Underscore character in Comment leads to error during LaTeX execution

[thortiede]

When an Underscore _ character is present in a comment the pdf creation fails with:
ERROR: An error occurred during LaTeX execution

The underscore character can be escaped with \_ to avoid this problem.

Can this escaping be done in python?
Possible spot: Addition of comment to the record

[lkuchenb]

I actually use TeX in the comments frequently. Partly to render formulas or to do formatting, partly because inputencs power in dealing with unicode is limited (thus, i write \alpha-chain in Excel).

But TeX excaping could certainly be a switchable feature if one prefers plain text comments without worrying about special characters.

[thortiede]

Writing TeX in the comments makes perfect sense. I guess I was just so occupied with getting my grading out of the way and the documents finally produced I didn't think of it.