path-searching again

[Pierre MacKay]

   >   This improves the maintainability of the font tree,
   >   but, unless all the programs that search this tree employ some form of
   >   caching, there are serious performance concerns.  For example, in order
   >   to find \path|cmr10.tfm|, {\TeX} would potentially have to search
   >                       ^^^
   >   through all the directories that contain \path|pk| files
   >                                                  ^^
   >   in all modes and at all resolutions.
   > 
   > I don't understand this. Is this a mix-up or something?

   No, but implementing texmf/fonts/supplier/typeface/type/... would be a mix-up
   for the above-mentioned reason.  The problem is:  how does TeX know that the
   dvi file isn't located in some weird place like

	   texmf/fonts/foo/bar/pk/dpi300/tfm/cmr10.tfm ?


Was this ever fully answered?  I am rushing through back mail and
it may be redundant to comment at this time.  But---

With a rationally constructed texmf.cnf, or its equivalent
in another environment, a tfm file placed in

	   texmf/fonts/foo/bar/pk/dpi300/tfm/cmr10.tfm 

would simply not be found, and why should it?

I had this experience recently because I had left the latex
files for the TDS in the doc tree, where they could not be
seen.  I was annoyed, but not at the failure of TeX to find
files I had effectively hidden from it.

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