Stop LaTeX compile with a command?

Question

Is there a way to stop the compile process through the use of a command? Something like:

 \exception{This is a user-set exception.  Compile halted.}

So when performing the compile process, the specified text string is displayed to the console, and the compile process aborts?

The reason I want to do something like this is I want to have a conditional statement that checks a user-defined parameter. If the parameter is outside a desired range, I want the user to be informed that they made a bad choice and should change it.

Thanks in advance.

The solutions below are better, but I just use \typeout{<text>}\QUIT, where \QUIT is not defined. — Peter Grill, Jun 19 '12 at 21:41

score 40 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 19 '12 at 21:11

40

 \PackageError{mypackage}{you did it wrong}{help text}

answered Jun 19 '12 at 21:11

David Carlisle

757,742

1

And if it is not in a package but in a plain LaTeX file? For example, i want to produce an error message if my file is compiled with anything other than XeLaTeX. – Alexey Oct 03 '17 at 09:50
2

\GenericError @Alexey – David Carlisle Oct 03 '17 at 10:17

score 33 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 19 '12 at 21:44

33

Maybe not the best solution, but for the sake of completeness:

\stop

in LaTeX and

\bye

in plain TeX.

answered Jun 19 '12 at 21:44

mbork

13,385

2

Note: those will produce the output (which might be what you want). – Ciro Santilli OurBigBook.com Nov 27 '14 at 19:43

Ian Thompson · Answer 3 · 2012-06-19T21:28:08.353

26

There are a number of error and warning commands for use in different situations. See section 4.9 of LaTeX2e for class and package authors for details of \ClassError and \PackageError (also \ClassWarning and PackageWarning), and have a look at macros2e.pdf for \GenericError (and \GenericWarning).

edited Jun 19 '12 at 21:28

answered Jun 19 '12 at 21:14

Ian Thompson

43,767

score 15 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 19 '12 at 21:48

i like @PeterGrill's \typeout{<text>}\QUIT approach because after reading the message, the user can choose to hit the enter key and continue. yes, it might cause more problems later, but it also might allow more problems to be brought to light in the same run so that they can all be corrected at once, instead of one at a time.

and actually, \PackageError will do the same thing with a more informative message.

score 13 · Answer 5 · 2014-02-15T13:53:29.340

13

you can insert the end{document}

\documentclass{article}
\def\foo{}
%\def\foo{quit}  % uncomment for stopping sourcecode reading
\begin{document}

foo
\if\relax\foo\else\par
  I'll stop reading source code \ldots
  \end{document}
\fi

bar
\end{document}

If the break is in an included file use:

foo
\def\next{}
\if\relax\foo\else\par
  I'll stop reading source code in the included file \ldots
  \def\next{\endinput\end{document}}
\fi
\next

foo in the included file

edited Feb 15 '14 at 13:53

answered Jun 19 '12 at 21:37

1

But don't do this in tex files that are \included, otherwise you may hit a "Runaway Argument?" with "! File ended while scanning use of @writefile/@newl@bel", as in size-limit for aux, problem w/ hyperref, natbib, include • General • LaTeX Community; \stop in those cases seems to work better. – sdaau Feb 15 '14 at 13:34
2

with a modification it also possible to quit the run in an included file! – Feb 15 '14 at 13:54

Stop LaTeX compile with a command?

5 Answers5

Linked