[sfntedit.exe] bug in redirection of help to text file

[Arno-Enslin]

This results in a 0 byte text file:

@echo off
set "sfnteditCom=C:\FDK_26.03.2016\Tools\win\sfntedit.exe"
%sfnteditCom% -h > tempSfntedit-h.txt&start tempSfntedit-h.txt&ping 127.0.0.1 -n 3 >NUL&del tempSfntedit-h.txt&exit

But this works:

@echo off
set "sfnteditCom=C:\FDK_26.03.2016\Tools\win\sfntedit.exe"
%sfnteditCom% -h 2> tempSfntedit-h.txt&start tempSfntedit-h.txt&ping 127.0.0.1 -n 3 >NUL&del tempSfntedit-h.txt&exit

stdout (standard output) and stderr (standard error output) seem to be messed up.

I would not wonder about this behaviour, if it wouldn't be different from checkoutlines.exe, IS.exe, makeotf.exe, mergeFonts.exe, rotateFont.exe, sfntdiff.exe, Spot.exe and TX.exe, for which ">" only works.

Edit:

Just for fun I will try to fix this by myself, although I don't know anything about C.

main.c in afdko-master\FDK\Tools\Programs\sfntedit\source
looks different from
Dmain.c in afdko-master\afdko-master\FDK\Tools\Programs\sfntdiff\source
with regard to the handling of the output.

At least this looks suspicious in my end user eyes. A few lines from main.c:

    printUsage();
    fprintf(stderr, 
"Notes:\n"
"    This program supports table-editing, listing, and checksumming options\n"
"on sfnt-formatted files such as OpenType Format (OTF) or TrueType. The\n"
"mandatory source file is specified as an argument to the program. An\n"
"optional destination file may also be specified which receives the edited\n"
"data otherwise the source data is edited in-place thus modifying the source\n"
);
[...]
    quit(0); 
    }

Edit 2: It works, if I replace stderr with stdout in main.c. But because it does not work, if I simply delete stderr, I let my fingers on this.

[readroberts]

I agree the test case shows a bug. I think your fix is correct. It is a simple and safe change, and there is no reason for help and usage text to be sent to stderr. I have little experience on Windows, so I am all for having you testing this case.

[Arno-Enslin]

It is a simple and safe change, and there is no reason for help and usage text to be sent to stderr.

I think, that the help should be send to stderr below the error message, if an argument is invalid. And if there is no error, the help should be send to stdout.

I only could replace stderr by stdout. Shall I do that and submit a pull request? Or do you want to fix it by yourself?

By the way (just seen): The behaviour of detype1.exe and type1.exe is also a bit odd with regard to the help and stderr. In both cases it is not directly a help, but only a short usage information. But only in case of type1.exe, you get a short error message ("Unknown Option encountered: -h") above the usage info. I did not find the reason for the different behaviour in the code. But as I have written: I don't know anything about C.

[miguelsousa]

Fixed via #613