[PATCH] precheck-tentative.sh: Make array.sty probing fail-fast and deterministic

[PATCH] precheck-tentative.sh: Make array.sty probing fail-fast and deterministic

[Kunwu Chan]

On systems where kpsewhich cannot resolve array.sty, the script fed an
empty path into the version-parsing pipeline and then compared an empty
array_req_ver against latex_ver in the non-pdflatex-dev path. The
result depended on environment and produced no actionable error.

This is reproducible by overriding kpsewhich to return nothing for
array.sty while keeping other lookups intact.

Add a guard before parsing array.sty, set array_req_ver only when the
file exists, fail fast with a clear diagnostic when it does not, and
correct the warning text typo ("arary.sty" -> "array.sty").

Fixes: 4cad3dd1174a ("precheck-tentative.sh: Fail early with suggestions for Fedora 44")

Signed-off-by: Kunwu Chan <kunwu.chan@gmail.com>
---
 utilities/precheck-tentative.sh | 19 ++++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/utilities/precheck-tentative.sh b/utilities/precheck-tentative.sh
index 96d2fe2f..1e106877 100755
--- a/utilities/precheck-tentative.sh
+++ b/utilities/precheck-tentative.sh
@@ -77,15 +77,24 @@ if [ "$latex_release_dev" != "" ] ; then
 fi
 
 array_sty=`kpsewhich array.sty`
-array_req_ver=`grep -F -e '\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}' $array_sty | \
-	tail -n 1 | \
-	sed -e 's/\\\\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}//' | \
-	sed -E -e 's/\[/</' -e 's/\]/>/' -e 's/\//\-/g'`
+if [ "$array_sty" != "" ] ; then
+	array_req_ver=`grep -F -e '\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}' $array_sty | \
+		tail -n 1 | \
+		sed -e 's/\\\\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}//' | \
+		sed -E -e 's/\[/</' -e 's/\]/>/' -e 's/\//\-/g'`
+else
+	array_req_ver=""
+fi
 
 if [ "$LATEX" != "pdflatex-dev" ] ; then
+    if [ "$array_req_ver" = "" ] ; then
+	echo "array.sty is not found!"
+	echo "Check your TeX Live installation."
+	exit 1
+    fi
     if [ "$array_req_ver" \> "$latex_ver" -a "$WARNEXIT" = "1" ] ; then
 	echo "#### array.sty requires a later release of LaTeX2e.     ####"
-	echo "#### arary.sty requires LaTeX2e $array_req_ver,           ####"
+	echo "#### array.sty requires LaTeX2e $array_req_ver,           ####"
 	echo "#### while your LaTeX2e is $latex_ver.                ####"
 	echo "#### Check your TeX Live installation.  (Known issue under Fedora 44.)"
 	echo "#### 1st option is to downgrade array.sty to v2.6n."
-- 
2.25.1

Re: [PATCH] precheck-tentative.sh: Make array.sty probing fail-fast and deterministic

[Akira Yokosawa]

Hi,

On Thu,  7 May 2026 17:50:11 +0800, Kunwu Chan wrote:
> On systems where kpsewhich cannot resolve array.sty, the script fed an
> empty path into the version-parsing pipeline and then compared an empty
> array_req_ver against latex_ver in the non-pdflatex-dev path. The
> result depended on environment and produced no actionable error.
> 
> This is reproducible by overriding kpsewhich to return nothing for
> array.sty while keeping other lookups intact.
> 
> Add a guard before parsing array.sty, set array_req_ver only when the
> file exists, fail fast with a clear diagnostic when it does not, and
> correct the warning text typo ("arary.sty" -> "array.sty").
> 
> Fixes: 4cad3dd1174a ("precheck-tentative.sh: Fail early with suggestions for Fedora 44")
> 
> Signed-off-by: Kunwu Chan <kunwu.chan@gmail.com>
> ---
>  utilities/precheck-tentative.sh | 19 ++++++++++++++-----
>  1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
> 

I didn't think of running "make" before installing texlive-tools bundle.
That said, this can be helpful in setting up brand new installations.
And thanks for the typo fix!

Acked-by: Akira Yokosawa

Regerds, Akira

> diff --git a/utilities/precheck-tentative.sh b/utilities/precheck-tentative.sh
> index 96d2fe2f..1e106877 100755
[...]

Re: [PATCH] precheck-tentative.sh: Make array.sty probing fail-fast and deterministic

[Paul E. McKenney]

On Thu, May 07, 2026 at 07:37:48PM +0900, Akira Yokosawa wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On Thu,  7 May 2026 17:50:11 +0800, Kunwu Chan wrote:
> > On systems where kpsewhich cannot resolve array.sty, the script fed an
> > empty path into the version-parsing pipeline and then compared an empty
> > array_req_ver against latex_ver in the non-pdflatex-dev path. The
> > result depended on environment and produced no actionable error.
> > 
> > This is reproducible by overriding kpsewhich to return nothing for
> > array.sty while keeping other lookups intact.
> > 
> > Add a guard before parsing array.sty, set array_req_ver only when the
> > file exists, fail fast with a clear diagnostic when it does not, and
> > correct the warning text typo ("arary.sty" -> "array.sty").
> > 
> > Fixes: 4cad3dd1174a ("precheck-tentative.sh: Fail early with suggestions for Fedora 44")
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Kunwu Chan <kunwu.chan@gmail.com>
> > ---
> >  utilities/precheck-tentative.sh | 19 ++++++++++++++-----
> >  1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
> > 
> 
> I didn't think of running "make" before installing texlive-tools bundle.
> That said, this can be helpful in setting up brand new installations.
> And thanks for the typo fix!
> 
> Acked-by: Akira Yokosawa

Queued and pushed, thank you both!

							Thanx, Paul

> Regerds, Akira
> 
> > diff --git a/utilities/precheck-tentative.sh b/utilities/precheck-tentative.sh
> > index 96d2fe2f..1e106877 100755
> [...]