9

So, after recently switching one of my computers to Windows, I found myself needing MLA for class reasons :(

Then the fun begins. My extremely minimal example:

\documentclass[10pt,letterpaper]{report}
\author{Author}
\title{Title}
\usepackage[style=mla]{biblatex}
\begin{document}
    \maketitle
\end{document}

which results in 

Package biblatex Warning: No "backend" specified, using Biber backend.
(biblatex)                To use BibTeX, load biblatex with
(biblatex)                the "backend=bibtex" option.

(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex/biblatex_.sty
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/etoolbox/etoolbox.sty)
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/graphics/keyval.sty)
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/oberdiek/kvoptions.sty
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/generic/oberdiek/ltxcmds.sty)
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/generic/oberdiek/kvsetkeys.sty
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/generic/oberdiek/infwarerr.sty)
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/generic/oberdiek/etexcmds.sty
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/generic/oberdiek/ifluatex.sty))))
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/logreq/logreq.sty
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/logreq/logreq.def))
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/ifthen.sty)
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/url/url.sty)
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex/blx-dm.def)
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex/blx-compat.def)
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex/biblatex_.def)
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex-mla/mla.bbx
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex/bbx/standard.bbx)
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   4
l.56     {\usebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#4
                                              }{#5}{#7}}
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   5
l.56     {\usebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#4}{#5
                                                  }{#7}}
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   7
l.56 ...sebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#4}{#5}{#7
                                                  }}
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   3
l.57     {\usebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#3
                                              }{#5}{#7}}%
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   5
l.57     {\usebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#3}{#5
                                                  }{#7}}%
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   7
l.57 ...sebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#3}{#5}{#7
                                                  }}%
) (/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex-mla/mla.cbx
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   3
l.682   \usebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#3
                                            }{#5}{#7}%
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   5
l.682   \usebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#3}{#5
                                                }{#7}%
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   7
l.682 ...ebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#3}{#5}{#7
                                                  }%
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   3
l.685   \usebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#3
                                            }{#5}{#7}%
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   5
l.685   \usebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#3}{#5
                                                }{#7}%
! Illegal parameter number in definition of \blx@defformat@d.
<to be read again>
                   7
l.685 ...ebibmacro{name:first-last}{#1}{#3}{#5}{#7
                                                  }%
) (/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex/biblatex.cfg)))
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex-mla/english-mla.lbx
(/usr/share/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex/lbx/english.lbx))

Now, with an example that minimal, it'd seem to be an issue with tex, but it's consistent across MikTeX, Texlive Windows natives, and Cygwin Texlive

Thank you in advance!

caffinatedangel
  • 93
  • Works on linux. Maybe some end-of-line coding problem? Have you moved some file from linux to windows? – Rmano Mar 26 '16 at 21:19
  • Created the MWE just a minute ago, the tex installations have all been fresh from the internet. – caffinatedangel Mar 26 '16 at 21:22
  • 2
    You have been caught by the recent biblatex update. They changed the commands for the representation of names, and the vast majority of non standard biblatex styles have not switched to the new commands. A simple solution is to add backend=bibtex as an option to biblatex (i.e., \usepackage[backend=bibtex,style=mla]{biblatex}) – Guido Mar 26 '16 at 21:28

1 Answers1

8

You have been caught by the recent biblatex update. They changed the commands for the representation of names, and the vast majority of non standard biblatex styles have not switched to the new commands. A simple solution is to add backend=bibtex as an option to biblatex:

\usepackage[backend=bibtex,style=mla]{biblatex}
Guido
  • 30,740
  • I have created a patch to the biblatex-mla style. It is available from github https://github.com/gvdgdo/biblatex-mla (and there is a pull request to the original version) – Guido Apr 20 '16 at 23:36