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Asymptote FAQ - Section 2
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Asymptote FAQ - Section 2 <br>
Questions about installation and setup
</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#osx" rel=subdocument>Q2.1. Is it possible to install Asymptote on Mac OS
X?</a>
<li><a href="#osxbadCPU" rel=subdocument>Q2.2. Why do I get the error <code>Bad CPU type in executable</code> on installing Asymptote from the MAC OS
binary?</a>
<li><a href="#brokenpdftex" rel=subdocument>Q2.3. What do I do if I get the error: <code>Error: pdfetex (file pdftex.cfg): cannot open config
file...texinfo.tex appears to be broken</code>?</a>
<li><a href="#brokentexinfo" rel=subdocument>Q2.4. What do I do if I get the error: <code>! Undefined control sequence. l.6 @copying</code>?</a>
<li><a href="#latexintegration" rel=subdocument>Q2.5. Is it possible to integrate Asymptote into
LaTeX?</a>
<li><a href="#pdflatex" rel=subdocument>Q2.6. Is it possible to integrate Asymptote into latex or
pdflatex?</a>
<li><a href="#tkinterdepend" rel=subdocument>Q2.7. Do I need the <code>tkinter</code> package to install an Asymptote rpm binary?</a>
<li><a href="#windir" rel=subdocument>Q2.8. What does the path <code>%USERPROFILE%\.asy\config.asy</code> mean?</a>
<li><a href="#escapechar" rel=subdocument>Q2.9. Why do I get the error "string not terminated" when I try to
set <code>settings.dir="C:\asymptote\";</code>?</a>
<li><a href="#winglobal" rel=subdocument>Q2.10. How do I change environment variables in Microsoft Windows, for
example, in order to change the default PostScript
viewer?</a>
<li><a href="#convert" rel=subdocument>Q2.11. Under Microsoft Windows XP, why do I get an error like "Invalid
Parameter - 432x432"?</a>
<li><a href="#miktex" rel=subdocument>Q2.12. Why does Asymptote freeze upon trying to draw a label with my MikTex
installation under Microsoft Windows?</a>
</ul><hr>
<h2><A name="osx">
Question 2.1. Is it possible to install Asymptote on Mac OS
X?
</A></h2>
It is easy to compile Asymptote directly from the source code at
<A href="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=120000">http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=120000</A> We recommend first upgrading to the latest GNU readline library,
unless you don't care about interactive readline support (in which case configure
will automatically detect and disable obsolete versions of the readline
library). Marius Schamschula also maintains a binary package for various MacOS X
platforms <A href="http://www.hmug.org/pub/MacOS_X/X/Applications/Publishing/asymptote">http://www.hmug.org/pub/MacOS_X/X/Applications/Publishing/asymptote</A>.
<h2><A name="osxbadCPU">
Question 2.2. Why do I get the error <code>Bad CPU type in executable</code> on installing Asymptote from the MAC OS
binary?
</A></h2>
This means either that you have a binary distribution for another MAC
architecture, or (according to Marius Schamschula) that you may have a
missing library. The simplest solution is to compile Asymptote directly from
the official source: <A href="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=120000">http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=120000</A>.
<h2><A name="brokenpdftex">
Question 2.3. What do I do if I get the error:
<code>Error: pdfetex (file pdftex.cfg): cannot open config
file...texinfo.tex appears to be broken</code>?
</A></h2>
Simply put <A href="http://asymptote.sourceforge.net/asymptote.pdf">http://asymptote.sourceforge.net/asymptote.pdf</A> in the directory <code>doc</code> and repeat the command <code>make all</code>. Or, if you don't want to build a local copy of the documentation,
simply proceed with <code>make install-asy</code>.
<h2><A name="brokentexinfo">
Question 2.4. What do I do if I get the error:
<code>! Undefined control sequence. l.6 @copying</code>?
</A></h2>
Either upgrade your <code>texinfo</code> package or follow one of the easy work arounds in
<A href="#brokenpdftex">Q2.3 `What do I do if I get the error: <code>Error: pdfetex (file pdftex.cfg): cannot open config
file...texinfo.tex appears to be broken</code>?'</A>.
<h2><A name="latexintegration">
Question 2.5. Is it possible to integrate Asymptote into
LaTeX?
</A></h2>
Yes, see the example latexusage.tex. Dario Teixeira has also written a
detailed guide on the topic. You can download it from
<A href="http://dario.dse.nl/projects/asylatex/">http://dario.dse.nl/projects/asylatex/</A>.
<p>
Philippe Ivaldi has contributed an Asymptote mode for Emacs users
<A href="http://asymptote.sourceforge.net/doc/Editing-modes.html">http://asymptote.sourceforge.net/doc/Editing-modes.html</A>, which includes a <code>lasy-mode</code> that allows one to compile and view the output of one \begin{asy}...\end{asy} section at a time.
<h2><A name="pdflatex">
Question 2.6. Is it possible to integrate Asymptote into latex or
pdflatex?
</A></h2>
Yes, as of version 1.14, Asymptote supports latex and pdflatex (both
in EPS/PDF and inline mode), as illustrated by the example
<code>latexusage.tex</code>: <pre>
pdflatex latexusage
asy latexusage
pdflatex latexusage
</pre>
<h2><A name="tkinterdepend">
Question 2.7. Do I need the <code>tkinter</code> package to install an Asymptote rpm binary?
</A></h2>
No, you don't need <code>tkinter</code> unless you want to try out the GUI <code>xasy</code>. Try <pre>
rpm -Uvh --nodeps asymptote-x.xx-1.i386.rpm
</pre>
where <code>x.xx</code> represents the version number.
<h2><A name="windir">
Question 2.8. What does the path <code>%USERPROFILE%\.asy\config.asy</code> mean?
</A></h2>
That is the way that Microsoft Windows refers to the user profile
directory. There's nothing really to understand here, just put your configuration
commands in the file <code>config.asy</code> in a new folder <code>%USERPROFILE%\.asy</code>.
<h2><A name="escapechar">
Question 2.9. Why do I get the error "string not
terminated" when I try to set <code>settings.dir="C:\asymptote\";</code>?
</A></h2>
The backslash is an escape character here, so
<code>\"</code> is interpreted as a verbatim quotation mark, leaving the string
without a terminating quotation mark. Fortunately, this is the
only escaped character in double-quoted strings. A final backslash
isn't needed here anyway, but should you really want one somewhere, you can
say: <code>settings.dir="C:\asymptote"+'\\';</code>.
<h2><A name="winglobal">
Question 2.10. How do I change environment variables in Microsoft
Windows, for example, in order to change the default PostScript
viewer?
</A></h2>
While it is easier to set the corresponding Asymptote configuration
variable in your <code>config.asy</code> file, here is the procedure for changing
Microsoft Windows environment variables:
<p>
Click on the [Start] button
<p>
* RIGHT-click on 'My Computer'
<p>
* Choose 'Properties' from the popup menu
<p>
* Click the 'Advanced' tab
<p>
* Click the 'Environment Variables' button.
<h2><A name="convert">
Question 2.11. Under Microsoft Windows XP, why do I get an error like
"Invalid Parameter - 432x432"?
</A></h2>
This means that ImageMagick wasn't properly installed and you are
using the MSDOS convert program rather than the ImageMagick one. Or you may have
installed ImageMagick but ran Asymptote from an existing MSDOS window.
In that case, simply open a new window and try again. If that doesn't
work, check that <pre>
convert --version
</pre>
returns something like <pre>
Version: ImageMagick 6.2.8 06/27/06 Q16 http://www.imagemagick.org
</pre>
<h2><A name="miktex">
Question 2.12. Why does Asymptote freeze upon trying to draw a label
with my MikTex installation under Microsoft
Windows?
</A></h2>
Likely, this means that latex and dvips are not in your default path.
Try adding the appropriate paths in your
<code>config.asy</code> file, for example: <pre>
import settings;
latex="C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.7\miktex\bin\latex.exe";
dvips="C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.7\miktex\bin\dvips.exe";
</pre>
<hr>
Next: <a href="section3.html" rel=precedes>Questions about paths</a>.<br>
Back: <a href="section1.html" rev=precedes>About Asymptote</a>.<br>
<a href="index.html" rev=subdocument>Return to contents</a>.<p>
<address>
<A href="http://asymptote.sourceforge.net">Asymptote</A>
- 24 March 2017
</address><br>
Extracted from Asymptote Frequently Asked Questions,
Copyright © 2017 .
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