quiz

quiz

[olivier Turlier]

Hi ConteXers,
Does somebody have done a quiz , like the ones found in "exerquiz " 
pdftex package (now bundled in "acrotex") from d.p. Story (info/exemples 
at http://melusine.eu.org/syracuse/acrotex/exemples/ (in french) or from 
the origin, in english at http://www.math.uakron.edu/~dpstory/acrotex.html)
What interesting me a lot is the abilty for the reader to auto-evaluate 
himself.
I wish to setup a  whole course including theorical + exercises + auto 
evaluation, both (as possible) in screen and paper versions.
Thanks for the tip.
Olivier

Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[Gary Pajer]

MiKTeX.

I've done this half a dozen times. This time it doesn't work.  I feel
stupid.  What have I forgotten?

Things were working perfectly.  I decide to update, so I download
cont-tmf.zip to \localtexmf.  Then I unzip, overwritting all the old files.
Then I update the database either using mktexlsr or the MiKTeX options
wizard.

But now texexec can't find texexec.ini.  But it's there, in
\localtexmf\context\config  (as well as \texmf\context\config)

BTW,  if I execute kpsewhich texexec.ini  it returns without an error, but
also with no information.  Is that right?

-gary

Re: Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[Giuseppe Bilotta]

Thursday, December 11, 2003 Gary Pajer wrote:

> MiKTeX.

> I've done this half a dozen times. This time it doesn't work.  I feel
> stupid.  What have I forgotten?

> Things were working perfectly.  I decide to update, so I download
> cont-tmf.zip to \localtexmf.  Then I unzip, overwritting all the old files.
> Then I update the database either using mktexlsr or the MiKTeX options
> wizard.

> But now texexec can't find texexec.ini.  But it's there, in
> \localtexmf\context\config  (as well as \texmf\context\config)

> BTW,  if I execute kpsewhich texexec.ini  it returns without an error, but
> also with no information.  Is that right?

Yes, and that's the problem. Recent ConTeXts are too strongly
tied to fpTeX :\

One thing you can do: move your texexec.ini in the same folder
as texexec.pl

-- 
Giuseppe "Oblomov" Bilotta

Re: Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[Gary Pajer]

> Thursday, December 11, 2003 Gary Pajer wrote:
>
> > MiKTeX.
>
> > I've done this half a dozen times. This time it doesn't work.  I feel
> > stupid.  What have I forgotten?
>
> > Things were working perfectly.  I decide to update, so I download
> > cont-tmf.zip to \localtexmf.  Then I unzip, overwritting all the old
files.
> > Then I update the database either using mktexlsr or the MiKTeX options
> > wizard.
>
> > But now texexec can't find texexec.ini.  But it's there, in
> > \localtexmf\context\config  (as well as \texmf\context\config)
>
> > BTW,  if I execute kpsewhich texexec.ini  it returns without an error,
but
> > also with no information.  Is that right?
>
> Yes, and that's the problem. Recent ConTeXts are too strongly
> tied to fpTeX :\
>
> One thing you can do: move your texexec.ini in the same folder
> as texexec.pl

Thanks, but that didn't work.  I still have a nagging feeling that I'm
forgetting something simple.
MiKTeX comes with a texexec.exe.  Putting texexec.ini in the same directory
doesn't do it either.
Is there an environment variable that I can set to help texexec find its
way?
Or a command line switch?  (I have not found mention of either in the docs)
(Putting texexec.ini in the directory containing the ConTeXt .tex script
works.)

-gary

Re[2]: Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[Giuseppe Bilotta]

Thursday, December 11, 2003 Gary Pajer wrote:

> Thanks, but that didn't work.  I still have a nagging feeling that I'm
> forgetting something simple.
> MiKTeX comes with a texexec.exe.  Putting texexec.ini in the same directory
> doesn't do it either.

First of all, don't use the ConTeXt package that comes with
MikTeX. Simply don't. Remove it, if you have it uninstalled.
You should only use the distributed cont-tmf.zip of PRAGMA, and
use the Perl script texexec.pl in /localtexmf/context/perltk;
and texexec.ini should stay there (and make sure you're running
*that* texexec.pl)

-- 
Giuseppe "Oblomov" Bilotta

Re: Re[2]: Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[Gary Pajer]

> Thursday, December 11, 2003 Gary Pajer wrote:
>
> > Thanks, but that didn't work.  I still have a nagging feeling that I'm
> > forgetting something simple.
> > MiKTeX comes with a texexec.exe.  Putting texexec.ini in the same
directory
> > doesn't do it either.
>
> First of all, don't use the ConTeXt package that comes with
> MikTeX. Simply don't. Remove it, if you have it uninstalled.
> You should only use the distributed cont-tmf.zip of PRAGMA, and
> use the Perl script texexec.pl in /localtexmf/context/perltk;
> and texexec.ini should stay there (and make sure you're running
> *that* texexec.pl)
>
> -- 
> Giuseppe "Oblomov" Bilotta

Ok.
I gronked MiKTeX's ConTeXt.  I wrote a one line batch file that calls
explicitly c:\localtexmf\context\perltk\texexec.pl
This seems to work.

Thanks!
-gary

Re[4]: Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[Giuseppe Bilotta]

Saturday, December 13, 2003 Gary Pajer wrote:

> Ok.
> I gronked MiKTeX's ConTeXt.  I wrote a one line batch file that calls
> explicitly c:\localtexmf\context\perltk\texexec.pl
> This seems to work.

Good to know :)

If you have Windows NT or Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you can
actually do without the batch file by adding .pl to the PATHEXT
environment variable and ensuring that
c:\localtexmf\context\perltk is in the PATH before
c:\texmf\miktex\bin

-- 
Giuseppe "Oblomov" Bilotta

Re: Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[Henning Hraban Ramm]

Am Donnerstag, 11.12.03, um 15:08 Uhr (Europe/Zurich) schrieb Gary 
Pajer:
> MiKTeX comes with a texexec.exe.  Putting texexec.ini in the same 
> directory
> doesn't do it either.
> Is there an environment variable that I can set to help texexec find 
> its
> way?
> Or a command line switch?  (I have not found mention of either in the 
> docs)
> (Putting texexec.ini in the directory containing the ConTeXt .tex 
> script
> works.)

What says "texexec --verbose"?


Grüßlis vom Hraban!
-- 
http://www.fiee.net/texnique/

Re: Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[Gary Pajer]

Am Donnerstag, 11.12.03, um 15:08 Uhr (Europe/Zurich) schrieb Gary
Pajer:
>> MiKTeX comes with a texexec.exe.  Putting texexec.ini in the same
>> directory
>> doesn't do it either.
>> Is there an environment variable that I can set to help texexec find
>> its
>> way?
>> Or a command line switch?  (I have not found mention of either in the
>> docs)
>> (Putting texexec.ini in the directory containing the ConTeXt .tex
>> script
>> works.)

>What says "texexec --verbose"?

C:\Documents and Settings\Gary Pajer\My Documents>texexec --verbose

 TeXExec 3.2 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1997-2003

          current path : C:/Documents and Settings/Gary Pajer/My Documents
     locating ini file : not found by kpsewhich
     locating ini file : not found by searching
     locating ini file : no environment variable set
     locating ini file : not found in own path
               warning : texexec.ini not found, did you read 'texexec.rme'?

It's really not finding it.  The thing that surprises me is that no-one else
has mentioned this.  That's why I keep thinking that I've done something
wrong.

thanks,
-gary

Re: Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[George N. White III]

On Thu, 11 Dec 2003, Gary Pajer wrote:

> C:\Documents and Settings\Gary Pajer\My Documents>texexec --verbose
>
>  TeXExec 3.2 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1997-2003
>
>           current path : C:/Documents and Settings/Gary Pajer/My Documents
>      locating ini file : not found by kpsewhich
>      locating ini file : not found by searching
>      locating ini file : no environment variable set
>      locating ini file : not found in own path
>                warning : texexec.ini not found, did you read 'texexec.rme'?
>
> It's really not finding it.  The thing that surprises me is that no-one else
> has mentioned this.  That's why I keep thinking that I've done something
> wrong.

Maybe trying to run ConTeXt with MikTeX instead of using TeX Live 2003,
or trying to run ConTeXt in a Win32 configuration that puts spaces in
the paths?

We are running ConTeXt under TL2003 (with a newer cont-tmf.zip and pdftex
1.11b) on SGI Irix because the Win32 PC's I tried did not survive the
experience.  At home I find TL2003 (same updates) works well on linux. The
unix systems don't let spaces into paths (and did fail in pre-release
testing if I tried to run in a directory like "a b").

I reported the above problem with the TL2003 pre-release tests.  Using the
current cont-tmf.zip gets you a TeXExec 4.0 that seems more robust, but
that could be because I also abandoned a configuration that puts spaces in
the paths (e.g., install to C:\TeXLive and set HOME=C:\Home).

One system (Win98) had problems with forward slashes in the argument to
perl's backtick, but then the hard disk failed and I've been waiting since
Sept. for the warranty replacement to arrive.  TeX Live 2003 texexec seems
to be hard on PC's -- maybe because when kpathsea fails texexec.pl
recursively searches the drive for the ini file.  In any case, after the
1st PC died I tried to install TL2003 on another machine which also failed
(terminal overheating) while creating formats after installing the fpTeX
updates.  Maybe cheap PC clones can't tolerate ls-R too many times in a
short time period.

btw -- before the machine died I did notice that the new version of fpTeX
has a 1.11b pdftex.

I've been asked to put TL2003 on a ThinkPad running XP -- hope it survives
the experience!

--
George N. White III  <aa056@chebucto.ns.ca>
  Head of St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada

Re: Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[Gary Pajer]

> >                warning : texexec.ini not found, did you read
'texexec.rme'?
> >
> > It's really not finding it.  The thing that surprises me is that no-one
else
> > has mentioned this.  That's why I keep thinking that I've done something
> > wrong.
>
> Maybe trying to run ConTeXt with MikTeX instead of using TeX Live 2003,
> or trying to run ConTeXt in a Win32 configuration that puts spaces in
> the paths?

[longish comments deleted]

Thanks for your comments, George.
FWIW, I don't have any spaces in my MiKTeX directory tree, but I do use the
default XP system for organizing document files, and that system does have a
lot of spaces (e.g.,  "Documents and Settings")

I'm not married to MiKTeX, so I can switch to fpTeX.   Any comments?
From what I can tell, fpTeX has better ConTeXt integration, while MiKTeX has
a better system for keeping up to date.
Anything else?

-gary

Re: Update failure: I'm losing my mind

[Peter Rolf]

Hello Gray,

get a copy of filemon for your M$ Windows version from www.sysinterals.com.
This free tool shows you all kind of file operations on your system.
Just unpack and start filemon.exe and enter "texexec*" in the Include: part
of the appearing filter dialog. Enable "Advanced Output" in the 
"options" menu.

After that start "texexec --verbose" in your shell.
The rest is on you... ;)

Hope this helps,

   Peter


Gary Pajer wrote:

>>>               warning : texexec.ini not found, did you read
>>>      
>>>
>'texexec.rme'?
>  
>
>>>It's really not finding it.  The thing that surprises me is that no-one
>>>      
>>>
>else
>  
>
>>>has mentioned this.  That's why I keep thinking that I've done something
>>>wrong.
>>>      
>>>
>>Maybe trying to run ConTeXt with MikTeX instead of using TeX Live 2003,
>>or trying to run ConTeXt in a Win32 configuration that puts spaces in
>>the paths?
>>    
>>
>
>[longish comments deleted]
>
>Thanks for your comments, George.
>FWIW, I don't have any spaces in my MiKTeX directory tree, but I do use the
>default XP system for organizing document files, and that system does have a
>lot of spaces (e.g.,  "Documents and Settings")
>
>I'm not married to MiKTeX, so I can switch to fpTeX.   Any comments?
>>From what I can tell, fpTeX has better ConTeXt integration, while MiKTeX has
>a better system for keeping up to date.
>Anything else?
>
>-gary
>
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