Re: [Mingw-msys] RE: Running scripts from MSYS

[Keith M. <kei...@us...>]

On Monday 05 December 2005 5:30 pm, Greg Chicares wrote:
> On 2005-12-5 17:05 UTC, Marcus Jacobs wrote:

[and that message, as I received it, was laden with HTML rubbish -- please 
*don't* do that in future postings; please restrict your content type to 
`text/plain']

> > The first line of the 'makeall' file is the following:
> > #!/bin/csh -f
> > I do not think that csh comes with msys.
>
> Correct: MSYS provides bash, but not csh.
>
> > I changed this to:
> > #! /usr/bin/sh
>
> That won't work if this script uses csh-specific features.
>
> > When I tried to run it again, it seems to recognize that there is a file
> > and I do not get the same error message. However, I receive another
> > error message that states:
> > ./makeall: line 49: syntax error near unexpected token `idir=$<'
> > ./makeall: line 49: `set idir=$<'
> >
> > Since it appears to me that makeall was written for C shell, I believe
> > that it is encountering some issues with the msys shell, which if I am
> > correct is similar to BASH shell.
>
> It *is* bash.
>
> > Do you think that this is the case? If
>
> Probably the script contains csh-specific stuff that doesn't
> work in other shells.

Since the original shebang said `#! /bin/csh', it's a certainty that it is a 
C-shell script; there is no way it can be executed by a Bourne shell, nor by 
bash, which is `Bourne Again shell', and requires Bourne shell syntax.

The author of the original script should be taken out, and summarily executed 
by firing squad, for ignoring all dire warnings about writing C-shell 
scripts;  one should *never* do this, if the script is intended for serious 
use.

> > so, do you know if there are any conversion utilities that will convert
> > 'make' to something that can be parsed by msys shell. I guess that's it
> > in a nutshell.
>
> I don't know of any utility to convert a csh script so that it
> works in other shells. Usually, one tries to write portable
> scripts that work in a plain bourne shell. You could try to
> convert this script yourself, ask its author to do so, use an
> environment that provides csh, or find a csh port that's
> compatible with MSYS.
>
> If the program you're trying to build has a mailing list, then
> maybe this issue will have been discussed in its archives.

Regards,
Keith.