rspec users - Jan 2011 - RSpec newbie ran rspec 2.4 on WinXP, got HOME undefined

Hi,

I''m running WinXP-Pro/SP3 & Ruby 1.8.6

I just got the RSpec Book and successfully ran
gem install rspec --version 2.0.0
per the book''s suggestion.

In a Command window, I ran
K:\>rspec -v
and got:
K:/_Utilities/ruby186-26_rc2/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rspec-
core-2.4.0/lib/rspec/core/configuration_options.rb:9:couldn''t find
HOME environment -- expanding `~'' (ArgumentError)

I ran "gem install rspec -v 2.4.0" successfully and got the same
symptom,
except this time the intermediate portions of the error message
referred to
gems/1.8/gems/rspec-core-2.4.0

I checked my environment variables for HOME; it is undefined.

Could it be that RSpec relies on some Ruby 1.9 functionality?

Any advice would be gratefully received.
--
Richard

On Monday 10 January 2011 22.37:46 RichardOnRails wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I''m running WinXP-Pro/SP3 & Ruby 1.8.6
> 
> K:/_Utilities/ruby186-26_rc2/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rspec-
> core-2.4.0/lib/rspec/core/configuration_options.rb:9:couldn''t find
> HOME environment -- expanding `~'' (ArgumentError)
> 
> I checked my environment variables for HOME; it is undefined.
Sounds like rspec is relying on some *NIX stuff here (HOME is usually pointing 
to a users home directory). Google how to set environment variables and set 
HOME to the folder containing your home directory (usually something like 
C:\documents and settings\<user>).
> Any advice would be gratefully received.
> --
> Richard
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Hi Simon,
> Sounds like rspec is relying on some *NIX stuff here
Yeah,  I recognized that it was looking for a home directory on a *nix
box, but I couldn''t think of a counterpart on Windows,  because
I''ve
only got a slew of partitions (C:\, D:\ ...) but no home.

You came up with a good insight.  I tried my admin subdir in Documents
and Settings and noted that one  of the subdirectories was gem.  That
sounded good,  but no prize.  So I did a search of DandS for rspec.
Found a good subdir with lots of rspec entries.

Set HOME to that via the control panel.  Started a new Command Window
so that the new settings would be read in and got.

K:\>rspec -v
2.4.0

Mission Accomplished.

Thanks for your keen insights.
Richard

K:\>

On Jan 10, 5:39?pm, Simon Hafner <freakgu... at gmail.com>
wrote:
> On Monday 10 January 2011 22.37:46 RichardOnRails wrote:
>
> > Hi,
>
> > I''m running WinXP-Pro/SP3 & Ruby 1.8.6
>
> > K:/_Utilities/ruby186-26_rc2/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rspec-
> > core-2.4.0/lib/rspec/core/configuration_options.rb:9:couldn''t
find
> > HOME environment -- expanding `~'' (ArgumentError)
>
> > I checked my environment variables for HOME; it is undefined.
>
> Sounds like rspec is relying on some *NIX stuff here (HOME is usually
pointing
> to a users home directory). Google how to set environment variables and set
> HOME to the folder containing your home directory (usually something like
> C:\documents and settings\<user>).
>
> > Any advice would be gratefully received.
> > --
> > Richard
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> rspec-users mailing list
> rspec-us... at
rubyforge.orghttp://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 6:37 PM, RichardOnRails
<RichardDummyMailbox58407 at uscomputergurus.com>
wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I''m running WinXP-Pro/SP3 & Ruby 1.8.6
>
> I just got the RSpec Book and successfully ran
> gem install rspec --version 2.0.0
> per the book''s suggestion.
>
> In a Command window, I ran
> K:\>rspec -v
> and got:
> K:/_Utilities/ruby186-26_rc2/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rspec-
> core-2.4.0/lib/rspec/core/configuration_options.rb:9:couldn''t find
> HOME environment -- expanding `~'' (ArgumentError)
>
> I ran "gem install rspec -v 2.4.0" successfully and got the same
> symptom,
> except this time the intermediate portions of the error message
> referred to
> gems/1.8/gems/rspec-core-2.4.0
>
> I checked my environment variables for HOME; it is undefined.
>
> Could it be that RSpec relies on some Ruby 1.9 functionality?
File.expand_path("~")

That could trigger the issue. expand_path on 1.8.x depends on HOME
been defined. Ruby 1.9 already workaround that properly checking for
HOMEDRIVE+HOMEPATH, USERPROFILE and HOME

You can avoid that setting HOME to HOMEDRIVE+HOMEPATH:

SET HOME=%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%

And put that in your user environment variables.

No other workaround for tilde expansion for 1.8.x

-- 
Luis Lavena
AREA 17
-
Perfection in design is achieved not when there is nothing more to add,
but rather when there is nothing more to take away.
Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry