[protext] TeXnicCenter Output Profiles

[Juan Pablo Fernández]

> GSview (and therefore Ghostscript) must be installed before
> TeXnicCenter, so that TeXnicCenter has the chance to create the
> appropriate output format. Therefore you're right that an installing
> order of MiKTeX, Ghostscript GSView and at last TeXnicCenter would be
> more reasonable.

I encountered that problem a lot last year when I was teaching a class
using ProTeXt.  It turned out to be system-dependent:  some people
(including myself) did not have that problem, while others did.

It is not necessary to uninstal TeXnicCenter to create the profiles.
You can do it by hand by copying the relevant information from
somebody that had better luck with their installation.  It may be
useful to have the instructions available somewhere.  At the end I
attach (as a LaTeX \section) a small tutorial I prepared for my
students.

> I personally detected this, while the PDF-Doc was already finished and
> translated. And because the profile  LaTeX=>PS=>PDF is rarely needed -
> thanks to the prospects of PDFTeX - i never fixed it.

The LaTeX=>PS=>PDF profile is essential for those that use PSTricks.
There is a pdfLaTeX workaround, pdfTricks, but it requires some
hacking and does not produce the same results.

jp
-- 
Juan Pablo Fernández
jpf at alumni.umass.edu
http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/~juanf

<><><>


\section{Configuration Issues}

\subsection{No Output Profiles Available}

It may be the case that you cannot see any output profiles in the
list.  In that case:

\begin{enumerate}

\item Go to the ``Build'' menu; the second option from the bottom will
say ``Define Output Profiles...'', which can also be accessed using
Alt-F7.  Go there.

\item You will get a window called Profiles.  Click on ``Wizard.''  Tell
it you want to configure all profiles.  This will ask you to locate
different programs.  Most of them should be in
\verb|C:\Program Files\MiKTeX<version>\bin|:

\begin{itemize}
\item \verb|latex.exe| is the LaTeX engine
\item \verb|dvips.exe| turns DVI output into PostScript
\item \verb|pdflatex.exe| turns LaTeX input directly into PDF
\item \verb|dvipdfm.exe| turns DVI output directly into PDF
\item \verb|bibtex.exe| is BibTeX
\item \verb|makeindex.exe| is MakeIndex
\item \verb|yap.exe| is the DVI viewer
\end{itemize}

\item Some of the programs are wherever you installed Ghostscript and
  Ghostview:

\begin{itemize}
\item \verb|gswin32.exe| makes PostScript viewable and turns it into PDF
\item \verb|gsview32.exe| is the PostScript viewer
\end{itemize}

\item Finally, look for your Adobe Reader under
``\verb|Program Files\Adobe|''

\begin{itemize}
\item \verb|AcroRd32.exe| is the PDF viewer
\end{itemize}

\item Click OK and leave this window.  Restart TeXnicCenter.

\end{enumerate}

\subsection{No \texttt{LaTeX=>PS=>PDF} Profile}

Under ``Select Output Profile,'' \verb|LaTeX=>PS=>PDF| is not a
choice. Under ``Define Output Profiles'' you can add
\verb|LaTeX=>PS=>PDF|, but I don't know what to fill in after
unchecking Bib\TeX, and MakeIndex. Did I miss something, or should I
try a reinstall of \LaTeX?

You're not the first one to run into that snag.

Start by finding where the \LaTeX\ applications are; by default they
should be in \verb|C:\Program Files\MiKTeX<version>\bin|, which I will
refer to as \verb|PATH|.  Also look for Ghostscript, which should be
in something like \verb|C:\Program Files\Ghostgum\bin|. I will call
that \verb|GSPATH|.

Now you're ready.

\begin{enumerate}

\item Before you add the path, go to \verb|LaTeX=>DVI| or
\verb|LaTeX=>PS|, click on the ``(La)TeX'' tab, and carefully copy
down all the information you find there.  (Make sure that
\verb|LaTeX=>DVI| and \verb|LaTeX=>PS| have the same info!)

The gibberish preceding \verb|<name>.exe| in the three paths is what I
call \verb|PATH|.  To find \verb|GSPATH| you can go to
\verb|LaTeX=>PS|, click on ``Postprocessor,'' and copy the gibberish
preceding \verb|<name>.exe|.)

\item Go to \verb|LaTeX=>PDF|, click on the ``Viewer'' tab, and
carefully copy down all the information you find there.

\item Add the path and give it your favorite name.

\item Click on the ``(La)TeX'' tab and carefully paste everything you
copied from \verb|LaTeX=>DVI|.

\item Click on the ``Viewer'' tab and carefully paste all the
information you copied from \verb|LaTeX=>PDF|.

\item Now click on ``Postprocessor.''

\item Add an entry called ``DviPs'' and for the executable write

\begin{verbatim}
PATH\dvips.exe
\end{verbatim}

For the ``Arguments'' type

\begin{verbatim}
-P pdf "%Bm.dvi"
\end{verbatim}

\item Add another entry called ``Ghostscript'' and for the executable
write

\begin{verbatim}
GSPATH\gswin32<something>.exe
\end{verbatim}

For the ``Arguments'' type or paste (in one line!)

\begin{verbatim}
-sPAPERSIZE=letter -dSAFER -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE
     -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -sOutputFile="%bm.pdf"
                             -c save pop -f"%bm.ps"
\end{verbatim}

\item Click OK.  The profile should be ready to roll.

\end{enumerate}