Attempt to export EPS figures from TikZ fails

Question

I'm attempting to output EPS figures when using MikTeX 2.8 under Windows XP, and am following Export eps figures from TikZ. My problem is that I can't get the bare example given there to run.

The code I'm using was copied from that thread verbatim:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}

% set up externalization
\usetikzlibrary{external}
\tikzset{external/system call={latex \tikzexternalcheckshellescape -halt-on-error
-interaction=batchmode -jobname "\image" "\texsource" && 
dvips -o "\image".ps "\image".dvi}}
\tikzexternalize[shell escape=-enable-write18] % MikTeX uses a -enable-write18 instead of --shell-escape.

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw (0,0) circle (1cm);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

When running I get the following error message:

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-1.40.10 (MiKTeX 2.8)
entering extended mode
(C:/junk/untitled-2.tex
LaTeX2e <2009/09/24>
. . .
[Loading MPS to PDF converter (version 2006.09.02).]
)
===== 'mode=convert with system call': Invoking 'latex -halt-on-error -interaction=batchmode -jobname "untitled-2-figure0" "\def\tikzexternalrealjob{untitled-2}\input{untitled-2}" && dvips -o "untitled-2-figure0".ps "untitled-2-figure0".dvi' ========

! Package tikz Error: Sorry, the system call 'latex -halt-on-error -interaction=batchmode -jobname "untitled-2-figure0" "\def\tikzexternalrealjob{untitled-2}\input{untitled-2}" && dvips -o "untitled-2-figure0".ps "untitled-2-figure0".dvi' did NOT result in a usable output file 'untitled-2-figure0' (expected one of .pdf:.jpg:.jpeg:.png:). Please verify that you have enabled system calls. For pdflatex, this is 'pdflatex -shell-escape'. Sometimes it is also named 'write 18' or something like that. Or maybe the command simply failed? Error messages can be found in 'untitled-2-figure0.log'. If you continue now, I'll try to typeset the picture.
See the tikz package documentation for explanation.
Type  H <return>  for immediate help.
 ...                                              

l.14 \end{tikzpicture}    

?     

Can someone help me over this hurdle?

---

My previous post was written on my Windows XP system using Chrome, where the answer box limited me to about 600 characters and did not accept markup or newlines :-(. I'm writing this on my Windows 7 system with Chrome, and the answer box has all markup bells and whistles I need -- very strange.

Following is the compilation output:

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-1.40.10 (MiKTeX 2.8) entering extended mode ("C:/Documents and Settings/Moshe/My Documents/test.tex" LaTeX2e <2009/09/24> . . .

===== 'mode=convert with system call': Invoking 'latex -enable-write18 -halt-on
-error -interaction=batchmode -jobname "test-figure0" "\def\tikzexternalrealjob {test}\input{test}" && dvips -o "test-figure0".ps "test-figure0".dvi' ========

! Package tikz Error: Sorry, the system call 'latex -enable-write18 -halt-on-er ror -interaction=batchmode -jobname "test-figure0" "\def\tikzexternalrealjob{te st}\input{test}" && dvips -o "test-figure0".ps "test-figure0".dvi' did NOT resu lt in a usable output file 'test-figure0' (expected one of .pdf:.jpg:.jpeg:.png :). Please verify that you have enabled system calls. For pdflatex, this is 'pd flatex -shell-escape'. Sometimes it is also named 'write 18' or something like  that. Or maybe the command simply failed? Error messages can be found in 'test- figure0.log'. If you continue now, I'll try to typeset the picture.

See the tikz package documentation for explanation. Type  H <return>  for immediate help.  ...                                              

l.14 \end{tikzpicture}

I hope this is easier to read than my previous post :-)

Answer 1

I tried to reproduce your example on my MikTeX 2.9 installation and found the same error message. Interestingly, the main .log file contains the hint "quotation error in system call". When I dropped all quotation marks, I got "forbidden, restricted" or something like that. Seems as if MikTeX has strange error checking here.

Anyway, as soon as I reconfigured TeXnicCenter to add the -enable-write18 switch, it worked - and it no longer complaint about 'quotation errors'.

So, I agree with the suggestions shown in comments above: I am pretty sure that you "only" need to figure out, how to add the -enable-write18 switch to your TeX Editor. If you tell us which editor you use, we may be able to assist you.

For TeXnicCenter, it works as follows: go to "Output >> Define output profiles (Alt+F7)". There, you should see the different output profiles on the left and on the right, you see the involved programs like "Path to LaTeX Compiler", "BibTeX", "MakeIndex". Select the profile LaTeX=>PS, then add -enable-write18 to the "Path to LaTeX Compiler". The "Path To LaTeX Compiler" should be something like C:Program Files\MikTeX 2.9\miktex\bin\latex.exe -enable-write18 afterwards.

Then, recompile your .tex file.

I am sure that you can find a similar option for your preferred TeX editor.