If I do C-u M-x recompile inside a buffer that's not the *compilation* buffer, (i.e. the source file for instance), I get this error - "Wrong type argument: consp, nil" after it prompts for the compilation command. Why is this? I want to run recompile interactively as comint works, sometimes outside the compilation buffer. How do I do this?
1
votes
2 Answers
3
votes
Try using emacs -Q, just to be sure (yes, I know you said you commented out all of your init file, but just to be sure -- and it's a lot easier to do than comment-out everything).
Next, set debug-on-error to t -- You can do M-x toggle-debug-on-error to do that, if you prefer.
Next, provoke the error and look at the debugger *Backtrace*. It will show you not only which function raised the error because it expected a cons and got nil instead, but also what function called it, passing the bad argument. And so on down the stack.
If necessary, you can click mouse-2 on functions on the stack (at the left, to see their source code. Or put the cursor on them and use C-h f to see their doc -- in particular, what arguments they expect and what their return values should be.
In this way it's pretty easy to find the code that is the culprit. (Most likely, in spite of what you said, it is some non-vanilla Emacs Lisp code you loaded somehow.)
Also, state your emacs version : M-x emacs-version. If you are using a development snapshot then the problem could come from vanilla code (i.e., emacs -Q); otherwise, that's not so likely.
Also, you say you get the error after it prompts you. Immediately after it prompts, before you type anything? After you type a command name and hit RET? Try to be more specific.
Update after your comment:
Load library compile.el (not .elc). Then do M-x debug-on-entry recompile, then step through the debugger using d when function recompile is entered. What you are interested in is when compilation-start is called (applied to its args).
It seems that the value of compilation-arguments that is passed to it is no good. The command name you enter at the prompt becomes the first of the list of compilation-arguments. The others are taken from when you last invoked compile: recompile just reuses the same arguments (except the command name): (mode name-function highlight-regexp)mode name-function highlight-regexp).
However, be aware that compilation-arguments is buffer-local. So if you changed to a different buffer then its value is likely not what you need. You need the value from your last compile, so you should do the recompile in the same buffer where you did compile.
(FWIW, I don't use (re)compile myself, as I don't develop software anymore. I just took a look at the source code.)
