http://bugzilla.spamassassin.org/show_bug.cgi?id=4036
Summary: SA and spamd should give understandable 'version error'
messages rather than random errors
Product: Spamassassin
Version: unspecified
Platform: Other
OS/Version: other
Status: NEW
Severity: normal
Priority: P2
Component: spamassassin
AssignedTo: [email protected]
ReportedBy: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Background:
The SA team generally knows the perl modules used by SA itself and the various
ancilliary perl bits that are part of the release. In many or most cases the
minimum workable version of each module is also known, as this usually appears
somewhere in the documentation.
Problem:
Failure to have the right module versions loaded generally results in cryptic
perl syntax errors and other non-obvious malfunctions. These errors annoy the
person receiving them, take up inordinate amounts of time on the SA-talk list,
and very often can only be recognized by an SA developer for being a sign that
module X, Y or Z is the wrong version.
A typical exchange from the SA list today will illustrate this point:
----------------------------------
another list user, david baines helped me out on this one...
its very simply that your version of getopt::long is not recent enough
get the latest from cpan and install and it works perfectly from then on
ronan
Stephan Paukner wrote:
> On Wed, December 15, 2004 9:53, Ronan said:
>
>>>I actually never knew about this until i was having a hoke around...
>>>anyway cant get it to run..
>>>
>>>./sa-stats.pl -l /var/log/syslog -H -T 5 -u
>>>Error in option spec: "top|T:25"
>>>Error in option spec: "SCALAR(0x4c9a68)"
>>>bash-2.03$
>>>
>>>i presume this is to do with the per user count but it even flags when
>>>i run
>>>
>>>bash-2.03$ ./sa-stats.pl -l /var/log/syslog Error in option spec:
>>>"top|T:25"
>>>Error in option spec: "SCALAR(0x4c9a38)"
>>>
>>>
>>>and even
>>>
>>>bash-2.03$ ./sa-stats.pl Error in option spec: "top|T:25"
>>>Error in option spec: "SCALAR(0x4c9a20)"
>>>
>>>
>>>any hints? thanks.
-----------------------------------------
Solution:
If SA checked the versions of all of the modules the developers know that it
needs and made simple, clear, ERROR -- MISSING MODULE or ERROR -- WRONG VERSION
type messages when the module either wan't present or had a useless version,
then it would be a lot simpler for users to fix their stupid configuration
screwups at the outset.
It would be nice if such checks were part of the install.
But they should also be present either as a separate tool that can be run
anytime, or incorporated into spamassassin and spamd so that they get run every
time on program startup, and make appropriate clear and obvious log results.
In fact, the program should probably abort immediately after the version and
presence checks if any errors are detected, rather than continuing to run and
making cryptic and erroneous results later on.
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