Re: Bug #1503114

[<br...@ph...>]

Ethan A Merritt wrote:
> On Tuesday 20 June 2006 07:21 pm, Timoth=E9e Lecomte wrote:

>> With the current code, 99% of chance of getting the error "Can't f=
ind=20
>> PostScript prologue file" out-of-the-box when using the postscript=
=20
>> terminal on Windows=20

I wouldn't put the number as high as 99%, but yes, it's high.

> Is that because there is not an appropriate README file?

Not really.  We do have one, and the information and techniques=20
described in it should suffice, if people actually used it (and gnupl=
ot=20
was extended to use it in the relevant places).

The key problem is a design decision made for wgnuplot ages ago, whic=
h=20
is rather unusual for the Windows world: that we don't have a setup=
=20
program.  There has never been much of a need for such a thing before=
,=20
because gnuplot consisted of only two files (.exe and .hlp), and the =
OS=20
provides the necessary link between those for us.

But as soon as there are many files, it has to be ensured that the=
=20
executable can find all the others.  So far, gnuplot made do with=
=20
environment variables, and it didn't strictly need any of them.

> How about if we change the message to:
>=20
> "Please copy your PostScript prolog files to <somewhere Windowish>"

The problem is not that the files aren't in that <somewhere Windowish=
>=20
place --- the problem is such a place to store files in doesn't exist=
.
The only central, truly "Windowsish" place to store anything is the=
=20
Registry, and it can't hold files.  It only contains strings, like th=
e=20
Unix environment does, but it hides them in a file-system like hierar=
chy=20
(the master copy of the environment itself is stored in the registry,=
=20
too, these days)

Windows program installations differ fundamentally from Unix in sever=
al=20
ways.  There is no "Windowish" place to install extra files private t=
o a=20
program.  Packages have to pick all such places themselves, and they=
=20
have to store the information needed to find those places in the=20
registry.  The usual layout is to put all files (including the=20
executable) below a single directory that is in a place choosable by =
the=20
user at install time (defaulting to "c:\program files\[program name]"=
).