[tex-live] Directory structure for package including files

[Zdenek Wagner]

Hi Urs,

the current instructions for CTAN upload are here: http://www.ctan.org/upload

If you upload a package in TDS only, the CTAN team would not like it.
TeX Live maintainers do not need the TDS zip file, they have a script
to put the files to correct directories.

Zdeněk Wagner
http://ttsm.icpf.cas.cz/team/wagner.shtml
http://icebearsoft.euweb.cz


2016-06-27 10:54 GMT+02:00 Urs Liska <ul at openlilylib.org>:
> Hi Zdenek,
>
> thank you for the explanation.
> When I published my last package things were more complicated (providing
> additional Python scripts, font files etc.) so I probably didn't think
> of it being that simple and "flat" in simpler cases.
>
> But then I was strongly discouraged to provide a TDS file. Have
> recommendations changed in the last few years?
>
> Urs
>
>
> Am 27.06.2016 um 10:47 schrieb Zdenek Wagner:
>> Hi Urs,
>>
>> first of all you should read the CTAN guidelines. CTAN itself is not
>> primarily used for installation, the contents must be easily
>> browsable. The maintainers require flat structure, everything in the
>> single directory. If the package is too complex, it is possible to
>> separate the files to a directory containing the macros, a directory
>> containing documentation etc. It is explained on CTAN. In addition,
>> you can upload a TDS zip file. In TDS (used in nowadays TeX distros)
>> the macros for your package will reside in
>> $TEXMF/tex/latex/your_package_name, hence it is not necessary to split
>> it to other directories unless you need different files for different
>> engines but having the same name. Anyway, even without the TDS zip
>> file the TeX Live maintainers can cope with it. As each package must
>> contain a README file, this is the best place where to describe the
>> structure of the package so that the distro maintainers know how to
>> install it.
>>
>> Hope this helps.
>> Zdeněk Wagner
>> http://ttsm.icpf.cas.cz/team/wagner.shtml
>> http://icebearsoft.euweb.cz
>>
>>
>> 2016-06-27 1:06 GMT+02:00 Urs Liska <ul at openlilylib.org>:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I'm mentoring a GSoC student who will as part of his project produce a
>>> LaTeX package and upload it to CTAN. (As some background that is not
>>> directly relevant to the question: This package will take sets of LaTeX
>>> commands generated from annotations in LilyPond music scores and typeset
>>> a critical report from them.)
>>>
>>> The package will provide extensive configuration options for the visual
>>> appearance of the output, mainly implemented through \setkeys. As the
>>> definition of the *default* appearance will use a significant number of
>>> code lines the student suggested to move that to a separate file, e.g.
>>> `default-stylesheet.inp` (which I find good as it's also a good example
>>> file for end-users).
>>>
>>> The question is: Should we take any precautions regarding the directory
>>> structure when it comes to uploading the package to CTAN? Of course in
>>> the context of a CTAN package it's probably the most straightforward to
>>> just put it in the same folder as the .sty file. But is that also a good
>>> approach when we expect the package to be incorporated in distributions
>>> like tex-live?
>>>
>>> Best
>>> Urs
>>>
>