emacs freezes - how to troubleshoot, build with assertions

emacs freezes - how to troubleshoot, build with assertions

[Jarek Czekalski]

Emacs freezes when using scroll bar with mouse. I'd like to pin it down, 
but I can't see a starting place. Tried searching info for "assert" and 
"freez", searched "configure" options for "ass". Still no idea how to 
debug it. I guess I have to build Emacs with assertions.

I am a bit frustrated when I have to ask the list because I can't find 
the starting point. Is the info hidden somewhere or absent at all? If 
this is absent, could you please put it somewhere?

Thanks,
Jarek

Re: emacs freezes - how to troubleshoot, build with assertions

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 13:22:23 +0100
> From: Jarek Czekalski <jarekczek@poczta.onet.pl>
> 
> Emacs freezes when using scroll bar with mouse. I'd like to pin it down, 
> but I can't see a starting place. Tried searching info for "assert" and 
> "freez", searched "configure" options for "ass". Still no idea how to 
> debug it.

The usual way to debug freezes is to attach the debugger to the frozen
process, and produce a backtrace.  Also, etc/DEBUG describes how to
debug infinite loops (if that is what's happening); search for "If the
symptom of the bug is that Emacs fails to respond".

> I guess I have to build Emacs with assertions.

That is always the preferred way, when you are running the development
code.

> I am a bit frustrated when I have to ask the list because I can't find 
> the starting point. Is the info hidden somewhere or absent at all? If 
> this is absent, could you please put it somewhere?

Is the above the starting point you were looking for?  If not, please
elaborate about what would you like to find as a starting point.

Re: emacs freezes - how to troubleshoot, build with assertions

[Jarek Czekalski]

W dniu 11/02/2013 01:52 PM, Eli Zaretskii pisze:
> That is always the preferred way, when you are running the development 
> code.

Please tell me how to do it. Can't find it in the files you pointed out.

> Is the above the starting point you were looking for? If not, please 
> elaborate about what would you like to find as a starting point. 

There are several places which a new developer should visit. Some I know 
(you told me about them today) are these:
1. Info "Sending patches"
2. etc directory

I would like these places to be mentioned in a development wiki. The 
wiki could be placed (or at list linked to) at savannah, as savannah is 
the place linked to directly from gnu.org/software/emacs. If someone 
complains about missing info, it would be added to wiki. Soon wiki 
becomes a good starting point. The time required to build it is like 
half an hour.

For example I started to gather some info here:
https://sourceforge.net/p/emacspeakwin/wiki/Development%20Information/
In simplest case this wiki page may be renamed to "Emacs developer's 
guide" and linked from savannah as "See also Emacs Developer's Guide".

Jarek

Re: emacs freezes - how to troubleshoot, build with assertions

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 15:22:21 +0100
> From: Jarek Czekalski <jarekczek@poczta.onet.pl>
> 
> W dniu 11/02/2013 01:52 PM, Eli Zaretskii pisze:
> > That is always the preferred way, when you are running the development 
> > code.
> 
> Please tell me how to do it. Can't find it in the files you pointed out.

You are supposed to run "./configure --help" to find what
configure-time options  exist.  In general, I suggest to always run
that command the first time you unpack a package archive.

Re: emacs freezes - how to troubleshoot, build with assertions

[Xue Fuqiao]

On Sat, Nov 2, 2013 at 10:22 PM, Jarek Czekalski
<jarekczek@poczta.onet.pl> wrote:
> There are several places which a new developer should visit. Some I know
> (you told me about them today) are these:
> 1. Info "Sending patches"
> 2. etc directory

And these ones (at least), I think:

http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/
https://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/html_node/Legal-Matters.html#Legal-Matters
http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/BzrForEmacsDevs
(info "(elisp) Tips")
admin/notes

> I would like these places to be mentioned in a development wiki. The wiki
> could be placed (or at list linked to) at savannah, as savannah is the place
> linked to directly from gnu.org/software/emacs. If someone complains about
> missing info, it would be added to wiki. Soon wiki becomes a good starting
> point. The time required to build it is like half an hour.

I wrote a contributing guide[fn:1] before, but I deleted it later
because it is too verbose[fn:2].  I plan to write some other things
about contributing to Emacs now: an Emacs Lisp refcard, an Emacs Lisp
FAQ, and an Emacs hacker guide[fn:3].

Footnotes:

[fn:1] http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2013-04/msg00604.html

[fn:2] http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2013-04/msg00659.html

[fn:3] Only for Emacs Dev, so it is not like the one above.  Many people
       in Emacs Dev have expressed their wish for this document, like:
       http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2013-04/msg00660.html
       http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2013-09/msg00616.html

-- 
Best regards, Xue Fuqiao.
http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/