[OS X TeX] Finding pdftex.cfg (was "Pre-compiled custom formats for PDFTeX")

[Ludger Hentschel]

At 14:27 -0400 7/14/04, Ludger Hentschel wrote:
>If, instead, I place myformat.fmt in a convenient folder like 
>library/texmf/tex/formats/myformat.fmt, pdftex apparently does not 
>find the format file, defaults to plain, and chokes on the first 
>"undefined control sequence."
>
>[...]
>
>Also, if I don't place a copy of pdftex.cfg in the same directory as 
>the document, pdftex says "Error: pdftex (file pdftex.cfg): cannot 
>open config file." This occurs even though pdftex does not complain 
>that it cannot find pdftex.cfg when I use the plain format with 
>pdftex.


At 20:00 -0400 7/14/04, "Herb Schulz" <herbs at wideopenwest.com> wrote:
>Try storing them in ~/Library/texmf/web2c/ and see if that works. Your
>personal ``stuff'' has to go into directories that mimic the structure of
>the other texmf branches.

At 20:00 -0400 7/14/04, "Patrick Gundlach" <pg at levana.de> wrote:
>did you try ..../texmf/web2c/ ?
>
>[...]
>
>Can't help you with the pdftex.cfg, which bothers me once in a while
>as well.

Storing the format as .../library/texmf/web2c/myformat.fmt makes it 
available to pdftex and solves problem #1.

Following similar logic, I stored a copy of pdftex.cfg in 
.../library/texmf/tex/generic/ to solve problem #2. pdftex now finds 
this copy without incident.

I confess I tried several of the other paths from texmf.cnf first. 
So, I still don't know why a copy of pdftex.cfg is necessary, or why 
this particular path works. But it works.

Thank you,

Ludger

-- 
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Ludger Hentschel
William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration
Box 270100, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627--0100
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E-mail: mailto:hentschel at simon.rochester.edu
Web: http://www.simon.rochester.edu/fac/hentschel
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