[OS X TeX] MacTeX 2007 setup query

[Richard Koch]

Rowland,

On Feb 8, 2008, at 7:44 PM, Rowland McDonnell wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm in the throes of installing MacTeX 2007.
>
> I've got a working MacTeX installation (from 2006, no version number),
> which uses a system-wide local texmf tree for local additions - this  
> is
> on a different machine to the one I'm installing MacTeX 2007 on.

In 2006, MacTeX installed teTeX. Indeed, it installed Gerben Wierda's  
teTeX distribution.

But in 2007, MacTeX switched completely to TeX Live. It installs the  
full TeX Live 2007 distribution, exactly as if this distribution were  
installed directly from the TeX User Group's DVD, using default  
answers to every question asked by the installation script, with these  
exceptions:

	a) The default is to install only binaries for one architecture, but  
MacTeX installed binaries for both PowerPC and Intel

	b) The default is to configure the user's local additions for ~/ 
texmf, but on Mac OS X we use instead ~/Library/texmf.

See

	www.tug.org/mactex/whatgetsinstalledwhere.html

for more details on this.

There is one big difference in the teTeX and TeX Live distributions  
(well, probably there are several). TeX Live installs in

	/usr/local/texlive/2007

The idea is that in 2008, the new version will install in

	/usr/local/texlive/2008

and not overwrite the old version, so users can easily go back a  
version if they have trouble with the new version.

TeX Live has provisions for a local texmf tree which can be accessed  
by all users on a machine. This tree is placed in

	/usr/local/texlive/texmf-local

This tree is NOT overwritten when the 2008 version is installed.  
MacTeX works this way: if it finds this directory already present,  
then it doesn't touch it, but otherwise it installs a default  
directory tree, which is however empty with no files.

In your question below, you ask lots of questions about texmf.cnf,  
etc. I don't know the answers to any of this because MacTeX by  
deliberate choice installs exactly what TeX Live installs. Thus  
answers to these questions are best found by going first to the tug  
and texlive sites.

Dick Koch
koch at math.uoregon.edu

>
>
> The modification was implemented by modifying part of the file:
>
> /usr/local/teTeX/texmf.cnf
>
> from:
>
> ========================== [snip start] ======================
> % User texmf trees can be catered for like this...
> HOMETEXMF = $HOME/Library/texmf
>
> % Our complete search path, the last three are searched through
> % ls-R exclusively, which means that you have to run texhash
> % after you have added, moved or deleted files in the tree
> TEXMF={$HOMETEXMF,!!$TEXMFLOCAL,!!$TEXMFGW,!!$TEXMFTE,!!$TEXMFMAIN}
>
> % If you want to disable the HOME trees, use this:
> % TEXMF=!!{$TEXMFLOCAL,$TEXMFGW,$TEXMFTE,$TEXMFMAIN}
>
> % The system trees.  These are the trees that are shared by all the
> users.
> SYSTEXMF = $TEXMFLOCAL;$TEXMFGW;$TEXMFTE;$TEXMFMAIN
> ========================== [snip end] =====================
>
> to:
>
> ========================== [snip start] ======================
> % User texmf trees can be catered for like this...
> HOMETEXMF = $HOME/Library/texmf
>
> % Rowland's system-wide tree (precedes everything except personal  
> trees)
> TEXMFRM = /Users/Shared/texmf.rjmm
>
> % Our complete search path, the last four are searched through
> % ls-R exclusively, which means that you have to run texhash
> % after you have added, moved or deleted files in the tree
> TEXMF={$HOMETEXMF,$TEXMFRM,!!$TEXMFLOCAL,!!$TEXMFGW,!!$TEXMFTE,!! 
> $TEXMFM
> AIN}
>
> % If you want to disable the HOME trees, use this:
> % TEXMF=!!{$TEXMFLOCAL,$TEXMFGW,$TEXMFTE,$TEXMFMAIN}
>
> % The system trees.  These are the trees that are shared by all the
> users.
> SYSTEXMF = $TEXMFLOCAL;$TEXMFRM;$TEXMFGW;$TEXMFTE;$TEXMFMAIN
> ========================== [snip end] =====================
>
> Which works as you'd expect with MacTeX 2006.
>
> What I can't work out is `how to do that with MacTeX 2007'.
>
> I'm aware that both MacTeX 2007 and the previous version permit
> user-specific local texmf trees, but I need a single system-wide
> additional texmf tree for all users to access - to give the directory
> I've chosen a specific name:
>
> /Users/Shared/texmf.rjmm
>
> I can see that the new arrangements for directory trees are very
> different to the old ones, but I've not been able to understand the  
> new
> arrangements - the documentation refers to a new data structure, but I
> can't work out what's going on, quite.
>
> But: by analogy from the Gerben's original suggestion, and given  
> that I
> can find only one file texmf.cnf:
>
> rowland$ find  /Volumes/Angus/usr/local/ -name "texmf.cnf"
> /Volumes/Angus/usr/local//texlive/2007/texmf/web2c/texmf.cnf
>
> I suspect that the modifications I need to make should me made to  
> file:
>
> /usr/local/texlive/2007/texmf/web2c/texmf.cnf
>
> and should look something like this (note that line wrapping means the
> text is not identically laid out here when compared to the original
> file).  The text below is `original file contents interspersed with my
> modifications, the modifications marked as such'.
>
> = 
> ======================================================================
>
> % User texmf trees are allowed as follows.
> % This used to be HOMETEXMF.
> TEXMFHOME=$HOME/Library/texmf
>
> % Rowland's system-wide tree (precedes everything except personal  
> trees)
> TEXMFRM = /Users/Shared/texmf.rjmm
>
> % For texconfig to work properly, TEXMFCONFIG and TEXMFVAR should be
> % named explicitly and before all other trees.
> % original:
> %TEXMF =
> {$TEXMFCONFIG,$TEXMFVAR,$TEXMFHOME,!!$TEXMFSYSCONFIG,!! 
> $TEXMFSYSVAR,!!$
> TEXMFMAIN,!!$TEXMFLOCAL,!!$TEXMFDIST}
> % mod to:
> TEXMF =
> {$TEXMFCONFIG,$TEXMFVAR,$TEXMFHOME,$TEXMFRM!!$TEXMFSYSCONFIG,!!$
> TEXMFSYSVAR,!!$TEXMFMAIN,!!$TEXMFLOCAL,!!$TEXMFDIST}
>
> % The system trees.  These are the trees that are shared by all the
> % users.
> % If a tree appears in this list, the mktex* scripts will use
> % VARTEXFONTS for generated files, if the original tree isn't  
> writable;
> % otherwise the current working directory is used.
> % Original:
> % SYSTEXMF = $TEXMFLOCAL;$TEXMFMAIN;$TEXMFDIST
> % mod to:
> SYSTEXMF = $TEXMFLOCAL;$TEXMFRM;$TEXMFMAIN;$TEXMFDIST
>
> = 
> ======================================================================
>
> Is that right?
>
> If I'm wrong, can anyone suggest where I need to look for the relevant
> documentation so that I can work out what I need to work out, or (if  
> I'm
> very lucky) suggest what modifications I need to make to which  
> file(s?)
> to achieve what I want?
>
> Cheers,
> Rowland.
>
>
> [1]  TeXDist-description.rtf is all I've come across, and it begins  
> with
> this:
>
> "Warning: this document is for Unix-savvy people only and has as its
> main goal the documentation of a technical solution, not the use of  
> this
> solution (which is quite simple). As an ordinary end user, you will
> hardly have to know or understand any of this, except maybe for the  
> part
> about the texdist program below, which you may want to use as an end
> user if you have multiple TeX distributions on your system. This will
> however better be explained elsewhere without the confusing technical
> stuff here."
>
> It turns out I'm not sufficiently clued-up to be able to make much  
> sense
> out of it, but I'm damned if I can find the required clues anywhere.
>
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