Description:

When trying to render a map in python, I get the following error:

File "./hikingmap.py", line 254, in render_map
mapnik.render_to_file(m, filename, 'pdf')
RuntimeError: Cairo backend not available, cannot write to format: pdf

The error happens only when rendering to pdf, ps or svg, jpeg and png work fine. The following piece of code is an excerpt from mapnik_python.cpp, line 489-496:

else if (format == "pdf" || format == "svg" || format =="ps" || format == "ARGB32" || format == "RGB24")
{
#if defined(HAVE_CAIRO)
mapnik::save_to_cairo_file(map,filename,format,1.0);
#else
throw mapnik::ImageWriterException("Cairo backend not available, cannot write to format: " + format);
#endif
}

This suggest that HAVE_CAIRO was not defined at compile time for some reason. I suppose the answer can be found in the build log, which I am unable to find on the archlinux website.

Additional info:
* version: mapnik-2.2.0.654.g718a8b3-1

Reproducing this bug is not that easy as it requires a complete setup, but calling mapnik.render_to_file in python with 'pdf' as third parameter should do the trick.