GNU bug report logs - #68583
29.1; Can't find the cat manpage

Previous Next

To reply to this bug, email your comments to 68583 AT debbugs.gnu.org.

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

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

From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:06:20 +0000

M-x man RET cat RET

Can't find the cat manpage



In GNU Emacs 29.1 (build 1, x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.24.38,
cairo version 1.17.8)
Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.12101010
System Description: Arch Linux

Configured using:
'configure --sysconfdir=/etc --prefix=/usr --libexecdir=/usr/lib
--with-tree-sitter --localstatedir=/var --with-cairo
--disable-build-details --with-harfbuzz --with-libsystemd
--with-modules --with-x-toolkit=gtk3 'CFLAGS=-march=x86-64
-mtune=generic -O2 -pipe -fno-plt -fexceptions -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2
-Wformat -Werror=format-security -fstack-clash-protection
-fcf-protection -g
-ffile-prefix-map=/build/emacs/src=/usr/src/debug/emacs -flto=auto'
'LDFLAGS=-Wl,-O1,--sort-common,--as-needed,-z,relro,-z,now -flto=auto''

Configured features:
ACL CAIRO DBUS FREETYPE GIF GLIB GMP GNUTLS GPM GSETTINGS HARFBUZZ JPEG
JSON LCMS2 LIBOTF LIBSYSTEMD LIBXML2 M17N_FLT MODULES NOTIFY INOTIFY
PDUMPER PNG RSVG SECCOMP SOUND SQLITE3 THREADS TIFF TOOLKIT_SCROLL_BARS
TREE_SITTER WEBP X11 XDBE XIM XINPUT2 XPM GTK3 ZLIB

Important settings:
value of $LANG: pl_PL.UTF-8
locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix

Major mode: Message

Minor modes in effect:
shell-dirtrack-mode: t
mml-mode: t
tooltip-mode: t
global-eldoc-mode: t
show-paren-mode: t
electric-indent-mode: t
mouse-wheel-mode: t
tool-bar-mode: t
menu-bar-mode: t
file-name-shadow-mode: t
global-font-lock-mode: t
font-lock-mode: t
blink-cursor-mode: t
line-number-mode: t
auto-fill-function: message-do-auto-fill
transient-mark-mode: (only . t)
auto-composition-mode: t
auto-encryption-mode: t
auto-compression-mode: t
abbrev-mode: t

Load-path shadows:
None found.

Features:
(reveal noutline outline two-column kmacro conf-mode network-stream
url-http url-gw url-auth eww xdg url-queue shr pixel-fill kinsoku
url-file svg dom mm-url gnus nnheader range cus-theme eieio-custom
xwidget url-handlers bookmark wid-browse tree-widget icon server locate
bib-mode tabify w32-vars ebnf2ps ps-print ps-print-loaddefs lpr dos-vars
tramp tramp-loaddefs trampver tramp-integration files-x tramp-compat
parse-time iso8601 format-spec ntlm hmac-md5 hex-util md4 nsm net-utils
ldap kermit gravatar dns url-cache goto-addr gnutls eudc-vars dig dbus
xml bug-reference ange-ftp cus-edit cus-start cus-load icons wid-edit
cl-print debug backtrace display-line-numbers doc-view filenotify
image-mode exif ps-mode sh-script rx smie treesit executable misearch
multi-isearch dired-aux shell pcomplete comint ansi-osc ring find-func
cl-extra shortdoc thingatpt help-fns radix-tree mailalias mailclient
textsec uni-scripts idna-mapping ucs-normalize uni-confusable
textsec-check help-mode pp shadow sort mail-extr emacsbug message
yank-media puny dired dired-loaddefs rfc822 mml mml-sec epa derived epg
rfc6068 epg-config gnus-util text-property-search mm-decode mm-bodies
mm-encode mail-parse rfc2231 mailabbrev gmm-utils mailheader sendmail
rfc2047 rfc2045 ietf-drums mm-util mail-prsvr mail-utils browse-url url
url-proxy url-privacy url-expand url-methods url-history url-cookie
generate-lisp-file url-domsuf url-util url-parse auth-source cl-seq
eieio eieio-core cl-macs password-cache json map byte-opt gv bytecomp
byte-compile url-vars mailcap mule-util jka-compr info time-date subr-x
apropos imenu man cl-loaddefs cl-lib ansi-color rmc iso-transl tooltip
cconv eldoc paren electric uniquify ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type
elisp-mode mwheel term/x-win x-win term/common-win x-dnd tool-bar dnd
fontset image regexp-opt fringe tabulated-list replace newcomment
text-mode lisp-mode prog-mode register page tab-bar menu-bar rfn-eshadow
isearch easymenu timer select scroll-bar mouse jit-lock font-lock syntax
font-core term/tty-colors frame minibuffer nadvice seq simple cl-generic
indonesian philippine cham georgian utf-8-lang misc-lang vietnamese
tibetan thai tai-viet lao korean japanese eucjp-ms cp51932 hebrew greek
romanian slovak czech european ethiopic indian cyrillic chinese
composite emoji-zwj charscript charprop case-table epa-hook
jka-cmpr-hook help abbrev obarray oclosure cl-preloaded button loaddefs
theme-loaddefs faces cus-face macroexp files window text-properties
overlay sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule custom widget keymap
hashtable-print-readable backquote threads dbusbind inotify lcms2
dynamic-setting system-font-setting font-render-setting cairo
move-toolbar gtk x-toolkit xinput2 x multi-tty make-network-process
emacs)

Memory information:
((conses 16 386606 44396)
(symbols 48 18372 4)
(strings 32 79719 5965)
(string-bytes 1 1927498)
(vectors 16 57070)
(vector-slots 8 892335 69394)
(floats 8 440 234)
(intervals 56 13373 1529)
(buffers 984 44))

Message #8 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Manuel Giraud <manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr>
To: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
Cc: 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 11:28:24 +0100

Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl> writes:

> M-x man RET cat RET
>
> Can't find the cat manpage

Hi,

Have you try it starting with emacs -Q?
-- 
Manuel Giraud

Message #11 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
To: Manuel Giraud <manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr>
Cc: 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:31:06 +0000

The problem is MANOPT=-X100-12.  Emacs cannot handle this config.

On 19.01.2024 10:28, Manuel Giraud wrote:
> Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl> writes:
>
>> M-x man RET cat RET
>>
>> Can't find the cat manpage
> Hi,
>
> Have you try it starting with emacs -Q?

Message #14 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Manuel Giraud <manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr>
To: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
Cc: 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 11:40:57 +0100

Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl> writes:

> The problem is MANOPT=-X100-12.  Emacs cannot handle this config.

Ok.  So you want to read man with an external viewer?
-- 
Manuel Giraud

Message #17 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
To: Manuel Giraud <manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr>
Cc: 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:44:18 +0000

gxditview display is more accurate (most of the time) but it cannot mark 
text, so it depends on the content.  Emacs could just unset MANOPT as 
far as I am concerned.

On 19.01.2024 10:40, Manuel Giraud wrote:
> Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl> writes:
>
>> The problem is MANOPT=-X100-12.  Emacs cannot handle this config.
> Ok.  So you want to read man with an external viewer?

Message #20 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 14:01:56 +0200

> Cc: 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:44:18 +0000
> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
> 
> gxditview display is more accurate (most of the time) but it cannot mark 
> text, so it depends on the content.  Emacs could just unset MANOPT as 
> far as I am concerned.

Emacs cannot just unset MANOPT, since that variable could specify
command-line options for the 'man' command other than the ones you
used.

To avoid the problem you describe, I suggest to set MANOPT only in the
init file of interactive shell, so that a non-interactive shell
invoked by Emacs to run shell commands will be unaffected by MANOPT.

I don't think this is an Emacs bug.

Message #23 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:05:03 +0000

In that case, the error message emitted by Emacs is wrong.  Emacs 
assumes that the man process failed for a particular reason, which is 
not the case.

On 19.01.2024 12:01, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> Cc: 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:44:18 +0000
>> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
>>
>> gxditview display is more accurate (most of the time) but it cannot mark
>> text, so it depends on the content.  Emacs could just unset MANOPT as
>> far as I am concerned.
> Emacs cannot just unset MANOPT, since that variable could specify
> command-line options for the 'man' command other than the ones you
> used.
>
> To avoid the problem you describe, I suggest to set MANOPT only in the
> init file of interactive shell, so that a non-interactive shell
> invoked by Emacs to run shell commands will be unaffected by MANOPT.
>
> I don't think this is an Emacs bug.

Message #26 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 14:06:48 +0200

> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:05:03 +0000
> Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
> 
> In that case, the error message emitted by Emacs is wrong.  Emacs 
> assumes that the man process failed for a particular reason, which is 
> not the case.

What is the error message, and why do you think it's wrong?

What would be the right error message in this case?

Message #29 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:17:08 +0000

The error message is literally:

> Can't find the cat manpage

This is the title of this bug report, BTW ;-)

The right error message would be:

> Emacs cannot display the cat manpage, either because it cannot be 
found or because it cannot be rendered.  Try using the command ... to 
diagnose the problem!

Troubleshooting instructions could be included in the mode documentation 
instead.

On 19.01.2024 12:06, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:05:03 +0000
>> Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
>> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
>>
>> In that case, the error message emitted by Emacs is wrong.  Emacs
>> assumes that the man process failed for a particular reason, which is
>> not the case.
> What is the error message, and why do you think it's wrong?
>
> What would be the right error message in this case?

Message #32 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 14:41:19 +0200

severity 68583 wishlist
thanks

> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:17:08 +0000
> Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
> 
> The error message is literally:
> 
>  > Can't find the cat manpage
> 
> This is the title of this bug report, BTW ;-)

Yes, but it was not clear from the report that it is also the text of
the error message you see.  Thus my question.

> The right error message would be:
> 
>  > Emacs cannot display the cat manpage, either because it cannot be 
> found or because it cannot be rendered.  Try using the command ... to 
> diagnose the problem!

But that's not what happened.  man.el actually tries to find the man
page by itself, and displays that message if it fails.

> Troubleshooting instructions could be included in the mode documentation 
> instead.

Patches to make the diagnostic smarter in this case, including
figuring out what to use instead of "..." above, are welcome.

Message #37 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:46:57 +0000

If the code in man.el tried to find the manual page by itself, it would 
not fail because the manual page is there. It succeeds if MANOPT is not 
set and my MANOPT should not affect the manual page search algorithm.

On 19.01.2024 12:41, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> But that's not what happened.  man.el actually tries to find the man
> page by itself, and displays that message if it fails.
>

Message #40 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 16:32:26 +0200

> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:46:57 +0000
> Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
> 
> If the code in man.el tried to find the manual page by itself, it would 
> not fail because the manual page is there. It succeeds if MANOPT is not 
> set and my MANOPT should not affect the manual page search algorithm.

That depends on how we try to find the manual page(s).  The
implementation calls 'man' in a special way, which evidently fails
under the value of MANOPT you set.

Message #43 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 15:18:04 +0000

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

M-x setenv RET MANOPT RET -X100-12 RET M-x man RET man RET

This command shows the manual page for man in a new gxditview window. 
Emacs cannot display the manual page because it has not been rendered to 
text. But the error message is "Can't find the cat manpage". The message 
is wrong. Emacs did not try to find the cat manpage, it tried to 
retrieve it and it did not work.

On 19.01.2024 14:32, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:46:57 +0000
>> Cc:manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr,68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
>> From: Christopher Yeleighton<giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
>>
>> If the code in man.el tried to find the manual page by itself, it would
>> not fail because the manual page is there. It succeeds if MANOPT is not
>> set and my MANOPT should not affect the manual page search algorithm.
> That depends on how we try to find the manual page(s).  The
> implementation calls 'man' in a special way, which evidently fails
> under the value of MANOPT you set.

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #46 received at 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68583: 29.1; Can't find the cat manpage
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 15:21:49 +0000

M-x setenv RET MANOPT RET -X100-12 RET M-x man RET man RET

This command shows the manual page for man in a new gxditview window.
Emacs cannot display the manual page because it has not been rendered to
text. But the error message is "Can't find the man manpage". The message
is wrong. Emacs did not try to find the man manpage, it tried to
retrieve it and it did not work.

On 19.01.2024 14:32, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:46:57 +0000
>> Cc: manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr, 68583 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
>> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
>>
>> If the code in man.el tried to find the manual page by itself, it would
>> not fail because the manual page is there. It succeeds if MANOPT is not
>> set and my MANOPT should not affect the manual page search algorithm.
> That depends on how we try to find the manual page(s).  The
> implementation calls 'man' in a special way, which evidently fails
> under the value of MANOPT you set.

Previous Next

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