[Refdb-devel] refdb-elisp problems

[David N. <dav...@sw...>]

Hi Markus,

As Justus pointed out, there is a problem with the refdb-elisp debian 
package.  When I checked the package it didn't contain either of the 
'.el' files.  I have no idea how that came to be.  I've just rebuilt it 
again and the new package contains the missing files.  I've uploaded it 
to sf.

My problem is that, even though it appears to install correctly, it is 
not available in emacs.

Neither mode becomes active when I open an xml or ris file.  Neither is 
refdb-mode available to start manually as per the manual.

You can examine the debian package yourself -- midnight commander (mc) 
will open the deb archive and let you poke around inside.

Here are some of the files installed as part of the debian package install:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$ ls /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/refdb-elisp/
total 384
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 207298 2006-07-29 17:32 refdb-mode.el
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 151572 2006-07-29 17:32 refdb-mode.elc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   9363 2006-07-29 17:32 ris.el
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   6796 2006-07-29 17:32 ris.elc

$ ls /usr/share/emacs21/site-lisp/refdb-elisp/
total 160
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 151509 2006-07-29 20:19 refdb-mode.elc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   6733 2006-07-29 20:19 ris.elc

$ ls /etc/emacs/site-start.d/50refdb-elisp*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   25 2006-07-29 20:19 
/etc/emacs/site-start.d/50refdb-elisp -> /etc/refdb-mode-config.el
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1755 2006-07-29 17:32 
/etc/emacs/site-start.d/50refdb-elisp.el

$ ls /etc/refdb-mode-config.el
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1755 2006-07-29 17:32 /etc/refdb-mode-config.el
$
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the build process occurring during the debian package build.  Do 
those compilation messages indicate errors or are they normal?  As you 
can see, I know nothing about emacs.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CFLAGS="-Wall -g -O2" ./configure \
           --host=i486-linux-gnu \
           --build=i486-linux-gnu \
           --prefix=/usr \
           --mandir=\${prefix}/share/man \
           --infodir=\${prefix}/share/info \
           --with-lispdir=\${datadir}/emacs/site-lisp/\${PACKAGE} \
           --sysconfdir=/etc
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking for emacs... emacs
checking where .elc files should go... ${datadir}/emacs/site-lisp/${PACKAGE}
checking for refdbd... /usr/bin/refdbd
checking for refdbctl... /usr/bin/refdbctl
checking for refdbc... /usr/bin/refdbc
checking for refdba... /usr/bin/refdba
checking for refdbnd... /usr/bin/refdbnd
checking for sudo... /usr/bin/sudo
checking for gmake... no
checking for make... /usr/bin/make
checking for xpdf... /usr/bin/xpdf
checking for gv... /usr/bin/gv
checking for ted... /usr/bin/ted
checking for sh... /bin/sh
checking for docbook2texi... no
checking for docbook2x-texi... /usr/bin/docbook2x-texi
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating Makefile
dh_testdir
# Add here commands to compile the package.
/usr/bin/make
make[1]: Entering directory 
`/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3'
./striptable.pl < refdb-mode-manual.xml > refdb-mode-manual-stripped.xml
/usr/bin/docbook2x-texi --to-stdout refdb-mode-manual-stripped.xml > 
refdb-mode.texi
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[1]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-references-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-references-author-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[1]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-references-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-references-title-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[1]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-references-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-references-keyword-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[1]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-references-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-references-periodical-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[1]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-references-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-references-id-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-title']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-title-regexp']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-keyword']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-keyword-regexp']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-citationkey']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-title-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-keyword-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-authorlink-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-keywordlink-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-periodicallink-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-idlink-region']: 
Node name collision
/book/chapter[@id='chapter-commands']/sect1[2]/sect2[@id='submenu-get-notes-on-region']/sect3[@id='command-get-notes-citekeylink-region']: 
Node name collision
restore=: && \
    backupdir=".am$$" && \
    am__cwd=`pwd` && cd . && \
    rm -rf $backupdir && mkdir $backupdir && \
    for f in refdb-mode.info refdb-mode.info-[0-9] 
refdb-mode.info-[0-9][0-9] refdb-mode.i[0-9] refdb-mode.i[0-9][0-9]; do \
      if test -f $f; then \
        mv $f $backupdir; \
        restore=mv; \
      fi; \
    done; \
    cd "$am__cwd"; \
    if /bin/sh 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/missing 
--run makeinfo   -I . \
     -o refdb-mode.info refdb-mode.texi; \
    then \
      rc=0; \
      cd .; \
    else \
      rc=$?; \
      cd . && \
      $restore $backupdir/* `echo "./refdb-mode.info" | sed 's|[^/]*$||'`; \
    fi; \
    rm -rf $backupdir; \
    exit $rc
WARNING: Warnings can be ignored. :-)
if test "emacs" != no; then \
      set x; \
      list='refdb-mode.el ris.el'; for p in $list; do \
        if test -f "$p"; then d=; else d="./"; fi; \
        set x "$@" "$d$p"; shift; \
      done; \
      shift; \
      EMACS="emacs" /bin/sh ./elisp-comp "$@" || exit 1; \
    else : ; fi
Loading 00debian-vars...
Loading 50a2ps (source)...
Loading a2ps-print...
Loading 50autoconf (source)...
Loading 50cscope (source)...
Loading 50devhelp (source)...
Loading 50dictionaries-common (source)...
Loading debian-ispell...
Loading /var/cache/dictionaries-common/emacsen-ispell-default.el (source)...
Loading /var/cache/dictionaries-common/emacsen-ispell-dicts.el (source)...
Loading 50emacs-goodies-el (source)...
Package emacs-goodies-el removed but not purged.  Skipping setup.
Loading 50festival (source)...
Loading 50gettext (source)...
Loading 50psgml-init (source)...
Loading 50psvn (source)...
Loading 50refdb-elisp (source)...
While compiling refdb-set-default-database in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-database-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-database-default
While compiling refdb-scan-database-list in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-selectdb-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-current-database-list
While compiling refdb-update-database-menu in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-selectdb-submenu-contents
While compiling refdb-scan-admin-database-list in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-current-admin-database-list
While compiling refdb-scan-keywords-list in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-current-keywords-list
While compiling refdb-scan-authors-list in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-current-authors-list
While compiling refdb-list-periodicals in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-periodical-regexp
While compiling refdb-scan-periodicals-list in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-current-periodicals-list
While compiling refdb-scan-styles-list in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-current-styles-list
While compiling refdb-find-dbengine in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-regexp-query-string
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-periodical-regexp
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-regexp-prompt
While compiling refdb-select-data-output-type in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-data-output-type
While compiling refdb-select-data-output-format in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-data-output-format
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-data-output-formatstring
While compiling refdb-select-notesdata-output-type in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-notesdata-output-type
While compiling refdb-select-citation-type in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-citation-type
While compiling refdb-select-citation-format in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-citation-format
While compiling refdb-determine-input-type in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-input-type-risx
While compiling refdb-deleteref-on-region in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
While compiling refdb-deleteref in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-getref-by-field in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-data-output-format
  ** reference to free variable refdb-data-output-type
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-getref-by-field-regexp in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-data-output-format
  ** reference to free variable refdb-data-output-type
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-getref-by-field-on-region in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-regexp-query-string
While compiling refdb-output-buffer-choose-mode in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-data-output-type
While compiling refdb-getref-by-advanced-search in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-data-output-format
  ** reference to free variable refdb-data-output-type
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-pickref in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-dumpref in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-notes-output-buffer-choose-mode in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-notesdata-output-type
While compiling refdb-deletenote-on-region in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
While compiling refdb-deletenote in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-getnote-by-field in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-data-output-format
  ** reference to free variable refdb-notesdata-output-type
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-getnote-by-field-regexp in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-data-output-format
  ** reference to free variable refdb-notesdata-output-type
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-getnote-by-field-on-region in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-regexp-query-string
While compiling refdb-getnote-by-advanced-search in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-data-output-format
  ** reference to free variable refdb-notesdata-output-type
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-addlink in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-deletelink in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-whichdb in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-create-document in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-current-styles-list
While compiling refdb-get-ris-idstring-from-region in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-citation-type
  ** reference to free variable refdb-citation-format
While compiling refdb-get-risx-idstring-from-region in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-citation-type
  ** reference to free variable refdb-citation-format
While compiling refdb-get-ris-id-from-point in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-citation-type
  ** reference to free variable refdb-citation-format
While compiling refdb-get-risx-id-from-point in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-citation-type
  ** reference to free variable refdb-citation-format
While compiling refdb-adduser in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-current-admin-database-list
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-addword in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-createdb in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-deletedb in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-deletestyle in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-deleteuser in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-current-admin-database-list
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-deleteword in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-getstyle in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-scankw in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-current-admin-database-list
While compiling refdb-list-item in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-listuser in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-current-admin-database-list
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-backup-database in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable refdb-current-admin-database-list
While compiling refdb-restore-database in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** reference to free variable main-database
While compiling refdb-import-refdata in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-export-refdata in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
  ** reference to free variable refdb-display-messages-flag
  ** reference to free variable resize-mini-windows-default
While compiling refdb-make-selectdb-menu in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-selectdb-submenu-items
  ** reference to free variable refdb-current-database-list
  ** assignment to free variable my-database-list
  ** reference to free variable my-database-list
  ** assignment to free variable current-database
  ** reference to free variable refdb-selectdb-submenu-items
  ** reference to free variable current-database
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-selectdb-submenu-contents
While compiling refdb-initialize-all-menus in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-data-output-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-data-output-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-getref-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-getref-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-getref-on-region-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-getref-on-region-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-getnote-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-getnote-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-getnote-on-region-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-getnote-on-region-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-customize-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-customize-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-insert-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-insert-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-administration-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-administration-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-convert-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-convert-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-cite-references-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-cite-references-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-create-document-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-create-document-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-transform-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-transform-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-view-output-submenu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-view-output-submenu-definition
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-menu-contents
  ** assignment to free variable refdb-menu-definition
While compiling the end of the data in file 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.el:
  ** The following functions are not known to be defined: nxml-mode,
    xml-mode, refdb-output-buffer-mode, rng-compute-mode-line-string
Wrote 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/refdb-mode.elc
Wrote 
/home/david/data/computing/projects/refdb/packages/elisp/pkg/debianise/source/refdb-elisp-1.3/elc.20477/ris.elc
Done
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the package install this feedback was generated:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Setting up refdb-elisp (1.3-4) ...
emacsen-common: Handling install of emacsen flavor emacs
emacsen-common: Handling install of emacsen flavor emacs21
emacsen-common: byte-compiling for emacs21
Loading 00debian-vars (source)...
Loading 50a2ps (source)...
Loading a2ps-print...
Loading 50autoconf (source)...
Loading 50cscope (source)...
Loading 50devhelp (source)...
Loading 50dictionaries-common (source)...
Loading debian-ispell...
Loading /var/cache/dictionaries-common/emacsen-ispell-default.el (source)...
Loading /var/cache/dictionaries-common/emacsen-ispell-dicts.el (source)...
Loading 50emacs-goodies-el (source)...
Package emacs-goodies-el removed but not purged.  Skipping setup.
Loading 50festival (source)...
Loading 50gettext (source)...
Loading 50psgml-init (source)...
Loading 50psvn (source)...
Loading 50refdb-elisp (source)...
Error while loading 50refdb-elisp
Wrote /etc/emacs21/site-start.d/00debian-vars.elc
Wrote /usr/share/emacs21/site-lisp/debian-startup.elc
Done
install/refdb-elisp: Handling install for emacsen flavor emacs21
Loading 00debian-vars...
Loading 50a2ps (source)...
Loading a2ps-print...
Loading 50autoconf (source)...
Loading 50cscope (source)...
Loading 50devhelp (source)...
Loading 50dictionaries-common (source)...
Loading debian-ispell...
Loading /var/cache/dictionaries-common/emacsen-ispell-default.el (source)...
Loading /var/cache/dictionaries-common/emacsen-ispell-dicts.el (source)...
Loading 50emacs-goodies-el (source)...
Package emacs-goodies-el removed but not purged.  Skipping setup.
Loading 50festival (source)...
Loading 50gettext (source)...
Loading 50psgml-init (source)...
Loading 50psvn (source)...
Loading 50refdb-elisp (source)...
Wrote /usr/share/emacs21/site-lisp/refdb-elisp/refdb-mode.elc
Wrote /usr/share/emacs21/site-lisp/refdb-elisp/ris.elc
Done
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is clearly a problem loading refdb-elisp.  I see two files were 
written immediately after the load error, so here they are as well in 
case they provide a hint:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;; 00debian-vars.el
;;
;; Initialize some emacs variables from debian policy files.
;;
;; Copyright (C) 1997, Frederic Lepied <Fre...@su...>
;;
;; original Author: Frederic Lepied <Fre...@su...>
;; enhanced and documented by: Mark Eichin <ei...@ki...>

;;=============================================================================
;; Autoloaded section.
;;=============================================================================


;;;###

;;;***


;;=============================================================================
;; Configuration section.
;;=============================================================================
(defun debian-file->string (name &optional func)
  "Convert a file into a string"
  (interactive "fFile name : ")
  (let ((filename (expand-file-name name)))
    (if (not (file-readable-p filename))
    nil
      (let ((buf (create-file-buffer filename))
        ret)
    (save-excursion
      (set-buffer buf)
      (insert-file-contents filename)
      (if func (funcall func))
      (setq ret (buffer-string)))
    (kill-buffer buf)
    ret))))

(defun debian-clean-mailname ()
  (while (search-forward "\n" nil t)
    (replace-match "" nil t)))

;; Particular variables, and their justification:
;; policy/ch4.html, 4.3 Mail processing on Debian systems, /etc/mailname
;; policy/ch-binarypkg.html, 3.5 Maintainer scripts, /etc/news/server

(let ((mailname
       (debian-file->string "/etc/mailname" (function 
debian-clean-mailname))))
  (if (not mailname)
      (message "No /etc/mailname. Reverting to default...")
    (setq mail-host-address mailname)))

;; Don't need to check NNTPSERVER for override, gnus does that for us.
(if (file-readable-p "/etc/news/server")
    (defvar gnus-nntpserver-file "/etc/news/server"))

;;; 00debian-vars.el ends here
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;ELC

-;;; Compiled by root@hezmana on Sat Jul 29 20:19:20 2006
;;; from file /usr/share/emacs21/site-lisp/debian-startup.el
;;; in Emacs version 21.4.1
;;; with bytecomp version 2.85.4.1
;;; with all optimizations.

;;; This file uses dynamic docstrings, first added in Emacs 19.29.
(if (and (boundp 'emacs-version)
     (< (aref emacs-version (1- (length emacs-version))) ?A)
     (or (and (boundp 'epoch::version) epoch::version)
         (string-lessp emacs-version "19.29")))
    (error "`debian-startup.el' was compiled for Emacs 19.29 or later"))

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;


#@233 Takes a path item (a string) and adds it to load path in the
correct position for an add-on package, before the emacs system
directories, but after the /usr/local/ directories.  After modifying
load-path, returns the new load-path.
(defalias 'debian-pkg-add-load-path-item #[(item) "\306\307    \203#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something strange is going on here and I have no idea what.  I hope you 
can give me some clue.

Regards,
David.