Sadly that doesn’t tell us anything, no sign of any errors there. The next thing to try is to run ni in census mode directly from a command line prompt, and see if that shows an error. Start a command prompt, then enter these commands:
set HOME=<my documents dir>
E:\Games\Inform 7\Compilers\ni -internal "E:\Games\Inform 7\Internal" -census
In the above you’ll need to replace “<my documents dir>” with the full path to your “My Documents” directory, which should have the “Inform” directory in it. Hope that makes sense. Try that and post its output.
Nope. That didn’t fix it. In fact, there was already a “Debug log.txt” file in there. I renamed it with a .bak extension then manually created a new one. I also DIDN’T create a new one to see if Inform would do it itself.
I even went so far as to make sure my ENTIRE “Documents” folder is NOT set to “Read Only” (as it was, which seems odd)
I suppose the next step would be a total un- and re-install.
Could it be a problem in the Registry?
I’ve never ever found uninstalling and reinstalling solved any problems. You’re welcome to try, of course, but I would bet that it won’t help. It seems unlikely that it’s a registry problem, either.
I would try deleting the entirety of the “Inform” folder from “My Documents” (or maybe just rename it to something else if you’re feeling cautious) and then starting Inform 7.
Yeah. Un-/re-installing it didn’t help.
Removing the folder didn’t help.
I dunno … Like I said, this doesn’t appear to affect the functionality at all.
Well, look at that.
That is indeed happening. The list is empty.
I can DL all extensions, but then when I restart the IDE they’re all gone again.
However, if I click the Public Library tab then “Everything,” it shows all the extensions.
I can “Include” any of them and the game compiles just fine.
hmmm
I wonder how that happened. And even MORESO, how to fix it.
That gives me the result: “Inform 7 build 6M62 has started.”
… but that’s it.
(incidentally, I did un-/re-install it, and this time put it in C:\Program Files\Inform 7)
And I have NOW noticed that I cannot access the help for any of the extensions. Now THAT is indeed a problem. Kinda … I have found this website where I can access the documentation for them >> https://i7el.herokuapp.com/
As to permissions …
I was looking into that a couple days ago.
For some reason, EVERY folder on EVERY drive in my system is set to ‘Read Only,’ and even tho I’m Admin, it won’t let me change that. I mean … It SAYS it’s changing it, but then the folders remain Read Only.
However, all the files are just fine, not Read Only. It’s only the folders that are Read Only.
I fought this for several hours, even going to the lengths of taking ownership of C:\ away from TrustedInstaller. … Which I learned after doing so is a bad idea. So now I’ve changed it back.
Ultimately, I still have no idea what’s up with that. I did recently clone my 128 gig SSD (boot drive) to a 500 gig SSD (again as the boot drive) but I don’t see how that could have caused something like this. Frankly, I’m not even sure if all the folders were previously set to Read Only. From what I’ve read, it really shouldn’t matter as long as the files IN the folders aren’t read only. I’ve not had difficulties with anything else.
Could it be that I’m running the updated IDE that was put out earlier this year. I DLed it on June 9th, but didn’t actually install it until a few weeks ago.
I see now tho that there is another update (Beta) on the GitHub page from July 13th. So I’ll DL that and install it, see what happens.
Alternatively, I could roll back to the “official” 6M62 release on the Inform website, from 2015.
Except that Inform 7 is the only app on my computer having a problem.
I’ve installed A LOT of other software since the SDD swap, and none of it is having any problems writing to C:\ , D:\ , or E:\ … except Inform 7
WELL!! Problem “semi-solved.” … Time to file a bug report methinx.
I completely uninstalled Inform, again. This time I also ran CCleaner to clean the registry, then went in and manually removed all remaining traces. And there were several.
I reverted to the official Inform 7 from the Inform website. The one from 2015.
It works just fine. No errors. All extensions listed and help is accessible.
As such, I reckon it’s pretty clearly an issue with the updated IDE, which @DavidK is maintaining.
Shall I file an official bug report on GitHub David, or will this suffice?
EDIT: The one from 2015 installs to “Program Files (x86)” while the updated one from a couple months ago installs to “Program Files.” … I also tried installing the one from a couple month ago on top of / over the “official” one in the x86 folder, but that again broke it.
You’re misinterpreting that. The square box doesn’t mean “this folder is read only” it means “there might be some files that are read only but I haven’t checked”. It then lets you untick the box to force all files to not be read-only, or tick the box to force all files to be read-only, but then regardless it will always show the square box afterwards.
A folder itself can’t be read-only on Windows, that’s not how those things are controlled. Instead it’s the Security tab that affects the real permissions of the folder. But do not, I repeat do not touch that tab – you have already proved that there is nothing wrong there by being able to create a file there yourself, and messing with it will only lead to grief unless you know precisely what you’re doing.
Well, that’s good news: that is what I would expect from a correct run with “-census”. So if this works with HOME set to a directory other than “My Documents”, but fails when it is set to “My Documents”, this strongly suggests a permissions problem with “My Documents”.
Well, yes, that is what I would expect. What the census run does is, primarily, generate the documentation for the extensions from the extensions themselves.
That isn’t what I meant by permissions. As Gavin said, the read-only check-box on the properties dialog doesn’t mean quite what you think it does for directories, only files. I am talking about the contents of the Security tab in the properties dialog.
That is surprising. However, you’re changing so many things at once I think it’s easy to loose track of what change has had what effect.
If you want to dig into this further, I suggest the following: install the build from inform7.com, and try running ni from the command line with -census as discussed above, with HOME set to both “My Documents” and to some other directory. Then install the beta version from github.com and try the above again. Then let me know the results.
That’s not a good idea. The version from inform7.com is a 32-bit build, so goes in “Program Files (x86)”. The new beta on github.com is 64-bit, so belongs in “Program Files”.
Okay. I’ve done as requested re: I suggest the following: install the build from inform7.com, and try running ni from the command line with -census as discussed above, with HOME set to both “My Documents” and to some other directory. Then install the beta version from github.com and try the above again. Then let me know the results.
The version from the Inform website: (doesn’t matter what HOME is set to)
Inform 7 build 6M62 has started.
The version from github:
When HOME is set to My Documents:
Inform 7 build 6M62 has started.
Can't open debug log
Offending filename: <C:\Users\freeman\Documents\Inform\Documentation\Census\Debug log.txt>
When HOME is set to E:\Temp:
Inform 7 build 6M62 has started.
So the 32-bit version from the Inform website can do it, but the 64-bit version from GitHub cannot.
I imagine that’s pretty odd. (Both are now simultaneously installed.)
It is very odd: the source code is the same (for ni). Avast! certainly has a reputation for occasionally causing trouble, turning it off is worth a try.
aaaYEP! It’s been Avast! all this time. … GAAHHHH
Disabled it, the GitHub version works just fine.
So I added the entire install folder of the GitHub version as an exception, re-enabled Avast!, and now … no more problem.
Good grief. ALL THIS TIME! All this headache and fighting with permissions and shit, and it was simply Avast! … damned anti-virus software can really be a PITA sometimes, but you pretty much NEED need it these days.
At any rate, situation remedied. All is back to normal.
Thanks for the help.
I should’ve thought to check Avast! quite early on in this fight. D’OH!
Now back to fighting with Inform itself to figure out why my “code” isn’t working as expected LOL
Good to hear you have it working! Problems like this have made me largely give up on AV software: I let Windows Defender (or whatever it calls itself now) run, and I’m cautious about what I install, and I hope that that is enough.
