How to start the Rebol2 /View console on a server?

Question

I want to run Rebol2 /View on an Ubuntu 14.04 server to be able to load a shared library (which apparently /Core cannot do).

I have managed to install all the required dependencies, but now I suspect, by default, /View wants to open the Viewtop desktop. The error I get is:

** User Error: Bad face in screen pane!
** Near: size-text self

I suspect what I need to do is start Rebol/View from the command line to go straight into the console, without going into the Viewtop. However, the help for the command line options (at http://www.rebol.com/docs/words/wusage.html) does not offer anything useful.

Any ideas how to start /View so I can go straight into the console?

Answer 1

You'll need some additional ingredients (next to Rebol 2/View and the basic X dependencies) to make this work:

• A virtual X framebuffer, such as Xvfb
• The --noinstall option (short: -i), to prevent Rebol 2/View from trying to install itself
• The --noviewtop option (short: -v), to start Rebol 2/View in "console-only" mode

Putting these together, you'll get a working Rebol 2 console by running:

$ xvfb-run rebol-view --noinstall --noviewtop

The details:

Unfortunately, the Linux version of Rebol 2/View requires an X framebuffer even for the console-only mode. However, for console-only usage, Rebol 2/View won't render anything graphically, so you can just use a memory-backed framebuffer, where the output won't ever be shown on a physical screen. And that's just what e.g. Xvfb -- the "X virtual framebuffer" -- was created for.