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Check LaTeX-package availability for PDF output

Source: R/backend_pdf.R
check_latex.Rd

Reports, for every TeX package the LaTeX / PDF backend can emit, whether it is present in the local TeX tree, and prints the exact tinytex::tlmgr_install() call that installs any that are missing. Run this before emit(spec, "out.pdf") on a fresh machine to turn a cryptic mid-compile File 'tabularray.sty' not found into an up-front, actionable checklist.

Usage

check_latex(quiet = FALSE)

Arguments

quiet

Suppress the printed cli report. <logical(1)>: default FALSE. When TRUE, runs the checks and returns the result invisibly without printing. Use in scripts that branch on the return value.

Value

Invisibly returns a data frame with one row per required package and columns package (<character>) and installed (<logical>, NA when undeterminable). Side effect: prints a cli report with a per-package status marker and, when anything is missing, the exact tlmgr_install() remedy.

Details

The required set is a superset of every \\usepackage{} / \\UseTblrLibrary{} directive the backend emits, across all conditional branches (running headers / footers pull fancyhdr + lastpage; xelatex pulls fontspec; pdflatex pulls the classic font bundles). The check is informational, it does not install anything.

OS-managed TeX Live gotcha. On Linux distributions that ship TeX Live through the system package manager (RHEL / Fedora via dnf, Debian / Ubuntu via apt), tlmgr is locked against user installs and tlmgr_install() will fail. The fix is to install a user-space TinyTeX with tinytex::install_tinytex() and let that tree own the packages. Never force a locked tlmgr with --ignore-warning: it leaves the system tree half-written.

Slow / stuck install (often Windows). The default CTAN repository mirror.ctan.org redirects to a random mirror on every call, and a slow or stale one makes tinytex::tlmgr_install() appear to hang. Pin a concrete mirror once with tinytex::tlmgr_repo()("auto") (it follows the redirect a single time and remembers the result), then retry the install.

Status markers:

  • v — package is installed in the local TeX tree.

  • x — package is missing; the tlmgr_install() line at the bottom of the report installs every missing package at once.

  • ? — availability could not be determined (no tinytex, or tlmgr not reachable); treated as missing for remediation.

Requires the tinytex package (in Suggests); call install.packages("tinytex") first if it isn't installed.

See also

Companion diagnostic: check_fonts().

Consumes the result: emit().

Examples

# ---- Example 1: Audit the PDF toolchain before emitting ----
#
# Run check_latex() on a fresh machine to confirm every LaTeX
# package the PDF backend needs is present. The call prints a
# status line per package and, if any are missing, the exact
# tinytex::tlmgr_install() command to fix them in one shot. It is
# guarded on tinytex so it is a no-op where TeX is unavailable.
if (requireNamespace("tinytex", quietly = TRUE)) {
  check_latex()
}
#> 
#> ── LaTeX packages for PDF output 
#> v tabularray
#> v ninecolors
#> v xcolor
#> v graphics
#> v siunitx
#> v geometry
#> v hyperref
#> v iftex
#> v base
#> v fancyhdr
#> v lastpage
#> v fontspec
#> v tex-gyre
#> v psnfss
#> ✔ All required LaTeX packages are installed.