CLI with Windows Machine

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Ryan Johnson

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Aug 4, 2025, 5:13:13 PM8/4/25
to PreTeXt support
I came back to work on my PreText project after a break, updated PreText, but now I can't get anything to build.  This problem persisted even when I created a new project with `pretext new`.  In that project I get the following error:

INFO    : Building target web
INFO    : XSL conversion of C:\Users\johnsor\OneDrive - grace.edu\qw\source\main.ptx by C:\Users\johnsor\.ptx\2.24.0\core\xsl\utilities\pretext-enhanced-source.xsl
INFO    : messages from the log for XSL processing:
INFO    : * runtime error, element 'variable'
INFO    : * document() : failed to parse URI
ERROR   : processing with C:\Users\johnsor\.ptx\2.24.0\core\xsl\utilities\pretext-enhanced-source.xsl has failed


 I tried this using Pretext version 2.25.1 and 2.24.0.    Could this be related to using the CLI with a Windows machine or running inside a OneDrive folder? Or does pretext new need to be updated?

Thanks,

Mitch Keller

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Aug 4, 2025, 5:15:14 PM8/4/25
to pretext...@googlegroups.com
I seem to remember that the XSL routines don’t deal well with filenames/paths with spaces in them. This is maybe something that changed behind the scenes since you last built.

Can you try this in a directory that’s not inside OneDrive (and doesn’t have spaces in its name) and report back?

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Rob Beezer

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Aug 4, 2025, 8:43:52 PM8/4/25
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And there is something really wrong about the reported application of

xsl\utilities\pretext-enhanced-source.xsl

which could be a good clue for Oscar.

Rob

On August 4, 2025 2:14:58 PM PDT, Mitch Keller <mi...@rellek.net> wrote:
>I seem to remember that the XSL routines don’t deal well with filenames/paths with spaces in them. This is maybe something that changed behind the scenes since you last built.
>
>Can you try this in a directory that’s not inside OneDrive (and doesn’t have spaces in its name) and report back?
>
>> On Aug 4, 2025, at 3:57 PM, Ryan Johnson <joh...@grace.edu> wrote:
>>
>> I came back to work on my PreText project after a break, updated PreText, but now I can't get anything to build. This problem persisted even when I created a new project with `pretext new`. In that project I get the following error:
>>
>> INFO : Building target web
>> INFO : XSL conversion of C:\Users\johnsor\OneDrive - grace.edu\qw\source\main.ptx by C:\Users\johnsor\.ptx\2.24.0\core\xsl\utilities\pretext-enhanced-source.xsl
>> INFO : messages from the log for XSL processing:
>> INFO : * runtime error, element 'variable'
>> INFO : * document() : failed to parse URI
>> ERROR : processing with C:\Users\johnsor\.ptx\2.24.0\core\xsl\utilities\pretext-enhanced-source.xsl has failed
>>
>> I tried this using Pretext version 2.25.1 and 2.24.0. Could this be related to using the CLI with a Windows machine or running inside a OneDrive folder? Or does pretext new need to be updated?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PreTeXt support" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com>.
>> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/d824652a-ceef-4339-9925-5766e6dd2cf1n%40googlegroups.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/d824652a-ceef-4339-9925-5766e6dd2cf1n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
>

Sean Fitzpatrick

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Aug 6, 2025, 12:24:01 PM8/6/25
to PreTeXt support
The OneDrive location shouldn't be an issue. I keep my syllabi in OneDrive and I'm able to build those fine using the CLI.
I was on CLI 2.23.1 when I left for two weeks' vacation and built without issue... let me upgrade and see if I have trouble with the current.

Sean Fitzpatrick

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Aug 6, 2025, 12:29:14 PM8/6/25
to PreTeXt support
I was able to run 'pretext new' and then 'pretext build web' without any issues.
For my own stuff I'm hitting errors, but they are related to file permissions: for some reason Windows isn't letting pretext delete temporary folders.
If I build with the '-v debug' option there are no errors, since pretext does not try to delete temp folders with debugging turned on.

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