Problems with fread_word when loading wizlist

I've just got Smaug extracted it and compiled it also fixing the odd bug but when i try to run it it says
[*****] BUG: Fread_word: word to long
how do i change this so it works?

That means that one of your files (area, pfiles, etc.) has a word in it that's too long. Can't really help you fix it unless you know where the long word is. When does the bug appear?

After it loads Wizfile when you start smaug.

Im not sure but would an email address count as a long word?

An email address probably wouldn't, no.

Check your log files; where does that line appear? What's the context?

What does fread word mean anyway,
oh and would it be the fact that theres no spaces between the bracketS?
Or would the problem be located near the Fread_word program?

Would the word Wuninitialized be causing the problem as its the biggest word i can find so far? If so how do i change it?

It reads characters from the specified file until hitting a word delimiter e.g. whitespace.

What brackets???

I'm assuming you mean fread_word function... and no... this is not a problem with the code, it's a problem with your input data like I told you.

Are you looking in the code?? The problem is not in the code but in areas, pfiles, or some other input file. Note: a code file is not an input file.

If you want useful help, then you need to answer the questions you're asked... so, please look at your log files, and tell me what the context of the log message is.

By the way, a "long word" is not 14 letters... but more like a few hundred at least.

All our log files are empty except the changelog which holds too much to explain here. So now what?

An example of the changelog file is below:

imc2-1.00b 01/29/99
* keepalive problem resolved. imc-list maintained by close-notify packets,
request-keepalive packets and boot-only keepalives.
* autohub load balancing - temporary connections to less busy hubs.
* hubs don't ping the world, just their direct connections.
* muds dont transmit to every hub they are connected to. Just the least busy
one.
* some new fields , and some old ones made mandatory in the config file.
* InfoDetail can be entered mutliple times for multiple lines.
imc2-0.10 12/11/97
* ICE client/server prototype code
* rwhois doesn't see rinvis characters any more
* 'Bind' option added to config to bind to a specific IP
* better behavior of imc_idle if no descriptors are active
-- 0.9a-ice1 released --
* bugfix for huge IMC version numbers (where -do- people think these things
up? :) from Trevor@Morgaelin
* various patches from Graucho@BerMUDa
* verify_format fix
* IMC_NUKE_RCHAT added to prevent forwarding - rchat is gone
* huge numbers of ICE fixes and enhancements
* rchat no longer in the channel table by default
* levels in packets, wizi/see/invis greatly simplified (to a simple
imm/mortal distinction).
* last connected field added - mainly for hubs - to imc_info / imclist
* IMC_NOTIFY turned back on, to point at toof.net
-- 0.9a-ice2 released --
* notifications fixed
* more patches/bugfixes from Graucho@10T - destroy fixes, empty message
handling, icec_showchannel bug.
* imc_packet and imc_internal merged
* version 0 and version 1 support removed
* rping (ping and traceroute) added
* info-request, info-reply, info-unavailable added
* InfoXYZ fields added to config. InfoName and InfoEmail are -REQUIRED-
to start IMC.
* Added README.info
* format1/format2 fixes
* icommand refresh accepts *, and handles nonexistant channels by sending
a destroy
* imc-mercbase, channels renamed to imc_channels
* imc-mercbase, replaced _C with COL due to some header conflicts with ctype.h
* imc-mercbase, quiet mode now a macro
* save problems with icec channels resolved

I don't care about the changelog, I'm asking you for your run logs... don't you have a subdirectory called 'log' or something like that?

What system are you running on?

The Log subdirectory has a shutdown folder, both are empty im using windows if thats what you mean.....
im a newbie at this so...

OK... let's start all over again.

Where and how - exactly - do you get that bug message?

when i try to open smaug.exe it runs the dos thing and loads stuff then says the bug message

Please define:
"loads stuff"
"says the bug message"

loading commands
loading sysdata configuration...
loading socials
loading skill table
sorting skill table...
remapping slots to sns
loading classes
loading races
loading herb table
loading tongues
making wizlist
[*****] BUG: Fread_word: word too long

Is that what you're seeing in the DOS prompt?

Where did you get this code?

yeah its in dos
were running smaug we got it from http://www.auricmud.com/snippets/Aurora/winsmaug.htm#compiling%20the%20mud

You didn't tell me that you were compiling under Cygwin...

Anyways... Did you do *everything* the site says you have to do?

For example:

we got the directories but not sure about how to do backups

how do i make backups

i think ive made backups

i guess you dont know then

Hey, no offense, but it's not exactly easy to help you... you don't answer questions, you don't speak precisely at all, so I can only imagine how imprecisely you handled the installation instructions...

I know I did the installation right save the backup which im not sure how to do. Ask any questions again and ill try to be as clear and precise as possible.

How did you compile the MUD?

Where did you put it?

What directories do you have where you put it?

How are you starting it?

first we compiled it on cygwin and that worked fine

we put it in c:\

and we got:dist,ftpgame.org


inside dist there are:area,backup,boards,buildings,clans,classes corpses
councils,deity deleted doc gods backupgods log new player races src system

same as before compiling

inside src there is a smaug.exe which we run from a dos command promt thing it works until the bug

if any more info is needed tell me

How are you starting it? Precisely.

To create the backups, just create the directories a-z in the player directory, then you need a backup directory with the same a-z directories. View as this:


Also, its worth noting that that the sub-directories should be lowercase.

I start the program either by double clicking on the smaug.exe inside the src folder
or opening a dos command promt and typing
CD C:\dist\area

C:\dist\src\smaug.exe

Hey give us a break! That is four posts in about 40 minutes, at midnight my time. We aren't all awake or checking for posts every 5 minutes! If you ask a question and don't get a reply after 2 days you might remind us or ask again, not after 20 minutes.




Is that exactly what appeared? And after that, what? Did it continue to start up? The wizlist might be empty or wrong. It might be a case of just deleting that file.

Hmmm - I didn't initially realise this thread was three pages long when it only started this evening.

Look, I would appreciate it if you would follow the guidelines which appear when you start a new thread. Here are a couple:

• Subject: Please provide a helpful subject description, not just 'a question', or similar.".
  
  Your subject "help me" is not a helpful description. "Problem with fread_word in wizlist" might be better.
  
• This point: If there is an error, an exact copy of the error message(s)."
  
  You are obviously retyping the error message because you typed "Fread_word: word to long" when the message would be "fread_word: word too long". Thus this is not an exact copy.
  
  You need to learn how to copy from the DOS window (click on the top LH corner and go to Edit -> Mark, select the text and hit <enter>. Then paste the results into the forum. When you retype things you change them and we don't know exactly what happened.
  
• You are running the server, not coding it. Thus you are in the wrong thread of the forum.

I have changed the thread subject, in case anyone is wondering, from "Help me" to "Problems with fread_word when loading wizlist".

Also, you said "i think ive made backups". According to the source you want a directory "backup" not "backups". You really have to be precise when dealing with computers, the difference between "backup" and "backups" can be the difference between success and failure.

See the source for the exact directory name:


#define BACKUP_DIR "../player/backup/" /* Backup Player files */


"Making backups" in this context is not the same thing as making backups of your work, it is creating a directory called "backup" as a subdirectory of "player".

It seems to me that if your last log error message is "[*****] BUG: Fread_word: word too long", then you need to open the files found in /gods and look at those. If they all appear to be ok, then here is a very easy step to do: delete them all. They are not nessecary for booting, only for making the wizlist, which seems kind of silly to me( another thread of discussion, I think ;) .) Make a backup of these files in a neutral directory if you like, but as soon as the appropriate immortal saves, they should be recreated properly.

So, possible steps to follow for newbies, cause I know that this was what I need when I first started:

1. Select all the files in the /gods directory, cut them out, and paste somewhere safe ( /backup, perhaps, or My Documents).

2. Ensure that all files in the /gods directory are gone, and try to boot the mud again.

3. If it boots properly, then you only need to save as your immortal. You can even loadup your other immortals, force them to save, and then make them quit to properly restore their files.

4. If it does not boot properly then you this was never your issue, copy back the files that you saved back in /gods, and post here letting us know what happened. If this was not the case, we may be able to help you through other means, like gdb.

Try that. It may not be the problem at all, but its an easy thing to test, and it eliminates possible problems, which is always a good thing in debugging.

A side note, though, if your /logs directory is not creating logs, you may need to start your mud through the startup file, rather than the executable. If you don't know how to do this, there are other threads that explain this processes.

Hope this helps.

It works then after loading sounds etc it comes up with this:

Mon May 17 16:41:41 2004 :: Initializing socket
Mon May 17 16:41:41 2004 :: (Name Not Set) ready at address your-y0mkaz8jaq on p
ort 4000.

then it starts a loop of resetting what do i do now?

Define 'loop of resetting'.

it says:
Resetting: newacad.are
Resetting: daycare.are
Resetting: pixie.are

then it continues with every file

then it repeats the above files again

The game is *supposed* to reset... how much time is there between each reset cycle?

quite a while about 4 minutes between each reset

its been resseting for ages and i cant do anything else on it it keeps doing the same files

Resetting: dwarven.are
Resetting: srefuge.are
Mon May 17 18:09:10 2004 :: Sock.sinaddr: 80.57.31.4, port 2274.
Mon May 17 18:09:10 2004 :: Broke all-time maximum player record: 1
Mon May 17 18:09:10 2004 :: EOF encountered on read.
Resetting: sewer.are

it just did this then continued

Dude.. the game is supposed to reset! It is *normal* if you see reset messages.

You shouldn't freak out every time you see something in the log file. Instead look at what it's telling you, read it and understand it. That message you got is just telling you that somebody connected and disconnected.

I suggest that you read this post:
http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/bbshowpost.php?bbsubject_id=2293

You seem to misunderstand how a server works.

You are not supposed to "do anything" in this window. It is a log of what is happening on the server. The resetting is normal, it means the mobs are repopulating in the various areas.

As soon as you see the line:


Mon May 17 16:41:41 2004 :: (Name Not Set) ready at address your-y0mkaz8jaq on p
ort 4000.


... you can connect to your server by using your client program and connect to address 127.0.0.1 port 4000.

When it says it is "ready" it means it. BTW you can change "(Name Not Set)" to the name of your MUD in the system.dat file.