LaTeX forum ⇒ XeTeX ⇒ expl3 problem not fixed by (re)installation

[echidna44]

Regular latex works fine, but xelatex on any document with fontspec fails with an error such as the following:

Code: [Select all] [Expand/Collapse] [Download] ({untitled.tex})

This is XeTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-0.999992 (TeX Live 2020) (preloaded format=xelatex)
 restricted \write18 enabled.
entering extended mode
(./test.tex
LaTeX2e <2020-02-02> patch level 5
L3 programming layer <2020-08-07>
(/usr/local/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/article.cls
Document Class: article 2020/04/10 v1.4m Standard LaTeX document class
(/usr/local/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/size12.clo))
(/usr/local/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/fontspec/fontspec.sty
(/usr/local/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/l3packages/xparse/xparse.sty
(/usr/local/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/l3kernel/expl3.sty
 
! LaTeX Error: Missing \begin{document}.
 
See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for explanation.
Type  H <return>  for immediate help.
 ...                                              
 
l.77      \ExplLoaderFileDate{expl3.sty}}

This is on a mac running Big Sur 11.2.1 with a fresh MacTeX (Texlive 2020) installation with all packages updated.

Following some advice I found online, I tried running

Code: [Select all] [Expand/Collapse] [Download] ({untitled.tex})

fmtutil-sys --all

But that didn't help either, so now I am stuck.

The computer did have previous latex installations, so it's conceivable that there is some conflict somewhere that I am not aware of and that TexLive fails to clear.

[Ijon Tichy]

Neither your LaTeX nor the L3 programming layer is up-to-date. The current versions are

LaTeX2e <2020-10-01> patch level 4
L3 programming layer <2021-02-06>

BTW: Here xelatex also reports the date of the format generation in the first line of the log-file (but not on the terminal output):

This is XeTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-0.999992 (TeX Live 2020) (preloaded format=xelatex 2021.2.9) 18 FEB 2021 08:53

The format generation date in this example output is 2021.2.9.

You should make sure, that the TeX Live you are updating is really the one you are using.

[echidna44]

O.k. Thanks! That explains the immediate problem though I cannot figure out the underlying cause.

After your comment, I checked pdflatex, and with pdflatex I do get the most up-to-date versions:


LaTeX2e <2020-10-01> patch level 4
L3 programming layer <2021-02-06>


and

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.21 (TeX Live 2020) (preloaded format=pdflatex 2021.2.18)


This is odd, as there is nothing I can see in the installation or in the TeX Live Utility that differentiates between pdflatex and xelatex. Also, if I run which queries, I again get the same result (both point to files in /usr/local/bin, which link to files in /usr/local/texlive/2020/bin/x86_64-darwin)

The TeX Live Utility uses /Library/TeX/texbin, which seems correct according to the MacTeX website.