Re: [OS X TeX] Non–Recovery from Error

[Messerschmitt David]

On Mar 10, 2011, at 6:17 AM, Herbert Schulz wrote:

> 
> On Mar 10, 2011, at 7:38 AM, Martin Costabel wrote:
> 
>> On 10/03/11 01:20 , Messerschmitt David wrote:
>>> 
>>> As a practical suggestion, I do a "typeset" quite often when I am
>>> entering any macros or equations.
>>> That way, when the problem you mention occurs I know exactly where to
>>> look for the syntax error.
>>> Often I will enter a complicated equation incrementally, starting with
>>> just the brackets and then adding the
>>> remainder of the structure, doing a "typeset" with each addition to
>>> catch any syntax errors early when they are easy to spot.
>>> 
>>> When I do have to remove .aux files, I find that texshop brings up the
>>> viewer on the incorrect page on the first "typeset".
>>> The second "typeset" brings me back to where I was and want to be. If
>>> anybody has a workaround on that
>>> little annoyance I would appreciate it.
>> 
>> Are you sure you even want to look at the result of the first typeset after a removal of aux files? The first typeset has no cross-references, no table of contents, etc. Often the page layout changes substantially between the first and second typeset. This may be the reason why you think you look at an "incorrect" page. IMHO the only reasonable "workaround" is to hit Cmd-T immediately a second time. Or use one of those scripts that do this automatically for you.
>> 
>> -- 
>> Martin
> 
> Howdy,
> 
> As Martin mentioned you can use ``one of those scripts'' based on the use of latexmk. Download Quick `Start Guide for latexmk with TeXShop.pdf.zip' for a quick introduction (it also points you to the full documentation). Another document that covers that as well as some other lesser known features of TeXShop is `TeXShop2.30+.zip'. Both can be obtained from <http://public.me.com/herbs2>.
> 

Excellent point from Martin, and excellent suggestion from Herb. I tried xelatexmk and my only complaint is the slowdown.
Regular typeset seems to increase from about 10 to 15 sec, and recovering from a .aux removal is really slow -- about 50 sec --
on a 2.16 GHz 2 Core Macbook Pro. But since the latter only happens when there is an anomaly, this is probably acceptable.
The functionality is great.

Wondering, though...Is there some reason that manual intervention to remove .aux files is always necessary?
Could latexmk detect (at least some) circumstances where this is necessary and do it automatically?
One such circumstance would be a serious syntax error followed by change to the source file.

-dave

David Messerschmitt
Roger Strauch Professor Emeritus
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
University of California at Berkeley
      and
Visiting Researcher
SETI Institute