[tex-live] TL & TeX4ht

[cfrees at imapmail.org]

On Thu 27th Nov, 2008 at 17:24, Vladimir Volovich seems to have written:

> "CFR" == Clea F Rees writes:
>
> CFR> Is there an easy way of obtaining and installing the many
> CFR> scripts provided by TeX4ht to supplement the core installation
> CFR> included in TL?
>
> CFR> Note: I know it is possible to do it but I don't know an easy
> CFR> way of doing it. I did it by essentially preparing a full
> CFR> install of TeX4ht and then figuring out what was already in TL
> CFR> and deleting it. The rest I then installed as a
> CFR> supplement. Unfortunately, this process seemed to require
> CFR> installing at least symlinks in the main TeX tree which I wasn't
> CFR> terribly happy about. It was also a rather fiddly process. I'm
> CFR> looking for a method I could recommend to other people and I
> CFR> hesitate to suggest anything which requires (1) making changes
> CFR> to the main TeX tree or (2) involves this much messing around.
>
> In the Debian system, only the following tex4ht executables are
> provided in the /usr/bin/ directory (see below for more discussion):
>
>  ht htlatex httex httexi mk4ht t4ht tex4ht

I don't have either ht or mk4ht from TeX Live - I had to install these
separately and create symlinks in the TL bin directory.

> TeX Live adds on top of them the following:
>
>  htcontext htmex htxelatex htxetex

I have htcontext from TL but none of the others.

> Now, here is the explanation from the Debian's README.scripts file:
>
>  From v.20011214-1, the main shell scripts (httex, htlatex and httexi) are
>  provided in the usual /usr/bin directory.  The full range of other scripts
>  provided with the package are stored separately, in /usr/share/tex4ht, so as
>  not to conflict with any scripts or programs of the same names that might
>  belong in other Debian packages. From version 20050216 onwards, the same
>  command *names* can be used as arguments to a portmanteau script mk4ht
>  which is placed in the /usr/bin directory. [...]
>  The Debian versions of the scripts all set the PATH environment
>  variable at their start, to find the other scripts in /usr/share/tex4ht, if
>  not already set.  Scripts from /usr/share/tex4ht should not normally have to
>  be called directly, although they can be if needed.

Which sounds as though it is a Debian customisation. I don't think the
standard versions do this, do they? So you either have to customise
them or install them in your path. It won't  work just to specify full
paths when calling them because they call each other.

> it seems highly preferable NOT to put the plethora of tex4ht's scripts
> into the main bin directory, but, following Debian's approach, put
> them in the texmf/scripts/tex4ht directory, and access via the
> "portmanteau script mk4ht".
>
> All functionality of tex4ht is available via the mk4ht script, and
> there is no need to put the "full range of other scripts" into the bin
> directory.

Fine. But since they are not available at all (and neither is mk4ht or
ht), the question still stands. Wherever they should be installed, is
there an easy way of obtaining them and installing them there?

I didn't mean to say anything about where they should or shouldn't be
installed in any case. (Except that ht and mk4ht seemed to need to be
installed in or symlinked from the main TL bin directory.)

- cfr

> Best,
> v.
>