Python script gives `: No such file or directory`

Bas Jansen picture Bas Jansen · Nov 4, 2013 · Viewed 49.3k times · Source

I have several python scripts which work just fine but one script has (as of this morning) started giving me this error if I try to run it from the bash:

: No such file or directory

I am able to run the 'broken' script by doing python script_name.py and after looking around a bit the general idea that I picked up was that maybe my line ending of the hashbang got changed (silently) so I looked at the line ending of a working script and a broken script via the :set list option in VI as indicated in this question -> View line-endings in a text file

Both files appear to end using the same character (a $) so I am kind of at a loss on how to proceed from here. Specifically, how to actually 'see' the line ending in case the set list was not the right method.

PS: The script is executable and the shebang is in there, I stated that it's just this 1 script that was working fine before the weekend but it started giving me this error as of this morning.

-- edit: --

Running the script through dos2unix does get it working again but I would like to know of any way to visualize the line ending somehow in VI(M) or why Geany somehow converted the line endings in the first place (as I never work on a dos/windows system anyhow).

Answer

rodrigo picture rodrigo · Nov 4, 2013

From the comments above it looks like you have dos line endings, and so the hashbang line is not properly processed.

Line ending style are not shown with :set list in Vim because that option is only used when reading/writing the file. In memory line endings are always that, line-endings. The line ending style used for a file is kept in a Vim per-file option, weirdly called fileformat.

To see/change the line ending style from Vim, you can use the following commands:

:set fileformat
:set ff

It will show dos or unix. You want unix, of course ;-).

To change it quickly you can save the file with:

:w ++ff=unix

Or if you prefer:

:set ff=unix

And then save the file normally.

So see all the gory details just do :help fileformat, :help file-formats and :help fileformats