Fatal error starting 1.5.2 on macOS Sierra, and a solution.

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sriram srinivasan

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Mar 26, 2017, 4:57:41 PM3/26/17
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I have the latest macOS Sierra (10.12.3), and the latest eclipse (neon). On clicking on the TLA+ Toolbox Icon, I get the following fatal error on startup (The solution is below the dashed line)

An Error has occurred:
See the log file "/Users/s/.eclipse/698501535_macosx_cocoa_x86_64/configuration/1490551970188.log"

That log file has the following error.
!STACK 1
java.lang.IllegalStateException: The platform metadata area could not be written: /private/var/folders/0d/b53bnb157517vnlv234qsp980000gp/T/AppTranslocation/F9CF4821-41FE-4D2E-823F-54F8033F679F/d/TLA+ Toolbox.app/Contents/MacOS/workspace/.metadata. By default the platform writes its content
under the current working directory when the platform is launched. Use the -data parameter to
specify a different content area for the platform.

----------------------------

Solution: On the command-line
> open "/Applications/TLA+ Toolbox.app/" --args -data /Users/s/work/tla

----------------------------------------------

Has anyone else seen this error?

Markus Alexander Kuppe

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Mar 27, 2017, 4:27:53 AM3/27/17
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Hi Sriram,

according to [1], what you see is a new security "feature" in Mac 10.12. If you try to launch an app from the Downloads folder, a "Gatekeeper" moves to and launches the app from a read-only folder. The TLA+ Toolbox cannot run from a read-only folder unless the metadata area - via the -data parameter - is located in a writable location. You can either pass the -data parameter (like you did) or move the TLA+ Toolbox app bundle into /Applications before launching.

Note that the upcoming TLA+ Toolbox release [2], by default stores the metadata area in ~/.tlaplus/. Thus, it is unaffected by the Gatekeeper even if run from Downloads.

Cheers

Markus

[1] https://github.com/potionfactory/LetsMove/issues/56

[2] http://tla.msr-inria.inria.fr/tlatoolbox/ci/products/

sriram srinivasan

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Mar 27, 2017, 7:44:33 AM3/27/17
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Thank you Marcus. I am actually running the TLAPlus toolbox from the /Applications folder, and I also sudo mv'd it into that folder. But the problem remains.

 
In any case, it looks like this is a temporary issue, and I will look forward to the next release. By the looks of it, there seems to be a good number of commits that are ready for public consumption. 
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