eof immediately after open - why?

[K.Daube]

Dear all,

A script to read an entry from an ini file fails although the file exists and can be opened with any editor - also the entry exists.

I have used this routine in other circumstances without this problem - coming back (after a detour to another script language) I do not understand...

Line 23 opens the file (or has it a problem?) - how to diagnose the problem?

The While is skipped and the error message is issued.

// FM-dict.jsx
#target framemaker
var appdata    = app.UserSettingsDir;             // %appdata%\Adobe\FrameMaker\<version>
var FMdictDir  = appdata.replace (/Adobe.*/ , "D+DD\\FM-dict");
$.writeln (dddDir)
var iniFile    = FMdictDir + "\\FM-dict.ini";
$.writeln (iniFile) // C:\Users\Klaus\AppData\Roaming\D+DD\FM-dict\FM-dict.ini
var currentPrj = GetIniValue (iniFile, "currentPrj")
var currentDir = GetIniValue (iniFile, "currentDir")
$.writeln (currentPrj + " = " + currentDir)
function GetIniValue (sIniFile, sValueName) { //===================================================
// Read an ini item into a variable 
// Function returns sFoundValue
// sValueName is that used in the ini-file
  var thisLine, match, notFound = true; 
  var regex = {
    section: /^\s*\[\s*([^\]]*)\s*\]\s*$/,
    param: /^\s*([\w\.\-\_]+)\s*=\s*(.*?)\s*$/,
    comment: /^\s*;.*$/ } ;
  settingsFile = new File($.fileName.replace (/[^\\\/]+$/i , sIniFile)); // method Ric Quatro
  settingsFile.open("r");
  while(!settingsFile.eof) { 
    thisLine = settingsFile.readln();                  
    if (thisLine === null || thisLine === "") {   // skip blank lines
      continue;
    }
    if (regex.comment.test(thisLine))  {          // skip comment lines
      continue;
    } 
    if (regex.section.test(thisLine))  {          // ignore section lines
      continue;
    }
    match = thisLine.match(regex.param);          // ignore undefined contents
    if (match[1] == sValueName) {
      sFoundValue = match[2];
      notFound = false;
      break;                                      // found - leave loop
    }
  }
  if (notFound) {
    Alert ("Program error in GetIniValue: \n\nsValueName " + sValueName + "\nnot found in sIniFile " + sIniFile, Constants.FF_ALERT_CONTINUE_WARN);
    stop;
  }
  settingsFile.close();
  return sFoundValue;
} // --- end GetIniValue

With $.writeln (settingsFile.error) in line 24 I get "File or folder does not exist" - although It is exactly there and can be opened even by FrameMaker.

I have created a new file E:\FM-dict.ini - and replaced line 6 by

var iniFile = "E:\FM-dict.ini"

=>  same error!

Message was edited by: Klaus Daube

I have now changed line 24 to

$.writeln (settingsFile.error + " =>" + settingsFile.name)

And what do I see? settingsFile.name is reported as E:FM-dict.ini => the backslash is missing and of course Windows does not find this file.

Hm, why could this routine work for some years correctly?

Well, in the string I must double the backslash:

var iniFile = "E:\\FM-dict.ini"

But this did not help either

I/O error =>FM-dict.ini

... need to break this down further

[K.Daube]

Where does this I/O error come from?

// RedIniFile.jsx
var iniFile = "E:\\Anything.ini" 
$.writeln (iniFile)                                  // E:\Anything.ini
var currentPrj = GetIniValue (iniFile, "currentPrj")
function GetIniValue (sIniFile, sValueName) { //===================================================
  settingsFile = new File($.fileName.replace (/[^\\\/]+$/i , sIniFile)); // method Ric Quatro
  $.writeln (sIniFile + " => " + settingsFile.name) // E:\Anything.ini => Anything.ini
  settingsFile.open("r");
  $.writeln (settingsFile.error)                    // I/O error

  settingsFile.close()
} // --- end GetIniValue

Anything.ini is in Windows code page 1252 as ini files must be

; Settings for the utility FM-dict.ahk
[FM-dict]
currentPrj =Client_B
currentDir =E:\Client_B\Dictionary

There was movie by Werner Herzog: Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: ratlos

So do I

[K.Daube · Accepted solution]

Ha, sometimes a pause solves such problems. After lunch before the coffe it came to my mind: It always worked for the ini file beeing in the same directory as the script...

Line 22 must read:

settingsFile = new File(sIniFile);

Thanks for listening!

Klaus