GNU bug report logs - #79455
"Value ‘1’ does not match type boolean" should mention which variable

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

From: "R. Diez" <rdiez-2006 <at> rd10.de>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: "Value ‘1’ does not match type boolean" should mention which variable
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 08:30:22 +0200

Hi all:

I recently upgraded from Emacs 29 to 30, and I got the following warning in the *Warnings* buffer:

Warning (emacs): Value ‘1’ does not match type boolean

I am no Lisp expert, but I still have accumulated a biggish configuration over the years, so it took me a while to find the culprit:

(setopt inhibit-startup-screen 1)

I then changed '1' to 't', and the problem went away.

The trouble is, I lost quite a lot of time to this trivial matter. I am thinking that other people could encounter the same issue and lose time too.

Could you mention the variable name in the error message? Like this:

Warning (emacs): When setting variable ‘whatever-variable’: Value ‘1’ does not match type boolean

In my software, I normally do a try/catch to add such a prefix, so no matter what error is raised, the culprit is always mentioned.

Regards,
  rdiez

Message #10 received at 79455-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: "R. Diez" <rdiez-2006 <at> rd10.de>
Cc: 79455-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#79455: "Value ‘1’ does not match type
 boolean" should mention which variable
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:13:26 +0300

> Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 08:30:22 +0200
> From:  "R. Diez" via "Bug reports for GNU Emacs,
>  the Swiss army knife of text editors" <bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org>
> 
> Hi all:
> 
> I recently upgraded from Emacs 29 to 30, and I got the following warning in the *Warnings* buffer:
> 
> Warning (emacs): Value ‘1’ does not match type boolean
> 
> I am no Lisp expert, but I still have accumulated a biggish configuration over the years, so it took me a while to find the culprit:
> 
> (setopt inhibit-startup-screen 1)
> 
> I then changed '1' to 't', and the problem went away.
> 
> The trouble is, I lost quite a lot of time to this trivial matter. I am thinking that other people could encounter the same issue and lose time too.
> 
> Could you mention the variable name in the error message? Like this:
> 
> Warning (emacs): When setting variable ‘whatever-variable’: Value ‘1’ does not match type boolean

Thanks, this is bug#73084, which is already fixed on the master branch
(which will eventually become Emacs 31).  On the master branch, Emacs
says this instead:

  Warning (emacs): Value ‘1’ for variable ‘inhibit-startup-screen’ does not match its type "boolean"

So I'm closing this bug.

Message #13 received at 79455 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com>
To: <bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 79455 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, "R. Diez" <rdiez-2006 <at> rd10.de>
Subject: Re: bug#79455: "Value ‘1’ does not match type
 boolean" should mention which variable
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 14:16:35 +0200

>>>>> On Tue, 16 Sep 2025 08:30:22 +0200, "R. Diez" via "Bug reports for GNU Emacs, the Swiss army knife of text editors" <bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org> said:

    rdiez> Hi all:
    rdiez> I recently upgraded from Emacs 29 to 30, and I got the following warning in the *Warnings* buffer:

    rdiez> Warning (emacs): Value ‘1’ does not match type boolean

    rdiez> I am no Lisp expert, but I still have accumulated a biggish configuration over the years, so it took me a while to find the culprit:

    rdiez> (setopt inhibit-startup-screen 1)

    rdiez> I then changed '1' to 't', and the problem went away.

    rdiez> The trouble is, I lost quite a lot of time to this trivial matter. I
    rdiez> am thinking that other people could encounter the same issue and lose
    rdiez> time too.

    rdiez> Could you mention the variable name in the error message? Like this:

    rdiez> Warning (emacs): When setting variable ‘whatever-variable’: Value ‘1’ does not match type boolean

Emacs 31 has changed it to this:

      (warn "Value `%S' for variable `%s' does not match its type \"%s\""
            value variable type)

Robert
-- 

Message #19 received at 79455-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "R. Diez" <rdiez-2006 <at> rd10.de>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com>, 79455-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#79455: "Value ‘1’ does not match type boolean" should mention which variable
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:18:21 +0200

[..]
> Thanks, this is bug#73084, which is already fixed on the master branch
> (which will eventually become Emacs 31).

First of all, thanks for the info.

That improvement was done over a year ago, and I hit this shortcoming the other day, after upgrading to the newest Emacs.

It is a trivial change. Therefore, I wouldn't wait until Emacs 31, and then let many users switching to Emacs 30.x (perhaps over a Linux distribution package) unnecessarily scratch their heads.

Message #22 received at 79455 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com>
To: "R. Diez" <rdiez-2006 <at> rd10.de>
Cc: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>, 79455 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#79455: "Value ‘1’ does not match type
 boolean" should mention which variable
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:45:15 +0200

>>>>> On Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:18:21 +0200, "R. Diez" <rdiez-2006 <at> rd10.de> said:

    R> [..]
    >> Thanks, this is bug#73084, which is already fixed on the master branch
    >> (which will eventually become Emacs 31).

    R> First of all, thanks for the info.

    R> That improvement was done over a year ago, and I hit this shortcoming the other day, after upgrading to the newest Emacs.

    R> It is a trivial change. Therefore, I wouldn't wait until Emacs 31, and
    R> then let many users switching to Emacs 30.x (perhaps over a Linux
    R> distribution package) unnecessarily scratch their heads.

Iʼm not sure there will ever be another release of Emacs 30.

Eli, I can backport 2ce0d397b12c to emacs-30 if you think it makes
sense.

Robert
-- 

Message #25 received at 79455 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: "R. Diez" <rdiez-2006 <at> rd10.de>
Cc: rpluim <at> gmail.com, 79455 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#79455: "Value ‘1’ does not match type
 boolean" should mention which variable
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 18:43:11 +0300

> X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.901 required=6.31 tests=[ALL_TRUSTED=-1,
> 	BAYES_00=-1.9, SPF_PASS=-0.001] autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no
> Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:18:21 +0200
> Cc: 79455-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com>
> From: "R. Diez" <rdiez-2006 <at> rd10.de>
> 
> [..]
> > Thanks, this is bug#73084, which is already fixed on the master branch
> > (which will eventually become Emacs 31).
> 
> First of all, thanks for the info.
> 
> That improvement was done over a year ago, and I hit this shortcoming the other day, after upgrading to the newest Emacs.
> 
> It is a trivial change. Therefore, I wouldn't wait until Emacs 31, and then let many users switching to Emacs 30.x (perhaps over a Linux distribution package) unnecessarily scratch their heads.

Sorry, our rule is no enhancements on the release branch.  We paid
with sweat, blood, and tears to learn that simple truth.

You can always apply that change locally and rebuild Emacs 30 for your
needs.

Message #28 received at 79455 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com>
Cc: rdiez-2006 <at> rd10.de, 79455 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#79455: "Value ‘1’ does not match type
 boolean" should mention which variable
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 18:45:50 +0300

> From: Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com>
> Cc: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>,  79455 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:45:15 +0200
> 
> >>>>> On Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:18:21 +0200, "R. Diez" <rdiez-2006 <at> rd10.de> said:
> 
>     R> [..]
>     >> Thanks, this is bug#73084, which is already fixed on the master branch
>     >> (which will eventually become Emacs 31).
> 
>     R> First of all, thanks for the info.
> 
>     R> That improvement was done over a year ago, and I hit this shortcoming the other day, after upgrading to the newest Emacs.
> 
>     R> It is a trivial change. Therefore, I wouldn't wait until Emacs 31, and
>     R> then let many users switching to Emacs 30.x (perhaps over a Linux
>     R> distribution package) unnecessarily scratch their heads.
> 
> Iʼm not sure there will ever be another release of Emacs 30.
> 
> Eli, I can backport 2ce0d397b12c to emacs-30 if you think it makes
> sense.

It doesn't make much sense, since we don't plan any more releases from
the emacs-30 branch.  And even if we do need to release from that
branch for some reason, this is not a bugfix, it's an enhancement.
Which is why it was done on the master branch to begin with.

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