Table of Contents

Tips 'n' Tricks

EPS Files

Problem: The EPS image is incomplete. Solution: The bounding box has to be recalculated. Open the EPS file with Wordpad, and look for the line with the term Bounding box. The four numbers are the positions of the borders of the bounding box, the third one being the righthand border. Enlarge this number so that the border is well beyond the image, as can be checked with Ghostview. Now let Ghostview recalculate the bounding box by going to File → PS to EPS, and check the box Automatically Recalculate Bounding Box.

Problem: The EPS figure doesn't shown in a TeX file. Solution: Ther are many different causes, but first try to open the file with Notepad or Wordpad, and look for a line with the word setpagedevice. Delete this line. For an more elaborate example, see here.

EPS Errors

Below is given an example of an .eps file that contains page-formatting related errors that cause it to fail to display inside a (La/MiK-)TeX document. The mentioned lines are the ones to be deleted. For any other problems, contact Ruud Zweistra (5785). 

<Start of file>
          |
          |
%%Pages: (atend)
%%Orientation: Portrait
%%PageOrder: Special
          |
          |
%%BeginDefaults
%%PageBoundingBox: 18 8 593 784
%%EndDefaults
          |
          | at the top part of the file
          |
featurebegin{
%%BeginFeature: *PageSize Letter
<</DeferredMediaSelection true /PageSize [612 792] /ImagingBBox null>> setpagedevice
%%EndFeature
}featurecleanup
          |
          |
%%Page: 1 1
%%PageBoundingBox: 18 8 593 784
%%EndPageComments
          |
          | at the end part of the file
          |
(%%[Page: 1]%%) =
%%PageTrailer
          |
          |
%%BoundingBox: 18 8 593 784
          |
          |
%%Pages: 1
(%%[LastPage]%%) =
          |
          |
<End of file>

Miktex Problems

Problem: The compiler breaks off after a very short time, withiut a message. Solution: The MiKTeX 1.20 distribution has a bug, which requires the LaTeX file to be updated. Go to the LION FTP site (e.g. using WS_FTP); change directory to Sources, double click on Latex and Latex-update. Copy the file miktex-1.20-latex.zip to your computer, e.g. to C:\Temp. Unzip this file to the directory c:\texmf. Finally, go to Start → Programs → MiKTeX → Maintenance → Reconfigure.

Problem: The compiler breaks off with a message that it cannot find the file \\lionp\fndb , or a similar index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=254:ict-group-tips-n-tricks&catid=83:ict&Itemid=893message. Solution: Disconnect the computer from the application server, i.e. the S: drive, using Disconnect Network Drive in the Explorer. Go to Start → Programs → MikTeX → Maintenance (MiKTeX 1.2) or Options (MiKTeX 2) → Reconfigure or Upgrade .

Problem (MiKTeX 1.2): The LaTeX compiler breaks off after a short period. Solution: Update the MiKTeX distribution. If you want to do it yourself: use WS_FTP to go to LIONS1, change directory to Sources (button ChDir), go to MiKTeX → LaTeX-update, download miktex-1.20-latex.zip to your computer, and use WinZip to extract this file to the MiKTeX directory, usually C:\texmf (please check). Then go to Start → Programs → MiKTeX → Maintenance → Reconfigure. After Reconfigure has run, MiKTeX should be operational again. If not, or you don't want to do the upgrade yourself, contact system management (5785).

Problem: The compiler breaks off with a message that it cannot find the file \\lionp\fndb , or a similar message. Solution: Disconnect the computer from the application server, i.e. the S: drive, using Disconnect Network Drive in the Explorer. Go to Start → Programs → MikTeX → Maintenance (MiKTeX 1.2) or Options (MiKTeX 2) → Reconfigure or Upgrade .

Problem: The compiler breaks off with the message that the file tx8r.enc is missing. Solution: Go to C:\texmf\dvips\config, and rename the file psfonts.map to psfonts.map.org and rename the file psfontes.map.miktex-2.0 to psfonts.map .

Problem: The compiler breaks off with the message that the file math1.pfb is missing. Solution: Download the directory wolfram on the LION FTP server (change directory to Sources, and go to MiKTeX\fonts), to the directory C:\localtxmf\fonts\type1\ (this directory has to be made).

Problem: The dvi to ps converter breaks off. Solution: Go to C:\texmf\dvips\config, and rename the file psfonts.map to psfonts.map.org and rename the file psfontes.map.miktex-2.0 to psfonts.map .

Word

Problem: Upon trying to save a document one gets the message: “Unable to save document. Disk full.” Solution: Open a new blank document, and copy the text of the old document to the new one. Save the new document, after renaming if necessary.