[OS X TeX] Can't compile - pdflatex issue

[Alain Schremmer]

On Apr 12, 2009, at 12:58 PM, Joseph C. Slater PE, PhD wrote:

>
> On Apr 11, 2009, at 10:38 PM, Alain Schremmer wrote:
>
>>
>> On Apr 11, 2009, at 7:48 PM, Axel E. Retif wrote:
>>
>>> Have you tried Richard Koch's advice of typesetting your sample  
>>> document with TeXShop? As he said, that's in no way an  
>>> endorsement to TeXShop, nor a recommendation for its use ---the  
>>> only thing is that TeXShop looks into /usr/texbin for the  
>>> binaries, no matter what Fink or other distribution has put in  
>>> your .bash_profile or .profile; therefore, debugging would be  
>>> easier.
>>
>> Reading this thread and aware that I had downloaded Fink for some  
>> obscure, now forgotten reason, I was wondering why I didn't have  
>> the problem.
>>
>> Now I know.
>>
>> Boy am I glad that TeXShop happened my way and that this was the  
>> one thing I have never even thought of switching from.
>>
>> So, for one, I sure am endorsing TeXShop. With both hands and  
>> whatever else.
>
> But... TeXShop is completely unrelated. TeXShop is "just" the  
> editor of the TeX file that is compiled by tex/pdftex/pdflatex/ 
> luatex, etc. Those programs can be installed by the MacTeX  
> distribution, fink, darwinports, etc.
>
> Likewise, you could use a different email application to access  
> email. The email application is your "portal" into the email  
> delivery system. It is not the same as the delivery system. You  
> could very well access your mail using webmail, apple mail,  
> outlook, etc., and it's still email, not a phone call.
>
> I thought by now you understood that you can use different editors,  
> but the process of turning the tex file into the PDF file is done  
> by other programs (specifically, we're both using /usr/texbin/ 
> pdflatex, even though I may be using a different editor).

Rereading the above, I realize that I partly missed the point. So  
here is response #2:

I do indeed understand that there are a number of very different,  
very powerful, very feature loaded, etc editors. Actually, in my  
search for an HTML editor, I "tested" a few of them on the way they  
handled …  LaTeX.

I was simply responding to "TeXShop looks into /usr/texbin for the  
binaries, no matter what Fink or other distribution has put in  
your .bash_profile or .profile; "

As far as I know, all LaTeX editors might do it too. But I don't know  
and was just expressing my gratitude for the fact that TeXShop does  
as this apparently saved me a lot of downtime after, trying to  
install some other software that required Fink's tetex, I  
inadvertently gave in.

Regards
--schremmer