Question

• TWiki version:20030201
• Perl version:5.6
• Web server & version:Apache/1.3.27
• Server OS:Linux
• Web browser & version:
• Client OS:

I am running on a virtual host. Diff is not behaving properly. This is what I get when I diff Main.WebHome

-- MattVargas - 04 Feb 2003

Answer

It looks like there is a problem with the GNU diff. Is it installed, is TWiki.cfg configured correctly? what is the testenv utility reporting?

-- PeterThoeny - 04 Feb 2003

diff (GNU diffutils) 2.7.2 is installed. TWiki.cfg is configured well enough that everything else works. testenv reports this: diff:GNU diff was found on the PATH - this is the recommended diff tool.Note: The 'diff' command is used by RCS to compare files.

I had to manually install rcs to get versioning to work. Now that $rcsDir is defined correctly rcs works. Is there a similar setting for diff?

-- MattVargas - 04 Feb 2003

I believe the path to diff is hardcoded, e.g. determined at compile time of rcs. This can cause problems in case your http user has not the same environment like your own account.

-- PeterThoeny - 08 Feb 2003

Good point about hard coding, didn't realise this - you can run following command on Unix/Linux or CygWin to find the hard-coded path used by RCS:

strings  /bin/rcsdiff | grep /diff           # Unix/Linux

strings  /bin/rcsdiff.exe | grep /diff       # Cygwin

Probably testenv should run this command instead of using the path, or at least report if they are different.

-- RichardDonkin - 08 Feb 2003

I found that the diff command hard coded in rcsdiff was also in the path on my http account. strings ./rcsdiff | grep /diff gave /usr/bin/diff. So I added `which diff` to testenv and it reports that /usr/bin/diff is there. The http account environment is different than my normal user env. but /usr/bin/diff is common to both of them.

This doesn't seem to be the problem.

-- MattVargas - 10 Feb 2003

I have exactly the same problem as Matt. Is this issue still alive? I have RCS/GNU diff installed in a separate directory and have $SafeEnvPath configured. Running 'strings' on my rcsdiff doesn't yield anything.

Any ideas?

-- PatrickVanDerVeken - 15 Aug 2003

Add me to the list, too. My strings showed a link to /usr/lbin/rdiff. But moving that one out of the way, and linking /usr/lbin/rdiff to /usr/local/bin/diff still did not solve the problem. Sure would be nice to get diffs working. All suggestions appreciated.

-- SteveCooper - 02 Sep 2003

Steve, can you start a new question linking to this one (see SupportGuidelines for why), and include the details asked for in SupportGuidelines, including testenv output, Apache error log output, etc? You will need to show the RCS commands being run under TWiki, see TWikiDebugging for how to do this.

One relatively easy solution would be to install your own copy of RCS and diff, which may be easier than debugging this problem.

-- RichardDonkin - 03 Sep 2003

Richard, thanks for your response. I took your second suggestion, which was in fact much easier. I installed rcs in /usr/local/bin from the Purdue source, and am ignoring the one built-in to HP-UX 11i. It now works great! Thanks again.

-- SteveCooper - 04 Sep 2003

No problem - see also TWikiOnHPUX where building a new RCS and diff is recommended (as on TWikiOnSolaris which is similar).

-- RichardDonkin - 04 Sep 2003