Node: Node REPL does not work in a cygwin shell

[Akpotohwo]

Versions: 6.2.2, 6.9.1, 4.4.7, 0.12.17 & 0.10.47

I tried running the Node REPL with those versions in a cygwin shell and it did not work.

It's not an installation problem, the Node REPL does not start in a cygwin shell.

If you run node in the shell, it hangs, and you never get to the > prompt. You have to manually stop the process.

I have attached a screenshot below:

[sam-github]

You have seen https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/384?

does not work

You could provide some more info, what you did, what happened, what you expected.

/cc @nodejs/platform-windows

[Fishrock123]

@Akpotohwo Could you try node --interactive? It might see it as a pipe rather than a terminal.

[gibfahn]

@sam-github I think this is an error with running the node repl in Cygwin, which I think we do try to support

[Akpotohwo]

@Fishrock123 The fix you suggested, i.e running "node --interactive" works as shown below. It just seems to behave weirdly when it comes across a syntax error. All is shown below:

[joaocgreis]

@Akpotohwo This is because of the way Cygwin emulates the Windows console. Can you try to run winpty node? (Ref https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/3006 , https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/5620 )

[TimothyGu]

@Akpotohwo have you tried @joaocgreis's suggestion? Or can this be closed?

[Akpotohwo]

@TimothyGu @joaocgreis I tried it, but winpty couldn't be found. I'm trying to build winpty now and see if that makes a difference

[billwolckenlmco]

@Akpotohwo - did you build winpty and did that make a difference?

[Trott]

I'm confused if the winpty would be considered a solution or merely a workaround. Which is it?

[gibfahn]

I'm confused if the winpty would be considered a solution or merely a workaround. Which is it?

I _think_ it's a necessary evil on cygwin, but @nodejs/platform-windows would know more than me.

[tniessen]

As far as I know it is necessary to use winpty as long as we are compiling with MSVS.

[Trott]

OK, in that case, I'm going to close this. If anyone feels that's incorrect, feel free to re-open (if GitHub lets you) or leave a comment.

[yolob21]

has any fix been released, repl breaks on syntax error in cygwin

[Trott]

has any fix been released, repl breaks on syntax error in cygwin

As I understand it, there's no fix to release. The solution is to run winpty node if you need to use the REPL. Correction/clarification from @nodejs/platform-windows welcome.

[tniessen]

@yolob21 Are you experiencing the same problem as described above? If so, then @Trott is right, there currently is no solution apart from using winpty (which should solve most problems).

[limeb]

Another possible solution is to run Cygwin inside of command prompt. This works for me although is a rather weird solution that requires no additional software.