Using latexindent on Windows

Question

I discovered latexindent and want to use it on my Windows machine. I am using MiKTeX and Strawberry Perl. MiKTeX has a package manager which lists latexindent. For some reason I cannot install or deinstall it although I am starting the MiKTeX Package Manager as Administrator. It is listed as installed. But when I execute it on my Shell I seem to be missing on Perl module. "Can't locate YAML/Tiny.pm". How do I install that module or solve this issue otherwise? Executing the compiled latexindent.exe file gives the same error. The complete message is:

$ latexindent
Can't locate YAML/Tiny.pm in @INC (@INC contains: /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.8/msys /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.8 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/msys /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl .) at C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\scripts\latexindent\latexindent.pl line 39.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\scripts\latexindent\latexindent.pl line 39.

Hello! I'd recommend using latexindent.exe together with defaultSettings.yaml. If you'd prefer to stick with the perl version, then you'll need YAML/Tiny.pm, which you can install as detailed here, for example: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6643939/installing-modules-using-strawberry-perl Let us know how you get on! — cmhughes, Sep 22 '16 at 12:17
I installed the module from CPAN. From my PowerShell ISE it is working now. — Michael S., Sep 22 '16 at 12:30
Do I need arara or will I use a Bash script or PowerShell script to indent all my tex-files? What is the benefit of arara? — Michael S., Sep 22 '16 at 12:35
Personally, I'd recommend arara, but it is not a requirement. The reasons I love arara: (1) platform independent, (2) set up per-document rules, (3) set up your editor/IDE once for arara, and not have to do it again -- no complicated flags or arguments (4) easily create new rules for new tasks (5) editor independent (6) consistent syntax across all operating systems... I could sing for days about the reasons I love arara, but that's a separate question :) glad you got latexindent working -- would you like to self answer with details of what you did, perhaps with screenshots? — cmhughes, Sep 22 '16 at 12:46

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:04

For now I solved this issue using Windows PowerShell ISE and continue working from there. Furthermore, I added a custom command to my Notepad++ like described here:

https://superuser.com/questions/176678/how-to-launch-a-program-from-notepad#176685

<UserDefinedCommands>
    <Command name="latexindent" Ctrl="yes" Alt="yes" Shift="yes" Key="">latexindent -d -w &quot;$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)&quot;</Command>
    <Command name="Launch in Firefox" Ctrl="yes" Alt="yes" Shift="yes" Key="88">firefox &quot;$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)&quot;</Command>
    <Command name="Launch in IE" Ctrl="yes" Alt="yes" Shift="yes" Key="73">iexplore &quot;$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)&quot;</Command>
    <Command name="Launch in Chrome" Ctrl="yes" Alt="yes" Shift="yes" Key="82">chrome &quot;$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)&quot;</Command>
    <Command name="Launch in Safari" Ctrl="yes" Alt="yes" Shift="yes" Key="70">safari &quot;$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)&quot;</Command>
    <Command name="Get php help" Ctrl="no" Alt="yes" Shift="no" Key="112">http://www.php.net/%20$(CURRENT_WORD)</Command>
    <Command name="Google Search" Ctrl="no" Alt="yes" Shift="no" Key="113">http://www.google.com/search?q=$(CURRENT_WORD)</Command>
    <Command name="Wikipedia Search" Ctrl="no" Alt="yes" Shift="no" Key="114">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=$(CURRENT_WORD)</Command>
    <Command name="Open file" Ctrl="no" Alt="yes" Shift="no" Key="116">$(NPP_DIRECTORY)\notepad++.exe $(CURRENT_WORD)</Command>
    <Command name="Open in another instance" Ctrl="no" Alt="yes" Shift="no" Key="117">$(NPP_DIRECTORY)\notepad++.exe $(CURRENT_WORD) -nosession -multiInst</Command>
    <Command name="Send via Outlook" Ctrl="yes" Alt="yes" Shift="yes" Key="79">outlook /a &quot;$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)&quot;</Command>
</UserDefinedCommands>

Like this I am able to use it from the IDE. Next step is a script iterating over all tex files using PowerShell ISE. Further step would be a Bash script on Jenkins.

Well, I haven't succeeded in Bash yet. In PowerShell ISE it worked out of the box. — Michael S., Sep 22 '16 at 13:55
I meant about the perl module, which seemed at the heart of your question :) — cmhughes, Sep 22 '16 at 14:53
I understood you but this was not yet successful although your suggestion worked like this: cpan[1]> install YAML::Tiny Reading '.cpan\Metadata' Database was generated on Thu, 22 Sep 2016 00:41:03 GMT YAML::Tiny is up to date (1.69). — Michael S., Sep 22 '16 at 14:58
Still same error in Cygwin64 Terminal and in Git Bash. Can't locate YAML/Tiny.pm in @INC (you may need to install the YAML::Tiny module) (@INC contains: /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.22/x86_64-cygwin-threads /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.22 /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.22/x86_64-cygwin-threads /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.22 /usr/lib/perl5/5.22/x86_64-cygwin-threads /usr/lib/perl5/5.22 .) at C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\scripts\latexindent\latexindent.pl line 39. BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\scripts\latexindent\latexindent.pl line 39. — Michael S., Sep 22 '16 at 14:59

Using latexindent on Windows

1 Answers1