Problem creating file

[Mercedes Benzene]

I need a computer-whiz to help me with some troubleshooting.

I just installed the Sirius molecular modeling software on my laptop. I've been using the same program on my desktop for some time now, and have never had any problems.

Well here's the problem. I have Sirius installed. I have POV-Ray installed.
When I try to "Save view as POV-Ray imput file", so I can create a POV-ray image of the protein that I've just made, I get an error:

"Error: Exception while exporting image"

Clicking on "details", I get the following information:

java.io.FileNotFoundException: C:Program FilesSiriuspovdata.pov (Access is denied)
java.io.FileOutputStream.open(Native Method)
java.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(Unknown Source)
java.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(Unknown Source)
java.io.FileWriter.<init>(Unknown Source)
edu.sdsc.sirius.ray.RayTraceUtil.generatePOVContent(RayTraceUtil.java:382)
edu.sdsc.sirius.ray.RayTraceUtil.getPOVContent(RayTraceUtil.java:43)
Viewer$47.run(Viewer.java:1469)

That's a completely different language to me, so I need help interpreting it so I can solve the problem.

Thanks in advance!
MB

[freeztar]

Have you tried updating your java runtime environment? That's probably not the problem, but is easy enough to do just in case.

The file not found error in the first line points to a few possibilities. I'm not familiar with the program you are using, but you might try looking in the settings and see where the default directories are. It seems that the program is either confused by the path or that the file already exists and has write protection enabled (ie Read Only).

Hopefully that helps.

[Buffy]

Originally Posted by freeztar

It seems that the program is either confused by the path or that the file already exists and has write protection enabled (ie Read Only).

This is the right direction. Here are some possibilities:

• The file exists and is read only: Open Windows Explorer and go to the folder "C:\Program Files\Sirius" and see if "povdata.pov" exists, and if it does, right click -> Properties should tell you if its having this problem. Check not only if the "Read-Only" is checked, but also under the Security tab on the properties window.
• The folder itself is read-only: Right-click -> Properties on the folder itself, and check the Security settings: could be you're not allowed to write anything there.
• The program is completely munging the path: In your error message, the path is shown as "C:Program FilesSiriuspovdata.pov" which a programmer would normally assume that the Java is interpreting the backslashes as escape characters and therefore they don't print, but that the code is really seeing "C:\Program Files\Sirius\povdata.pov" (or maybe "C:\Program Files\Sirius\pov\data.pov" so you need to check that too!). OTOH, it could actually be trying to write to that path, which would be interpreted by Windows as "the current default folder on the C: drive" which could be a number of locations depending on what the software is doing. If you wanted to be a total nerd about it, there is a utility you can download from support.microsoft.com called "filemon.exe" which will tell you what files are trying to be opened and let you know exactly what its trying to do.

Good luck Mr. Phelps!
Buffy

[Mercedes Benzene]

Originally Posted by Buffy

Good luck Mr. Phelps!
Buffy

Isn't it Jim?

Anyway, I'll try out some of these suggestions when I get a chance... but I have a midterm to study for at the moment.

Thank you for the suggestions, and I'll post some updates soon.

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Buffy

The program is completely munging the path: In your error message, the path is shown as "C:Program FilesSiriuspovdata.pov" which a programmer would normally assume that the Java is interpreting the backslashes as escape characters and therefore they don't print, but that the code is really seeing "C:Program FilesSiriuspovdata.pov" (or maybe "C:Program FilesSiriuspovdata.pov" so you need to check that too!).

Yeah, the way it's printed in the error message can definitely lead to some problems if that is how the code is actually executing. Perhaps it's ignoring the slashes only for the error console, but the code is parsing correctly.

An easy test would be to download "filemon" or a similar app and run them on both your desktop and laptop to compare results.

[alexander]

java.io.FileNotFoundException: C:Program FilesSiriuspovdata.pov (Access is denied)

It actually sounds more like a permissions issue on that file to me, it may very easily be trying to write there, as Buffy said, but it may just be that you don't have popper permission to access it correctly....

[Mercedes Benzene]

I can't even find a povdata.pov file on my computer.
Maybe that's the problem?

I mean, seriously. There is no povdata.pov but I don't know why that would be if the program was supposed to create that folder when I installed it.

I'm at quite a loss.

[Mercedes Benzene]

Well I just noticed one of my mistakes.

Buffy...

Originally Posted by Buffy

C:Program FilesSiriuspovdata.pov

You were right. It did delete the slashes, so I'm going to find the *real* file, now that I have the *real* file path....
...and I'll use your above suggestions on that instead.

Sorry for that oversight guys.
Report to follow...

[Mercedes Benzene]

Well, great news everyone....

IT WORKS! yay!

It turns out I did indeed need to give myself permission to access the pov folder so that a data.pov file could be written.
Thanks so much for your help all of you.

Now all I need to do is figure out how to work POV-ray.

[freeztar]

Awesome!

It always bemuses me to see how programs behave differently on different machines. It could be that windows (on your laptop) is automatically assigning read-only permission to your files (perhaps even indiscriminately), though I'm unaware of such a setting.