[OS X TeX] EPS to PDF--en masse?

[Aditya Dushyant Trivedi]

>> And you must enable the shell-escape (as TeX asks the shell to run 
>> epstopdf). This is considered a security risk by some, so while 
>> convenient, you might want to think about it a little longer before 
>> following this advice.
>> 
>> Maarten

Oops, I did forget to mention that didnt I?

>Please explain what you mean by enabling the >shell-escape.

Shell escape is a mechanism which basically stops TeX processing, allows an external program (like epstopd script) to run and then resume the processing. The problem is that it allows any program to be run. So if someone sends you a malicious TeX file, it can do good amount of damage like wipe your home folder.

>Is the default to have it enabled?  We've been using 
>\usepackage{epstopdf}  without doing anything after >installing
>gwTeX and TeXshop.

[snip]

>///wendy

It is not default setting in TeX. So if you run TeX/LaTeX/pdfLaTeX from command line you have to explicitly tell it something like shell-escape etc. Iti s however default setting in TeXShop. Check the TeX run script in TeXShop. It is also mentioned in TeXShop Help. 

It has the potential of creating a lot of damage. I have never heard of a malicious TeX file. So *practically* the risk is minimal. But you have een warned. Use shell-escape only on files from trusted sources.

-Eddy

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