debug exe\output\first\output.dat', I
get
this error message:

% XMANAGER: Caught unexpected error from client application. Message
follows...
% SPAWN: Error executing spawn command.
  A device attached to the system is not functioning.

There appears to be no problem with SPAWN in case 1, and after I quit case
2, I can still call SPAWN without any complaints. I suspect it's because
the command string strCommand is too long, since for shorter strOutput it
works, however after reading the help for SPAWN, I did not find anything
about a limit on the string length of command. Are there any workarounds
to this problem? 

Thanks,
Will