Forum OpenACS Q&A: files not found in package

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1: files not found in package
Posted by Matthew Smith on 06/05/08 02:38 PM
I am working on a small package. In my index.tcl, there is this line of code:

source classrequestvalidator.tcl

When I try to bring up the directory root, I get this error:

couldn't read file "classrequestvalidator.tcl": no such file or directory

The file is in there, and I have gone into package manager and clicked "watch all files" and "reload changed".

The program works fine in my tcl editor, so I'm not sure what is going on.

Thanks for any help.

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2: Re: files not found in package (response to 1)
Posted by Dave Bauer on 06/05/08 02:44 PM
Is the classrequestvalidator.tcl is in the same directory as index.tcl?

Using watch all files or reload changed only works on tcl libraries in the package /tcl directory. You would not need to source those files since they are sourced on startup and the procedures within they are available.

If your file is not in the tcl directory for the package, I would recommend putting reusable code there, and putting the code into tcl procedures for easier reuse.

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3: Re: files not found in package (response to 2)
Posted by Matthew Smith on 06/05/08 03:00 PM
Yes, the file is in the same directory as index.tcl. I guess I can move the code into the tcl directory, but I would really like to know why this isn't working.

thank you.

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4: Re: files not found in package (response to 2)
Posted by Matthew Smith on 06/05/08 03:06 PM
The problem I have run into is that there are actually four files being sourced. Two are for procs, which I guess will work fine, but the other two are classes.

I am now getting this error:
invalid command name "backendrequestclass"

So I guess the class declaration won't work from the tcl directory. I would rather get the source command to work.

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5: Re: files not found in package (response to 3)
Posted by Derick Leony on 06/05/08 03:13 PM
When you refer to files located in the file system, the paths are relative to the AOLserver homedir parameter. Using absolute paths is usually the best.

As Dave mentioned, having your procs in the tcl directory is the way to go.

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6: Re: files not found in package (response to 5)
Posted by Matthew Smith on 06/05/08 03:19 PM
But what about class declarations? Is my only option to have all the code declaring the class in the file that uses it? That would seem to hamper reusability...

Could you give an example of what the absolute path might look like?

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7: Re: files not found in package (response to 1)
Posted by Dave Bauer on 06/05/08 03:22 PM
You declare classes in the tcl library. See xotcl-core and xowiki packages for extensive examples of how this works.

They are created on server startup and available to all code after that.

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8: Re: files not found in package (response to 6)
Posted by Derick Leony on 06/05/08 03:28 PM
First, a correction: the parameter is "home", AOLserver's home directory.

I'm not sure where would be the best place to store your class declarations but I guess a -proc file in the tcl directory would work well. Check the files in xowiki/tcl, for example the Page class definition in xowoki-procs.tcl.

About absolute paths, something like /home/user/myfile.ext, check the api-doc to find some procs to get the server and package important directories, but you might not need this anyways :)

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9: Re: files not found in package (response to 6)
Posted by Stefan Sobernig on 06/05/08 03:33 PM
Matthew,


Is my only option to have all the code declaring the class in the file that uses it?

Definitely not, XOTcl object declarations (as Tcl procs) go into tcl/*-procs.tcl files and are provided to all request-serving threads ("connection threads") through the AOLserver blueprinting mechanism. As for the development cycle, stage your code in www/* scripts, once consolidated, move them to *-procs.tcl to have them served for a wider scope.

Btw., may I give you an advise. Try to manage your code in a publicly browsable location, so when posting questions, you may refer to your package structure/ code. this opens many opportunities to help out more effectively.

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10: Re: files not found in package (response to 8)
Posted by Matthew Smith on 06/05/08 03:46 PM
I have moved the files into the tcl directory and renamred them to end with -proc.tcl. However I am still getting an error:invalid command name "backendrequestclass".
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11: Re: files not found in package (response to 1)
Posted by Dave Bauer on 06/05/08 03:50 PM
Assuming you either restarted aolserver, or clicked reload and watch this file in the APM you should check the aolserver error log for problems while loading the tcl file.

If that doesn't work, check to make sure you don't have any typos in your code.

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12: Re: files not found in package (response to 11)
Posted by Matthew Smith on 06/05/08 04:00 PM
I have moved everything back into the www directory and am trying to get it to work from there.

I am trying the absolute path method.

I have tried both of these without success:
var/lib/aolserver/dodss-cleat/packages/usace-rest/www/classrequestvalidator.tcl
/var/lib/aolserver/dodss-cleat/packages/usace-rest/www/classrequestvalidator.tcl

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13: Re: files not found in package (response to 8)
Posted by Matthew Smith on 06/05/08 04:55 PM
Where in the api doc should I be looking? I looked around but didn't see anything?

Thanks.

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14: Re: files not found in package (response to 12)
Posted by Dave Bauer on 06/05/08 04:59 PM
If you get file not found with the full absolute path ie:
/var/lib/aolserver/dodss-cleat/packages/usace-rest/www/classrequestvalidator.tcl
assuming the path is typed correctly, and the file exists, if it is still not found, you should check the file permissions to make sure the AOLserver can read it.
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15: Re: files not found in package (response to 14)
Posted by Matthew Smith on 06/05/08 06:22 PM
I have it working with the absolute path:
/var/lib/aolserver/dodss-cleat/packages/usace-rest/www/xmlconverter/classrequestvalidator.tcl

Any guess as to why just the file name will not work, and why having the whole absolute path does work?

My thanks to everyone for all the help, especially how fast everyone responded.

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16: Re: files not found in package (response to 1)
Posted by Dave Bauer on 06/05/08 07:13 PM
I suspect its because the current working directory of the embedded tcl interpreter is NOT the www directory where the intex.tcl file is.
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17: Re: files not found in package (response to 10)
Posted by Stefan Sobernig on 06/05/08 07:39 PM
Matthew


-proc.tcl

Either this is a typo in your posting or you simply got it wrong: it is supposed to be *-proc>s<.tcl, don't forget about the "s".

Again, if you could make your package structure/ code available for browsing, it would be tremendously easier and would save time (at both ends ;)

//s

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18: Re: files not found in package (response to 17)
Posted by Matthew Smith on 06/05/08 07:45 PM
Sorry, I'm behind a firewall that makes what you suggest impossible.

I did have it wrong, I forgot the s.

Thanks for the help.