[OS X TeX] Re: Simple(?) MacTeX question

[Rowland McDonnell]

> Rowland,

(hello - I've sent this to the mailing list and directly because email
directly to you has been bouncing)

> I converted the TeXShop help system to a single pdf document and
> wrote you. Initially the mail bounced, but I think ultimately you got
> it.

If I did, I don't have any trace of it.

> If not, you can get the document as
> 
>   www.uoregon.edu/~koch/Documentation.pdf

Righto - thanks.  Er.  Could you perhaps produce a version formatted for
A4 paper so that I could print it out nicely and read it?

> --------------------
> 
> Re: list of things installed by MacTeX: Go to the MacTeX site,
> 
>   www.tug.org/mactex
> 
> where there is a link which gives a list of everything MacTeX  
> installs.

Well, yes, I can see that.  I don't want a list of what's installed: I
want a list of what it's all *for*.

Some of the software, I either know about or can work out for myself.
The rest of it?  I dunno, and that's the problem.

> Basically,
> this list is

Yes, I've seen the list, but it's not terribly informative.

[snip list]

> Actually ImageMagick is required for only one reason (!!). PdfTeX
> cannot accept tif files directly. However, the default TeXShop
> template has TeX code which says "if you find a tif file, call
> ImageMagick to convert it to a png file, and then use that png file."
> (You'll find this line near the top of the header.) Of course Preview
> can also convert tif to png, but it is useful to do it automatically
> during typesetting.

Righto - I see.  That's the sort of thing I need to learn about.

Is there documentation about this?  I'd rather not have conversions done
`behind my back' like that, and - well, I'm finding it quite tricky to
find out what happens when you're using TeXShop.

> You can get a detailed list of ALL files installed by any of Gerben's
> packages using i-Installer. In the View menu of i-Installer there is
> an item named "List Package Contents." You can get this list without
> using i- Installer to install the package.

I haven't used i-installer and I won't use it if I can possibly avoid
doing so (I can't find out what it does before it does it).

In any case, a list of installed files is not any use at all.  I need
descriptions and explanations, not file lists.

> --------------------
> 
>   
> I'm puzzled with your dvi error. Are you saying that when you typeset
> a document with TeXShop and then print it, the printing works fine,
> but if you open a dvi it opens fine and displays, but then you cannot
> print? 

Yes, I am saying that.

>In that case, I wonder if you could copy that dvi file to a
> directory which is readable by you and try again. Please report back
> and I'll try to debug that problem. I haven't seen this error report
> before (but there's always a first time!)

I moved the dvi files to a directory I had write permission in, and
everything worked as you might expect: I got pdf files created on the
fly in the same directory as the dvi files, and I'm printing one as I
type, without trouble.

> PS: I just tried a dvi here and could print it. So I'm trying to
> figure out the difference between what I tried and what you tried. My
> dvi was in a folder which is writable by me.

You've hit on it.

Cheers,
Rowland.
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