[OS X TeX] Skim SKAutoReloadFileUpdate

[Adam R. Maxwell]

On Dec 17, 2008, at 1:12 PM, David B. Thompson, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE,  
CFM wrote:

>
> On Dec 17, 2008, at 10:53, Joseph C. Slater PE, PhD wrote:
>
>> The Skim wiki says "we don't recommend using this". However, I  
>> always click "Auto"  and figure this will do my bidding for me. Is  
>> there an explanation for the counter-recommendation? How bad could  
>> things get? What bad effects should I be looking for?
>
>
> I've been using the "auto" feature as well and haven't seen anything  
> bad (yet).

Auto-reload for PDF was a mistake, IMNSHO [1].  There's a race  
condition in reloading the file, so you can end up loading it multiple  
times or (worst case) crashing it with invalid PDF.  The only reliable  
way to do this is to set your script(s) to run a "revert" command via  
AppleScript, if and only if your pdftex processes completed.

Only the  script/process calling pdftex has any idea if it succeeded  
or how many runs will be required.  Hence, using revert is more  
efficient and sensible, since you can't read a partially created PDF  
document (as you can with some formats).

-- 
Adam

[1] http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_name=769A0376-4A14-49E6-A180-15FE27174D33%40cs.ubc.ca&forum_name=skim-app-users
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