[OS X TeX] The metadata is in the log file
Ross Moore
ross at maths.mq.edu.au
Tue Sep 14 13:06:56 CEST 2004
Hi all,
On 14/09/2004, at 5:36 PM, Jérôme Laurens wrote:
>
> Le 14 sept. 04, à 06:03, Will Robertson a écrit :
>
>>
>> On 14 Sep 2004, at 6:26 AM, Joachim Kock wrote:
>>
>>> The slogan is that the metadata is in the log file!
>>
>> An implied root file. Very elegant!
>>
>
> It does not really solve the meta data problem because when you
> archive,
> you generally trash all the .log, .aux and so on.
> So when you later come back to this archive you have no available
> metadata in the log because there is no log.
I know people do this -- trash the auxiliary files, that is --- and the
latest additions
to TeXshop make this easier. They seem to think that by removing these
files it makes
the directory "cleaner" or "saves space"; besides, they can always be
recovered when needed.
But in my opinion that is a fallacy.
They can only be recovered exactly if the same processor and packages
are available
when you come to work with the document again later --- possibly many
years later.
We *know* that is not the case.
Just today the latest pdftex was announced, and it changes the way a
lot
of things work. In particular it changes the search paths for fonts,
packages, etc.
Personally, I like to know *exactly* what was used when an old document
was last
processed. When it doesn't work out-of-the-box in a new situation, I
can see from
the old logs how it used to work, and thus am better placed to adjust
to the new
situation.
IMHO, the extra space taken by these files is worth it, for long-term
recoverability.
>
> Moreover it relies on some de facto syntax of the log, which is not
> documented at all and not officially supported.
> If we ever happen to have a localized version of TeX, the log file
> will be localized and the log file should be parsed accordingly.
I cannot see that the way input-file names are printed to the log is
likely to change,
except for the question of giving full paths, or not.
Besides, it's more a matter of searching for specific things within the
log, than trying
to interpret each line to assess what it indicates has happened. Any
attempt to rely
on a particular "syntax of the log" is surely off-beam.
> Finally, if the format file is patched and decides to \wlog something
> else this method is lost.
>
> Finally, this trick seems extremely elegant as an hint when no other
> information is available.
> The question is now how does it cost to implement that?
>
Just my 2c.
Ross
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ross Moore ross at maths.mq.edu.au
Mathematics Department office: E7A-419
Macquarie University tel: +61 +2 9850 8955
Sydney, Australia fax: +61 +2 9850 8114
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