[Bug] First time Git Installation error is misleading: The batch file cannot be found

[mrx23dot]

Description of the issue

On the initial setup of Cmder Full edition, when git-for-windows is performing its first time setup, the following error is displayed:

The batch file cannot be found.

This is safe and must be discarded, however, since it's displayed to the user, it sometimes lead to confusion and the user might get mislead.

How to reproduce

1. I downloaded
   https://github.com/cmderdev/cmder/releases/download/v1.3.25/cmder.zip

2. started it, in post installation:

'C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts' -> '/etc/hosts'
'C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\protocol' -> '/etc/protocols'
'C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\services' -> '/etc/services'
'C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\networks' -> '/etc/networks'
The batch file cannot be found.
Creating user startup file: "C:\apps\cmder2\config\user_profile.cmd"
        1 file(s) copied.
```

[daxgames]

What is the problem? This looks completely normal to me on an initial run. Including the The batch file cannot be found..

It should only happen one time on initial launch after downloading a new version.

[mrx23dot]

The batch file cannot be found.
Can be misleading. could say no optional configuration was loaded.

[DRSDavidSoft]

I agree, we can make the error a bit more informational. Let's add this.

[daxgames]

I don't believe it is even in our control.

It is coming from Git for Windows first run batch file when it deletes itself and when it deletes itself it can't go back to itself therefore it says batch file not found.

All we do is run their file.

[DRSDavidSoft]

You're completely right, I am interested to fiddle with their code to see if we can modify the behavior to hide the error message. For example, instead of deleting the file from itself, we can execute another batch file to replace the current running one, without using call to return to the one that is going to delete itself. Then, in the other file, it could delete the calle.

That's of course just a mental exercise more than anything else, I don't really believe it would be worth implementing.

With that said, the more important thing in my opinion is to improve the first time run experience by clearly relaying the expected sequence of events that is going to happen to the user, muting the clutter that is produced, and maybe even clearing the screen upon detecting a successful post setup by Git.

These are just some thoughts, but I've been meaning to add some enhancement that would address the first time setup, I guess I have to submit a PR to better explain and clarify what I mean by improvements to the first time setup. Nothing fancy but sure appreciated by newcomers.

Thanks, @daxgames for correcting my oversight, I'll add more information in another issue with my proposed changes in preparation for the next major release, which hopefully would align with your approval.

[daxgames]

I just tested and this can be fixed or at least hidden by us in our code. It will be fixed in a future release.

[DRSDavidSoft]

Great to hear, looking forward to seeing it in action!

[daxgames]

I may have spoken too soon my supposed solution for it created an undeletable file on my windows even after reboot even and while booting into safe mode so probably not.

So I now have a Cmder full directory with a single file called nul inside it that will be there forever or until I create a new VM.

[DRSDavidSoft]

No worries! I suggest keeping this issue open until a working PoC is implemented, also for deleting that NUL file you may try this:

https://stackoverflow.com/a/17883854/1454514

I've had some ideas as to modify the post installation script, maybe even upstreaming it to the GfW project itself.

I'll spend some time when I'm free exploring this idea. If you agree, I'll re-open the issue.

[daxgames]

@DRSDavidSoft See below:

We could use this as part of our 'fix'. I personally think it's unnecessary to fix this as it happens only once and is not REALLY an issue.

[DRSDavidSoft]

I might not be understanding this correctly, but I believe creating an "undeletable" file (by normal means to the end user, anyway) to be a pretty serious issue. It could mess up any other operation as well, imagine creating a .zip archive of your Cmder installation to move it to another PC, uploading it to the cloud, etc.

Anyways, the important thing is that there is a fix to all of these problems, we should balance the amount of code that we are comfortable adding to the project to deal with these. Can you please share your script?

Before all of that, it would be beneficial (in my opinion) to create a new issue or PR to clearly describe what the problem is, the proposed changes to fix it, and the how it works in detail to evaluate the changes needed to close this one.

As always, thanks for the great work you do Dax, I appreciate it man! 👍🏻 🚀

[daxgames]

No one is suggesting we create an 'undeleteable' file and leave it on the system. IF it truly was my fix that created the file we can use the trick above to delete it as soon as we create it. I am verifying if it was my fix that caused the issue.