Elixir fails to be compiled under dir with :

[matwey]

The issue may be raised as following:

> mkdir c:dir
> cd c\:dir/
> git clone git@github.com:elixir-lang/elixir.git
> cd elixir/
> make
==> elixir (compile)
Compiled src/elixir_parser.yrl
Compiled src/elixir_aliases.erl
[skip]
Compiled lib/elixir/lib/kernel/record_rewriter.ex
Compiled lib/elixir/lib/module/dispatch_tracker.ex
==> kernel (compile)
{"init terminating in do_boot",{undef,[{elixir,start_cli,[],[]},{init,start_it,1,[]},{init,start_em,1,[]}]}}

Crash dump was written to: erl_crash.dump
init terminating in do_boot ()

[josevalim]

Just to double check, that's against Elixir master? This issue has been recently fixed. :)

[josevalim]

Doh, ignore me. Yeah, it is a bug. :)

[josevalim]

This may be a bug in Erlang. I couldn't find a way to feed a path with : into the VM. They don't seem to handle escape characters. Try this:

ERL_LIBS="/FULL_PATH_TO/c:dir/elixir/lib" erl -s elixir start_cli

I tried different combinations with \\: and none of them seemed to work.

[dvv]

Aint colon is path delimiter?
05.07.2013 14:04 пользователь "José Valim" notifications@github.com
написал:

This may be a bug in Erlang. I couldn't find a way to feed a path with :into the VM. They don't seem to handle escape characters. Try this:

ERL_LIBS="/FULL_PATH_TO/c:dir/elixir/lib" erl -s elixir start_cli

I tried different combinations with : and none of them seemed to work.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com//issues/1375#issuecomment-20510270
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[matwey]

@dvy, what do you mean? In linux, I am permitted to create files with any characters except the slash '/', including of course a colon.

[josevalim]

When we pass it to Erlang, Erlang considers it to be a path delimiter. That's the root issue, similar to what would have happened if we set it in $PATH. However, $PATH seems to handle the escape character just fine but Erlang does not.

[matwey]

Yep, I see. Have to fill the ticket at Erlang/OTP.

[nox]

Character : is a path delimiter. Bash itself does not understand paths containing : in $PATH 1.

$ mkdir foo:bar
$ cd foo\:bar/
$ ln -s $(which true) gagagou
$ cd -
/Users/nox
$ gagagou
-bash: gagagou: command not found
$ export PATH="`pwd`/foo\:bar:$PATH"
$ echo $PATH
/Users/nox/foo\:bar:...
$ gagagou
-bash: gagagou: command not found
$ mv foo:bar foobar
$ export PATH="`pwd`/foobar:$PATH"
$ gagagou
$ echo $?
0

Using colons in a path is like using spaces: asking for problems.

[josevalim]

@nox I just verified that indeed $PATH cannot handle : even if escaped. Thanks @nox!

[dvv]

mkdir "c:foo" creates foo in current dir if disk is c, and fails unless,
under windows. given that, I doubt this issue is the issue. (in contrary to
spaces in paths)
05.07.2013 18:10 пользователь "José Valim" notifications@github.com
написал:

@nox https://github.com/nox I just verified that indeed $PATH cannot
handle : even if escaped. Thanks @nox https://github.com/nox!

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Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com//issues/1375#issuecomment-20520721
.

[matwey]

Under windows, semicolon is used as path-separation in ERL_LIBS. Initial was related to Linux.

[matwey]

Ok, seems this has to be closed as nonfixable, but the error message must be something different than:

{"init terminating in do_boot",{undef,[{elixir,start_cli,[],[]},{init,start_it,1,[]},{init,start_em,1,[]}]}}

because this is no way point to real issue.