[Tex/LaTex] How to execute commands with TeXnicCenter (MiKTeX, Windows)

miktextexniccenterwindows

A very basic question: I am a beginner using MiKTeX with Windows (8.1). I only know how to edit and compile with TeXnicCenter. Now and then I learn from this very helpful TeX-forum that it is necessary to execute ("run") some commands like e. g. xindy -M texindy -L vietnamese -C utf8 dominik.idx. How is this to be done? I tried with the Windows command line but I only get the following response: 'xindy' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file – no matter which directory I'm in. Could someone please explain how to do this?

Best Answer

As in the comments the question was changed to "how to get the new xindy working in miktex" here some background:

xindy.exe in the miktex bin-folder is a small wrapper which calls perl xindy.pl. A lot of the applications in the miktex folder are only wrappers (which explains why they are so small).

The wrappers are normally created with initexmf --mklinks --admin (or without --admin in the case of single user installation). In most cases the installation creates the wrappers.

The wrappers are listed in scripts.ini. This is a protected file and one can't change it manually. New wrapper applications must be added by miktex updates.

This means that for a new application like xindy it is not enough to install the relevant xindy packages one should also run the update manager (admin) to update other core miktex packages.

Beside this: when managing miktex one should close other miktex applications (like YAP) so that they don't block core files.

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[Tex/LaTex] How to make the perl script [makeglossaries] work on WinXP

You need to install Perl. There's a free version for Windows: ActivePerl Community Edition.

To debug, don't start with the editor but

Check if makeindex works at all, run it yourself
Test the Perl script
Test the batch script
Now you could test the editor integration

[Tex/LaTex] Problem with TeXnicCenter and MikTeX

All basic macros for LaTeX is contained with latex.ltx. There is a version-control component (originally from ltvers.dtx) which checks whether your existing latex.ltx is too old:

%%% From File: ltvers.dtx
\def\fmtname{LaTeX2e}
\edef\fmtversion{2011/06/27}
\iffalse
\def\reserved@a#1/#2/#3\@nil{%
  \count@\year
  \advance\count@-#1\relax
  \multiply\count@ by 12\relax
  \advance\count@\month
  \advance\count@-#2\relax}
\expandafter\reserved@a\fmtversion\@nil
\ifnum\count@>65
  \typeout{^^J%
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!^^J%
!  You are attempting to make a LaTeX format from a source file^^J%
!  That is more than five years old.^^J%
!^^J%
!  If you enter <return> to scroll past this message then the format^^J%
!  will be built, but please consider obtaining newer source files^^J%
!  before continuing to build LaTeX.^^J%
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!^^J%
}
   \errhelp{To avoid this error message, obtain new LaTeX sources.}
   \errmessage{LaTeX source files more than 5 years old!}
\fi

It checks whether \fmtversion is older than 65 months. If it is, then it prints the message you report, otherwise it continues without problem.

You either didn't install the latest version of MiKTeX 2.9 properly, or there's another distribution interfering with it. Re-install it correctly to obtain an up-to-date version.

Alternatively, if this does not work (for whatever reason), you can edit latex.ltx^* and modify the condition \ifnum\count@>65 to (say) \ifnum\count@>100. However, it's best to properly install and update your distribution.

^* Perhaps located in C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\base.

Best Answer

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[Tex/LaTex] How to make the perl script [makeglossaries] work on WinXP

[Tex/LaTex] Problem with TeXnicCenter and MikTeX

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