BASH script error from Servicemenu gives incorrect error message

[oshunluvr]

Is this a bug?:

I'm working on a Servicemenu that executes a bash script (as dozens of other service menus do). Through trial and error I find that if the script exits with an error (exit 1), Dolphin returns and error message that reads:

Could not find the program '~/.local/share/kservices5/ServiceMenus/somefolder/somescript'

This drove me crazy for hours and hours until I realized that it's Dolphin giving the wrong message. This happens if I use an indirect location for the bash script and the script exits with a 1. If I remove the "~" and replace it with "/home/username" the error message does not appear even when the script exits with 1.

Friggin' wasted a bunch of time on this one.

At the very least, Dolphin shouldn't give the wrong error message.

[jlittle]

"tilde expansion" is a shell expansion, one of many, like variable, file name globbing, brace... It's just like the common snag of quoting the tilde, f.ex.

$ cat "~/.profile"
cat: '~/.profile': No such file or directory

It could be argued that dolphin should use a shell, both to check for the script's existence and to run it, but I suspect that dolphin hands over the task to a slave process, and the complications of that, f.ex. signal handling, might make that a bad idea.

However, I seem to recall KDE has had made that kind of change in the past,

[kubicle]

This happens if I use an indirect location for the bash script and the script exits with a 1. If I remove the "~" and replace it with "/home/username" the error message does not appear even when the script exits with 1.

You can use "$HOME" (which will expand inside double quotes, unlike the tilde...this is a POSIX definition) in place of "~". Generally better than hard coding "/home/username".

[oshunluvr]

You can use "$HOME" (which will expand inside double quotes, unlike the tilde...this is a POSIX definition) in place of "~". Generally better than hard coding "/home/username".

Great idea - thanks.

Does that fix the erroneous error message?

[kubicle]

Does that fix the erroneous error message?

It should fix the error caused by the "~" not being expanded, but of course it won't fix other problems with the script (if you received an error exit 1 even with the hard coded home path).

[oshunluvr]

It should fix the error caused by the "~" not being expanded, but of course it won't fix other problems with the script (if you received an error exit 1 even with the hard coded home path).

Roger that and thank you. I already changed to the $HOME usage vice using the tilde. I wasn't really having issues with the tilde per se, but using the variable seemed more "correct" if there is such a thing.

I suppose it's asking a lot of Dolphin to trap errors from outside programs correctly every time. Mostly, it irked me that I spent too much time trying to figure out why the ServiceMenu couldn't locate the script instead of trouble shooting the script where the actual problem was. I think it's misleading and therefore should be a more generic error so one isn't lead down a primrose path.