A2ps cannot find file 'level1.ppd'

[Dr. Jim Van Zandt]

a2ps failed here with this error message:

 

a2ps: cannot find file `level1.ppd': No such file or directory

 

"a2ps --list=default" failed with the same message.

 

 

I had a default version of a2psrc in ~/.a2ps, which included

## Default path where a2ps dropped its library files.

#LibraryPath: /usr/local/homebrew/Cellar/a2ps/4.14/share/a2ps/sheets:/usr/local/homebrew/Cellar/a2ps/4.14/share/a2ps/ps:/usr/local/homebrew/Cellar/a2ps/4.14/share/a2ps/encoding:/usr/local/homebrew/Cellar/a2ps/4.14/share/a2ps/afm:/usr/local/homebrew/Cellar/a2ps/4.14/share/ogonkify/afm:/usr/local/homebrew/Cellar/a2ps/4.14/share/a2ps/ppd:/usr/local/homebrew/Cellar/a2ps/4.14/share/a2ps/fonts:/usr/local/homebrew/Cellar/a2ps/4.14/share/ogonkify/fonts:/usr/local/homebrew/Cellar/a2ps/4.14/share/a2ps

 

I moved that directory aside, but a2ps still failed to find its configuration files.

 

I reinstalled the a2ps package, with no change.

 

I restored the directory and changed the above line to

 

LibraryPath: /usr/local/Cellar/a2ps/4.15.3/share/a2ps/sheets:/usr/local/Cellar/a2ps/4.15.3/share/a2ps/ps:/usr/local/Cellar/a2ps/4.15.3/share/a2ps/encoding:/usr/local/Cellar/a2ps/4.15.3/share/a2ps/afm:/usr/local/Cellar/a2ps/4.15.3/share/ogonkify/afm:/usr/local/Cellar/a2ps/4.15.3/share/a2ps/ppd:/usr/local/Cellar/a2ps/4.15.3/share/a2ps/fonts:/usr/local/Cellar/a2ps/4.15.3/share/ogonkify/fonts:/usr/local/Cellar/a2ps/4.15.3/share/a2ps

 

and now it runs correctly.

 

 

I suggest there are four bugs here:

 

- The homebrew package should configure a2ps to find its files

- If some configuration files could not be found, "a2ps --list=default" should not fail, but should print where it looked.

- Actually, if a2ps cannot find its configuration files, it should print where it looked (without requiring additional commands).

- The a2ps man page should mention a2psrc and say where a2ps will look for it.

 

 

I have this version of a2ps:

 

  $ brew info a2ps

  ==> a2ps: stable 4.15.3 (bottled)

  Any-to-PostScript filter

  https://www.gnu.org/software/a2ps/

  /usr/local/Cellar/a2ps/4.15.3 (275 files, 3.3MB) *

    Poured from bottle using the formulae.brew.sh API on 2023-04-03 at 07:40:05

  From: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/HEAD/Formula/a2ps.rb

  License: GPL-3.0-or-later

  ==> Dependencies

  Build: pkg-config ✔

  Required: bdw-gc ✔, libpaper ✔

  ==> Caveats

  Emacs Lisp files have been installed to:

    /usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp/a2ps

  ==> Analytics

  install: 4 (30 days), 140 (90 days), 1,098 (365 days)

  install-on-request: 4 (30 days), 141 (90 days), 1,098 (365 days)

  build-error: 0 (30 days)