EPS/LaTeX export: certain text characters (e.g. underscore) produce invalid LaTeX code

[Jonas T.]

affects inkscape 0.48.

when using "save as" -> "eps" -> "eps + latex" to export an svg drawing, the resulting tex file can not be compiled if the text contains one of the following characters:
- "{" , "}"
- underscore ("_")
- 2 or more successive newline/carriage return characters (CR/LF)

reproduce: open the attached files in inkscape 0.48, save a copy as EPS, using LaTex text export. try to include the exported graphic using the recommended way:

        \def\svgwidth{\columnwidth} % sets the image width, this is optional
        \input{drawing.eps_tex} % includes the tex+eps files

-> latex will not compile.

inkscape latex export should probably check the input text for sanity, such that problematic characters are escaped/encoded properly.

[Jonas T. (jo-t)]

that bug here

https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/628677

is probably related to my multiple_newlines.svg sample file.

[Andreas Becker (abecker)]

Underscores or braces shall not be escaped, because they belong to the latex markup. If you want to export to latex, the text has to be valid latex code. Escaping would destroy complex latex code like for example formulas.

Of course, multiline text support would be great, but this is another bug.

[Johan Engelen (johanengelen)]

Indeed :-)
So: won't fix... *cannot* fix really

[malcolm cook (malcolm-cook)]

Would you consider adding an option to auto-escape any latex special characters found in any text during conversion with --export-latex? Something like, --latex-escape

Or, perhaps more generally, an option to 'filter' all text, which might be used like `--latex-filter-text 'sed s/%/\%/'.`

I am trying to support a workflow which produces figures having '%' on plot labels.
They are being converted to multiple file formats (.svg/.pdf/.png).
The files can be assured NOT to required any 'special' character.
I would like to use inkscape accordingly.