Start tag expected

[jazzynico]

When I try to import a PDF file, I get the following message:
Failed to load the requested file /export/Inkscape/BugTest/file.pdf

And the terminal writes:
/export/Inkscape/BugTest/file.pdf:1: parser error : Start tag expected, '<' not found
%PDF-1.4
^

Same behavior with PS and XCF files (except the end of the terminal message, which says respectively "'<' not found %!PS-Adobe-3.0" and " '<' not found gimp xcf file"

Inkscape doesn't crash, but I can't import those files, even when they are created by Inkscape itself.
Bitmap imports work well.

Tested with dev build 21160, Ubuntu 8.10, but the bug is probably a bit older.
Works well with 21090 and Windows XP sp3.

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

I've just found out a full extension-errors.log file, claiming lots of dependencies are missing, including some exec (fig2dev, latex, dvips, pstoedit) and some extensions (org.inkscape.input.pdf, org.inkscape.input.ps, and others).
Any idea?
My builds are compiled from SVN (make, make install). Could it be related?

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

It is fairly normal for these to be missing. Most of these dependencies, other than gimp, are fairly specialized programs and are not delivered with Inkscape, you need to install them yourself.
   as for the .pdf file, could you attach the file that is giving the error message?

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

What strikes me is that 0.46, installed on the same computer, works well, and let me import what I want.
The bug appears with the SVN version only. I first noticed it with build 21016, but thought it was due to a badly formated PDF (Bug #231160).
And with 0.46 (official), extension-errors.log has no entry for PS and PDF missing dependencies.
As both versions are on the same computer, they should have the same behavior. Except if the dependencies are not the same...

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

- running Windows build 21165, the file 'noimport.pdf' loads properly, as far as I can tell.
- are you able to load any .pdf files, or is this the only problem file?
- the '<' makes it sound as if the importer was expecting an svg file, not pdf.

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

I can't load any PDF or PS file.
And the error message makes me think an importer extension is missing.

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

if you are running multiple versions of Inkscape on the same machine, it might be worthwhile to force it to start with a fresh version of the 'preferences.xml' file. On Windows this would be located at :
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Inkscape\
If you rename this file to be something else, then Inkscape will create a new one from scratch. If the new one works better, then you could keep it, if not then revert back to the old one.

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

Renaming "preferences.xml" is the first thing I've tried, but it gave no positive result.
I've also cleaned my SVN local working copy, and tried with different configure options, but I still have the bug.
I plan to test with a tar snapshot and see if I get the same behavior.

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

I've compiled an old tar snapshot (20628), which I knew was working well, and I now have the same problem with it.
I've also installed pstoedit manually. No improvement.
Note that PDF and PS don't show in the import list of the Open menu.

Here is the part of the extension-errors.log file which is not present in my 0.46 official version:

Extension "PostScript Input" failed to load because a dependency was not met.
Dependency:
  type: extension
  location: path
  string: org.inkscape.input.pdf

Extension "EPSI Output" failed to load because a dependency was not met.
Dependency:
  type: extension
  location: path
  string: org.inkscape.output.ps

Extension "EPS Input" failed to load because a dependency was not met.
Dependency:
  type: extension
  location: path
  string: org.inkscape.input.pdf

It looks like the internal extensions are not built at all.
Now I'm lost :(

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

yes, this is very strange, here is a list of extensions that I am missing, none of which I care about :
- "AI 8.0 Output" : org.inkscape.output.ps
- "DXF Output" : org.inkscape.output.ps
- "EPSI Output" : org.inkscape.output.ps

there are others missing, of the 'external' type, so they're not relevant. I guess the critical missing one in your case is org.inkscape.input.pdf because it is used for .ps input as well as .pdf.

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

Surprise! Build 21196 works well.
I don't know what changed last two days (I haven't noticed anything in the SVN log). The only noticeable change on my computer is a libpoppler update (two days ago)...
Well, Inkscape bug or not, it's now fixed.
Anyway, thanks for your help, Alvin!

[brtkr (brtkr-deactivatedaccount)]

I installed the very new version 0.47pre1 (July 7, 2009) from source and errors occured again.
How can I fix it?

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

The bug has disappeared when I've upgraded libpoppler (now on Ubuntu 9.04, libpoppler 0.10.5-1ubuntu2.2).
Could you check which version is installed on your computer?