[OS X TeX] Setting TEXINPUTS/BIBINPUTS on Catalina

[Herbert Schulz]

> On Oct 18, 2020, at 8:27 AM, Ettore Aldrovandi <ealdrov at math.fsu.edu> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> On Oct 18, 2020, at 08:51, Herbert Schulz <herbs at wideopenwest.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> On Oct 18, 2020, at 3:27 AM, Martin Costabel <costabel at wanadoo.fr> wrote:
>>> 
>>> On 18/10/20 10:09, Joseph Wright wrote:
>>>> I want to export
>>>> 
>>>>    BIBINPUTS=~/Literature//;
>>>> 
>>>> which I used to be able to do from my .bash_rc, but can't any more.
>>> 
>>> Try .zshrc instead. The default shell on catalina is zsh.
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> Martin
>>> 
>> 
>> Howdy,
>> 
>> I think it's ~/.zprofile. I believe you can get it to source your .profile by putting the line
>> 
>> [[ -e ~/.profile ]] && emulate sh -c 'source ~/.profile'
>> 
>> in a ~/.zprofile file. If you were using a ~/.bash_profile you can copy it to ~/.profile or change the line.
>> 
>> Personally, I'm most familiar with the bash shell so I made it my default. You then get an annoying notification that you should change to the zsh but there is a link which gives you a command (I don't remember what it is since you need only run it once) to get rid of that message. Aaahhh... back to familiar territory.
>> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> better not use .zprofile. That’s for login shells.  So, if you run under an non-login shell, variables set there may not be picked up.
> 
> The best place is .zshenv, or, on the reasonable assumption that it makes sense to set BIBINPUTS for interactive shells, .zshrc is the place to go.
> 
> That being said:
> 
> 1. One can make the bash shell the default one (using the chsh command). But why? zsh is a better shell.
> 2. I keep my unique source in
> 		~/Library/texmf/bibtex/bib/
>     as others have stated, and it’s picked up automatically.
> 
> —Ettore
> 
> Ettore Aldrovandi
> Department of Mathematics, Florida State University
> 1017 Academic Way                *   http://www.math.fsu.edu/~ealdrov
> Tallahassee, FL 32306-4510, USA * * aldrovandi at math dot fsu dot edu

Howdy,

Assuming you installed TeX Live using the MacTeX installer the environment isn't read from memory. If you really want to change the variables use a texmf.cnf file stored in /usr/local/texlive/texmf-local/web2c which contains the changes. Make sure to run `sudo mktexlsr` after you add the file so the distribution will ``know'' about its presence.

The best solution, though, is the symbolic link mentioned before.

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs at wideopenwest dot com)