miktex, asymptote, ghostscript – Resolving Asymptote Code Generating .asy Files Without Execution

asymptoteghostscriptmiktex

Update

Per the advice of a user on stack overflow, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/77449192/issue-with-asymptote-execution-in-latex-failed-to-create-directory-asy, I upgraded all of my MikTeX packages, and moved all of my LaTeX-related files to one folder. Namely, the %USERPROFILE% directory because that's the starter directory for Asymptote. The asy command is still not working for the files. I even tried prebuilding a .asy folder is my %USERPROFILE% directory and putting the .asy files there and even then it still won't work. Maybe it's because Windows won't let you end a folder with a (period/dot/"."). I also tried running asy -f pdf asymptote-latex.asy

Here is the error message for when it's in the %USERPROFILE% directory:

C:\Users\twill>asy C:\Users\twill\asymptote-latex-1.asy
failed to create directory /.asy.
Error: /undefined in .setfillconstantalpha
Operand stack:
   1
Execution stack:
   %interp_exit   .runexec2   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   2   %stopped_push   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   false   1   %stopped_push   2015   1   3   %oparray_pop   2014   1   3   %oparray_pop   --nostringval--   1998   1   3   %oparray_pop   1884   1   3   %oparray_pop   --nostringval--   %errorexec_pop   .runexec2   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   2   %stopped_push   --nostringval--
Dictionary stack:
   --dict:980/1684(ro)(G)--   --dict:0/20(G)--   --dict:82/200(L)--
Current allocation mode is local
Current file position is 602
MiKTeX GPL Ghostscript 9.25: Unrecoverable error, exit code 1
  _shipout(prefix,f,currentpatterns,format,wait,view,t);
          ^
C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX/asymptote/plain_shipout.asy: 116.11: runtime: shipout failed

Here is the error message for when its in the prebuilt .asy folder:

C:\Users\twill>asy C:\Users\twill\.asy\asymptote-latex-1.asy
failed to create directory /.asy.
Error: /undefined in .setfillconstantalpha
Operand stack:
   1
Execution stack:
   %interp_exit   .runexec2   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   2   %stopped_push   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   false   1   %stopped_push   2015   1   3   %oparray_pop   2014   1   3   %oparray_pop   --nostringval--   1998   1   3   %oparray_pop   1884   1   3   %oparray_pop   --nostringval--   %errorexec_pop   .runexec2   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   2   %stopped_push   --nostringval--
Dictionary stack:
   --dict:980/1684(ro)(G)--   --dict:0/20(G)--   --dict:82/200(L)--
Current allocation mode is local
Current file position is 602
MiKTeX GPL Ghostscript 9.25: Unrecoverable error, exit code 1
  _shipout(prefix,f,currentpatterns,format,wait,view,t);
          ^
C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX/asymptote/plain_shipout.asy: 116.11: runtime: shipout failed

Main Content

This question further explores an issue that was previously addressed in one of my earlier inquiries:
Asymptote Error: Missing PDF File during Compilation

I am encountering a peculiar issue when working with my LaTeX document that includes Asymptote code. The LaTeX compilation appears to generate the necessary .asy files, but when I attempt to execute Asymptote separately on these files, I encounter difficulties.

Here's the setup and the steps I have taken:

I am using a Windows operating system.
I have successfully installed LaTeX, Asymptote, and Ghostscript, and have verified that all three are included in my system's PATH.
I use the -shell-escape option when compiling my LaTeX document.

The LaTeX compilation log suggests that the Asymptote code is being executed correctly, as I observe the generation of a PDF file (asymptote-latex-1.pdf). However, when I try to run Asymptote manually on the generated .asy files, it does not work.

I have tried using the following commands to run Asymptote:

asy "C:\Users\twill\OneDrive\Desktop\ASYMPTOTE\output-directory\asymptote-latex-1.asy"
asy C:\Users\twill\asymptote-latex-*.asy

Despite this, I encounter issues, and Asymptote does not seem to process the files correctly. The specific error message I am facing is: failed to create directory /.asy.. The log of the LaTeX compilation does not provide any error messages related to Asymptote.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue where the LaTeX compilation generates .asy files, but Asymptote execution on these files fails? I would greatly appreciate any insights, troubleshooting steps, or solutions to ensure that the Asymptote code processes the .asy files correctly.

Thank you for your assistance.

MWE: (Credit: 'filename-1.pdf' not found Asymptote)

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{asymptote}
\begin{document}
\begin{asy}
size(200);
pen[] p={red,green,blue,magenta};
path g=(0,0){dir(45)}..(1,0)..(1,1)..(0,1)..cycle;
tensorshade(g,p);
dot(g);
\end{asy}
\end{document}

log:

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.141592653-2.6-1.40.25 (MiKTeX 23.5) (preloaded format=pdflatex 2023.8.22)  6 NOV 2023 10:25
entering extended mode
 restricted \write18 enabled.
 %&-line parsing enabled.
**C:/Users/twill/OneDrive/Desktop/ASYMPTOTE/asymptote-latex.tex
(C:/Users/twill/OneDrive/Desktop/ASYMPTOTE/asymptote-latex.tex
LaTeX2e <2023-06-01> patch level 1
L3 programming layer <2023-08-11>
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/base\article.cls
Document Class: article 2023/05/17 v1.4n Standard LaTeX document class
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/base\size10.clo
File: size10.clo 2023/05/17 v1.4n Standard LaTeX file (size option)
)
\c@part=\count185
\c@section=\count186
\c@subsection=\count187
\c@subsubsection=\count188
\c@paragraph=\count189
\c@subparagraph=\count190
\c@figure=\count191
\c@table=\count192
\abovecaptionskip=\skip48
\belowcaptionskip=\skip49
\bibindent=\dimen140
)
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/graphics\graphicx.sty
Package: graphicx 2021/09/16 v1.2d Enhanced LaTeX Graphics (DPC,SPQR)

(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/graphics\keyval.sty
Package: keyval 2022/05/29 v1.15 key=value parser (DPC)
\KV@toks@=\toks17
)
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/graphics\graphics.sty
Package: graphics 2022/03/10 v1.4e Standard LaTeX Graphics (DPC,SPQR)

(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/graphics\trig.sty
Package: trig 2021/08/11 v1.11 sin cos tan (DPC)
)
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/graphics-cfg\graphics.c
fg
File: graphics.cfg 2016/06/04 v1.11 sample graphics configuration
)
Package graphics Info: Driver file: pdftex.def on input line 107.

(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/graphics-def\pdftex.def
File: pdftex.def 2022/09/22 v1.2b Graphics/color driver for pdftex
))
\Gin@req@height=\dimen141
\Gin@req@width=\dimen142
)
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/asymptote\asymptote.sty
Package: asymptote 2021/12/29 v1.37 Asymptote style file for LaTeX
(asymptote-latex.pre)
\ASYbox=\box51
\ASYdimen=\dimen143
\c@asy=\count193
\AsyStream=\write3
\AsyPreStream=\write4

(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/base\ifthen.sty
Package: ifthen 2022/04/13 v1.1d Standard LaTeX ifthen package (DPC)
)
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/generic/iftex\ifpdf.sty
Package: ifpdf 2019/10/25 v3.4 ifpdf legacy package. Use iftex instead.

(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/generic/iftex\iftex.sty
Package: iftex 2022/02/03 v1.0f TeX engine tests
))
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/generic/iftex\ifxetex.sty
Package: ifxetex 2019/10/25 v0.7 ifxetex legacy package. Use iftex instead.
)
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/generic/catchfile\catchfile.s
ty
Package: catchfile 2019/12/09 v1.8 Catch the contents of a file (HO)

(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/generic/infwarerr\infwarerr.s
ty
Package: infwarerr 2019/12/03 v1.5 Providing info/warning/error messages (HO)
)
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/generic/ltxcmds\ltxcmds.sty
Package: ltxcmds 2020-05-10 v1.25 LaTeX kernel commands for general use (HO)
)
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/generic/etexcmds\etexcmds.sty
Package: etexcmds 2019/12/15 v1.7 Avoid name clashes with e-TeX commands (HO)
))
\openout4 = `asymptote-latex.pre'.

)
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/l3backend\l3backend-pdf
tex.def
File: l3backend-pdftex.def 2023-04-19 L3 backend support: PDF output (pdfTeX)
\l__color_backend_stack_int=\count194
\l__pdf_internal_box=\box52
) (asymptote-latex.aux)
\openout1 = `asymptote-latex.aux'.

LaTeX Font Info:    Checking defaults for OML/cmm/m/it on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    ... okay on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    Checking defaults for OMS/cmsy/m/n on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    ... okay on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    Checking defaults for OT1/cmr/m/n on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    ... okay on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    Checking defaults for T1/cmr/m/n on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    ... okay on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    Checking defaults for TS1/cmr/m/n on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    ... okay on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    Checking defaults for OMX/cmex/m/n on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    ... okay on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    Checking defaults for U/cmr/m/n on input line 4.
LaTeX Font Info:    ... okay on input line 4.

(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/context/base/mkii\supp-pdf.mk
ii
[Loading MPS to PDF converter (version 2006.09.02).]
\scratchcounter=\count195
\scratchdimen=\dimen144
\scratchbox=\box53
\nofMPsegments=\count196
\nofMParguments=\count197
\everyMPshowfont=\toks18
\MPscratchCnt=\count198
\MPscratchDim=\dimen145
\MPnumerator=\count199
\makeMPintoPDFobject=\count266
\everyMPtoPDFconversion=\toks19
)
(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/epstopdf-pkg\epstopdf-b
ase.sty
Package: epstopdf-base 2020-01-24 v2.11 Base part for package epstopdf
Package epstopdf-base Info: Redefining graphics rule for `.eps' on input line 4
85.

(C:\Users\twill\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\tex/latex/00miktex\epstopdf-sys.c
fg
File: epstopdf-sys.cfg 2021/03/18 v2.0 Configuration of epstopdf for MiKTeX
))
\openout3 = `asymptote-latex-1.asy'.

<asymptote-latex-1.pdf, id=1, 200.75pt x 131.06967pt>
File: asymptote-latex-1.pdf Graphic file (type pdf)
<use asymptote-latex-1.pdf>
Package pdftex.def Info: asymptote-latex-1.pdf  used on input line 11.
(pdftex.def)             Requested size: 200.7495pt x 131.06934pt.
 [1

{C:/Users/twill/AppData/Local/MiKTeX/fonts/map/pdftex/pdftex.map} <./asymptote-
latex-1.pdf>] (asymptote-latex.aux)
 ***********
LaTeX2e <2023-06-01> patch level 1
L3 programming layer <2023-08-11>
 ***********
 ) 
Here is how much of TeX's memory you used:
 1800 strings out of 475503
 31543 string characters out of 5761834
 1916248 words of memory out of 12000000
 23078 multiletter control sequences out of 15000+600000
 558069 words of font info for 36 fonts, out of 8000000 for 9000
 1141 hyphenation exceptions out of 8191
 62i,5n,65p,256b,139s stack positions out of 10000i,1000n,20000p,200000b,200000s
<C:/Users/twill/AppData/Local/Programs/MiKTeX/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/
cmr10.pfb>
Output written on asymptote-latex.pdf (1 page, 9798 bytes).
PDF statistics:
 13 PDF objects out of 1000 (max. 8388607)
 0 named destinations out of 1000 (max. 500000)
 6 words of extra memory for PDF output out of 10000 (max. 10000000)

Best Answer

With help from a professor at my university, the issue has been resolved!

Here are the steps I took (for future self reference and for others struggling with the same thing).

Step 1: Uninstall ghostscript and miktex

Step 2: install miktex and the latest ghostscript.

Step 3: global search for mgs (in the MikTeX directory) and change its same to something else (I used mgstemp)

Step 4: global search for gswin64.exe (in the ghostscript directory) and change its name to mgs

Step 5: any time you update MikTeX, it will create a new mgs file (in the MikTex Directory!!!!!!). You need to change this to another name every time.

Step 6: The commands pdflatex test then asy test-1.asy then pdflatex test will produce your document!

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to use LaTeX in Anki on Windows with MiKTeX

For a fresh user to Anki using LaTeX and Miktex there is a sharp initial learning curve with several pitfalls. When you enter LaTeX code into Anki it is best to start with the simplest of examples so to get a Question and Answer such as

You need to start with this simple entry

Does the divergent p-series 
[latex]\begin{math}\sum_{k = 1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{k}\end{math}[/latex]
 converge?

The series converges for p>1 and diverges for 0<p≤1. With p=1 it is called the Harmonic Series.

The first error message may be

Error executing latex.
Generated file: C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Local\Temp\anki_temp\tmp.tex
Have you installed latex and dvipng/dvisvgm?

This could mean you have not installed MiKTeX correctly (including setting the paths). To check this open command line and try and run latex, dvipng, and dvisvgm and make sure the system can find these. If the system can find all these programs, the error message can also be generated by Anki not having sufficient privileges to fetch all necessary packages. Try running Anki one time in Administrator mode.

IF you get other error messages then either your latex code is not right or MiKTeX has not been configured correctly.

One test to see what is happening is to check Anki's TeX output which is a file
%temp%\anki_temp\tmp.tex (you can enter %temp%\anki_temp in windows explorer address bar to get there quickly) If you open tmp.tex in notepad then check/verify its contents are identical to the MWE shown below .

It is best to run MiKTeX-console and ensure it is fully stable before Anki calls it in the background.

The best way to check MiKTeX can run the same code as above is to use the included TeXworks editor and run the same minimal example until it works.

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\special{papersize=3in,5in}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{amssymb,amsmath}
\pagestyle{empty}
\setlength{\parindent}{0in}
\begin{document}

\begin{math}\sum_{k = 1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{k}\end{math}
\end{document}

so it should show

Once you are confident that the above simple sample works with TeXworks IT should then work in Anki and in the temp directory (see above) you will find half a dozen files including two trace logs the short one is latex_log.txt (which Anki feeds back to the user) also is the more useful tmp.log with more useful information from the tex compilation.

In summary
Although the Anki manual and other older guides suggest settings are changed to "Install missing packages on the fly" is set to "No", not to "Ask me first" It is essential that MiKTeX is allowed to update itself

Thus I recommend the following (until someone corrects me as to why not?)
DO use the setting "Always install missing packages on the fly" until you have a stable setup, then (if you must) switch it to no.

While you are there in the console ensure amsfonts and miktex-dvipng-bin-2.9 have been added to the active packages (there should be a date under "installed on", it has also been recommended to include passivetex and ucs packages to clear the above utf8x error, however the simple example above runs correctly without it. It is easy to add or remove it using + and -.

Most importantly, periodically enter MiKTeX-console to manually force Tasks Refresh file name database as well as Refresh font map files this ensures your errors messages are minimal.

Whatever the problem is with Anki this TeX forum will require to see the contents of tmp.tex (what we may call the MWE) within your question so as to see what caused any error messages reported in the logs. It may also be useful to add the [latex] blah bla blah [/latex] line you used within Anki (although that should by default be included in the tmp.tex that you post).

If you customise LaTeX calling from Anki using the "Edit LaTeX build process" with the add-on from https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/937148547 or one of its variants then we will also need to know it was added and certainly what was changed especially if you extend to tikz or or other packages.