lynx-dev error messages (was saving pages)

[Philip Webb]

990906 Klaus Weide wrote: 
>>  set LYNX_TEMP_SPACE="~/temp"  has no effect ( ~/temp  does not exist):
>> Lynx continues to use the value in  userdefs.h .
> For csh or tcsh use `setenv' not `set'.

(slightly pink face) yup, that works:
my `UNIX' notes are based on Kernighan & Pike, who discuss the Bourne shell,
& i omitted to check in my `csh' notes, which cover  setenv .
 
>> also, shouldn't Lynx give an explicit error message
>> when it can't find a directory for temporary files,
>> rather than the less helpful message above?
>> eg "Error: cannot find directory or space for temporary file".
> Here's what I get for various commands with 2.8.3dev.something:
>    'p'   Alert!: Unable to open print options file
>    'd'   Alert!: Can't open output file!  Cancelling!
>    ^H    Alert!: Can't open temporary file!
>    'V'   Alert!: Can't open temporary file!
>    'L'   Can't open temporary file!
> Lynx doesn't know _why_ creation of a file failed
> It could be a wrong specification, no write permissions in the directory,
> a partition mounted read-only or not at all,
> maybe even an unavailable NFS server.
> "You have to set TMPDIR right" would sometimes be wrong.

 3  of the above refer to a temporary-file problem
& the print/download cases also arise from the same thing,
even if there's a variety of underlying problems, as you list them.
how about simply: "Alert! Can't open temporary file!" for all  5  cases,
since that is in fact the immediate problem?
users could then check the obvious causes, incl a non-existent directory.
if it's easy, i'll try to create a patch myself.

> elsewhere, you wrote: "Some of the error messages (at least this one)
> never got changed from mentioning metamail, so it's a bit misleading".

MVTATIS MVTANDIS ditto.

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