[Pan-users] Re: External Editor not communicating with Pan Editor

[Peter]

On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 09:33:40 -0700, Duncan wrote:

snip...
>> Using 14.2.91 code, I observe the following: Whenever I click on
>> External Editor,
> 
> [The following paragraph edited into sentences (you know, with proper
> terminating periods and initial caps <g>) so I can parse the message in
> ordered to properly respond.  The lack thereof doesn't /usually/ bother
> me, but I was having difficulty parsing this for some reason, so I went
> thru and added them, making it /much/ easier.]

Well, to each his own. I thought making if clauses would make it
simpler. You know, if this happens, this is the result... Oh well.

snip...
>> I use gvim %t as my editor command. If I click Editor (CTRL-E), the
>> temp file PAN creates is quickly deleted in the /tmp directory. The
>> editor opens a blank file with what appears to be the same random name
>> pan created, but blank. When the editor file is saved, nothing is
>> imported to the PAN screen.
>> 
>> Why does the original tmp file get deleted? Why are changes not being
>> captured?

Well, it turns out that using a different editor causes a different
result. Your suggestion of using kwrite shows that there must be a startup
script in gvim which deleted temporary files on load. I notice this in
gftp sometimes when gvim comes up blank. Other times, the file loads.
Never could figure it out :).

> Speculation:  The gvim you call is simply a starter script that launches
> the real executable 

Nope. gvim is a binary in the path. No script. But, I think there must be
something in the startup which nukes files in /tmp.
d erase the temp-file.
snip...

> Other possibilites:
> 
> Perhaps you have something cleaning the temp dir?  
No.

> Are you sure the temp file is being created at all?  

Yes, I had ROX open to /tmp and could briefly see the file being created,
then deleted. It was there!. However, gvim opened with a blank file with
the same filename. Somewhere along the line the contents got nuked before
gvim loaded it. :(

> Maybe you (or whatever user PAN is being run as) don't have permissions 
> to write to that directory and the file isn't being created?
No, it was created.
> 
> FWIW, I don't use the external editor feature regularly, but did just
> try it (same PAN version), and it worked as expected, with the existing
> content appearing in kwrite (my editor of choice, kwrite %t in PAN
> preferences), and upon exit of kwrite, the changed content appearing in
> the pan compose window.  This is on Gentoo, using KDE 3.5.0-rc1 and PAN
> 0.14.2.91
> 

I too use Gentoo, but not with KDE. That should not matter though. Thanks
for your tip on kwrite which helped steer me in the right direction. Now I
will look at what gvim is doing.

snip.

> Please consider using a real sig delimiter (dash dash space on its own
> line, just two dashes, don't forget the space), so clients can detect
> the sig and won't try to quote it in the reply.  PAN is usually pretty
> good about helping with this.  Maybe the above looked sufficiently
> unlike a sig PAN didn't generate its usual "please use a proper sig
> delimiter" warning?

Actually, I did not know this! I hard coded ---- in my sig file. Pan added
the dash dash space above it. I removed it thinking I don't need two sig
delimiters. My bad.

Thanks again!
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