[Info-vax] Unexpected error using ZIP for OpenVMS

[AEF]

On Dec 28, 1:30 am, Steven Schweda <sms.antin... at gmail.com> wrote:
> > It says the record is too large. Why should it be
> > unexpected that there's a limit to something?
>
>    Well, duh.  The problem is not that _some_ limit exists.
> The problem is that this (unexpected) limit exists.
>
> >  VMS has limits: 8 levels of subdirectories,
>
>       alp $ create /directory /log [sms.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10]
>       %CREATE-I-CREATED, ALP$DKC0:[SMS.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10] created

Hi Ken!

Well, duh! It wasn't always this way. My point is that it once was,
and for a long time. I was just giving an example. Yes, I should have
perhaps said VAX/VMS (!).

>
> >  32767 versions of a file, and
> > isn't there a limit on how long a record can be?
>
>    In some contexts, there may be a limit on record length.
> Why should this be one of them?

I don't know. I'm not familiar with the code.

Oh, another limit: VMS backup block sizes, and two different ones: one
on tape and a smaller one on disk! 65535 and 32767. This led Carl
Lydick to always warn people not to use block sizes higher than what
could be on disk so that copying a save set to disk wouldn't break it.
And if you exceed the limits you should expect problems!

>
> >  EDT is
> > limited to lines of lest than 256 records, and limited to
> > something like 65536 records or similar. 39 chars in an ODS-2
> > file name or file type. All the limits in a user's
> > authorization record. So why not a record too long for Zip?
>
>    I'll bite.  Why should the same data in a file with no
> record delimiters cause no trouble if it's Record format:
> Stream_LF, but this problem if it's Record format: Stream or
> Stream_CR?

A bug.

Well, the OP (the one who used the word "unexpected") did not mention
anything about Stream_LF, but perhaps I missed it. It was you who
brought it up after it was already labeled as an "unexpected error."

>
> > Hey, it's not my fault if you can't explain it clearly.
>
>    Right.  A Web search for:
>       parker horticulture
> leads to a quotation which leaps to mind here.

What's good for the goose . . . . Touche' Monsieur!

>
>    On second thought, forget the whole thing.  You're right,
> it's a complete miracle when any computer program does
> anything useful, so every program failure should be expected.
> I was being unforgivably obtuse to suggest otherwise.

I said I was exaggerating. I guess you missed that part.

OK, Ken. We simply have different views. I think part of the problem
may be the software I use every day. Outlook 2010, Windows Search in
any of it's programs. Lots of headaches every day, every hour, all the
time, due to errors of every kind. I recently upgraded Confluence from
2.9.2 to 3.5.7. Lots of problems, but it's running great now in
production. Now I'm working on JIRA 3.13.1 to 4.4.4. Lots of problems,
but I got the hard part done. Now it's just getting the easy details
and such into a procedure. MySQL was partly to blame in both cases!
Using Ctrl-F in Firefox fails in certain contexts for no discernable
reason (and now FF is telling me I misspelled discernable!). Maybe
it's time to try Chrome or Opera. And Safari doesn't even have that
functionality!

OKAY? It's just gotten to the point that if 20 minutes in my workday
goes by without an error or crash, I'm simply amazed. You, on the
other hand, must be living in a completely different software
environment. Perhaps you are lucky enough to work solely in an Alpha/
VMS world. Or we just have different points of view.

OK.

AEF