GNU bug report logs - #54612
29.0.50; eww-bookmarks data loss when print-length not nil

Previous Next

To add a comment to this bug, you must first unarchive it, by sending
a message to control AT debbugs.gnu.org, with unarchive 54612 in the body.
You can then email your comments to 54612 AT debbugs.gnu.org in the normal way.

Toggle the display of automated, internal messages from the tracker.

Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Thomas Fitzsimmons <fitzsim <at> fitzsim.org>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: 29.0.50; eww-bookmarks data loss when print-length not nil
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2022 10:49:36 -0400

Hi,

In GNU Emacs 29.0.50 (build 1, powerpc64le-unknown-linux-gnu, X toolkit, cairo version 1.16.0, Xaw scroll bars)
 of 2022-02-27 built on orca.fitzsim.org
Repository revision: 6a10a3e8d489d7b4dcffd6b4c63cee77e73e2535
Repository branch: master
Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.12011000
System Description: Debian GNU/Linux bookworm/sid

Configured using:
 'configure --with-x-toolkit=lucid'

Somehow print-length got set to 10 globally -- I don't know who the
culprit was -- and I lost about 80 EWW bookmarks.  I've looked around
and they seem to have been well and truly purged from this Emacs
session's memory.  I'll have to restore from backups, I suppose.

When a bookmark is added, and print-length is less than the length of
eww-bookmarks, the contents of ~/.emacs.d/eww-bookmarks is truncated:

;; Auto-generated file; don't edit -*- mode: lisp-data -*-
((:url "" :title "" :time "")
 [(- print-length 1) more items]
 ...)

I haven't investigated fully, but it seems like a terrible design that a
global variable like print-length can have influence over princ/print in
this way.  This makes all printing fundamentally unreliable and subject
to data loss if some rogue package or the end user goes (setq
print-length <some small number>).

What about this to at least insulate eww-write-bookmarks from this
behaviour:

diff --git a/lisp/net/eww.el b/lisp/net/eww.el
index 700a6c3e82..f5139819fb 100644
--- a/lisp/net/eww.el
+++ b/lisp/net/eww.el
@@ -2053,7 +2053,8 @@ eww-add-bookmark
 (defun eww-write-bookmarks ()
   (with-temp-file (expand-file-name "eww-bookmarks" eww-bookmarks-directory)
     (insert ";; Auto-generated file; don't edit -*- mode: lisp-data -*-\n")
-    (pp eww-bookmarks (current-buffer))))
+    (let ((print-length nil))
+      (pp eww-bookmarks (current-buffer)))))
 
 (defun eww-read-bookmarks (&optional error-out)
   "Read bookmarks from `eww-bookmarks'.

I'm not sure what a more general solution to the
print-length/print-level data loss problem could be.

Thomas

Message #8 received at 54612 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Thomas Fitzsimmons <fitzsim <at> fitzsim.org>
Cc: 54612 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#54612: 29.0.50; eww-bookmarks data loss when print-length
 not nil
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2022 14:35:11 +0200

Thomas Fitzsimmons <fitzsim <at> fitzsim.org> writes:

> What about this to at least insulate eww-write-bookmarks from this
> behaviour:

Thanks, applied to Emacs 29 (along with a binding of print-level, which
has a similar issue).

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

Previous Next

GNU bug tracking system
Copyright (C) 1999 Darren O. Benham, 1997,2003 nCipher Corporation Ltd, 1994-97 Ian Jackson.