[OS X TeX] epstopdf glitch

[Justin C. Walker]

On Jul 12, 2010, at 09:26 , Herbert Schulz wrote:

>
> On Jul 12, 2010, at 11:06 AM, Michael Sharpe wrote:
>
>>
>> On Jul 11, 2010, at 11:58 PM, Justin C. Walker wrote:
>>
>>> Hi, all,
>>>
>>> I just updated (via TLU) my tex-live 2010 installation, on two  
>>> systems: 10.5.8 and 10.6.4.  When I do this, I run a quick check  
>>> to verify that things aren't broken.  On the 10.6 system, I have  
>>> run into a problem which looks like a config problem of some sort,  
>>> with 'epstopdf' failing.  The same test works on 10.5  
>>> (identical .tex files).
>>>
>>> The error shows up in the TeXShop console window, but not in  
>>> the .log file produced as a byproduct of compilation:
>>>
>>> (/usr/local/texlive/2010/texmf-dist/tex/latex/amsfonts/ 
>>> umsb.fd)epstopdf ($Id: ep
>>> stopdf.pl 18319 2010-05-17 16:34:21Z karl $) 2.16
>>> !!! Error: Output filename '/Users/justin/Pictures/ 
>>> wolf_eel_thumbnail-eps-conver
>>> ted-to.pdf' not allowed in restricted mode.
>>>
>>> The man page and "texdoc" don't happen to mention "restricted  
>>> mode", so I'm sort of clueless (and Perl-averse).
>>>
>>> --
>>
>> Perhaps you've been hit by changes to \write18 in TeXLive 2010 as  
>> detailed in section 10.2 of
>>
>> http://www.tug.org/texlive/doc/texlive-en/texlive-en.html
>>
>> Michael
>
> Howdy,
>
> If anything the restricted \write18 (shell escape) feature in TL2010  
> should make it easier to include eps figures in pdf(la)tex documents  
> since you will not need to set --shell-escape explicitly once  
> graphic(s/x) is loaded. That is true only for conversion of foo.eps- 
> >foo-eps-converted-to.pdf using epstopdf (which is auto-loaded by  
> the grapohic(s/x) package when run under pdf(la)tex).

Thanks!  You tickled a vague memory which turned out to be accurate  
for a change: I had set the "default script" on my 10.5 system to "Tex 
+DVI", while on the 10.6 system it was set to "Pdftex".  Typesetting  
worked after switching to the former.

Next question (for those of us in the cheap seats): what is the magic  
that makes this work in the first case?

And why would one prefer one setting to another in general?  Unless  
that is way too general a question for a mailing list :-}

Justin

--
Justin C. Walker, Curmudgeon at Large
Institute for the Absorption of Federal Funds
--
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb
    voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting
    the vote.