classics package throws weird error message

Question

I can't get any documents built with the classics package to compile at all, including the package documentation source file. I have the package (v0.1 2013/02/02) installed correctly in my tex distro and I'm trying to compile with pdfTeX 3.1415926-2.5-1.40.14.

Here's a minimal failing example from the package documentation:

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage{classics}
\newclassic{Homer}{#1|:#1}
\begin{document}
\cite[{\Homer{3}[100--2]}]{Odyssey}
\begin{thebibliography}{10}
\bibitem[Od.]{Odyssey} Homer. \textit{Odyssey}.
\end{thebibliography}
\end{document}

When I try to build this file with

latex test.tex

I get:

LaTeX Warning: Citation `Odyssey' on page 1 undefined on input line 6.

! Undefined control sequence. \LaTeX3 error: A sequence was misused. l.6 \cite[{\Homer{3}[100--2]}]{Odyssey}

?

If I try to force it through the build process it eventually hangs and says:

? ! Argument of __prg_break: has an extra }.
             \par 
l.6 \cite[{\Homer{3}[100--2]}]{Odyssey}

? Runaway argument? ! Paragraph ended before __prg_break: was complete.
                \par 
l.6 \cite[{\Homer{3}[100--2]}]{Odyssey}

?

Fails here too and I updated TL within the last couple of days. I also get the same errors. I'm currently updating to see if anything very recent fixes the problem. — cfr, Jan 06 '14 at 00:19
With TL updated within the previous 30 seconds, I get just the same errors. I tried using \listfiles but of course I don't get far enough to collect any results. — cfr, Jan 06 '14 at 00:25
Here's a message in chat from Joseph Wright. Read the messages above: it's a bug in l3experimental that will be repaired as soon as possible. — egreg, Jan 06 '14 at 13:37
Ah, marvelous. Thanks egreg for the heads up. I'll be looking for an update to l3experimental soon. — shane, Jan 06 '14 at 14:21

David Carlisle · Answer 1 · 2014-01-06T01:55:31.560

It fails with the latest update, with a slightly older TL2013 it worked, Hopefully Joseph will pass by in the morning... (I'll delete this answer then)

If I add \listfiles to the preamble I get the following, you may want to compare with the versions you get:

 *File List*
 article.cls    2007/10/19 v1.4h Standard LaTeX document class
  size11.clo    2007/10/19 v1.4h Standard LaTeX file (size option)
classics.sty    2013/02/02 v0.1 Cite classic works
   expl3.sty    2013/07/28 v4582 L3 Experimental code bundle wrapper
 l3names.sty    2012/12/07 v4346 L3 Namespace for primitives
l3bootstrap.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Experimental bootstrap code
    etex.sty    1998/03/26 v2.0 eTeX basic definition package (PEB)
l3basics.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Basic definitions
 l3expan.sty    2013/07/24 v4565 L3 Argument expansion
    l3tl.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Token lists
   l3seq.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Sequences and stacks
   l3int.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Integers
 l3quark.sty    2013/07/21 v4564 L3 Quarks
   l3prg.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Control structures
 l3clist.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Comma separated lists
 l3token.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Experimental token manipulation
  l3prop.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Property lists
   l3msg.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Messages
  l3file.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 File and I/O operations
  l3skip.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Dimensions and skips
  l3keys.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Experimental key-value interfaces
    l3fp.sty    2013/07/09 v4521 L3 Floating points
   l3box.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Experimental boxes
l3coffins.sty    2012/09/09 v4212 L3 Coffin code layer
 l3color.sty    2012/08/29 v4156 L3 Experimental color support
l3luatex.sty    2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Experimental LuaTeX-specific functions
l3candidates.sty    2013/07/24 v4576 L3 Experimental additions to l3kernel
   ifpdf.sty    2011/01/30 v2.3 Provides the ifpdf switch (HO)
  xparse.sty    2013/07/28 v4582 L3 Experimental document command parser
graphics.sty    2009/02/05 v1.0o Standard LaTeX Graphics (DPC,SPQR)
    trig.sty    1999/03/16 v1.09 sin cos tan (DPC)
graphics.cfg    2010/04/23 v1.9 graphics configuration of TeX Live
  pdftex.def    2011/05/27 v0.06d Graphics/color for pdfTeX
infwarerr.sty    2010/04/08 v1.3 Providing info/warning/error messages (HO)
 ltxcmds.sty    2011/11/09 v1.22 LaTeX kernel commands for general use (HO)
supp-pdf.mkii
pdftexcmds.sty    2011/11/29 v0.20 Utility functions of pdfTeX for LuaTeX (HO)
ifluatex.sty    2010/03/01 v1.3 Provides the ifluatex switch (HO)
epstopdf-base.sty    2010/02/09 v2.5 Base part for package epstopdf
  grfext.sty    2010/08/19 v1.1 Manage graphics extensions (HO)
kvdefinekeys.sty    2011/04/07 v1.3 Define keys (HO)
kvoptions.sty    2011/06/30 v3.11 Key value format for package options (HO)
  keyval.sty    1999/03/16 v1.13 key=value parser (DPC)
kvsetkeys.sty    2012/04/25 v1.16 Key value parser (HO)
etexcmds.sty    2011/02/16 v1.5 Avoid name clashes with e-TeX commands (HO)
epstopdf-sys.cfg    2010/07/13 v1.3 Configuration of (r)epstopdf for TeX Live
 ***********

You have outdated versions of the expl3 packages; for l3seq, that is the probable culprit, I get l3seq.sty 2013/12/14 v4623 — egreg, Jan 06 '14 at 00:21
I added the \listfiles command to my preamble, but i'm unable to find such a list of files in either the log or aux files. — shane, Jan 06 '14 at 00:27
@shane \listfiles does list the files but it outputs it at the end of a compile. So you have to be able to get through the compile somehow to reap the rewards. I couldn't manage to get far enough to get the list. I am assuming the same is true of you. — cfr, Jan 06 '14 at 00:28
ah, ok. Also, I just ran an update on tlmgr, and I checked and I do have the latest build of l3seq. Problem persists. — shane, Jan 06 '14 at 00:34
@shane Me too. I've scooped the version info I could get from the log file and posted it below for comparison purposes, since I'm assuming a recent update must have introduced a new bug (or a new incompatibility of some kind). — cfr, Jan 06 '14 at 00:38
@shane as I'm a member of the latex3 project you can't expect me to have the latest versions:-) (I'm updating now:-) — David Carlisle, Jan 06 '14 at 01:06

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 08 '14 at 11:41

The update on 6 January 2014 of the LaTeX3 tree has solved the bug.

The relevant file is

l3candidates.dtx 4643 2014-01-06 13:28:06Z

One can see the corrections by comparing the versions in the TeX Live repository

The bug was in how \seq_mapthread_function:NNN had been modified in the previous snapshot.

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 06 '14 at 00:37

These versions demonstrate the errors reported. The test document was compiled within 30 seconds of updating TeX Live.

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-2.5-1.40.14 (TeX Live 2013) (format=pdflatex 2014.1.6)  6 JAN 2014 00:24
LaTeX2e <2011/06/27>
Babel <3.9h> and hyphenation patterns for 78 languages loaded.
Document Class: article 2007/10/19 v1.4h Standard LaTeX document class
File: size10.clo 2007/10/19 v1.4h Standard LaTeX file (size option)
Package: l3bootstrap 2013/12/29 v4629 L3 Experimental bootstrap code
Package: l3names 2013/12/29 v4630 L3 Namespace for primitives
Package: etex 1998/03/26 v2.0 eTeX basic definition package (PEB)
Package: expl3 2013/12/31 v4634 L3 Experimental code bundle wrapper
Package: l3basics 2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Basic definitions
Package: l3expan 2013/08/17 v4584 L3 Argument expansion
Package: l3tl 2013/12/27 v4625 L3 Token lists
Package: l3seq 2013/12/14 v4623 L3 Sequences and stacks
Package: l3int 2013/08/02 v4583 L3 Integers
Package: l3quark 2013/12/14 v4623 L3 Quarks
Package: l3prg 2013/08/25 v4587 L3 Control structures
Package: l3clist 2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Comma separated lists
Package: l3token 2013/08/25 v4587 L3 Experimental token manipulation
Package: l3prop 2013/12/14 v4623 L3 Property lists
Package: l3msg 2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Messages
Package: l3file 2013/10/13 v4596 L3 File and I/O operations
Package: l3skip 2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Dimensions and skips
Package: l3keys 2013/12/08 v4614 L3 Experimental key-value interfaces
Package: l3fp 2013/12/31 v4633 L3 Floating points
Package: l3box 2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Experimental boxes
Package: l3coffins 2013/12/14 v4624 L3 Coffin code layer
Package: l3color 2012/08/29 v4156 L3 Experimental color support
Package: l3luatex 2013/07/28 v4581 L3 Experimental LuaTeX-specific functions
Package: l3candidates 2013/12/31 v4633 L3 Experimental additions to l3kernel
Package: ifpdf 2011/01/30 v2.3 Provides the ifpdf switch (HO)
Package: xparse 2013/12/31 v4634 L3 Experimental document command parser
Package: classics 2013/02/02 v0.1 Cite classic works
Package: graphics 2009/02/05 v1.0o Standard LaTeX Graphics (DPC,SPQR)
Package: trig 1999/03/16 v1.09 sin cos tan (DPC)
File: graphics.cfg 2010/04/23 v1.9 graphics configuration of TeX Live
File: pdftex.def 2011/05/27 v0.06d Graphics/color for pdfTeX
Package: infwarerr 2010/04/08 v1.3 Providing info/warning/error messages (HO)
Package: ltxcmds 2011/11/09 v1.22 LaTeX kernel commands for general use (HO)
[Loading MPS to PDF converter (version 2006.09.02).]
Package: pdftexcmds 2011/11/29 v0.20 Utility functions of pdfTeX for LuaTeX 
Package: ifluatex 2010/03/01 v1.3 Provides the ifluatex switch (HO)
Package: epstopdf-base 2010/02/09 v2.5 Base part for package epstopdf
Package: grfext 2010/08/19 v1.1 Manage graphics extensions (HO)
Package: kvdefinekeys 2011/04/07 v1.3 Define keys (HO)
Package: kvoptions 2011/06/30 v3.11 Key value format for package options (HO)
Package: keyval 1999/03/16 v1.13 key=value parser (DPC)
Package: kvsetkeys 2012/04/25 v1.16 Key value parser (HO)
Package: etexcmds 2011/02/16 v1.5 Avoid name clashes with e-TeX commands (HO)
Package grfext Info: Graphics extension search list:
File: epstopdf-sys.cfg 2010/07/13 v1.3 Configuration of (r)epstopdf for TeX Live

So probably there is a bug introduced in a recent update?

great, thanks cfr. maybe somebody will be able to identify precisely where the problem was. Afraid diagnosing this is going to be above my pay grade. — shane, Jan 06 '14 at 00:40
Mine, too. I just figured the info might be helpful to those on the higher grades! — cfr, Jan 06 '14 at 00:41
@shane -- Maybe I got it backwards, but the basic idea is the same. Several l3 packages on your list look newer (not older, as I had guessed) than, e.g., the \listfiles output given by David. If you can find it/them, tlmgr has a restore option.... Addendum: see this question. — jon, Jan 06 '14 at 01:03

classics package throws weird error message

3 Answers3