[XeTeX] How to manually create the xelatex.fmt?

[Chris Travers]

On Wed, Oct 19, 2011 at 7:13 AM, Chris Travers <chris.travers at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 19, 2011 at 7:09 AM, Joseph Wright
> <joseph.wright at morningstar2.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>
>> The 'expiry date' in LaTeX2e was there for good reasons, and reflected a
>> desire to avoid buggy and out-of-date software remaining 'in use' for
>> too long. However, the situation has changed more recently, as updates
>> to LaTeX2e have become very rare and the 'expiry date' was no longer
>> appropriate. The latest LaTeX2e release no longer includes an expiry
>> date. Clearly, there is not much that can be done directly about the
>> older version: if you have it, your options are to update at least that
>> file (latex.ltx), or has been suggested earlier to temporarily 'mess
>> about' with your system date.
>
> Thank you for the explanation.  It saves me trying the new version to
> determine if there is a bug to report.  I see there is not.
>
> Anyway, I have a workaround and that's what is important.
>
> Best Wishes,
> Chris Travers
>

Just for the record, my workaround is:

cd to appropriate directory in /usr/var/texmf/....
xetex -ini  -jobname=xelatex -progname=xelatex -etex xelatex.ini

I can document it.  It will do the job.

Best Wishes,
Chris Travers