That's too vague to be helpful. Having written some of the Debian installation materials, I would find it useful to know what places were wrong or misleading so that it could be improved.

Good to hear this part of the ConTeXt labyrinth still has some care taking inhabitants ...

So, here are some specifics about the experiences following the wiki installation page for Debian. It reminds me of catching a young koetje with too many efforts, and just when you are about to give up, the thing is already in the barn.

First of all, why the page is rather misleading:

* In the beginning the installation text seems to intend a global installation of ConTeXt, but later on it silently switches towards a user specific one. Latter is fine with me, but do we really have to change the system-wide TeX installation for that?

* The system-wide installation is changed without using the debian package system at all. If there is a reason for this, it is not mentioned in the text. Besides, the wiki link to this page says that the installation is intended for people who like to use apt. Well, quite the contrary: this installation procedure is for people who *dont* want to use apt for their context installation, because ConTeXt is installed across different parts of the debian package system, apt is just used to get some general TeX/tetex-packages. I won't go into details here WhyThisIsNotAGoodThing, if it´s all about a box intended for "Personal ConTeXing" it might be o.k., but most certainly not for a box that hosts different users and TeX flavors, so that it could use a single management interface like the debian one.

* In the end, debian works out perfectly well now, as shown below. Plus there is a more debianish way to have a system-wide fresh ConTeXt koetje on your box every other release day (s. below).

Ok, so much for generics. Now lets go along the installation text and see what happens on a fresh debian (unstable release 2006-10-02) system:

1. First we make sure to have packages tetex-bin, tetex-extra, lmodern and cm-super and install the new metapost and pdftex versions by hand.

2. What now? Ok, now we are switching to a user specific installation. Where? Any pathname restrictions? The text doesn´t mention anything, but lets call it ~myuser/texmf, just to be on the safe side. A lot of people may never have heard about TEXMFHOME environment variables. It could be helpful to mention it at this point.

3. we download and unzip cont-tmf.zip and then at the end of ~myuser/texmf > texexec --make

... lots of output ...

used engineformatpath : /home/myuser/texmf/web2c/pdfetex/ TeX binary : pdfetex format(s) : en nl metafun mptopdf total run time : 4 seconds warning : use 'texmfstart texexec' instead

Hmm. A warning. Do we have to care? Anyway, lets continue.

4. What now, pt. 2: the big heading says "Context first time upgrade", but the small text a few lines above says "If you have already followed the *following* steps" (my emphasis) which seems a little odd to some non-native speakers, if they notice that fine point anyway: it doesnt say previous steps, it says following steps, the steps we haven´t read so far ...

After some ruminations it seems we just have two alternatives here: if you follow these instructions the first time, please do the following if you just want to upgrade cont-tmf, please go to chapter foobar

Alright, so we´re doing a "first time upgrade", since we´re following these instructions the first time and have an old ConTeXt in the standard debian tetex package. According to the text we should look out for old formats. No search results in any user dot-directory. Our last step generated cont-en, cont-nl and mptopdf format files in ~myuser/texmf/web2c/pdfetex/ "kpsewhich cont-en.fmt" does only return the global format we created during the pdfetex installation in step 1. Even a # find / -iname cont-en.fmt returns nothing more. This step seems finished, now we tell TeX how to find our formats in the next step by changing the configlets.

5. First, according to the wiki, we need to comment out the format generation of mptopdf, metafun and cont-en, which is controlled by /etc/texmf/fmt.d/01tetex.cnf (we notice that there is no metafun format in our local directory, but maybe thats intentional). We run update-fmtutil. Still just the old metafun.mem in /var/lib/texmf/web2c, what to do about this? No instructions, so lets just leave it at that, and add the {$engine,} subpath string to TEXFORMATS, followed by an update-texmf.

6. Everythings o.k. now? Let´s see: ~myuser/ > texexec --version TeXExec 5.4.3 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1997-2005

texexec : TeXExec 5.4.3 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1997-2005 texutil : TeXUtil 9.0.1 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1992-2006 tex : pdfeTeX, 3.141592-1.30.6-2.2 (Web2C 7.5.5) context : ver: 2006.08.08 21:51 cont-en : ver: 2006.08.08 21:51 fmt: 2006.9.30 mes: english

total run time : 0 seconds warning : use 'texmfstart texexec' instead

Hmm. Again the warning. What is this texmfstart thing anyway? In ~myuser/scripts/context/ruby/texmfstart.rb ~myuser/scripts/context/stubs/lib/texmfstart there is something, but maybe it is not (yet?) needed. So let´s give it a try and create the first "official" ConTeXt test file hello.tex: \starttext Hello World \stoptext and then: ~myuser/ > texexec --pdf hello.tex ... ... lots of output that looks o.k., until: ... fonts : using map file:original-public-lm(/home/myuser /texmf/tex/context/base/pdfr-ec.tex)[1.1{/home/myuser/texmf/fonts /map/dvipdfm/context/original-empty.map}{/home/myuser/texmf/fonts /map/dvipdfm/context/texnansi-public-lm.map}{/home/myuser/texmf /fonts/map/dvipdfm/context/original-base.map Warning: pdfetex (file /home/myuser/texmf/fonts/map/dvipdfm/ context/original-base.map): invalid entry for `fmvr8x': font file missing ... ... and a lot more of these warnings follow, also in the 2nd run: ... Warning: pdfetex (file/home/myuser/texmf/fonts/map/dvipdfm/context /original-public-lm.map): invalid entry for `cmmib9': font file missing}] systems : end file hello at line 3 ) Output written on hello.pdf (1 page, 2611 bytes). Transcript written on hello.log.

return code : 0 run time : 0 seconds sorting and checking : running texutil TeXUtil 9.0.1 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1992-2006 action : processing commands, lists and registers option : sorting IJ under Y option : converting high ASCII values input file : hello.tui output file : hello.tuo passed commands : 19 remapped keys : 0 register entries : 1 -> 0 entries 0 references synonym entries : 3 -> 1 entries bad entries : 3 embedded files : 1 remark : 'texutil' is now part of 'texexec' warning : use 'texmfstart texutil' instead total run time : 1 seconds warning : use 'texmfstart texexec' instead

Hmm. The texmfstart warning looks familiar, but missing font files? Strange. Anyway, the pdf-file looks ok, so lets be more adventurous, and try the second ConTeXt test file from the wiki, the one with the little red hat: texexec --pdf littleredhat.tex TeXExec 5.4.3 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1997-2005 fixing engine variable : pdfetex executable : pdfetex format : cont-en inputfile : littleredhat output : pdftex interface : en current mode : none TeX run : 1 This is pdfeTeX, Version 3.141592-1.30.6-2.2 (Web2C 7.5.5) (/home/myuser/texmf/web2c/natural.tcx) entering extended mode (./littleredhat.tex ConTeXt ver: 2006.08.08 21:51 fmt: 2006.9.30 int: english mes: english language : language en is active <protectionstate 0> system : cont-new loaded (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/cont-new.tex systems : beware: some patches loaded from cont-new.tex color : palette rollover is available )

... and then:

systems : system commands are disabled encoding : unknown coding il15 (./littleredhat.tuo) (./littleredhat.tuo) (./littleredhat.tuo) (./littleredhat.tuo) (./littleredhat.tuo)(./littleredhat.tuo) (./littleredhat.tuo) (./littleredhat.tuo) (./littleredhat.tuo) (./littleredhat.tuo)(/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/sort-de f.tex)(/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/sort-lan.tex)(./little redhat.tuo) (./littleredhat.tuo) systems : begin file littleredhat at line 4 (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/pdfr-ec.tex) fonts : resetting map file list fonts : using map file: texnansi-public-lm fonts : using map file: original-base fonts : using map file: ec-public-lm fonts : using map file: ec-base fonts : using map file: 8r-base fonts : using map file: t5-base fonts : using map file: original-ams-base fonts : using map file: original-ams-euler fonts : using map file: original-public-lm [1.1{/home/myuser/texmf/fonts/map/dvipdfm/context/original-empty .map}{/home/myuser/texmf/fonts/map/dvipdfm/context/texnansi- public-lm.map}{/home/myuser/texmf/fonts/map/dvipdfm/context /original-base.map Warning: pdfetex (file /home/myuser/texmf/fonts/map/dvipdfm/ context/original-base.map): invalid entry for `fmvr8x': font file missing Warning: pdfetex (file /home/myuser/texmf/fonts/map/dvipdfm/ context/original-base.map): invalid entry for `xycmat11': font file missing

... lots of font file missing errors, until:

Warning: pdfetex (file /home/myuser/texmf/fonts/map/dvipdfm/ context/original-public-lm.map): invalid entry for `cmmib9': font file missing}] systems : end file littleredhat at line 11 ) Output written on littleredhat.pdf (1 page, 3637 bytes). Transcript written on littleredhat.log.

return code : 0 run time : 0 seconds sorting and checking : running texutil TeXUtil 9.0.1 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1992-2006 action : processing commands, lists and registers option : sorting IJ under Y option : converting high ASCII values input file : littleredhat.tui output file : littleredhat.tuo passed commands : 19 remapped keys : 0 register entries : 1 -> 0 entries 0 references synonym entries : 3 -> 1 entries bad entries : 3 embedded files : 1 remark : 'texutil' is now part of 'texexec' warning : use 'texmfstart texutil' instead total run time : 0 seconds warning : use 'texmfstart texexec' instead

So the same font warnings again, but arggh - this time we really have a problem: the pdf doesn´t contain a single umlaut. And this seems to be the end of the story. Now got really stuck, regime changes, encoding changes, mktexlsr, nothing helps.

Conclusion: following the instructions doesnt lead to a working ConTeXt system for a single user. But does he need these sidewide config changes anyway?

Look what texconfig is doing for our user if he pushes it to format creation e.g. by setting page size: Start of output: texconfig: updated configuration saved as file `/home/myuser/.texmf-config/dvips/config/config.ps'texconfig: updated configuration saved as file `/home/myuser/.texmf-config/dvipdfm/config/config' texconfig: updated configuration saved as file `/home/myuser/.texmf-config/xdvi/XDvi' texconfig: updated configuration saved as file `/home/myuser/.texmf-config/tex/generic/config/pdftexconfig.tex'

fmtutil: running `mf -ini -jobname=mf -progname=mf -translate-file=cp227.tcx mf.ini' ... This is METAFONT, Version 2.71828 (Web2C 7.5.4) (INIMF) (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/web2c/cp227.tcx) (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/metafont/config/mf.ini (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/metafont/base/plain.mf

... lots of output, but see:

fmtutil: running `pdfetex -ini -jobname=cont-en -progname=context -translate-file=cp227.tcx *cont-en.ini' ... This is pdfeTeX, Version 3.141592-1.30.6-2.2 (Web2C 7.5.5) (INITEX)(/usr/share/texmf-tetex/web2c/cp227.tcx) entering extended mode (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/config/cont-en.ini (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/cont-en.tex (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/context.tex (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/syst-pln.tex) (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/syst-prm.tex) (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/syst-etx.tex) (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/syst-omg.tex) (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/syst-xtx.tex) (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/syst-gen.tex loading : Context System Macros / General ) (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/syst-ext.tex loading : Context System Macro's / Extras

... again lots of output, but also here:

fmtutil: running `pdfetex -ini -jobname=mptopdf -progname=context -translate-file=cp227.tcx mptopdf.tex' ... This is pdfeTeX, Version 3.141592-1.30.6-2.2 (Web2C 7.5.5) (INITEX)(/usr/share/texmf-tetex/web2c/cp227.tcx) (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/generic/context/mptopdf.tex (/home/myuser/texmf/tex/context/base/syst-tex.tex (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/plain/base/plain.tex Preloading the plain format: codes, registers, parameters, fonts, skipping \font in plain ...

and in the end writes all the format files into ~myuser/.texmf-var/web2c. So: nothing wrong here, texconfig does exactly what it should and creates the formats with respect to the users TEXMFHOME. That way the user is capable of using his own context version without the need to care about the system-wide context version.

But what about a system-wide ConTeXt refresh? For a ConTeXt layperson like me this seems simple: just use TEXMFLOCAL, as it is laid out in the debian TeX policy. In short: LOCAL shadows DIST and MAIN. Here is a little scriptlet that works on a clean unstable system without the changes mentioned above:

# mkdir /usr/local/share/texmf # cd /usr/local/share/texmf # unzip /path/to/fresh/cont-tmf.zip # chmod 755 scripts/context/ruby/texmfstart.rb # texexec --make # mv conte-en.fmt cont-nl.fmt metafun.mem mptopdf.fmt web2c/ # texhash

That´s it. Now the system generates format files using the new ConTeXt version. No other changes to /etc/texmf needed. Why the chmod? Well, this is part of the solution of the encoding/umlaut problems. What about it? Well, several hours of documentation/wiki grinding later we thought: lets do it like the ConTeXt gurus and try the texmfstart thing. We created the two liner /home/myuser/bin/texexec:

#!/bin/sh texmfstart texexec.rb --nonstopmode "$@"

and a link

ln -s ~/texmf/scripts/context/ruby/texmfstart.rb texmfstart

Heureka - that was it! Umlauts, special chars in typing environments etc. are fine with the new texexec, even if the system wide format files are created with the old texexec !?!

hth and wel te rusten, Jak.

PS: One question remains: is the texmfstart.rb way now the "official" way of doing ConTeXt on Linux/Debian these days? If so, it´d better be documented for the rookies of us somehow/somewhere, if not, something else in the documentation needs to be fixed.

PPS: No, still no idea who should write all that documentation.

.

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Hi,

as soon as I put a placefigure in an \item paragraph, the whole paragraph starts one line below the stopper. Is this a conceptual issue or just a weirdness?

What is the best way to start at the same height? I couldn´t find anything in the wiki or the details ...

As an example, see:

\starttext

\startitemize \item \input tufte \item \placefigure[right,none]{}{\framed[height=1cm]{foo bar}} \input tufte \item \input tufte \stopitemize

\stopttext

thanks, Jak

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Mojca Miklavec wrote:

\placefigure will always start a new paragraph, but usually you don't notice that since you want it in a separate paragraph anyway. It has to do with boxes, although I have no idea how exactly Hans implemented "itemize/itemgroup" environment.

You can help yourself a bit by using \item \strut\vskip -\lineheight\placefigure...

I'll give the vskip a try. In the meantime I tried to relive my knowledge about \offset, but it didn't seem a good idea to try that in this case. Sigh, one day I'll be able to understand the source ...

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Mojca Miklavec wrote:

...

   Warning: pdfetex (file /home/myuser/texmf/fonts/map/dvipdfm/
   context/original-base.map): invalid entry for `fmvr8x': font
   file missing

Some time ago it was a hot topic on the mailing list. See: http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Error_Recovery and fix it if possible even if it is working now for some reason.

Thanks for this helpful link, Mojca!

But that page should be less hidden, I admit.

Indeed, just found this nice whatlinkshere feature of the wiki and the result of http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Special:Whatlinkshere/Error_Recovery:

(List of links) Jump to: navigation, search < Error Recovery

No pages link to here.

leaves something to be desired ;-)

Jak

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# mkdir /usr/local/share/texmf # cd /usr/local/share/texmf # unzip /path/to/fresh/cont-tmf.zip # chmod 755 scripts/context/ruby/texmfstart.rb # texexec --make # mv conte-en.fmt cont-nl.fmt metafun.mem mptopdf.fmt web2c/ # texhash

I don't understand how the 'mv' worked. I'm experimenting here with it and similar methods, and the formats go into ~/.texmf-config/web2c/pdfetex/ whereas in the commands above, it looks like they went into /usr/local/share/texmf/ ?

From looking at texexec.rb and tex.rb, the destination for texexec is

the first non-. path in "kpsewhich --engine=pdfetex --show-path=fmt"

Oh wait, maybe the old texexec does something different (for example, put the formats in the current directory)? From your logs, you are using:

texexec : TeXExec 5.4.3 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1997-2005

which is the old, Perl version. But now the python, sorry I mean ruby version will be installed and used for the next update. Here's what texexec (v6, i.e. ruby) did here:

TeXExec | TeXExec | tex engine path: /home/sanjoy/.texmf-config/web2c/pdfetex TeXExec | mps engine path: /home/sanjoy/.texmf-config/web2c TeXExec | TeXExec | tex: 04/10/2006 23:27:43 > /home/sanjoy/.texmf-config/web2c/pdfetex/cont-en.fmt (7041446) etc.

So will the formats from that update go into the per-user .texmf-config/ tree or into a system-wide tree?

A related point, but probably not essential, is that the formats, or maybe only the non-mpost ones, should go into web2c/pdfetex/ in case there's a different, incompatible engine some day (e.g. luatex).

All this bootstrapping point is what I've had a hard time figuring out, so I'm never sure that my installation method is robust. For example, I want a method that one can repeat and it keeps working. So I thought the easiest is solution to let ctxtools --updatecontext do the work, with some help from environment variables (I would set TEXMFLOCAL to ~/texmf while running it).

   "If you have already followed the *following* steps"

(my emphasis) which seems a little odd to some non-native speakers,

That's okay language wise ('following' meaning here upcoming) -- a common usage before a colon (:). Though it is a bit confusing here because of the followed and following nearby.

-Sanjoy

`Never underestimate the evil of which men of power are capable.' --Bertrand Russell, _War Crimes in Vietnam_, chapter 1.