can1357/oh-my-pi · error · SortError

could not run compress program '{}': {}

Error message

could not run compress program '{}': {}

What it means

`SortError::CompressProgExecutionFailed` is raised when the sort builtin cannot spawn the user-specified compression program (via `--compress-program`), quoting the program name and the stripped errno. The executable was not found or could not be executed.

Source

Thrown at crates/pi-builtins/src/sort.rs:2608

	#[error("{0}")]
	Message(String),

	#[error("write failed: {}: {}", .path.maybe_quote(), strip_errno(.error))]
	WriteFailed { path: OsString, error: std::io::Error },

	#[error("{}", format_disorder(.file, .line_number, .line, .silent))]
	Disorder { file: OsString, line_number: usize, line: String, silent: bool },

	#[error("open failed: {}: {}", .path.maybe_quote(), strip_errno(.error))]
	OpenFailed { path: PathBuf, error: std::io::Error },

	#[error("cannot read: {}: {}", .path.maybe_quote(), strip_errno(.error))]
	ReadFailed { path: PathBuf, error: std::io::Error },

	#[error("failed to open temporary file: {}", strip_errno(.error))]
	OpenTmpFileFailed { error: std::io::Error },

	#[error("could not run compress program '{}': {}", .prog, strip_errno(.error))]
	CompressProgExecutionFailed { prog: String, error: std::io::Error },

	#[error("{} terminated abnormally", .prog.quote())]
	CompressProgTerminatedAbnormally { prog: String },

	#[error("cannot create temporary file in {}:", .path.quote())]
	TmpFileCreationFailed { path: PathBuf },

	#[error("extra operand {}\nfile operands cannot be combined with --files0-from\nTry 'sort --help' for more information.", .file.quote())]
	FileOperandsCombined { file: PathBuf },


	#[error("multiple output files specified")]
	MultipleOutputFiles,

	#[error("when reading file names from standard input, no file name of '-' allowed")]
	MinusInStdIn,

View on GitHub (pinned to 9690622007)

Solutions

1. Verify the program is installed and on PATH (`command -v <prog>`).
2. Use the fully-qualified binary path in --compress-program.
3. Install the compressor in the environment (e.g. `apt-get install gzip`).
4. Confirm the binary has the executable bit (`chmod +x`).

Example fix

// before
sort --compress-program=gz big.txt

// after
sort --compress-program=/usr/bin/gzip big.txt

let prog = "gzip";
let found = std::env::var_os("PATH")
    .map(|paths| std::env::split_paths(&paths)
        .any(|dir| dir.join(prog).is_file()))
    .unwrap_or(false);
if !found { eprintln!("compress program '{prog}' not found on PATH"); }

match sort_result {
    Err(SortError::CompressProgExecutionFailed { prog, error }) => {
        eprintln!("cannot run '{prog}': {error}; install it or use an absolute path");
    }
    Err(e) => eprintln!("sort: {e}"),
    Ok(_) => {}
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running a memory-bounded sort with `--compress-program <prog>` where the program name is misspelled, not on PATH, or lacks the execute bit.

Common situations: Typo'd program name (`gzip` vs `gz`); minimal containers without gzip installed; PATH differences under cron/CI.

Related errors

• {} terminated abnormally
• extra operand {} file operands cannot be combined with --fil
• multiple output files specified
• when reading file names from standard input, no file name of
• --list-details, --exec, and --exec-batch are not supported b

AI-assisted analysis of can1357/oh-my-pi@9690622007 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bdd12e042c04264c. Report an issue: GitHub.