POV-Ray 3.8 cannot process .ini files in my library path; I have to 
provide the path to the .ini file in order to get a successful render. 
For example:

My povray.ini contains:

---------- [BEGIN FILE EXCERPT] ----------
Library_Path="/usr/local/share/povray-3.8"
Library_Path="/usr/local/share/povray-3.8/ini"
Library_Path="/usr/local/share/povray-3.8/include"
Library_Path="/home/ricky/Documents/POV-Ray/include"
Library_Path="/home/ricky/Documents/POV-Ray/include-others"
Library_Path="/home/ricky/Documents/POV-Ray/Object_Collection"
Library_Path="/home/ricky/Documents/POV-Ray/LightsysIV"
Library_Path="/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
Library_Path="/home/ricky/.fonts"
----------- [END FILE EXCERPT] -----------

These paths are confirmed in the message window of a successful render.

Directory /home/ricky/Documents/POV-Ray/include, which is in the library 
path, contains the file:

   jpeg.ini

Directory /home/ricky/Documents/POV-Ray/plane contains the file:

   myscene.pov

 From /home/ricky/Documents/POV-Ray/plane I run the command:

   povray-3.8 myscene.pov jpeg

("povray-3.8" is what I renamed the 3.8 executable, as I still default 
to POV-Ray 3.7.0.)

The command fails with the message:

---------- [BEGIN ERROR MESSAGE] ----------

Problem with option setting
povray-3.8 myscene.pov jpeg
Failed to parse command-line option
----------- [END ERROR MESSAGE] -----------

This command renders without errors:

   povray-3.8 myscene.pov ../include/jpeg

This problem has existed since the POV-Ray 3.7.1 betas, and is present 
in the latest UberPOV.  Previous versions of POV-Ray do not have this 
problem.  (Earlier, I reported a failure to process certain .ini files 
from within their own directory; that problem no longer occurs.)

There is no problem locating #include files from within a scene file.

POV-Ray version: 3.8.0-alpha.9893777.unofficial (g++ 7 @ 
x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
OS: openSUSE Leap 15.0 (GNU/Linux)

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Cousin Ricky <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
> POV-Ray 3.8 cannot process .ini files in my library path; I have to
> provide the path to the .ini file in order to get a successful render.
> For example:

> This problem has existed since the POV-Ray 3.7.1 betas, and is present
> in the latest UberPOV.  Previous versions of POV-Ray do not have this
> problem.  (Earlier, I reported a failure to process certain .ini files
> from within their own directory; that problem no longer occurs.)
>
> There is no problem locating #include files from within a scene file.

The parsing of INI files works as designed and documented in 3.7. As you know,
the Library_Path option is documented in the "Scene Parsing Options" section. It
has effects only within the scene file.

The behavior in 3.6 and before was rather confusing and would pick up
configuration options in the order they were provided and execute them
instantly. This means it would also parse your INI file and the overwrite
whatever that file specified with whatever came after it in the original INI
file. Your usage only worked due to side effects of the INI parser already
storing the library include paths while it was parsing the options and the code
using the same function to locate files.

Post a reply to this message

On 2018-11-05 9:58 AM (-4), Thorsten Froehlich wrote:
> Cousin Ricky <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
>> POV-Ray 3.8 cannot process .ini files in my library path; I have to
>> provide the path to the .ini file in order to get a successful render.
> 
> The parsing of INI files works as designed and documented in 3.7. As you know,
> the Library_Path option is documented in the "Scene Parsing Options" section. It
> has effects only within the scene file.
> 
> The behavior in 3.6 and before was rather confusing and would pick up
> configuration options in the order they were provided and execute them
> instantly. This means it would also parse your INI file and the overwrite
> whatever that file specified with whatever came after it in the original INI
> file. Your usage only worked due to side effects of the INI parser already
> storing the library include paths while it was parsing the options and the code
> using the same function to locate files.

So what is the point of having /usr/local/share/povray-3.8/ini in the 
default povray.ini?  That directory only has .ini files.

Post a reply to this message

Cousin Ricky <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
> On 2018-11-05 9:58 AM (-4), Thorsten Froehlich wrote:
> > Cousin Ricky <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
> >> POV-Ray 3.8 cannot process .ini files in my library path; I have to
> >> provide the path to the .ini file in order to get a successful render.
> >
> > The parsing of INI files works as designed and documented in 3.7. As you know,
> > the Library_Path option is documented in the "Scene Parsing Options" section. It
> > has effects only within the scene file.
> >
> > The behavior in 3.6 and before was rather confusing and would pick up
> > configuration options in the order they were provided and execute them
> > instantly. This means it would also parse your INI file and the overwrite
> > whatever that file specified with whatever came after it in the original INI
> > file. Your usage only worked due to side effects of the INI parser already
> > storing the library include paths while it was parsing the options and the code
> > using the same function to locate files.
>
> So what is the point of having /usr/local/share/povray-3.8/ini in the
> default povray.ini?  That directory only has .ini files.

The lack of a permanent Unix version maintainer.

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