additional texmf tree for all users (was Re: [OS X TeX] Beginner help with TeXshop/MacTex needed)

[Gerben Wierda]

>> >
>> > *Please* do try to see if you can answer me.  Please.  I'm really
>> > just looking for documentation.  Honest.
>>
>>
>> Let me try to help you again:
>
> (Thank you very kindly for your efforts on my behalf and the time you
> have spent writing quite a helpful message for me, but I have to say
> that until now, you'd done nothing to help me previously - all I recall
> was a misguided personal attack against me from you, sent to a technical
> mailing list.)

This might not be the ideal way to react to people who are trying to help
you, but I might be mistaken ;-)

Preempting your reply to this: "thank you" in a sentence like "thank you,
but you are a moron" is probably not understood as "thank you".

> I think that the texmf.cnf file that I
> need to edit is:
>
> /usr/local/teTeX/texmf.cnf
>
> but this is based on a faint implication made in
> README.howtexfindsfiles.txt, so I'm not sure.

What makes it faint?

Anyway,

put your personal tree in /Users/Shared/texmf.rowlandmcdonnell and change

========================== [snip start] =======================
% User texmf trees can be catered for like this...
HOMETEXMF = $HOME/Library/texmf

% Our complete search path, the last three are searched through
% ls-R exclusively, which means that you have to run texhash
% after you have added, moved or deleted files in the tree
TEXMF={$HOMETEXMF,!!$TEXMFLOCAL,!!$TEXMFGW,!!$TEXMFTE,!!$TEXMFMAIN}

% If you want to disable the HOME trees, use this:
% TEXMF=!!{$TEXMFLOCAL,$TEXMFGW,$TEXMFTE,$TEXMFMAIN}

% The system trees.  These are the trees that are shared by all the users.
SYSTEXMF = $TEXMFLOCAL;$TEXMFGW;$TEXMFTE;$TEXMFMAIN
========================== [snip end] =======================

into

========================== [snip start] =======================
% User texmf trees can be catered for like this...
HOMETEXMF = $HOME/Library/texmf

% Rowland's system-wide tree (precedes everything except personal trees)
TEXMFRM = /Users/Shared/texmf.rowlandmcdonnell

% Our complete search path, the last four are searched through
% ls-R exclusively, which means that you have to run texhash
% after you have added, moved or deleted files in the tree
TEXMF={$HOMETEXMF,$TEXMFRM,!!$TEXMFLOCAL,!!$TEXMFGW,!!$TEXMFTE,!!$TEXMFMAIN}

% If you want to disable the HOME trees, use this:
% TEXMF=!!{$TEXMFLOCAL,$TEXMFGW,$TEXMFTE,$TEXMFMAIN}

% The system trees.  These are the trees that are shared by all the users.
SYSTEXMF = $TEXMFLOCAL;$TEXMFRM;$TEXMFGW;$TEXMFTE;$TEXMFMAIN
========================== [snip end] =======================

in the file /usr/local/teTeX/texmf.cnf

One warning: the internal structure of
/Users/Shared/texmf.rowlandmcdonnell should reflect the TDS (TeX Directory
Structure), which probably means that you will have to adapt the layout of
this tree as not all of the tree is searched for all kinds of files. There
is no escape for this one because TeX Live (the basis of your new TeX)
only knows one sub-structure layout that is used for all trees and you
cannot have different sub-structures in your trees.

In other words, you cannot hope to find (e.g.) asperger.sty if it is
located in (e.g.) /Users/Shared/texmf.rowlandmcdonnell/autism/styles, it
should at least be in a sub-directory of
/Users/Shared/texmf.rowlandmcdonnell/tex as style files are only searched
there.

G

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