[tex-k] Re: dvips premature end of file in binary section

Tom Kacvinsky tjk@ams.org
Thu, 1 Feb 2001 23:06:16 -0500 (EST)


I think that you are right on, Tom.  The problem is that the EPS files usually
see more action than just inclusion into a "master" PS file via dvips.

The problem is that the EPS file is usally included via, say, \includegraphics,
and then latex (TeX) has to parse the EPS file for the BBox (not everyone uses
the .bb file option).  So, if a Mac EPS file gets transferred in binary mode to
a UNIX/wintel box, TeX will think the EPS file is one LONG line because the EOLs
are not UNIX/DOS EOLs.  Oops!

Tom

On Thu, 1 Feb 2001, Tomas G. Rokicki wrote:

> Well, what I'm saying is, if the DSC comment is %%BeginBinary, we
> have to respect the binary nature of the file and skip so many
> characters without interpretation.  So the file must not be subjected
> to any sort of line terminator modification.  This in turn means that
> the file must be treated as binary, even if every character in it is
> within seven-bit ASCII.
>
> -K is a bad idea in general, so it is turned off by default and not
> recommended.
>
> So my position remains; if a file contains %%BeginBinary, it must be
> treated with all the respect due a binary file, just like a .jpg or
> .gif, and not transferred in ASCII mode or otherwise munged, just
> so that the byte counts remain consistent.
>
> But perhaps I'm misunderstanding your reply or the original problem.
>
> -tom
>