[OS X TeX] Newbie questions:

[Robert Bruner]

Ah, this is much better now.  Thanks Bruno and Peter for pointing out
that X11User was waiting for me in optional installs, whereas I was
looking at the XCode stuff.  That fixed the dependency which prevented
the Xaw3d i-Package from installing, and now xdvi (sort of) works.

I say 'sort of' because 

1) xterm fails to pick up the path from /etc/csh.login which i-Installer
added, so invoking xdvi from xterm is more work than it should be.  I can
fix this in ~/.tcshrc, but that feels awfully crude.  Perhaps I need more
tuning of X11. I am reading the Apple Mac OS X X11 pages now.

The 'magnifying glass' feature of xdvi is very handy when inspecting
complicated formulas, esp. on a laptop screen.  And the fact that xdvi
automatically uses the current dvi file, unlike Preview, means Preview is
comparatively useless in a rapid edit/preview cycle.  Obviously it is now
time to install TeXShop, despite my reluctance to switch editors.

2) Terminal looks pretty good compared to xterm, and a uniform copy/paste
method is nicer than having to remember option-click to paste in xterm.

Off topic, but: I swear that Preview could successfully convert .ps files 
until yesterday on my machine, but now says 
     "File error.  Couldn't open the file." 
Applying pstopdf gives a pdf file with exactly the same uid/gid and
permissions (644) that Preview can open.  I can see Preview running
through the 'converting to pdf' process on a long ps file, but after
that finishes, it gives the 
    "File error.  Couldn't open the file."
message.  It is as if it writes the converted file in a location or
format which it cannot read.  Very odd.  I do not believe I have
switched universes two days ago; obviously I changed something.

I only care because I actually produce quite a lot of .ps files, and it
is awfully handy to be able to simly click on them to see them.

Thanks again.  

Bob


------------------------------|--------------------------------
Robert R. Bruner, Professor    (313)-577-3179 (office)         |
Department of Mathematics      (313)-577-2479 (department)     |
Wayne State University         (313)-577-7596 (fax, shared)    |
Detroit, Michigan  48202       rrb at math.wayne.edu              |
USA                            http://www.math.wayne.edu/~rrb  |
------------------------------|--------------------------------

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