So I guess what is called for is a "Guide to Error Messages (for all but 
Csound techies)". I don't think the even average (or above average) Csound 
user can be expected to know what a "segfault" consists of or means.

In this case, the Guide entry might well read: "Something's wrong with your 
orchestra or score. Fix it."

Otherwise, I for one am left with a sense of utter frustration - the same as 
those engendered by Windows error boxes. (But Windows self-corrects most of 
its errors!)

Art Hunkins

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Anthony Kozar" 
To: 
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 1:10 PM
Subject: Re: [Csnd] Segmentation fault...


> Art Hunkins wrote on 1/13/06 9:54 AM:
>
>> I agree with Oeyvind - especially with regard to "segfault." "Segfault"
>> means "something went wrong during execution, and we're going to stop."
>
> Not quite.  There are lots of errors that Csound does catch and then 
> decides
> whether to continue or not.  But a segfault is NOT an error that a program
> is catching itself.  It is usually a error made by the programmer and is
> caught by the operating system.  So segfault means "something SERIOUSLY 
> went
> wrong and the operating system will not LET the program continue."
>
>> Yes, a more user-friendly and informative error message in place of
>> "segfault" would be most helpful.
>
> This is impossible.  If Csound were to print a more informative message,
> then it would have to do exactly the tests that Erik was suggesting.  Once
> the OS detects a segmentation fault, it is too late for Csound to do
> anything about it.  So, we cannot have both speed and user-friendly error
> messages in these cases.
>
> That is one of the reasons that I object to certain situations that cause
> segfaults being "allowed."  (Although as Michael points out, we probably
> cannot test for everything).  On some [perhaps "antiquated"] operating
> systems, these segfaults can cause the entire system to crash -- a very
> unpleasant user experience :(
>
>
> Anthony Kozar
> anthonykozar AT sbcglobal DOT net
>
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