[Octave-bug-tracker] [bug #38075] 'make' fails with "Argument list too long" message

[Carnë Draug]

URL:
  <http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?38075>

                 Summary: 'make' fails with "Argument list too long" message 
                 Project: GNU Octave
            Submitted by: carandraug
            Submitted on: Sun 13 Jan 2013 20:32:06 GMT
                Category: Configuration and Build System
                Severity: 3 - Normal
                Priority: 5 - Normal
              Item Group: Build Failure
                  Status: None
             Assigned to: None
         Originator Name: Sergei Steshenko
        Originator Email: 
             Open/Closed: Open
         Discussion Lock: Any
                 Release: 3.6.2
        Operating System: GNU/Linux

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Details:

Hi

this bug was reported on the mailing list last November and I've kept it
marked since. I'm putting it here so it's not forgotten as I'm unlikely to fix
it myself.

Building octave-3.6.2 with somewhat longer list of dependencies, 'make'
fails:


   /mnt/sdb8/sergei/AFSWD_debug/build/octave-3.6.2/src/Makefile:9063    File
`oct-conf.h' does not exist.
  /mnt/sdb8/sergei/AFSWD_debug/build/octave-3.6.2/src/Makefile:9063     Must
remake target `oct-conf.h'.
making oct-conf.h from oct-conf.h.in
make[2]: execvp: /mnt/sdb8/sergei/AFSWD_debug/20121021/bash-4.2/bin/bash:
Argument list too long
Makefile:9063: *** [oct-conf.h] Error 127 


The failing part in context:


   9063 oct-conf.h: oct-conf.h.in Makefile
   9064         @$(do_subst_config_vals)
   9065


And, in particular, the offending part is 'do_subst_config_vals' which I have
attached. As one can see, the macro itself is quite long, and contents of the
variables it exapnds (e.g. CPPFLAGS) are also quite long, so it's surprising
it hasn't failed earlier. 

I performed quick web search regarding "Argument list too long" and came
across http://www.in-ulm.de/~mascheck/various/argmax/ . The page has contains
a number of useful advices (though it deal with a different situation: command
* ) :

How to avoid the limit in a shell:
If command *  fails, then you can
* iterate with the shell:
** for i in *; do command "$i"; done     (simple, completely robust and
portable, may be very slow)
* iterate with find
** find . -exec command {} \;     (simple, completely robust and portable, may
be very slow)
** find . -exec command {} +       (optimizes speed)
** find . -print0|xargs -0 command      (optimizes speed, if find doesn't
implement "-exec +" but knows "-print0")
** find . -print|xargs command     (if there's no white space in the
arguments)

Note: find descends into directories. To avoid that portably,
you can use
** "find . ! -name . -prune [...]"

* If the major part of the arguments consists of long, absolute or relative
paths, then try to move your actions into the directory:
** cd /directory/with/long/path; command *
* And another quick fix may be to match fewer arguments:
** command [a-e]*; command [f-m]*; ...

If I understand correctly the offending command, it's a _single_ call to 'sed'
with a request to perform _multiple_ substitutions, and those multiple
substitutions is the part causing "Argument list too long".

So, the fix seems to be along the


for i in *; do command "$i"; done


(simple, completely robust and portable, may be very slow)" lines, i.e.
multiple calls to 'sed' with _single_ substitution. T

The "fixed" attachment work for me, i.e. the "Argument list too long" has
disappeared, Octave builds and 'make check' OK. 

The original thread can be found on nabble
<http://octave.1599824.n4.nabble.com/make-fails-with-quot-Argument-list-too-long-quot-message-td4647356.html>.
I have just made small rewriting of the messages since I have attached the
long pieces of code instead of pasting them on the report.

Carnë



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File Attachments:


-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun 13 Jan 2013 20:32:06 GMT  Name: do_subst_config_vals  Size: 9kB  
By: carandraug

<http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/download.php?file_id=27253>
-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun 13 Jan 2013 20:32:06 GMT  Name: do_subst_config_vals_fix  Size: 19kB
  By: carandraug

<http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/download.php?file_id=27254>

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