Re: [SLUG] Bash Script - Solved

From: Paul M Foster (paulf@quillandmouse.com)
Date: Tue May 31 2005 - 00:44:22 EDT


On Tue, May 31, 2005 at 12:10:26AM -0400, Bob Stia wrote:

> On Monday 30 May 2005 10:27, Eben King wrote:
> > On Mon, 30 May 2005, Paul M Foster wrote:
> > > I agree, you should recreate the script in something that won't
> > > mess with the content. There are tons of programs like this,
> > > designed strictly to output straight text. Most of them are console
> > > programs. There are vi, emacs, nano, pico, joe, vim, etc. etc.
> >
> > Unless you want to learn vi(m) or emacs, I recommend a WYSIWYG
> > editor, such as nano, pico, nedit, etc. Be sure to tell it _not_ to
> > wrap long lines.
>
> Eben, Paul, Rob and others who kindly tried to help me with this strange
> problem.
>
> It is finally solved but I really don't know why. Has to do with some
> strange hidden commands unseen in the script. I discovered it when I
> posted the script to a webpage for Eben to look at. And it only showed
> up in the webpage composer.
>
> When I put the script text onto the webpage composer I noticed some
> strange html markup in the script. Grey vertical lines before and after
> text within the script. Tonight I took the script text that Paul had
> composed an put it on an html page in the webpage composer. Same
> strange grey vertical lines in the html markup. So, there was something
> in there that was hidden even to Paul.

Glad you got this solved!

I checked the copy of the script I sent you privately in hex before
sending it. There was nothing untoward about it, nothing there that
shouldn't have been. Your response then tells me two things. First,
there _was_ something hidden in your original script (not the one I sent
you); I was incorrect in thinking that it was carriage returns. Second,
your email setup is hacking this stuff up. You mentioned in an email to
me that running the copy of the script I sent you gave you the same
errors. Since I can vouch for what left my machine by email, something
happened to it between the time it arrived at your machine and the time
you tried to run it, that put errant characters in it. Assuming you
simply saved the attachment I sent you to disk (note: saving an
attachment is not the same as cutting and pasting), possibly gave it
executable permissions, and then ran it, it could only be your email
setup that's messing with the content. I don't use Kmail, so I don't
know what crimes it's capable of. But you might want to check your
settings. (Theoretically, it could be your POP server on the internet,
or any other email plumbing you have on your machine, like procmail or
SpamAssassin. But I'd opt first for Kmail.)

Anyway, at least you got it solved and learned some stuff in the
process.

Paul

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