In Win(/XP), command 'mail' creates empty mail buffer and error "Opening output file: invalid argument...".

In Win(/XP), command 'mail' creates empty mail buffer and error "Opening output file: invalid argument...".

[Laurent Langlois]

The Problem
-----------

Calling 'mail' to compose an email, I get:

  1- an empty '*mail*' buffer, i.e., no Header lines and no
     Separator line ("--text follows this ...") ;

  2- the following error message in the mini-buffer:

       Opening output file: invalid argument, d:/Laurent/#*mail*#2268xvT#

A Workaround
------------

The following workaround seems to work (I was able to send an email to
myself and if you get this, I was able to send you this bug report.)

  I modified the 'mail' function and changed all occurences of "*mail*"
  to "-mail-".

  Hence, (insert (buffer-name)) inserted: -mail-

Thanks.

--
Laurent Langlois
(modest contributor to FSF)

P.S.:  I have been using Emacs for over twenty years now and this is
       the very first time that I am sending a bug report.

       You guys are doing marvellous work.

       Thank you so very very very much !



In GNU Emacs 22.1.1 (i386-mingw-nt5.1.2600)
 of 2007-06-02 on RELEASE
Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 5.1.2600
configured using `configure --with-gcc (3.4) --cflags -Ic:/gnuwin32/include'

Important settings:
  value of $LC_ALL: nil
  value of $LC_COLLATE: nil
  value of $LC_CTYPE: nil
  value of $LC_MESSAGES: nil
  value of $LC_MONETARY: nil
  value of $LC_NUMERIC: nil
  value of $LC_TIME: nil
  value of $LANG: ENU
  locale-coding-system: cp1252
  default-enable-multibyte-characters: t

Major mode: Lisp Interaction

Minor modes in effect:
  icomplete-mode: t
  display-time-mode: t
  encoded-kbd-mode: t
  tooltip-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  menu-bar-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  blink-cursor-mode: t
  unify-8859-on-encoding-mode: t
  utf-translate-cjk-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t
  column-number-mode: t
  line-number-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: t

Recent input:
y M-x m a i l <return> C-M-- <C-f8> s e n d <tab> m 
<tab> a i <tab> l <tab> M-x m a <backspace> C-g C-h 
f m a i l <return> <help-echo> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-2> 
C-SPC <M-right> M-w <f7> * s c <tab> <return> C-y <M-left> 
<f5> * m a i l * <return> - m a i l - <return> SPC 
SPC SPC SPC SPC SPC SPC SPC SPC SPC SPC SPC C-M-x <help-echo> 
<help-echo> <help-echo> <help-echo> <help-echo> <help-echo> 
<help-echo> <menu-bar> <help-menu> <report-emacs-b
ug>

Recent messages:
Quit [2 times]
Loading help-fns...done
Type C-x 1 to remove help window.  
Mark set
Saved text from "(defun mail (&optional noerase to subjec"
Mark set [2 times]
Replaced 12 occurrences
mail
Loading emacsbug...done
Undo!

Re: In Win(/XP), command 'mail' creates empty mail buffer and error "Opening output file: invalid argument...".

[Martin Fischer]

  >>>>> Laurent Langlois writes:
  > Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:55:50 -0500
  > 
  > The Problem
  > -----------
  > 
  > Calling 'mail' to compose an email, I get:
  > 
  >   1- an empty '*mail*' buffer, i.e., no Header lines and no
  >      Separator line ("--text follows this ...") ;
  > 
  >   2- the following error message in the mini-buffer:
  > 
  >        Opening output file: invalid argument, d:/Laurent/#*mail*#2268xvT#
  > 

8<--------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,

no problem here calling emacs with option -Q, same OS, same release.

Martin
-- 
parozusa at web dot de

Re: In Win(/XP), command 'mail' creates empty mail buffer and error "Opening output file: invalid argument...".

[Reiner Steib]

On Thu, Mar 13 2008, Laurent Langlois wrote:

>   2- the following error message in the mini-buffer:
>
>        Opening output file: invalid argument, d:/Laurent/#*mail*#2268xvT#

Sounds like this problem:
<http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel/90166/focus=90493>

> In GNU Emacs 22.1.1 (i386-mingw-nt5.1.2600)
>  of 2007-06-02 on RELEASE
> Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 5.1.2600
> configured using `configure --with-gcc (3.4) --cflags -Ic:/gnuwin32/include'

The latest pretest (22.1.92) should include a patch for this:
<ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/pretest/windows/>

Bye, Reiner.
-- 
       ,,,
      (o o)
---ooO-(_)-Ooo---  |  PGP key available  |  http://rsteib.home.pages.de/

Re: In Win(/XP), command 'mail' creates empty mail buffer and error "Opening output file: invalid argument...".

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Reiner Steib <reinersteib+gmane@imap.cc>
> Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:01:43 +0100
> Cc: bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
> 
> On Thu, Mar 13 2008, Laurent Langlois wrote:
> 
> >   2- the following error message in the mini-buffer:
> >
> >        Opening output file: invalid argument, d:/Laurent/#*mail*#2268xvT#
> 
> Sounds like this problem:
> <http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel/90166/focus=90493>

No, I don't think so: the above was reported in Emacs running on a
Posix platform and accessing an NTFS volume.  Whereas this report is
for a Windows port of Emacs, which already avoids characters (such as
`*') that Windows filesystems disallow.

Personally, I'm clueless as to how this problem could ever happen in
the native Windows build of Emacs.

RE: In Win(/XP), command 'mail' creates empty mail buffer and error "Opening output file: invalid argument...".

[Laurent Langlois]

Reiner, Eli,

Indeed, problem does not occur in 22.1.92.

Thank you all very much.

I am impressed by the speed with which my bug report was processed.

Thanks again.


--
Laurent Langlois
ERAM  ATMA
Adacel Inc.
514-636-6365 ext 353

-----Original Message-----
From: Reiner Steib [mailto:reinersteib+gmane@imap.cc] 
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 6:02 AM
To: Laurent Langlois
Cc: bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
Subject: Re: In Win(/XP), command 'mail' creates empty mail buffer and error
"Opening output file: invalid argument...".

On Thu, Mar 13 2008, Laurent Langlois wrote:

>   2- the following error message in the mini-buffer:
>
>        Opening output file: invalid argument, 
> d:/Laurent/#*mail*#2268xvT#

Sounds like this problem:
<http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel/90166/focus=90493>

> In GNU Emacs 22.1.1 (i386-mingw-nt5.1.2600)  of 2007-06-02 on RELEASE 
> Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 5.1.2600 
> configured using `configure --with-gcc (3.4) --cflags
-Ic:/gnuwin32/include'

The latest pretest (22.1.92) should include a patch for this:
<ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/pretest/windows/>

Bye, Reiner.
-- 
       ,,,
      (o o)
---ooO-(_)-Ooo---  |  PGP key available  |  http://rsteib.home.pages.de/

Re: In Win(/XP), command 'mail' creates empty mail buffer and error "Opening output file: invalid argument...".

[Jason Rumney]

Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> On Thu, Mar 13 2008, Laurent Langlois wrote:
>>
>>     
>>>   2- the following error message in the mini-buffer:
>>>
>>>        Opening output file: invalid argument, d:/Laurent/#*mail*#2268xvT#
>
>
> Personally, I'm clueless as to how this problem could ever happen in
> the native Windows build of Emacs.
>   

My mail from the last few days is coming through out of order and 
severely delayed, so I haven't seen the original report yet. Could it be 
that the user is running the Cygwin version of Emacs?

Re: In Win(/XP), command 'mail' creates empty mail buffer and error "Opening output file: invalid argument...".

[Reiner Steib]

On Sat, Mar 15 2008, Jason Rumney wrote:

> My mail from the last few days is coming through out of order and severely
> delayed, so I haven't seen the original report yet.

You can find the whole thread easily on Gmane.  Take the Message-ID
(w/o `<' and `>') of the article you're replying to, and prepend
"http://mid.gmane.org/" -> http://mid.gmane.org/uod9hij7v.fsf@gnu.org
The click on the Subject line to see the complete thread.

> Could it be that the user is running the Cygwin version of Emacs?

No, it was the (your?) official 22.1 built:

,----
| In GNU Emacs 22.1.1 (i386-mingw-nt5.1.2600)
|  of 2007-06-02 on RELEASE
| Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 5.1.2600
| configured using `configure --with-gcc (3.4) --cflags -Ic:/gnuwin32/include'
`----

Laurent wrote that the problem is fixed in 22.1.92.

Bye, Reiner.
-- 
       ,,,
      (o o)
---ooO-(_)-Ooo---  |  PGP key available  |  http://rsteib.home.pages.de/