I have had (global-set-key [f9] 'compile) in my Emacs init file for many years. With this setup, hitting [f9] and doing M-x compile RET should run the same commands the same way, right?
But today I was having trouble with a Bash script. I ran it, as usual, by hitting [f9], but got a mysterious error. After several vain attempts to find a bug in my script, I suddenly discovered that when I execute it with M-x compile instead, it succeeds, and that it also succeeds when run on a VT or gnome-terminal. So it turns out — to my big surprise — that running compile via a shortcut key or via M-x do not always do the same thing.
(
Minimal working example (saved as /tmp/ledger-test; the drewr3.dat file was copied from Ledger's GIT source):
#! /bin/bash
ledgerfile=/tmp/drewr3.dat
# run ledger under env -i, to leave no room for possible differences in environment:
env -i TERM=ansi ledger --no-color -f $ledgerfile balance
When I set compile-command to "bash /tmp/ledger-test" and run the script via M-x compile, it runs normally. But when I run it by hitting [f9] , it fails:
While evaluating value expression:
ansify_if(justify(scrub(display_total), 20, (20 + int(prepend_width)), true, color), (should_bold ? (bold : null)))
While calling function 'int ':
While calling function 'justify ($ -3,804.00, <#EXPR {20}>, <#EXPR ({20} + int(prepend_width))>, 1, 0)':
While calling function 'ansify_if (<#EXPR justify(scrub(display_total), {20}, ({20} + int(prepend_width)), true, color)>, )':
Error: bad lexical cast: source type value could not be interpreted as target
)
What's going on, and how to make [f9] work identically with M-x compile?
I am running Emacs 28.1 on Arch Linux. (Running Emacs with -Q does not help.)
P.S. I tried to work around the trouble by creating a keyboard macro that runs compile, and binding it to [f9]:
M-x global-unset-key RET [f9]
C-x ( M-x compile RET C-x )
M-x name-last-keyboard-macro RET my-compile RET
M-x global-set-key RET [f9] my-compile RET
But this did not help: when I hit [f9] now, I get the same error again.
C-h k <f9>in that buffer report?<f9>unexpectedly had a different binding). I also think it should be the same asM-x compilein this case. That the method of invocation would somehow vary the outcome of running the script is bizarre, but I would suggest you focus on debugging the script failure as a way to glean some insight into what the actual difference was, and then see if you can relate that back to Emacs somehow.compiletoC-c z-<f9>is in use already in my case - and doM-x compile RET bash /tmp/foo.shandC-c z RETwhich has thebash /tmp/foo.shcommand defaulted. I get identical output in both cases: a*compilation*buffer with more or less the same output as executing the script from the command line (more or less because theTERM=ansisetting makesledgerproduce ansi escape codes in the output which are not interpreted when sent to the*compilation*buffer). Settingcompile-commandtobash /tmp/foo.shworks in exactly the same way.