[tex-k] TeX finding filenames with spaces

[Paul Vojta]

> Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 08:58:05 -0500
> From: karl at freefriends.org (Karl Berry)
> To: wolinski at mimuw.edu.pl
> Subject: Re: [tex-k] TeX finding filenames with spaces
> 
>     > Can we afford for it to be always on (triptest/spirit-of-license-wise)?
> 
> Filenames have always been system-dependent.  We can certainly allow
> \input "foo bar.tex"
> in base TeX without violating anyone's license, spirit or letter.

[snip]

>     to devise a TeXish way of supporting them, perhaps {foo bar.tex} ?
> 
> That we cannot do in core TeX, it changes the meaning of the \input
> primitive.

Huh?  Are you thinking of \input{..} in which the braces are required?
I don't think that that was what the original poster had in mind.

I don't see any essential difference between \input with optional braces,
and \input with optional quotes.

But, why not lean toward whatever mechanism is used for outputting
special characters in \special{} and \write{} and \message{}?

--Paul Vojta, vojta at math.berkeley.edu