[OS X TeX] Paths in file names

[Holger Frauenrath]

Hi,

I would like to make my TeX files more modular and invoke packages, 
formatting, hyphenations, customized commands etc. in the preamble in 
the form of \input{packages}, \input{hyphenations} etc., which will 
include some centrally stored files.

The following paths work:

\input{/Users/holger/Documents/Software/LaTeX/packages}
\input{../../../../Software/LaTeX/packages}

but what I would actually like to do is

\input{~/Documents/Software/LaTeX/packages}

in order to be able to use the same command both on different machines 
(where the user name may be different) and in all of my TeX files 
(which may be buried on different levels of the file hierarchy). 
However, this does not work.

What am I doing wrong?

On a more general level: Is there a reason not to choose such a modular 
approach?

BTW, I have once again tried to search the digest version of the 
mailing list using the Google search box on the web page. I do not know 
what I am doing wrong, but this search has actually never worked for 
me. Checking "Search esm.psu.edu" just gives me as an answer:

'h:esm.psu.edu' (and any subsequent words) was ignored because we limit 
queries to 10 words.

Holger

__
Dr. Holger Frauenrath
ETH Zurich
Hönggerberg, HCI H515
CH-8093 Zurch
Switzerland

Phone: (+41) 1 633 6474
Fax:   (+41) 1 633 1398
Email: frauenrath at mat.ethz.ch
Web:   <http://www.frauenrath.com>

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