Math & Science ⇒ texshade error in latest ubuntu release

[micronaut]

Hi,

I recently upgraded my Ubuntu installation from jaunty to karmic (9.10) and re-installed texlive. My document written in jaunty with texmaker no longer compiles under karmic due to a texshade error "\end{texmaker} undefined control sequence":

\end{texshade}
A number should have been here; I inserted `0'.
(If you can't figure out why I needed to see a number,
look up `weird error' in the index to The TeXbook.)
! Undefined control sequence.

Texshade appears to no longer recognize "\end{texshade}" as a defined function. Has anybody encountered this problem or know of any updates to texshade that has changed the function syntax? The document compiles under Windows so I am wondering if this is a local problem with the linux distribution. I don't understand the error message from texmaker to investigate it any further and I'm forced to consider ditching linux.

The Ubuntu community has no idea what the problem is and none of them use texshade.

Thanks for any assistance

[gmedina]

...My document written in jaunty with texmaker no longer compiles under karmic due to a texshade error "\end{texmaker} undefined control sequence":

\end{texshade}
A number should have been here; I inserted `0'.
(If you can't figure out why I needed to see a number,
look up `weird error' in the index to The TeXbook.)
! Undefined control sequence.

Texshade appears to no longer recognize "\end{texshade}" as a defined function. Has anybody encountered this problem or know of any updates to texshade that has changed the function syntax? The document compiles under Windows so I am wondering if this is a local problem with the linux distribution. I don't understand the error message from texmaker to investigate it any further and I'm forced to consider ditching linux.

The Ubuntu community has no idea what the problem is and none of them use texshade.

Thanks for any assistance

Aha, and since we are fortune tellers, surely we can mentally spot the problem and then cast a magical spell on it.

Please, get used to post complete, minimal, and useful code allowing us to reproduce the problem.

[frabjous]

I'd be very surprised if this had anything to do with your linux distribution.

I think, however, that the Ubuntu repos are still just using TeXlive 2007 (although this is the same for Karmic and Jaunty). You may want to install TeXlive 2009 from the script on the TUG website instead.

I'm not saying that'll fix your problem--there's no way of knowing what will without seeing the code.

[micronaut]

Thanks for the reply. I will try the link you sent.

I think the problem is something specific to the texshade package as the document is compiling without it.

I deleted the package from it's default location in ubuntu and installed the ctan version in its place, but texmaker is reporting it can't find texshade.sty. I had a look at the texshade.dtx file and it says I can generate this by "passing texshade.ins through latex twice". I don't know how to do this and I cant seem to compile texshade.dts or texshade.ins in any of my editors using any commands. Is there a guide anywhere for generating the .sty file for texshade?

Thanks for your help with my problem.

I'd be very surprised if this had anything to do with your linux distribution.

I think, however, that the Ubuntu repos are still just using TeXlive 2007 (although this is the same for Karmic and Jaunty). You may want to install TeXlive 2009 from the script on the TUG website instead.

I'm not saying that'll fix your problem--there's no way of knowing what will without seeing the code.

[gmedina]

Hi,

the derived files can be obtained by running (in a terminal)

(pdf)latex <name>.ins

for the .sty file(s),

and/or

(pdf)latex <name>.dtx

for the documentation file(s).

Move the files to the proper location and run

Code: Select all

texhash

Recent TeX Live distributions come with a Package Manager.

[frabjous]

I just tried the following, and it worked.

I went to a terminal... (in Ubuntu under "Accessories").

I then typed in:

Code: Select all

locate texshade.ins

That gave me:

Code: Select all

/usr/local/texlive/2009/texmf-dist/source/latex/texshade/texshade.ins

I'm obviously using texlive 2009. Your installation directory will be different if you're still using 2007.

I then went into that directory:

Code: Select all

cd /usr/local/texlive/2009/texmf-dist/source/latex/texshade/

(Change to the appropriate directory on your system.)

I then ran latex on the file twice, as instructed. Since this is outside my home directory, I used sudo. (You may not need sudo if yours is in your home directory, etc.)

Code: Select all

sudo latex texshade.ins
sudo latex texshade.ins

That produced some files. I copied AQPpro.MSF into a working directory in my home directory. In the same directory, I used a LaTeX editor (I used TeXworks, but I imagine Texmaker would work just as well), and created a minimal example, taken from the texshade manual:

Code: Select all

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{texshade}
\begin{document}
\begin{texshade}{AQPpro.MSF}
   \setends{1}{80..112}
   \hideconsensus
\end{texshade}
\end{document}

That seemed to work just fine.

It's possible that with a new installation of Texlive 2009, none of this is necessary. It may just work out of the box. I went through half of this just because I didn't have an .MSF file to test with, and needed to create one.

Perhaps that'll be of some use. I don't know.

[micronaut]

I was able to generate the texshade.sty file as in your instructions. The document is now rendering fine with the stock texlive 2007 in karmic so there must have been some issue with the packaged version.

Thanks very much for your help, much appreciated.

I will look into setting up texlive 2009 on Ubuntu.