Hi, I am relatively new to Latex, but the texnicCenter in the
Stellenbosch University (SA) computer centrum is not working.  It
opens, text can be edited and pdf/div files can be built but not
viewed.

When clicking to view the actual pdf document, it says "cannot execute
command" but gives no actual reason.
I relayed the error to the administrator, however he does not know
latex at all, and needs help.
Miktex is not installed on the computers themselves, but rather it is
accessed via an external Q drive on the intranet.  After googling I
found some comments about redefining the output profiles, but they
only deal with single computers.
I do not quite understand what the "output profile" does, but the
steps for redefining them cannot be done over the network as the Q
drive is restricted and thus the profile paths cannot be changed.

Does anyone have any ideas about fixing this problem.  We are talking
about a network with hundreds of computers.

Thanks,

Bill.

On 20/08/10 21:38, William Penkler wrote:
> Hi, I am relatively new to Latex, but the texnicCenter in the
> Stellenbosch University (SA) computer centrum is not working.  It
> opens, text can be edited and pdf/div files can be built but not
> viewed.
> 
> When clicking to view the actual pdf document, it says "cannot execute
> command" but gives no actual reason.

It can't find the program (eg acroread.exe or whatever).

> I relayed the error to the administrator, however he does not know
> latex at all, and needs help.

Nothing to do with LaTeX. This is a TeXnicCenter and MikTeX installation
and configuration problem, which needs Windows help.

> Miktex is not installed on the computers themselves, but rather it is
> accessed via an external Q drive on the intranet.  After googling I
> found some comments about redefining the output profiles, but they
> only deal with single computers.

But the principles are identical. However, is MiKTeX *always* in
Q:\Program Files\MikTeX 2.xx\miktex\bin (or whatever), or does it
sometimes appear as H: or P: or something else depending on what remote
shares were booted? If so, TeXnicCenter will require reconfiguring each
time...this is a Windows design "feature"...

> I do not quite understand what the "output profile" does, 

It tells TeXnicCenter where the TeX-associated programs are.

> but the
> steps for redefining them cannot be done over the network as the Q
> drive is restricted and thus the profile paths cannot be changed.

Hold on, that's two different and unconnected concepts in one sentence.

TeXnicCenter doesn't care where MiKTeX is, so long as it is told where
it is. It also doesn't matter if the drive holding MiKTeX is locked
down, because all TeXnicCenter wants to do is run the programs from it,
not write to it.

BUT...it sounds as if what you actually mean is that TeXnicCenter's
*own* configuration files are on a remote locked drive, possibly the
same one the MikTeX is stored on (although that's irrelevant). Then you
are indeed hosed, because unless they are set correctly by the Admin to
start with, they'll be wrong for everyone.

> Does anyone have any ideas about fixing this problem.  We are talking
> about a network with hundreds of computers.

I have had this problem and just about given up (because I don't
understand the lunatic way in which Windows does its drive management).

Get someone with Admin rights (someone with write-access to the drive
where TeXnicCenter is installed) to configure TeXnicCenter so that it
points at the right drive for MiKTeX. The problem may occur if different
labs mount that drive for MikTeX as something other than Q: because I
don't think TeXnicCenter can have multiple alternative places to look
for MiKTeX.

What TeXnicCenter *ought* to do if it cannot find a program where it has
been told to find it, is search all other mounted drives until it find
it. Unfortunately, (a) Windows file seek timeouts are ridiculously long,
and (b) people (especially admins) have this habit of installing
software in silly places because they think they know better.

If they have queries, call your local user group for help
(http://tug.org/usergroups.html#za); perhaps they might have someone who
can talk your admin through it over the phone.

There is another possibility: if TeXnicCenter can find and run latex.exe
(or pdflatex.exe or whatever it's called in MikTeX), then it ought to
find the remaining programs in the the same or a related folder (like
Q:\Program Files\MikTeX 2.xx\miktex\bin) --  I can't remember how
ProTeXt tells MiKTeX and/or TeXnicCenter where gs.exe and gview.exe etc
are located). If it's finding latex but not yap.exe and the other
readers, I suspect that your admins didn't install the whole thing, but
only installed MiKTeX and not the other parts of ProTeXt (which includes
MiKTeX, GhostScript, GhostView, and TeXnicCenter). If you open My
Computer and go to the Q drive, can you physically find the GhostScript
and GhostView installation folders in Program Files? Is Acrobat Reader
installed somewhere?

If all else fails, you can probably install the whole thing on a USB
stick and just run it from there, without using the lab installation at all.

Even better, burn a copy of Ubuntu 10.4 to CD or USB and reboot a
computer with it when you want to do LaTeX, so you can do everything you
want using Kile (a Linux editor that does pretty much the same as
TeXnicCenter but with better integration).

///Peter

On Aug 20, 11:19=A0pm, Peter Flynn <peter.n...@m.silmaril.ie> wrote:
> On 20/08/10 21:38, William Penkler wrote:
>
> > Hi, I am relatively new to Latex, but the texnicCenter in the
> > Stellenbosch University (SA) computer centrum is not working. =A0It
> > opens, text can be edited and pdf/div files can be built but not
> > viewed.
>
> > When clicking to view the actual pdf document, it says "cannot execute
> > command" but gives no actual reason.
>
> It can't find the program (eg acroread.exe or whatever).
>
> > I relayed the error to the administrator, however he does not know
> > latex at all, and needs help.
>
> Nothing to do with LaTeX. This is a TeXnicCenter and MikTeX installation
> and configuration problem, which needs Windows help.
>
> > Miktex is not installed on the computers themselves, but rather it is
> > accessed via an external Q drive on the intranet. =A0After googling I
> > found some comments about redefining the output profiles, but they
> > only deal with single computers.
>
> But the principles are identical. However, is MiKTeX *always* in
> Q:\Program Files\MikTeX 2.xx\miktex\bin (or whatever), or does it
> sometimes appear as H: or P: or something else depending on what remote
> shares were booted? If so, TeXnicCenter will require reconfiguring each
> time...this is a Windows design "feature"...
>
> > I do not quite understand what the "output profile" does,
>
> It tells TeXnicCenter where the TeX-associated programs are.
>
> > but the
> > steps for redefining them cannot be done over the network as the Q
> > drive is restricted and thus the profile paths cannot be changed.
>
> Hold on, that's two different and unconnected concepts in one sentence.
>
> TeXnicCenter doesn't care where MiKTeX is, so long as it is told where
> it is. It also doesn't matter if the drive holding MiKTeX is locked
> down, because all TeXnicCenter wants to do is run the programs from it,
> not write to it.
>
> BUT...it sounds as if what you actually mean is that TeXnicCenter's
> *own* configuration files are on a remote locked drive, possibly the
> same one the MikTeX is stored on (although that's irrelevant). Then you
> are indeed hosed, because unless they are set correctly by the Admin to
> start with, they'll be wrong for everyone.
>
> > Does anyone have any ideas about fixing this problem. =A0We are talking
> > about a network with hundreds of computers.
>
> I have had this problem and just about given up (because I don't
> understand the lunatic way in which Windows does its drive management).
>
> Get someone with Admin rights (someone with write-access to the drive
> where TeXnicCenter is installed) to configure TeXnicCenter so that it
> points at the right drive for MiKTeX. The problem may occur if different
> labs mount that drive for MikTeX as something other than Q: because I
> don't think TeXnicCenter can have multiple alternative places to look
> for MiKTeX.
>
> What TeXnicCenter *ought* to do if it cannot find a program where it has
> been told to find it, is search all other mounted drives until it find
> it. Unfortunately, (a) Windows file seek timeouts are ridiculously long,
> and (b) people (especially admins) have this habit of installing
> software in silly places because they think they know better.
>
> If they have queries, call your local user group for help
> (http://tug.org/usergroups.html#za);perhaps they might have someone who
> can talk your admin through it over the phone.
>
> There is another possibility: if TeXnicCenter can find and run latex.exe
> (or pdflatex.exe or whatever it's called in MikTeX), then it ought to
> find the remaining programs in the the same or a related folder (like
> Q:\Program Files\MikTeX 2.xx\miktex\bin) -- =A0I can't remember how
> ProTeXt tells MiKTeX and/or TeXnicCenter where gs.exe and gview.exe etc
> are located). If it's finding latex but not yap.exe and the other
> readers, I suspect that your admins didn't install the whole thing, but
> only installed MiKTeX and not the other parts of ProTeXt (which includes
> MiKTeX, GhostScript, GhostView, and TeXnicCenter). If you open My
> Computer and go to the Q drive, can you physically find the GhostScript
> and GhostView installation folders in Program Files? Is Acrobat Reader
> installed somewhere?
>
> If all else fails, you can probably install the whole thing on a USB
> stick and just run it from there, without using the lab installation at a=
ll.
>
> Even better, burn a copy of Ubuntu 10.4 to CD or USB and reboot a
> computer with it when you want to do LaTeX, so you can do everything you
> want using Kile (a Linux editor that does pretty much the same as
> TeXnicCenter but with better integration).
>
> ///Peter

Thanks Peter,  I have a better sense of direction now.
The administration has been doing several alterations to network
(restrictions and access etc) and it may be preventing access to the Q
drive - though if TexnicCenter only reads, it should not be a
problem.  It annoys me to no end when everything is restricted and
problems cannot be found except with a ton of trouble and wasted time.
As far as I know everything is installed correctly, as all was working
last month; and as flat as it sounds to say it, but it just stopped
working...
If I can't solve it, I think I will just take up your suggestion of
using a standalone version.
Regards,
William

Am Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:38:33 -0700 (PDT) schrieb William Penkler:

> Hi, I am relatively new to Latex, but the texnicCenter in the
> Stellenbosch University (SA) computer centrum is not working.  It
> opens, text can be edited and pdf/div files can be built but not
> viewed.
> 
> When clicking to view the actual pdf document, it says "cannot execute
> command" but gives no actual reason.

Well if the pdf/dvi can be built then miktex is working fine. It
looks as if texniccenter has only problems to open a pdf viewer. 

What happens if you double click on a pdf in windows explorer? Which
pdfviewer is used? 


-- 
Ulrike Fischer 

On Aug 20, 1:38=A0pm, William Penkler <williampenk...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi, I am relatively new to Latex, but the texnicCenter in the
> Stellenbosch University (SA) computer centrum is not working. =A0It
> opens, text can be edited and pdf/div files can be built but not
> viewed.
>
> When clicking to view the actual pdf document, it says "cannot execute
> command" but gives no actual reason.
> I relayed the error to the administrator, however he does not know
> latex at all, and needs help.
> Miktex is not installed on the computers themselves, but rather it is
> accessed via an external Q drive on the intranet. =A0After googling I
> found some comments about redefining the output profiles, but they
> only deal with single computers.
> I do not quite understand what the "output profile" does, but the
> steps for redefining them cannot be done over the network as the Q
> drive is restricted and thus the profile paths cannot be changed.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas about fixing this problem. =A0We are talking
> about a network with hundreds of computers.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill.

As Peter Flynn indicated, this is probably a network-admin problem.
Unfortunately, the admin may not know anything about Latex, PDF
viewers, or Texnic Center.  Consequently, rather than emailing the
admin, you'll probably do better with a face-to-face.  As Ulrike
suggested, gather as much info as possible before approaching.