# Shell-escape in Texmaker

This is a frequently asked question but none I have seen actually helped me. My problem is that I installed Gnuplot 5 and I have not been able to make it work in the TeXworks. The figure I have been trying to plot is this:

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.5}
\usepackage{listings}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepackage[miktex]{gnuplottex}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}
[
title={Contour plot, view from top},
view={0}{90}
]
contour gnuplot={levels={0.8, 0.4, 0.2, -0.2}}
]
{sin(deg(sqrt(x^2+y^2)))/sqrt(x^2+y^2)};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


As many answers have suggested I tried to call gnuplottex in the preamble with the code

\usepackage[miktex]{gnuplottex}


yet this did not help and instead I have been getting the error

Package pgfplots Error: sorry, plot file{.._contourmp0.table} could not be opened. See the pgfplots package documentation for explanation


followed by the warning that Shell escape is not enabled.

EDIT I am aware that there is a phenomenally identical question on this site, namely gnuplottex with windows 8.1 but it does not address my problem. The problem persists even after using \usepackage[miktex]{gnuplottex}, as I pointed out from the beginning.

Following suggestions, I have made sure there is a path towards the bin directory and have included the statement --enable-write18 in the PdfLaTeX command line of TeXworks. All other suggestions are of course welcome.

Also here is my attempt to compile through the command line:

And my Texmaker configuration:

• Have you seen How to enable shell-escape in TeXworks? – Torbjørn T. Apr 3 '15 at 13:59
• @TorbjørnT. I have but the version of TeXWorks discussed is a much older one and many settings have changed. I cannot quite follow it. – JohnK Apr 3 '15 at 14:02
• Huh? Looks exactly the same as the one I have, which according to Help -> About Texworks is version 0.5. Which version do you have, and how does the Preference-window look? – Torbjørn T. Apr 3 '15 at 14:05
• @TorbjørnT. Oh dear, it's not TeXworks but Texmaker the one I am working with. Very sorry for the confusion. I amended the name. – JohnK Apr 3 '15 at 14:07
• possible duplicate of gnuplottex with windows 8.1 – egreg Apr 3 '15 at 14:09

You seem to have a MiKTeX distribution. Add the --enable-write18 option to pdflatex options by opening the Options menu, Configure TeXmaker submenu. You'll get this pop-up window:
• @JohnK It might just be me, and I have no tested it, but on my machine I have in the past successfully used -enable-write18 with just one dash. – moewe Apr 3 '15 at 14:48
• @JohnK You will have to locate the folder with gnuplot.exe in it (on my system that is C:\Program Files (x86)\gnuplot\bin) and add that directory to the PATH variable, see windowsitpro.com/systems-management/… on how to do that. – moewe Apr 3 '15 at 15:01
• @JohnK No, you will have to have something pointing to the bin directory. That might not solve the problem, though. I was just able to reproduce your issue on my computer. The problem seems to be that the file <tksjs>_contourtmp0.table is not created by the packages. – moewe Apr 3 '15 at 15:11
• It should be C:\Program Files (x86)\Gnuplot\bin. – Bernard Apr 3 '15 at 15:16
• @JohnK Have you tried running the compilation of the .tex file from the command line? Via pdflatex -enable-write18 <filename without extension>. If you have changed the PATH the old "have you tried turning it off and on again" trick might help. If all fails, please prepare a MWE and update your question. – moewe Apr 3 '15 at 15:34