strange error message when installing older package

[mikestillman]

I am trying to resurrect some older packages to place into M2. The package format for this package is likely no longer correct (I'm not sure of this yet). But I get the following when trying to install:

i1 : installPackage "TowerRings"
stdio:1:1:(3): error: makeDocumentTag: package cannot be determined: (adjustComputation,Computation)

There is no adjustComputation method in this package.

I'm not yet sure what the problem is.

Along the way, I am getting a few other error messages I don't understand. When I switch to 1.24.01-dirty.... (pretty much the current development branch) from version 1.23, and try to start M2, I get the following error message. I had removed the local end encap directories in the Application Support Macaulay2 directory. Perhaps this should be another issue, not sure yet.

i1 : restart
Macaulay2, version 1.24.05-154-g97d787b49-dirty (development)
with packages: ConwayPolynomials, Elimination, IntegralClosure, InverseSystems, Isomorphism, LLLBases, MinimalPrimes, OnlineLookup,
               PrimaryDecomposition, ReesAlgebra, Saturation, TangentCone, Truncations, Varieties
../../../../../M2-current-branches/M2-development/M2/Macaulay2/m2/installPackage.m2:333:44:(1):[10]: error: can't read directory '/Users/mike/Library/Application Support/Macaulay2/local/share/doc/Macaulay2/' : No such file or directory
../../../../../M2-current-branches/M2-development/M2/Macaulay2/m2/installPackage.m2:333:44:(1):[10]: --entering debugger (type help to see debugger commands)
../../../../../M2-current-branches/M2-development/M2/Macaulay2/m2/installPackage.m2:333:43-333:57: --source code:
                        contents := select(readDirectory docdir, fn -> fn != "." and fn != ".." );

After removing the local and encap subdirectories, it starts fine. @d-torrance did the structure of the directory change from 1.23 to 1.24?

Anyway, after doing this, I get the following:

i1 : needsPackage "TowerRings"

o1 = TowerRings

o1 : Package

i2 : installPackage "TowerRings"
stdio:2:1:(3): error: makeDocumentTag: package cannot be determined: (adjustComputation,Computation)

@d-torrance @DanGrayson @mahrud Any ideas what the problem is? I'll keep looking at it, but at the least, we probably need better error messages.

[mikestillman]

OK, if I then restart, I get an error:

Macaulay2, version 1.24.05-154-g97d787b49-dirty (development)
with packages: ConwayPolynomials, Elimination, IntegralClosure, InverseSystems, Isomorphism, LLLBases, MinimalPrimes, OnlineLookup,
               PrimaryDecomposition, ReesAlgebra, Saturation, TangentCone, Truncations, Varieties
../../../../../M2-current-branches/M2-development/M2/Macaulay2/m2/installPackage.m2:333:44:(1):[10]: error: can't read directory '/Users/mike/Library/Application Support/Macaulay2/local/share/doc/Macaulay2/' : No such file or directory
../../../../../M2-current-branches/M2-development/M2/Macaulay2/m2/installPackage.m2:333:44:(1):[10]: --entering debugger (type help to see debugger commands)
../../../../../M2-current-branches/M2-development/M2/Macaulay2/m2/installPackage.m2:333:43-333:57: --source code:
                        contents := select(readDirectory docdir, fn -> fn != "." and fn != ".." );

Not sure yet what the issue is....

EDIT: this part of the problem went away when #3301 was merged.

[d-torrance]

I think the readDirectory error should be fixed when #3301 is merged.

[mikestillman]

@d-torrance Thanks! I just "rebased and merged" that pull request.

[mahrud]

Without knowing more about the package, I have no idea why this error might be occurring. Did you do debug Core or maybe define a Computation type?

[mikestillman]

Yes, debug Core is being done there...

[mikestillman]

I plan on changing that. I just merged in some of @d-torrance 's fixes, so I'll see where this stands now.

[mikestillman]

After the PR merges today, this documentTag error still seems to be a problem, at least when running off a build tree.

[mahrud]

In Utah, I kept seeing the same error, except for some random methods defined in Complexes. The problem in that case stemmed from our changes to a local version of Complexes, which was being loaded when we ran the tests but not while the examples were being generated by installPackage.

The solution in that case was to install Complexes from the local copy first, which was extremely time consuming, so I'd like to see installPackage use local copies of imported packages first before looking at the installed ones. This is probably doable, but I'm not sure what would be the unintended side effects.

[mikestillman]

In this case, removing debug Core, and adding a number of importFrom_Core { " ... " } lines instead fixed the problem. Still, the error message is completely inscrutable, and should be more informative!
EDIT: my mistake, this did not fix the documentTag problem.
EDIT of EDIT: actually, I had missed a debug Core before the package header. Removing that does fix this problem. Not sure how to fix the problem though in the case when the debug Core is there.

@mahrud I don't yet understand the problem you raise. That seems like a bug in installPackage?

[mahrud]

I don't know. installPackage.m2 is probably due for an audit and maybe further simplification after four years.

[mahrud]

I don't yet understand the problem you raise. That seems like a bug in installPackage?

Here's how to reproduce the issue I described above, in #3307 (comment):

1. Make a copy of FirstPackage.m2 in your home directory.
2. Edit firstFunction by adding:

firstFunction Thing := String => n -> "This is a thing!"

3. Create MyPackage.m2 with contents:

newPackage(
    "MyPackage",
    Headline => "my package",
    PackageExports => { "FirstPackage" }
    )

TEST ///
  assert(firstFunction "foo" === "This is a thing!")
///

beginDocumentation()

doc ///
Node
  Key
    MyPackage
  Description
    Example
      firstFunction "foo"
///

4. Now run:

loadPackage("FirstPackage", FileName => "./FirstPackage.m2")
loadPackage("MyPackage",    FileName => "./MyPackage.m2")

check "MyPackage" -- works fine
installPackage "MyPackage" -- fails with error:
-- i1 : firstFunction "foo"
-- stdio:1:8:(3): error: no method found for applying firstFunction to:
--      argument   :  "foo" (of class String)

Of course, the solution is to install the local copy of FirstPackage first, then install MyPackage, but this can be time consuming (e.g. if you just needed to fix a small bug in a very large package).

Is this a bug in installPackage? I don't know! It's certainly confusing to figure out and annoying to fix, but there may be unintended consequences in having installPackage look at the directories on path in order rather than just using the installed packages.

[mahrud]

This will be fixed by #3382 (see the test added in https://github.com/Macaulay2/M2/pull/3382/files#diff-2df36823cf821a86a3be8aa10690024a20e0b24e6e533b7b99e9e07ee58922ac).