# Autotest broken on winxp? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [December 9, 2006, 2:16am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autotest-broken-on-winxp/78842 "2006-12-09T02:16:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:16am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autotest-broken-on-winxp/78842/1 "2006-12-09T02:16:40Z")
I haven’t tried autotest on windows for a long time, but I thought it worked back then. Now, I get this error: C:\dev\row\>autotest c:/program files/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/ZenTest-3.4.2/lib/autotest.rb:294:in `expand_path': couldn't find HOME environment -- expanding`~/.autotest’ (ArgumentError) from c:/program files/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/ZenTest-3.4.2/lib/autotest.rb:294 from c:/program files/ruby/lib/ruby/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom\_require.rb:27:in `require' from c:/program files/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/ZenTest-3.4.2/lib/rails_autotest.rb:1 from c:/program files/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in`require’ from c:/program files/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/ZenTest-3.4.2/bin/autotest:44 from c:/Program Files/ruby/bin/autotest:18 I think I remember having to hand-fix some code originally, but again it was a long time ago (maybe 6 months ago). I also tried “autotest -rails” at the top folder of one of my rails projects, but I got the same error. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? Or is this a known issue with autotest perhaps? I have zentest 3.4.2 (did a gem update zentest to make sure), and I’m on WinXP SP2. Thanks! Jeff ---
**Author:** ![jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autotest-broken-on-winxp/78842/2 "2006-12-09T02:22:43Z")
On Dec 8, 2006, at 17:14 , Jeff wrote: > I haven’t tried autotest on windows for a long time, but I thought it > worked back then. Now, I get this error: > > C:\dev\row\>autotest > c:/program > files/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/ZenTest-3.4.2/lib/autotest.rb:294:in > `expand_path': couldn't find HOME environment -- expanding `~/.autotest’ (ArgumentError) Well, windows doesn’t expand ~. > I think I remember having to hand-fix some code originally, but again > it was a long time ago (maybe 6 months ago). > > I also tried “autotest -rails” at the top folder of one of my rails > projects, but I got the same error. > > Any idea what I’m doing wrong? You haven’t filed a bug so we can track and fix it. – Eric H. - removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid - [http://blog.segment7.net](http://blog.segment7.net) I LIT YOUR GEM ON FIRE! ---
**Author:** ![jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autotest-broken-on-winxp/78842/3 "2006-12-09T15:35:26Z")
Eric H. wrote: > You haven’t filed a bug so we can track and fix it. I know, I just thought I’d ask the community if there’s something I should investigate first, before I bother you with a ticket… I’ll go ahead and file a bug for it. Thanks! Jeff ---
**Author:** ![jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autotest-broken-on-winxp/78842/4 "2006-12-09T17:57:41Z")
Jeff wrote: > I haven’t tried autotest on windows for a long time, but I thought it > worked back then. Now, I get this error: > > C:\dev\row\>autotest > c:/program > files/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/ZenTest-3.4.2/lib/autotest.rb:294:in > `expand_path': couldn't find HOME environment -- expanding`~/.autotest’ (ArgumentError) > from c:/program Do you have the HOME environment variable set? From ri File.expand\_path: The given pathname may start with a `+~+'', which expands to the process owner's home directory (the environment variable +HOME+ must be set correctly).`+~+_user_’’ expands to the named user’s home directory. This is arguably a bug in File.expand\_path rather than ZenTest. (On Windows systems, a fallback to ENV[‘HOME’] should be ENV[‘HOMEDRIVE’] + ENV[‘HOMEPATH’]. Wonder where you report those. David V. ---
**Author:** ![jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autotest-broken-on-winxp/78842/5 "2006-12-10T16:27:21Z")
Daniel B. wrote: > > > ``` > > > from c:/program > > > > > > ``` > > > > Windows systems, a fallback to ENV[‘HOME’] should be ENV[‘HOMEDRIVE’] + > > ENV[‘HOMEPATH’]. Wonder where you report those. > > This has been discussed before. See [http://tinyurl.com/y52hs3](http://tinyurl.com/y52hs3), among > others. Erght, I forgot about %USERPROFILE%. Well, that leaves the whole thing rather fuzzy. So, bug in autotest for relying on File.expand\_path with a tilde, or Ruby for letting people rely on it? Or the usual, let’s blame Microsoft _ducks_. David V. ---
**Author:** ![jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@jeff](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autotest-broken-on-winxp/78842/6 "2006-12-09T18:33:46Z")
David V. wrote: > ENV[‘HOMEPATH’]. Wonder where you report those. > This has been discussed before. See [http://tinyurl.com/y52hs3](http://tinyurl.com/y52hs3), among > others. The fundamental issue is that “~” is a shell thing, not an OS thing. To me, the bug is that File.expand\_path accepts ‘~’ at all. But, things are what they are. Come to think of it, I could add support for this in win32-file. 🙂 In practice I never use ‘~’. I mostly use ENV[‘HOME’] || ENV[‘USERPROFILE’]. Regards, Dan