Re: [AUCTeX-devel] Re: Interface of kpathsea file search

[David Kastrup]

Ralf Angeli <address@hidden> writes:

> * David Kastrup (2005-11-23) writes:
>
>> Ralf Angeli <address@hidden> writes:
>>
>>> Okay, in order to fix the former bug I can add a
>>>     ("sty" "${TEXINPUTS}" '("sty"))
>>> to `TeX-kpathsea-format-alist',
>>
>> More likely ${TEXINPUTS.latex}.
>
> Okay.
>
>>> but I am not really feeling comfortable with this because it is a
>>> misuse of the variable and the interface of
>>> `TeX-search-files-kpathsea'.
>>
>> Actually, I can't see the misuse here.  Looks like the intended use to
>> me.
>
> As far as I understand the variable's doc string and intention the
> first item in each element is rather something like a format as used
> by the kpse* tools, e.g. as in `kpsewhich -progname latex -format tex
> article.cls'.

It is exactly "something like": we use it as a clue to detect what
kind of search would be wanted from kpathsea.  Maybe we should indeed
use progname instead of TEXINPUTS.latex, but I don't know what the
MikTeX substitutes will actually do in either case.

> But we are using it as file extension.

We are _mapping_ it to a file type and a set of extensions.

I am not saying this is pretty.  It is merely trying to use kpathsea
transparently without changing all the callers of the file search
functions.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum