Debian Menu File - Mysterious Syntax Error

computerdan000 · 10-11-2008, 07:57 PM

I am building a package of the Arduino IDE for a live CD I'm building; I'm trying to make upgrading things easier when it happens instead of chasing file all over the place. When I wrote and tested the menu file (to make things show up in the menu), it barfed with the following syntax error:

Code:

/usr/share/menu/arduino: 1: Syntax error: word unexpected (expecting ")")
Execution of /usr/share/menu/arduino generated no output or returned an error.

I've examined line 1 multiple times, then moved to looking through the entire file, and didn't find anything. I've reproduced the entire file below.

Code:

?package(arduino):\
	needs="X11"\
	section="Apps/Programming"\
	hints="IDE"\
	title="Arduino IDE"\
	icon32x32="/usr/share/pixmaps/arduino.xpm"\
	icon16x16="/usr/share/pixmaps/arduino-16.xpm"\
	command="/usr/share/arduino/arduino"

I looked at other menu files to see if I missed something (my first thought was maybe someone made a typo in the guide I was using, and you need quotes around the package name, but other menu files did not have quotes as well), but there was nothing immediately obvious.

I built things using Kubuntu 8.04 KDE4 Remix and tested in in Xubuntu 8.10 Beta in VirtualBox (so as not to ruin things by accident).

greeneagle · 08-28-2009, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by computerdan000

Code:

/usr/share/menu/arduino: 1: Syntax error: word unexpected (expecting ")")

Very very VERY late reply but I've seen a few threads on ther internet without a proper solution for this particular error.

This error ("line 1: syntax error: word unexpected (expecting ")")") is misleading.
It leads one initially to suspect a scripting error.
It can because of trying to run an incompatible (maybe elf64, maybe for a different platform) binary on an elf32 platform (x86/i386).

It is quite like the misleading error you get in solaris 32bit or 64bit "Invalid argument" if trying to run an incompatible binary.