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Re: cygwin.exe installer - creation of cygwin.bat does not escapepercent signs (%) in path


On Wed, 28 May 2003 ESwanson@dhhs.state.nh.us wrote:

> Hello,
> I ran into a problem with the cygwin.bat script when I downloaded files
> from an FTP mirror and installed them locally:
> C:\cygwin\etc\setup\ftp%3a%2f%2farchive.progeny.com%2fcygwin
>
> Please note that the hex escapes in the path were automatically generated,
> based on my FTP mirror selection.
>
> I set the ftp directory as the install location, which worked fine until I
> clicked on the shortcut to run cygwin for the first time. A DOS command
> window briefly appeared and then vanished, without giving me time to copy
> and paste the text.
> I managed to do a printscreen on the second attempt, which reported the
> following:
>
>       The system cannot find the path specified.
>
> Once I started editing cygwin.bat, I found the problem: the percent signs
> in the path name were not escaped, so DOS read then as variables.  I
> manually replaced each '%' with '%%' in cygwin.bat, and it solved the
> problem for me.
>
> I am a casual user of cygwin, and unacquainted with how the cygwin.bat file
> is generated. I assume that the '%' could be automatically escaped.  If
> this approach is not desirable,  I did notice that cygwin.exe gives a
> warning message if the directory name contains spaces. Perhaps percent
> signs (%) could be added to this check? I do not yet know if having '%' in
> my install path will cause additional headaches with DOS, but the initial
> problem was enough of a nuisance for me to contact you.
>
> Thank you for creating such a wonderful tool for those of us stuck in a
> Windows desktop environment!
>
> Sincerely,
> Eric Swanson

Eric,

Don't install into the setup cache directory.  Choose a different one
(e.g., c:\cygwin).

Setup should be able to handle %'s in root_dir, though...  Line 185 of
desktop.cc would be the place to put the fix in, but I don't have the time
for this right now...
	Igor
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