Topic: PATH

I discovered today that I had lost ALL OF the pathnames from my PATH system variable - all, that is, except for the Simply Fortran path, which, in my case, is

   C:\Program Files (x86)\Fortran\Simply\mingw\bin.

This is all that there was in my PATH variable.

This is not too much of a disaster, I think, because I have been able to type back in the most obvious pathnames and I daresay I'll find out one way or another is there were any less obvious ones I also need.

I've searched my various startup tricks with virtual drives to see if this is anything I've caused myself, and I don't think it is.  I therefore don't know how this has happened, but I am just wondering whether there is any possibility of an accidental error in the Simply Fortran 'install' process.  Perhaps the Simply Fortran installer replaces the path variable contents with its own pathname rather than extending the existing contents of the system path variable by appending its own pathname to the end.

Most probably there is no such error in the SF install process but I thought I should ask - just to eliminate this.

  • jeff
  • Administrator
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Re: PATH

John,

I can't apologize enough for this problem.  Looking through the installer code, it is likely that Simply Fortran is the culprit.  The installer script attempts to append the path to gfortran and its associated tools to the machine's path variable.  However, we missed a minor warning in the script code that performs this action that explicitly states that if the appended path exceeds 1024 characters, the script simply replaces the entire path string rather than restoring the original. 

We're currently looking into a fix, and this problem should not be present in the 1.19 installer, which is currently being prepared.  Again, sorry for this relatively nasty side effect of installing Simply Fortran.

Jeff Armstrong
Approximatrix, LLC

3 Reply by JohnWasilewski (edited by JohnWasilewski 2011-09-08 23:08:52)

Re: PATH

That's OK Jeff.  I've been able to restore the PATH by copying from another laptop on our company system.
On my home PC I'll have to work it out from 1st principles but I expect I can do it.

My PATH variable, with the Simply Fortran addition, is 598 chars long.

I'm glad we've found this.
----
John

4 Reply by JohnWasilewski (edited by JohnWasilewski 2011-09-08 23:28:30)

Re: PATH

Strange...  the PATH on my home PC is 599 chars long, yet I have installed Simply Fortran 1.18, and the Simply Fortran pathnames have apparently been successfully APPENDed to the original path, rather than replacing it.

Why did the Simply Fortran installer overwrite my path on this PC?

Could the fact that my PATH variable has pathnames for more than one drive have anything to do with it?
Here's what it contains:

C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SystemRoot%\System32_more;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\AGL;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Ulead Systems\MPEG;C:\Program Files (x86)\jZip;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\DivX Shared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Shared;d:\Program Files (x86)\ Fortran\Simply\mingw\bin;d:\Program Files (x86)\Simply Fortran\mingw\bin

This is AFTER installing Simply Fortran on my home PC.
--
J.

Re: PATH

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