*BSD News Article 7292


Return to BSD News archive

Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!uunet!mcsun!chsun!hslrswi!aut!nbladt
From: nbladt@autelca.ascom.ch (Norbert Bladt)
Subject: [386BSD] patches for nenscript available ? - Necessary for netfax
Message-ID: <1992Nov2.083315.11737@autelca.ascom.ch>
Summary: nenscript (enscript clone) crashes on 386BSD - can't find problem
Keywords: netfax enscript nenscript
Organization: Ascom Autelca AG, Guemligen, Switzerland
Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1992 08:33:15 GMT
Lines: 46

The subject says it all !

Just a little background:

I ported the netfax-3.2.1 software to 386BSD. It uses the "enscript"
ASCII to Postscript converter which is (to my knowledge) proprietary
of Adobe Systems Inc.
Now, there was a clone posted to the net some time ago.
This clone is called nenscript and has the same options then enscript.
I thought, fine, let's take this clone and it will all work.
However, this nenscript program crashes in the file "postscri.c"
at a line where a byte (char) in a string is set to zero
(function ExtractFontSize about line 173).
The code works for the first call of this subroutine, but in the second
call the same code shows a "Bus error - core dumped".
I checked with gdb that all seems right, i.e. parameters OK, return values OK.
That means, I can't imagine where the bug in this program could be.
I tried several re-arrangements of the code, replacement by code I wrote, etc.
All to no avail or let's say with the same result: "Bus error - core dumped".

So, if somebody did compile nenscript and got it to run, please mail (or post)
the patches for it.
That's the missing part for the netfax-3.2.1 port to 386BSD I did.
I can send faxes in postscript format but not plain ASCII text files.

OK, I know that I could run another ASCII-to-PS program of the several
available and feed the output to the program which sends fax-files in
postscript format or replace the call of "enscript" by a call to a different
program. But still, I would like to use the "as much un-patched as possible"
version of netfax-3.2.1.
And, in addition, if this is a bug in the gcc compiler or the error-handling
in 386BSD (which both seems possible) it would be nice to know it and how to
reproduce it with a reasonable small program.
I am using the gcc compiler which came with 386BSD. I did not try
to port gcc 2.2.2 to 386BSD. I think I will wait for gcc 2.3 if it comes
out this month. Otherwise I might try gcc 2.2.2.

If I can get nenscript to work or replace it by another ASCII-to-PS program
I will upload the netfax binaries to a ftp-site in Switzerland (if there is
enough space left on it, that is).

Norbert.
-- 
Norbert Bladt, Ascom Autelca AG, Worbstr. 201, CH-3073 Guemligen, Switzerland
Phone: +41 31 999 65 52			FAX: +41 31 999 65 44
Mail: nbladt@autelca.ascom.ch   UUCP: ..!uunet!mcsun!chsun!hslrswi!aut!nbladt