Troubleshooting LaTeX isn’t always easy. Error messages can be so opaque and in the wrong file, so it’s difficult to find out what the problem is.

One method to try is to create a new project, identical to the problematic one and narrow it down by removing a chunk and recompiling until it starts working. This can help narrow down the exact problem and often helps you see what the problem is. If you still can’t find the problem, then this pared down version, containing only the problematic code and the bare minimum of other code (like the \begin{document} command and so on, is very much appreciated by experienced users in the various forums aiming to help people with LaTeX because it makes life convenient for them: they know what you’re talking about and they can use your code without modifying it any way to see what the problem is. If you don’t believe me, just see how many time they ask for a MWE!

I have added some help of my own in these pages: look at the menu in the sidebar for links to FAQs, error message help, forums and more.

If you get the Crazy error: ! Argument of @sect has an extra }., help is at hand on my website. Nicola Talbot provides tips for obtaining LaTeX help.

categories: Nature and Science and Tech
tags: computing, latex, top tips
last modified: 20th Feb 2012