[cvsnt] Log command is erroring out (unrecognized operation '\x0')

[Miguel Hernandez]

Arthur,

Thanks for your feedback .

> There are several odd things about your installation (including the odd
> cvsdiag results on the server) but nothing I can directly relate to this
> problem.

Since I did not installed the  actual server nor configured it, I cannot 
tell right now why things came up strange. I will work closely with who 
installed it. I have made sure though, that at least my client is updated 
and secure protocols are used.

The CVS server was upgraded a few months ago. It used to be installed in 
a linux box and now it uses CVSNT. During the time when the ,v file was 
at the linux box. The only problem I recall almost a year ago was:

cvs commit -f -m "In progress" -- Sample.bin
Checking in Sample.bin;
/local/cvsroot/Old Path/Sample.bin,v  <--  Sample.bin
new revision: 1.450; previous revision: 1.449
cvs [server aborted]: Could not map memory to RCS archive /local/cvsroot
/Old Path/Sample.bin,v 
: Cannot allocate memory
**** CVS exited normally with code 1 *****

This was using WinCVS with the CVSNT 2.0.51d server version at my PC.
The errors stopped happening, but unfortunately I never knew what was the 
solution.

I can't recall using much the log command on the Sample.bin file before or 

after the upgrade to CVSNT. However, it had always been possible to use 
the 
cvs web interface to keep track of messages until now for Sample.bin, now
it yields:

An Exception Has Occurred
Python Traceback

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files\viewvc-1.0.4\lib\viewvc.py", line 3665, in main
    request.run_viewvc()
  File "C:\Program Files\viewvc-1.0.4\lib\viewvc.py", line 388, in 
run_viewvc self.view_func(self)
  File "C:\Program Files\viewvc-1.0.4\lib\viewvc.py", line 1551, in 
view_directory request.repos.dirlogs(request.path_parts, request.pathrev, 
file_data, options)
  File "C:\Program Files\viewvc-1.0.4\lib\vclib\bincvs\__init__.py", line 
195, in dirlogs alltags = _get_logs(self, dirpath, entries, rev, subdirs)
  File "C:\Program Files\viewvc-1.0.4\lib\vclib\bincvs\__init__.py", line 
887, in _get_logs  filename, default_branch, taginfo, msg, eof = 
_parse_log_header(rlog)
  File "C:\Program Files\viewvc-1.0.4\lib\vclib\bincvs\__init__.py", line 
654, in _parse_log_header % line)
Error: Could not get filename from CVSNT error:
cvs [rcsfile aborted]: unrecognized operation '\x0' in 
c:\local\cvsroot\Path\Sample.bin,v

> Ie: have you only just noticed that this started occurring or has it
> only just started occurring?
I only noticed it started ocurring. I usually check revisions using the 
web interface more often than using the log 
command; both always used to work until a few days ago. and it was 
precisely by looking at the web interface
that I realized something was wrong.

> You have written that running this fails with the "unrecognized 
> operation '\x0'" error. Do you know when this first started appearing?
I do not know for certain, I usually make sure my graphical client 
indicates success on commit or update operations. For revisions review 
I usually use the web interface, and this is not always done right after 
a commit operation. My guess is that at some point one of the unsuccessful 

commit operations corrupted the file inadvertently.

> The best way to find this is by looking in the audit,
> though 'cvs history' may tell you a little information if you do not
> have audit installed/enabled/configured. 
Unfortunately, the history command is not enabled in the CVSNT server:
cvs [server aborted]: History logging is not enabled on this repository
Please lead us to documentation on how to enable the history feature. 
It is obvious now its importance.

In any case, by looking at the web output above, it is rather obvious 
that the log header in the file has the problem.
Could it be the invalid diff you were referring to?

Best regards.

- Miguel Hernandez