R knit to PDF not working properly with errors

Question

I am trying to knit a document to pdf. I can knit to HTML just fine, but the pdf never works. Things I have tried:

• Update all packages
• install.packages("tinytex")
  • installs perfectly and shows in in the packages pane
• tinytex::install_prebuilt()

tlmgr conf auxtrees add "C:/PROGRA~1/R/R-4.0.3/share/texmf"
Error in system2("tlmgr", args, ...) : 
  'CreateProcess' failed to run 'C:\Users\XXX XXX\AppData\Roaming\TinyTeX\bin\win32\tlmgr.bat info --list --only-installed --data name'

• tinytex:::install_tinytex()

Error in system2("tlmgr", args, ...) : 
  'CreateProcess' failed to run 'C:\Users\XXX XXX\AppData\Roaming\TinyTeX\bin\win32\tlmgr.bat info --list --only-installed --data name'

• knit button

Error in system2("tlmgr", args, ...) : 
  'CreateProcess' failed to run 'C:\Users\XXX XXX\AppData\Roaming\TinyTeX\bin\win32\tlmgr.bat update --all --self'
Calls: <Anonymous> ... latexmk_emu -> run_engine -> system2_quiet -> tlmgr_update
In addition: Warning message:
In system2(..., stdout = if (use_file_stdout()) f1 else FALSE, stderr = f2) :
  'CreateProcess' failed to run 'C:\Users\XXX XXX\AppData\Roaming\TinyTeX\bin\win32\pdflatex.exe -halt-on-error -interaction=batchmode "Document.tex"'
Execution halted

• Complete uninstall and reinstall of R and RStudio

I'm at a loss at this point and nothing I have found online has worked.

Metadata sections:

Without xelatex

---
title: "A Document"
output: pdf_document
---

Error in system2("tlmgr", args, ...) : 
  'CreateProcess' failed to run 'C:\Users\XXX XXX\AppData\Roaming\TinyTeX\bin\win32\tlmgr.bat update --all --self'
Calls: <Anonymous> ... latexmk_emu -> run_engine -> system2_quiet -> tlmgr_update
In addition: Warning message:
In system2(..., stdout = if (use_file_stdout()) f1 else FALSE, stderr = f2) :
  'CreateProcess' failed to run 'C:\Users\XXX XXX\AppData\Roaming\TinyTeX\bin\win32\pdflatex.exe -halt-on-error -interaction=batchmode "Document.tex"'
Execution halted

With xelatex

---
title: "A Document"
output:
   pdf_document:
     latex_engine: xelatex
---

Error in system2("tlmgr", args, ...) : 
  'CreateProcess' failed to run 'C:\Users\XXX XXX\AppData\Roaming\TinyTeX\bin\win32\tlmgr.bat update --all --self'
Calls: <Anonymous> ... latexmk_emu -> run_engine -> system2_quiet -> tlmgr_update
In addition: Warning message:
In system2(..., stdout = if (use_file_stdout()) f1 else FALSE, stderr = f2) :
  'CreateProcess' failed to run 'C:\Users\XXX XXX\AppData\Roaming\TinyTeX\bin\win32\xelatex.exe -halt-on-error -interaction=batchmode "xelatex.tex"'
Execution halted

Answer 1

The issue was with my file path having a space in it. I went to a different user on my computer which didn't have any spaces and the file converted to a PDF just fine.

Answer 2

Step 1: To fix this issue, go to Tools ---> Global Options ---> Sweave in R Studio.

• Then under Typeset LaTex into PDF using select XeLaTex .
• Under LaTex Editing and Compilation , tick "Use tinytex when compiling.tex files.
• Click Apply and Ok .

Step 2: In R Markdown, install tinytex in an R chunk

```{r}
tinytex::install_tinytex(force = TRUE)
library(tinytex)

Step 3: In the header block, type the output as:

output:
  pdf_document:
    latex_engine: xelatex

Select the Knit to PDF and your document should knit correctly.

If any of these help, kindly upvote it so more people can see the solution that worked. Cheers!!!