# Possible bug with Edit Spy predicates window with 8.1.9 **URL:** \ **Category:** Help!\ **Created:** [July 14, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948 "2019-07-14T03:58:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![prodog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@prodog](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/prodog)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/1 "2019-07-14T03:58:36Z")
I’m using: SWI-Prolog version 8.1.9 on Windows 8.1 Whenever I try to open the Edit Spy predicates with with 8.1.9 I get the error dump below in the console window. This did not happen with 8.0.3. Note, 8.1.9 is the version I reported the problems with the Navigator window freezing, which Jan said in another thread is fixed in one of the dev builds: ```prolog ERROR: [Thread pce] Unhandled exception: Domain error: `predicate_property' expected, found `trace_any' ERROR: [Thread pce] In: ERROR: [Thread pce] [20] '$get_predicate_attribute'(gui_tracer:noguitracer,trace_any,1) ERROR: [Thread pce] [18] prolog_debug_status:debugging(trace,gui_tracer:noguitracer) at c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/trace/status.pl:172 ERROR: [Thread pce] [17] Send-method on @51711037957/prolog_debug_status_dialog: prolog_debug_status_dialog->update at c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/trace/status.pl:143 ERROR: [Thread pce] [16] ERROR: [Thread pce] [15] pce_principal:send(@51711037957/prolog_debug_status_dialog,update) ERROR: [Thread pce] [14] Send-method on @51711037957/prolog_debug_status_dialog: prolog_debug_status_dialog->initialise at c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/trace/status.pl:80 ERROR: [Thread pce] [13] ERROR: [Thread pce] [12] pce_principal:send(@51711037924/prolog_debug_status,append(new(prolog_debug_status_dialog))) ERROR: [Thread pce] [11] Send-method on @51711037924/prolog_debug_status: prolog_debug_status->initialise(@prolog_ide/prolog_ide) at c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/trace/status.pl:65 ERROR: [Thread pce] [10] ERROR: [Thread pce] [9] pce_principal:send(prolog_debug_status(@prolog_ide/prolog_ide),open) ERROR: [Thread pce] [7] ERROR: [Thread pce] [6] pce_principal:send(@prolog_ide/prolog_ide,open_debug_status) ERROR: [Thread pce] [5] call(swi_ide:send(...,open_debug_status)) at c:/program files/swipl/boot/init.pl:324 ERROR: [Thread pce] [4] ERROR: [Thread pce] [3] pce_principal:pce_dispatch ERROR: [Thread pce] [2] catch(pce_dispatch:pce_dispatch,_710,pce_dispatch:true) at c:/program files/swipl/boot/init.pl:386 ERROR: [Thread pce] [1] pce_dispatch:pce_dispatcher(main) at c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/pce_dispatch.pl:98 ERROR: [Thread pce] [0] ERROR: [Thread pce] ERROR: [Thread pce] Note: some frames are missing due to last-call optimization. ERROR: [Thread pce] Re-run your program in debug mode (:- debug.) to get more detail. ERROR: [Thread pce] Unhandled exception: frame ->append: Argument 1 (subwindow): `window' expected, found `new(prolog_debug_status_dialog)' ``` Also, I’ve been getting this error a lot lately when I try to consult a module: ```prolog ᙕ[debug] 16 ?- make. Warning: 'c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/pce_manual': can not recompile "c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/pce_manual.qlf" (access denied) Warning: Loading from source ``` ---
**Author:** ![jan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/swi-prolog.discourse.group/jan/32/4_2.png) [@jan](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/jan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 8:04am UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/2 "2019-07-14T08:04:30Z")
This is a bug due to the new implementation of `trace/1,2` Pushed a fix. ---
**Author:** ![prodog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@prodog](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/prodog)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 11:13am UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/3 "2019-07-14T11:13:19Z")
Thanks. Any idea when the next “stable” release is with a Windows pre-built binary? ---
**Author:** ![jan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/swi-prolog.discourse.group/jan/32/4_2.png) [@jan](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/jan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 8:01am UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/4 "2019-07-15T08:01:30Z")
Not likely anytime soon. There has just been one and there are by far too few serious bug fixes. If you want to keep up, use the devel versions (as you seem to do). They sometimes break, but are generally fixed quickly. ---
**Author:** ![prodog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@prodog](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/prodog)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 11:44am UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/5 "2019-07-15T11:44:40Z")
So the current development branch has all the fixes you mentioned for the graphical debugger? Also, is there a Windows binary for that branch, or is the only way to get it to build from source? ---
**Author:** ![jan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/swi-prolog.discourse.group/jan/32/4_2.png) [@jan](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/jan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 11:59am UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/7 "2019-07-15T11:59:04Z")
> [@prodog](#): > > the current development branch has all the fixes Everything mentioned as _fixed_ here means a commit has been pushed to swipl-devel.git or one of its git submodules unless explicitly stated otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![prodog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@prodog](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/prodog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/8 "2019-07-17T13:38:39Z")
Hi Jan. I just upgraded to the latest dev build, running on Windows 8.1: > Welcome to SWI-Prolog (threaded, 64 bits, version 8.1.9-19- **gdf7c7a26a** ) The Navigator now works again (thanks!). However, I’m still getting the `access denied` error when I do a `make` operation. It doesn’t seem to be hurting anything, at least not yet. ```prolog Warning: 'c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/pce_manual': can not recompile "c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/pce_manual.qlf" (access denied) Warning: Loading from source ``` ---
**Author:** ![jan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/swi-prolog.discourse.group/jan/32/4_2.png) [@jan](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/jan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 1:48pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/9 "2019-07-17T13:48:48Z")
make/0 should probably skip these. It is harmless. The quick fix is to run once as user with enough rights. ---
**Author:** ![prodog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@prodog](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/prodog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/10 "2019-07-17T13:52:46Z")
I see. So the SWI-Prolog process can’t access the initial files because they are in a directory that requires administrator rights, but once it creates new copies in a directory it does have access privileges to, the problem goes a way? ---
**Author:** ![jan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/swi-prolog.discourse.group/jan/32/4_2.png) [@jan](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/jan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/11 "2019-07-17T15:16:05Z")
The likely cause is that although the qlf file is created from the same source and thus up-to-date, after the install process one of the .pl input files has a later time stamp then the .qlf file. This makes make/0 think the qlf file is out of date. There are (I guess) three ways out: - Run make/0 as admin to create a new (identical) version of the .qlf file - Make sure make/0 keeps its mouth shut about .qlf files it cannot write, possibly limited to the system. - Fix the installer somehow that the .qlf files are more recent than the .pl files. No clue how. ---
**Author:** ![EricGT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f1d935/32.png) [@EricGT](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/EricGT)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/12 "2019-07-17T16:50:44Z")
> [@prodog](#): > > ```prolog > Warning: 'c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/pce_manual': > can not recompile "c:/program files/swipl/xpce/prolog/lib/pce_manual.qlf" > (access denied) > > ``` Double check this for yourself but AFAIK In versions of Window starting with Vista, `C:\Program files` is not owned by a user but by `NT Service\Trusted Installer` which does not allow a regular user on Windows to modify the directory or any file in it. Use ```prolog C:\>dir /Q ``` and you should see a line like ```prolog 06/18/2019 11:43 AM NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaProgram Files ``` If you even try and create an empty file in the directory as a user you will get ```prolog C:\Program Files>copy nul > file.txt Access is denied. ``` ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/swiprolog/original/1X/5f52b42b1769865799355f7e110988b583600052.png) This was done many years ago as a security measure to protect the directory from hackers. So the problem you have is not specific to SWI-Prolog it is with any user updates to those protected directories. Now if you do it as an administrator it works. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/swiprolog/original/1X/627cc0b7a3bf5f9c2854a765452583587f5ec2e5.png) ```prolog Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17134.885] (c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. C:\WINDOWS\system32>cd C:\Program Files C:\Program Files>copy null > file.txt C:\Program Files>dir file.txt Volume in drive C is OS Volume Serial Number is F6C0-475E Directory of C:\Program Files 07/17/2019 12:43 PM 44 file.txt 1 File(s) 44 bytes 0 Dir(s) 75,268,648,960 bytes free C:\Program Files> ``` ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/swiprolog/original/1X/37a8fe9b272d6cd1fadec70ef2a9dddcdce4f967.png) Notice the dialog title `Administrator: Command Prompt` ---
**Author:** ![jan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/swi-prolog.discourse.group/jan/32/4_2.png) [@jan](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/jan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/13 "2019-07-18T18:58:48Z")
So we should not try to update .qlf files in the distribution when they seem out of date? ---
**Author:** ![EricGT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f1d935/32.png) [@EricGT](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/EricGT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/14 "2019-07-18T19:18:10Z")
Since I have not done full blow Windows applications in a while I am quite rusty on this so take this with a grain of salt. They can be updated but the work should not be done in the `C:\Program Files` directory or any directory that is owned by `NT Service\Trusted Installer` AFAIK. Typically how this is done is in a directory that is owned by the user and that the user doesn’t need to know the details about because only the application needs to know about it. Most application create a directory following this pattern `C:\Users\Eric\.` e.g. `C:\Users\Eric\.docker`. They start the directory name with a period (.). Another place to do it might be `C:\Users\Eric\AppData\Roaming\` but that typically only contains data. I don’t know if installers are also using that for temporary builds and cleaning up afterwards. Another part I don’t know is if the user wants the app to work with all users that have an account on the computer, then where does that take place? And another part I haven’t worked with in a long time is the fact that the location of user accounts is not to be hardcoded, e.g. `C:\Users\Eric` but looked up in the registry. They have official documents that detail all of this, but I haven’t looked at them in years and the details typically change with every other release of Windows. I will try and find the manuals but no promises. EDIT The maze to the Windows developer documents start [here](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/#pivot=developer&panel=developer-all). ---
**Author:** ![prodog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@prodog](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/prodog)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/15 "2019-07-18T20:05:33Z")
The most robust technique on Windows is to get the user’s application data folder from the environment. Here’s how it’s done with C#: > If you prefer to execute a shell command and then capture and parse the shell’s stdout PIPE, you can use this command from a command window (cmd.exe): ```prolog echo %appdata% ``` That will cause the user’s appdata folder to print to the console. That folder gives read/write permissions to all user level apps. As @EricGT says, create a folder underneath directory for SWIPL (e.g. c:\users\robert\AppData\Roaming\swi-prolog), and use that as your top level directory for all storage. Note, `c:\users\robert\AppData\Roaming\` is my _appdata_ folder on my system but you _can’t_ use it blindly. The directory “moves around” on different systems so you have to ask the operating system for it as I specified above. ---
**Author:** ![EricGT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f1d935/32.png) [@EricGT](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/EricGT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/16 "2019-07-18T21:38:22Z")
> [@prodog](#): > > top level directory for all storage The application data that is specific to a user should go in the directory (`%appdata%`) with a subdirectory created for that application, but the executables, DLLs, etc, should still go in `Program Files` If you put the executables and DLLs in ‘appdata’ then you have defeated the purpose of protecting `Program Files` by giving access to anyone with access to the user account, think hacker, and they can modify those executables. Again not exactly sure of the details without checking, but that is in the ball park. ---
**Author:** ![prodog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@prodog](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/prodog)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/17 "2019-07-18T21:52:00Z")
Thanks Eric. I meant application data storage for the user, not the program installation itself as you rightly point out. I should have made that more clear. ---
**Author:** ![jan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/swi-prolog.discourse.group/jan/32/4_2.png) [@jan](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/jan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 6:41am UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/18 "2019-07-19T06:41:27Z")
> [@prodog](#): > > The most robust technique on Windows is to get the user’s application data folder from the environment. See also [win\_folder/2](https://www.swi-prolog.org/pldoc/doc_for?object=win_folder/2) ---
**Author:** ![prodog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@prodog](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/prodog)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 12:17pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/19 "2019-07-19T12:17:27Z")
Hi Jan. That gives the user’s documents folder, not the application data storage folder. Usually that folder has a sub-directory named `\roaming` or `\local` in its path, as my reply to Eric shows. ---
**Author:** ![jan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/swi-prolog.discourse.group/jan/32/4_2.png) [@jan](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/jan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 12:24pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/20 "2019-07-19T12:24:52Z")
It calls [SHGetSpecialFolderPath()](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/shlobj_core/nf-shlobj_core-shgetspecialfolderpatha), which AFAIK is the API to find these folders. Otherwise, I’m not a Windows expert. ---
**Author:** ![prodog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@prodog](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/prodog)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948/21 "2019-07-19T15:34:01Z")
Are you passing `CSIDL_APPDATA` for the `csidl` parameter to get the application data folder?: > **[SHGetSpecialFolderPathA function (shlobj\_core.h)](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/shlobj_core/nf-shlobj_core-shgetspecialfolderpatha)** > > SHGetSpecialFolderPath is not supported. Instead, use ShGetFolderPath. [Next page](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/possible-bug-with-edit-spy-predicates-window-with-8-1-9/948.md?page=2)