Re: Version problem of l3backend

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This has been fixed in the texlive svn this morning

https://svn.tug.org:8369/texlive/trunk/Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/l3backen=
d/CHANGELOG.md?pathrev=3D79882&view=3Dmarkup

so hopefully should reach tlmgr update tomorrow.

people affected by this can use latex-dev for now.

David


On Tue, 4 Aug 2026 at 14:16, Mingyu Xia <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi Karl,
>
>
> On 2026-07-20, there is an update to l3backend. But until now, I haven=E2=
=80=99t
> received it from tlmgr. I=E2=80=99ve tried a lot of mirrors, and it seems=
 that the
> `tlnet` folder on CTAN has omitted the recent update of l3backend.
>
>
> By executing
>
>
> vim
> /usr/local/texlive/2026/texmf-dist/source/latex/l3backend/l3backend-basic=
s.dtx
>
>
> You may find that the date is still 2026-02-18:
>
>
> ...
>
> %    }^^A
>
> % }
>
> %
>
> % \date{Released 2026-02-18}
>
> %
>
> % \maketitle
>
> ...
>
>
> Since the l3kernel has been updated to 2026-07-20, it will not match
> l3backend on my machine. This is a very serious problem. For example, in
> the ctex package, a regression test is applied, then the .tlg file should=
 be
>
>
> \special{pdf:bc [1.0 0.0 0.0]}
>
>
> But the output is
>
>
> \TU/lmr/m/n/10 1.0
>
> \glue 3.33 plus 1.665 minus 1.11
>
> \TU/lmr/m/n/10 0.0
>
> ...
>
> This is because in l3kernel (2026-07-20),
>
>
> \__color_select_aux:nnN
>
>
> will call
>
>
> \__color_backend_select_rgb:nN
>
>
> But in TeX Live Tree, "l3backend-xetex.def" remains the version of
> 2026-02-18, which has *only* defined the `:n` argument.
>
>
> The function `\use:c` takes an undefined control sequence; then the
> argument will be treated as common text (input stream) and then pushed in=
to
> the horizontal list.
>
>
> Hope you can resolve this problem as soon as possible.
>
>
> > It seems you've been experiencing frequent omissions lately due to a
> lack of volunteers. If needed, I can attempt to help with some of the TL
> tree management work.
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Mingyu Xia
>

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div><br></div><div>This has been fixed in the texlive svn=
 this morning</div><div><br></div><div><a href=3D"https://svn.tug.org:8369/=
texlive/trunk/Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/l3backend/CHANGELOG.md?pathrev=3D=
79882&amp;view=3Dmarkup">https://svn.tug.org:8369/texlive/trunk/Master/texm=
f-dist/doc/latex/l3backend/CHANGELOG.md?pathrev=3D79882&amp;view=3Dmarkup</=
a></div><div><br></div><div>so hopefully should reach tlmgr update tomorrow=
.</div><div><br></div><div>people affected by this can use latex-dev for no=
w.</div><div><br></div><div>David</div><div><br></div></div><br><div class=
=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr=
">On Tue, 4 Aug 2026 at 14:16, Mingyu Xia &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:myhsia@outl=
ook.com">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote class=3D"gm=
ail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,=
204,204);padding-left:1ex">



<div>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
Hi Karl,</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
On 2026-07-20, there is an update to l3backend. But until now, I haven=E2=
=80=99t received it from tlmgr. I=E2=80=99ve tried a lot of mirrors, and it=
 seems that the `tlnet` folder on CTAN has omitted the recent update of l3b=
ackend.</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
By executing</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">vim /usr/local/te=
xlive/2026/texmf-dist/source/latex/l3backend/l3backend-basics.dtx</span></f=
ont></p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
You may find that the date is still 2026-02-18:</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">...</span></font>=
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">%=C2=A0 =C2=A0 }^=
^A</span></font></p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">% }</span></font>=
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">%</span></font></=
p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">% \date{Released =
2026-02-18}</span></font></p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">%</span></font></=
p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">% \maketitle</spa=
n></font></p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">...</span></font>=
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
Since the l3kernel has been updated to 2026-07-20, it will not match l3back=
end on my machine. This is a very serious problem. For example, in the ctex=
 package, a regression test is applied, then the .tlg file should be</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:&quot;=
.AppleSystemUIFontMonospaced&quot;;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;=
font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-n=
umeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:normal">
\special{pdf:bc [1.0 0.0 0.0]}</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
But the output is</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">\TU/lmr/m/n/10 1.=
0</span></font></p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">\glue 3.33 plus 1=
.665 minus 1.11</span></font></p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">\TU/lmr/m/n/10 0.=
0</span></font></p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kernin=
g:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-va=
riant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-feature-settings:n=
ormal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">...</span></font>=
</p>
<div><font face=3D"Andale Mono"><span style=3D"font-size:12px"><br>
</span></font></div>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
This is because in l3kernel (2026-07-20),</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:n=
one;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures=
:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-fea=
ture-settings:normal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono">\__color_select_aux:nnN</font></p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
will call</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:n=
one;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures=
:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-fea=
ture-settings:normal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono"><br>
</font></p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:n=
one;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-ligatures=
:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-fea=
ture-settings:normal">
<font face=3D"Andale Mono">\__color_backend_select_rgb:nN</font></p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
But in TeX Live Tree, &quot;l3backend-xetex.def&quot; remains the version o=
f 2026-02-18, which has
<span style=3D"text-decoration-line:underline"><b><i>only</i></b></span> de=
fined the `:n` argument.</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
The function `\use:c` takes an undefined control sequence; then the argumen=
t will be treated as common text (input stream) and then pushed into the ho=
rizontal list.</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
Hope you can resolve this problem as soon as possible.</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
&gt; It seems you&#39;ve been experiencing frequent omissions lately due to=
 a lack of volunteers. If needed, I can attempt to help with some of the TL=
 tree management work.</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal;min-height:15px">
<br>
</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
Best Regards,</p>
<p style=3D"margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica Neue;font-s=
ize-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-varia=
nt-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:nor=
mal;font-feature-settings:normal">
Mingyu Xia</p>
</div>

</blockquote></div>

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