From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Eric Pement Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.bugs Subject: ediff merge fails on Win2K - RESOLVED! Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2003 11:11:59 -0600 Sender: bug-gnu-emacs-bounces+gnu-bug-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Message-ID: <0HCB0099HEG7PX@email2.moody.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT X-Trace: main.gmane.org 1048613324 5522 80.91.224.249 (25 Mar 2003 17:28:44 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@main.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2003 17:28:44 +0000 (UTC) Original-X-From: bug-gnu-emacs-bounces+gnu-bug-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Tue Mar 25 18:28:41 2003 Return-path: Original-Received: from monty-python.gnu.org ([199.232.76.173]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 18xsD3-0001ML-00 for ; Tue, 25 Mar 2003 18:27:37 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10.13) id 18xsB0-000563-01 for gnu-bug-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Tue, 25 Mar 2003 12:25:30 -0500 Original-Received: from list by monty-python.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.10.13) id 18xrzq-0006kq-00 for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 25 Mar 2003 12:13:58 -0500 Original-Received: from mail by monty-python.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.10.13) id 18xrzP-0006Yn-00 for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 25 Mar 2003 12:13:32 -0500 Original-Received: from smtp.moody.edu ([66.185.253.38] helo=mbigate.moody.edu) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10.13) id 18xry3-0005wI-00 for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 25 Mar 2003 12:12:07 -0500 Original-Received: from smtp.moody.edu by mbigate.moody.edu via smtpd (for mail.gnu.org [199.232.76.166]) with ESMTP; Tue, 25 Mar 2003 11:12:07 -0600 Original-Received: from conversion-daemon.email2.moody.edu by email2.moody.edu (iPlanet Messaging Server 5.2 HotFix 1.05 (built Nov 6 2002)) id <0HCB00B01ED6CX@email2.moody.edu> for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 25 Mar 2003 11:12:07 -0600 (CST) Original-Received: from SW218-ET04 (sw218-et04.moody.edu [66.185.249.144]) by email2.moody.edu (iPlanet Messaging Server 5.2 HotFix 1.05 (built Nov 6 2002)) with ESMTP id <0HCB0099GEG6PX@email2.moody.edu> for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 25 Mar 2003 11:12:07 -0600 (CST) Original-To: bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-BeenThere: bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1b5 Precedence: list List-Id: Bug reports for GNU Emacs, the Swiss army knife of text editors List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Archive: List-Unsubscribe: , Errors-To: bug-gnu-emacs-bounces+gnu-bug-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.bugs:4651 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.bugs:4651 This bug report will be sent to the Free Software Foundation [ ... ] Your bug report will be posted to the bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org mailing list, and to the gnu.emacs.bug news group. Several minutes ago, I sent in a bug report about ediff-merge-files failing on a Win2K machine using GNU Emacs 21.2.1. Specifically, Emacs complained that "diff3.exe" could not be executed, even though "diff3" was the proper version, was on the Windows PATH, and even though ediff-compare-files had worked successfully in the past. As I looked at the error message which I had to paste in with continuation lines because it would have been unreadably long, it occurred to me that perhaps this long line was the cause of the problem. In Windows 2000, the default environment setting for the TEMP variable is "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp". Of course, the %USERPROFILE% is expanded to "C:\Documents and Settings\username", and three copies of this string (plus 3 different filenames) are appended to the diff3 command, thus creating a very long line. Here's how I resolved it: I manually created C:\TEMP (which is not in Windows 2K by default). I altered the TEMP variable to point to C:\TEMP. That's all I did; now everything works. My recommendation: I recommend that the ediff fuction calculate the length of the command line which will be sent to CMD.EXE, before the command is actually sent. If the length of the command line is greater than CMD.EXE allows, issue an error message suggesting that the user reduce the length of the TEMP environment variable. Thanks for listening. -- Eric Pement - pemente[at]northpark.edu, eric.pement[at]moody.edu