asymptote @2.70_1 doesn't build on monterey

[baikel]

build fails with

--->  Building asymptote                                 
Error: Failed to build asymptote: command execution failed
Error: See /opt/local/var/macports/logs/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_macports_release_tarballs_ports_graphics_asymptote/asymptote/main.log for details.
Error: Follow https://guide.macports.org/#project.tickets if you believe there is a bug.
Error: Processing of port asymptote failed

main.log attached

[mojca (Mojca Miklavec)]

I'm puzzled. This fails while typesetting TeXShopAndAsymptote.tex, not while building the sources. TeX is more stable than "anything else on the planet" ;), I have no clue what's so special on Monterey to make that break (I didn't upgrade yet).

Unless this is broken for everyone with partial installation of TeX Live 2021 and just nobody noticed because the packages were build with TeX Live 2020. I'll check if I can reproduce the problem on an older macOS.

(/opt/local/share/texmf-local/tex/generic/ifxetex/ifxetex.sty)
! Incomplete \ifx; all text was ignored after line 29.
<inserted text>
                \fi
l.53 \IfFileExists
                  {catchfile.sty}{
?
! Emergency stop.
<inserted text>
                \fi
l.53 \IfFileExists
                  {catchfile.sty}{
!  ==> Fatal error occurred, no output PDF file produced!
Transcript written on latexusage.log.
make[1]: *** [latexusage.pdf] Error 1
make[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....

[baikel]

I recently built asymptote on Big Sur with TeX Live 2021. And I have the same catchfile.sty on a Monterey computer.

[mojca (Mojca Miklavec)]

I also double-checked on an older OS and I don't seem to be able to reproduce the problem there.

I don't think it matters, but which processor are you using?

[baikel]

2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7

[baikel]

Ugh, I finally managed to compile asymptote. This required to comment out the following part of "asymptote.sty" in its doc part:

\IfFileExists{ifxetex.sty}{
  \RequirePackage{ifxetex}
}{
  \expandafter\newif\csname ifxetex\endcsname
  \ifx\XeTeXversion\@undefined\else
    \xetextrue
  \fi
}

Dunno what this "ifxetex" is about there…

[ballapete (Peter "Pete" Dyballa)]

Replying to baikel:

In complete TeX Live it's here: /usr/local/texlive/2021/texmf-dist/tex/generic/iftex/ifxetex.sty.

[ballapete (Peter "Pete" Dyballa)]

The missing style file

[ballapete (Peter "Pete" Dyballa)]

The contents of the file is simple, meaning to update the document that is including it:

  1 % Compatibility stub package for ifxetex
  2 
  3 %% LaTeX3 Project
  4 %%
  5 %% This work may be distributed and/or modified under the
  6 %% conditions of the LaTeX Project Public License, either
  7 %% version 1.3c of this license or (at your option) any later
  8 %% version.
  9 
 10 % The original ifxetex package was written by Will Robertson
 11 
 12 \ifx\RequirePackage\undefined
 13   \input iftex.sty
 14 \else
 15   \ProvidesPackage{ifxetex}[2019/10/25 v0.7 ifxetex legacy package. Use iftex instead.]
 16   \RequirePackage{iftex}
 17 \fi

[drkp (Dan Ports)]

This file exists in texlive-basic:

> port provides `kpsewhich ifxetex.sty`
/opt/local/share/texmf-texlive/tex/generic/iftex/ifxetex.sty is provided by: texlive-basic

[ballapete (Peter "Pete" Dyballa)]

Replying to drkp:

This file exists in texlive-basic:

Right! It's there, I overlooked it first (used locate since I am using TeX Live).

[baikel]

Weird, in my case the file exists, but the command returns

port provides `kpsewhich ifxetex.sty`
/opt/local/share/texmf-local/tex/generic/ifxetex/ifxetex.sty is not provided by a MacPorts port.

[mojca (Mojca Miklavec)]

I could have noticed from the error log that it was loading a file from /opt/local/share/texmf-local rather than from the location where this file was supposed to be. Do you have any clue how that file ended up there?

Can you please try to create a backup of /opt/local/share/texmf-local, completely remove the contents, run sudo mktexlsr and try building asymptote again? I assume that should work then.

If that works, I'll close the ticket as invalid. But as Peter pointed out, maybe we could ask upstream to use iftex rather than the obsolete ifxetex instead.

[baikel]

Indeed, I have xetex files in my texmf-local part, don't already remember why (their date is 2008). Once I removed everything associated with xetex from it, asymptote build smoothly. Thanks.

Still, I have the very same texmf-local tree on my Big Sure computer and it built smoothly there (and before that on older systems).

[mojca (Mojca Miklavec)]

Thanks for confirming that it builds. I'll close the ticket then.

Maybe the files inside texmf-local are different enough to lead to this discrepancy.

[ballapete (Peter "Pete" Dyballa)]

Replying to baikel:

Weird, in my case the file exists, but the command returns

Could you check the file's date? I noticed a few times that old files from Python packages or applications with a lot of manual entries which in reality are just symbolic links, or that changed from plain to compressed in a new release, survived the port upgrade process. Could be this is just another such relic…

[baikel]

The one that I had in texmf-local is "2006/08/12 v0.2"

[ballapete (Peter "Pete" Dyballa)]

Replying to baikel: I meant the file date, as seen in Finder or in Terminal (ls -l <file>), but OK: The recent version in MacPorts from the LaTeX3 project has:

\ProvidesPackage{ifxetex}[2019/10/25 v0.7 ifxetex legacy package. Use iftex instead.]

[baikel]

Didn't understand your question. My original problem was apparently associated with the use of a very old ifxetex from texmf-local (apparently, because I did manage to build asymptote on Big Sur with it recently). Once I removed it, as well as everything associated with xetex, from texmf-local, the new files from texmf-texlive was used and asymptote was built. That file has exactly the line that you described and was created on March 8 2020 at 3:57.