dk> I am trying to spawn a process using Turbo C 2.0 where
 dk> the executable I am spawning requires the pipe character <
 dk> to define an input file.
 (lots of stuff deleted)

    How about the system() command?  It's more portable and you can
    form and then check the command string before making the system call.

    Trevor D'Arcy-Evans

... Reality is only an approximation to theory.