*BSD News Article 67736


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From: fzshenau@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu (Gregory Shenaut)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc
Subject: Re: Q: How to create executable files?
Date: 5 May 1996 01:41:32 GMT
Organization: University of California, Davis
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Message-ID: <4mh10c$dfd@mark.ucdavis.edu>
References: <4mg599$clu@news.aimnet.com> <4mgm2j$g1t@PaperBoy.LiveNet.Net>
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Jim Sloan (jsloan@LiveNet.Net) wrote:
: In article <4mg599$clu@news.aimnet.com>, trh@aimnet.com (TRH TRH) wrote:
: >I am trying to create small executable files. For example something like
: >
: >elm -s trh $1 < $1
: >
: >After typing it into a file and issuing comand chmod +x on that file
: >I expect it to work with a parameter I supply in lieu of '$1'.
: >
: >It does not work on a new account that is running BSD. It does
: >run on SunOS, AIX etc.
: >
: >I get the error message 'comand not found'.
: >
: >What am I doing wrong?
: 
: two things, since current directory is NOT part of the path by default in BSD 
: (SunOS, AIX, Linux and other SysV type *nix OSes it is), then the correct 
: procedure is ./commandname

Yes, this is probably the problem.

: on the otherhand, if the file is in the user path, 
: then it isn't in the locate db yet.  run /usr/libexec/locate.updatedb for it 
: to be added and it will be found in the path then.

I don't think this is relevant--the locate database is just a fast
way to locate a file in the file hierarchy--it has nothing to do
with the search path for commands.

Other possibilities besides not setting execute permission on
the script include attempting to execute a command inside the script
which isn't on the search path, and having a "#!shell" on the first
line with the wrong path given (e.g., "#!/usr/ucb/csh").

-- 
Greg Shenaut -- gkshenaut@ucdavis.edu