[tex-live] TL 2010 installation does not correctly set path in presence of TL 2009

[Reinhard Kotucha]

On 6 July 2010 Philip Taylor (Webmaster, Ret'd) wrote:

 > T T wrote:
 > 
 > > Windows doesn't allow for user path to take precedence over the
 > > system path, as Manuel already noted.  There is nothing we do
 > > about this one.
 > 
 > Agreed : Microsoft write "the user path is appended to the system path. "
 > >
 > >>> Perhaps the installer should try to detect such cases and issue
 > >>> a warning, but it is the little surprises that keep life
 > >>> interesting.
 > >>>
 > >> It seems to me the installer is already doing that. From Phil's
 > >> original message:
 > >>
 > >> Warning: conflicting [pdf]tex program found on the system path in [...]
 > 
 > But this message is concealed in a 11930-line file; should not
 > warnings and errors be additionally displayed as the final
 > step in the console window (and perhaps a flashing red icon
 > appear in the GUI warning the user of this, and allowing
 > a GUI way of seeing warnings and errors) ?

I assume that you are talking about the log file.  I don't have a log
file containing any error or warning messages.  Do you think it's
sufficient to display all lines beginning with "Error:" or "Warning:"
at the end?

Parsing the log file has some drawbacks.  If a message contains line
breaks, for instance, we only get the first line.  But the advantage
of this approach is that we don't have to modify the installer itself.
Parsing the log file can even be done by a separate program.

And even if a multi-line message is truncated, I think that it's
helpful to provide the line number of its occurrence in the log file.

I can imagine better solutions but I don't think it's a good idea to
add new features to the installer itself a few days before it's carved
in stone.

Regards,
  Reinhard

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Reinhard Kotucha			              Phone: +49-511-3373112
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