[XeTeX] pstricks pst-math pst-plot and xelatex

[Peter Dyballa]

Am 28.10.2008 um 04:33 schrieb Barry MacKichan:

> The PDF and the log file are attached.


By comparing your and Martin Scholz' LOG files I see some differences  
(some basic path elements substituted):

MS	…/2008/texmf-dist/tex/latex/pstricks/pstricks.sty		«««««««
	Package: pstricks 2008/01/24 v0.37 LaTeX wrapper for `PSTricks' (RN,HV)
	(…/2008/texmf-dist/tex/generic/pstricks/pstricks.tex
	`PSTricks' v1.26  <2008/07/31> (tvz)

	`PST-3d' v1.00, 2005/09/03 (tvz)) `pstricks-add' v3.11, 2008/10/13  
(dr,hv)


BMcK	…/2008/texmf-dist/tex/generic/pstricks/latex/pstricks.sty	«««««««
	Package: pstricks 2008/01/24 v0.37 LaTeX wrapper for `PSTricks' (RN,HV)
	(…/2008/texmf-dist/tex/generic/pstricks/pstricks.tex
	`PSTricks' v1.26  <2008/07/31> (tvz)

	`PST-3d' v1.00, 2005/09/03 (tvz)) `pstricks-add' v3.08, 2008/08/06  
(dr,hv)

(I have …/2008/texmf-dist/tex/generic/pstricks/latex/pstricks.sty and  
`pstricks-add' v3.08)


Coming to some background: XeLaTeX does nothing with the PSTricks  
code that is behind the PSTricks macros. All it does is create in  
PostScript a dictionary tx at Dict that contains PostScript resources  
(PRO files with PostScript macro definitions, for arrows, ticks on  
the axes) and then the actual PostScript code for the "drawing."  
XeLaTeX can't handle both, and neither xdvipdfmx, but the latter as  
the output driver has to use some utility that converts the embedded  
foreign code into something useful that can be put into the resulting  
PDF file. For this purpose it uses external programmes. So we need to  
observe how xdvipdfmx works, as Barry already did.

This can be done by invoking xelatex with the -no-pdf option that  
only <file name>.xdv is produced. Most likely without any error  
messages. Then "xdvipdfmx <file name>" can be invoked, producing the  
error messages. So the cause for the failures is obviously in the  
version of Ghostscript used, although it's possible that the  
PostScript code has some flaw. Ulrike and I can produce the whole  
picture with Ghostscript 8.61 while you and Martin fail at this or  
that stage in the PostScript code. You could consider to change the  
\psaxes call (no arrows?), and you could consider to use another kind  
of graph, maybe an old-fashioned one from the beginning of PSTricks  
to see whether the failure persists with your Ghostscript versions.

--
Greetings

   Pete

"What do you think of Western Civilisation?"
"I think it would be a good idea!"
				– Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi