Thanks for the answer, Norbert.
> > changed /etc/texmf/texmf.d/05texmf.cnf to set the TEXMFHOME, TEXMFVAR
> > and TEXMFCONFIG variables and run update-texmf. This worked, but from
> > time to time an update (I run testing) breaks my configuration.
>
> Shouldn't happen unless you accept our versions. dpkg should ask you
> if you want to keep your changes or install the maintainers.
It did not ask nor did it change the content of
/etc/texmf/texmf.d/05texmf.cnf. I think, the problem is the change in
interpretation of texmf.cnf's content, not the change in content itself.
> > I want to have $/HOME/.tex as a texmf tree (I do not know why the
> > defaults differ from this standard most other non-tex packages use).
> > After the last
> >
> > update I got:
> > > pat@mmm ~> kpsewhich --show-path tex | tr ":" "\n"
>
> I assume you have
> TEXMFHOME = TEXMFVAR = TEXMFCONFIG = $HOME/.tex
> right?
This is true.
>
> > > /home/pat/.tex/tex/kpsewhich//
>
> TEXMFCONFIG/tex/$progname
>
> > > /home/pat/.tex/tex/kpsewhich//
>
> TEXMFVAR/tex/$progname
>
> > > /home/pat/.tex/tex/kpsewhich//
>
> TEXMFHOME/tex/$progname
> ...
>
> > > /home/pat/.tex/tex/generic//
> > > /home/pat/.tex/tex/generic//
> > > /home/pat/.tex/tex/generic//
>
> {TEXMFCONFG,TEXMFVAR,TEXMFHOME}/tex/generic
>
> > > /home/pat/.tex/tex///
> > > /home/pat/.tex/tex///
> > > /home/pat/.tex/tex///
>
> {TEXMFCONFG,TEXMFVAR,TEXMFHOME}/tex
>
>
> So in short, that is the absolut correct search path due to
> {TEXMFCONFG,TEXMFVAR,TEXMFHOME}/tex/{$progname,generic,}
Good to hear that this is correct. It would be even better if I would be
able to do what I want. How can I disable adding things to the path I do not
need, like /home/pat/.tex/tex/kpsewhich//, i.e. truly configure the path? Or
is it not configurable as it just does not matter?
>
> > So I get a lot of useless paths, before getting a useful path
> > (/home/pat/.tex/tex///), but the useful path is too late. So the
> > questions I
>
> > have:
> What is *useful* for you?
For me, "useful" is where I put my files into my TDS structure and what I
thus added as path to the config file (see below).
> Do you keep TDS structure in ~/.tex/?
> Do you have ~/.tex/tex/latex/...?
Yes, sorry for not mentioning explicitly, I thought this was the logical
choice.
> > Why is the same path used more than once? Shouldn't that be taken care
> > of?
>
> Why: Becasue (I assume) you defined TEXMFCONFIG=TEXMFVAR=TEXMFHOME. Not
> a good idea anyway, but you defined it like that.
>
> Taken care of: No, if you want this then it appears double, but it does
> not hurt at all.
Ok, what would have been a better choice?
This seems to be a problem created by me, I am just wondering if there is
any case where it makes sense to search in a directory twice. In my opinion
using some sort of unique(path) when setting the path would be saving
resources for users with poor configurations, but it probably does not
matter.
>
> > Why can this path not being edited like the shell's path (or can it)?
> > How do I get the wanted path first?
>
> You need to understand how searching works. The search path is set to
> (more or less with variations):
> $TEXMF/tex/{$progname,generic,}//
> and
> TEXMF =
> {$TEXMFCONFIG,$TEXMFVAR,$TEXMFHOME,$TEXMFSYSCONFIG,!!$TEXMFSYSVAR,!!$TEX
> MFDEBIAN,!!$TEXMFMAIN,!!$TEXMFLOCAL,!!$TEXMFDIST}
>
>
> That is where the stuff comes from.
>
>
> =============
>
> YOu said "too late" ... what doe sit mean? Are the files not found???
> WIth the settinggs you have the files should be found without any
> problem ...
Thanks for this explanation. "Too late" means, that the files in /usr are
used instead of the files in /home. So if I have a more recent version of a
file locally, it is not used. Thus, developing LaTeX packages is
uncomfortable, as the old global version gets used instead of the new local
version.
There seems to be a difference between your explanation (which seems to be
reasonable) and the current implementation (which does not seem to be
reasonable). As I set $TEXMFCONFIG, ~/.tex/tex should be close to the top of
the path, but instead it seems to be quite below.
Is you explanation part of the documentation? If it is, I should probably
file a bug report, shouldn't I?
Cheers
Patrick
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