Re: Local variables not being defined

[Harald Hanche-Olsen]

+ ken <gebser@speakeasy.net>:

| On 01/25/2007 03:25 PM somebody named Harald Hanche-Olsen wrote:
|> + ken <gebser@speakeasy.net>:
|> 
|> | File local-variables error: (error "Local variables entry is missing the
|> | prefix")
|> |
|> | So what does this error message mean and/or what should I do about it?
|> 
|> See the info file about file variables: Every line of the Variables
|> section must have the exact same prefix, which may be empty.  This
|> appears to be the case with your example.  Or did some lines have
|> initial spaces or tabs that your news posting software suppressed?
|> If so, get rid of them.
|> 
|
| That can't be the problem

You asked what the error message means, and that is what it means.

| as the "prefix" is and has always been the same for all lines--
| nothing at all.  I.e., all lines start to the far left... in the
| very first column.

Then what happens shouldn't happen, and I am left powerless to suggest
other explanations.

| Again:

Yup, I saw that the first time.  (I suggested leading white space
because I have often seen news posting software suppressing white
space, and then I wouldn't see it obviously.  I'll take your word for
it not being there.)  And it works for me: I copied your local
variables section verbatim to an HTML file, saved, closed the buffer
and reloaded, and the variables get the prescribed values, no problem.

I am looking at the code now (the function in question is called
hack-local-variables, and it is found in files.el), and there should
be no way you are going to see that message unless there is something
in front of the string "Local Variables:" on the line.

Oh, wait, one more wild guess.  hack-local-variables goes 3000
characters back from the end of the file and searches forward for
"Local Variables:".  Don't tell me your HTML file contains another
instance of that phrase?

-- 
* Harald Hanche-Olsen     <URL:http://www.math.ntnu.no/~hanche/>
- It is undesirable to believe a proposition
  when there is no ground whatsoever for supposing it is true.
  -- Bertrand Russell