Re: MacTeX 2007 and documentation

Ted Pavlic <ted.pavlic@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Those solutions probably do work better, but it's impossible for me to
remember and generally all a bit too complicated for GUI people like me.

My main point (the rest was for archival purposes and for advanced
users) is that the command:

locate TEXT

may be the most useful command available when doing searches at the
CLI.

It's non-functional if you ask me.

In fact, the "locate" command is exactly what Spotlight (and the
MIcrosoft indexers on Windows) is based on.

<puzzled> But Spotlight indexes file /content/. It's useless at
finding files by name - utterly useless.

I'll often try using Spotlight to find by filename - and every time, I
then immediately switch to EasyFind which gets me what I want quickly
enough. Spotlight usually fails to find what I'm after. I have no idea
what it's playing at.

Once upon a time, Apple used to provide a really neat `find file'
command. Those were the days - when we had a user-friendly OS which
could do what the user wanted.

So, typing:

locate memoir

will find every file on your system that has the text "memoir" on it,
and it finds them *FAST* (because it's records an updated index of
your filesystem every week).

1) Updated every week ain't good enough.

2) locate: `/var/db/locate.database': No such file or directory

Unfortunately, that will also get you "memoir.cls". So, you want to
prune those findings so that you only see the pdf's. Hence, you do:

locate memoir | grep pdf

If locate generates 30 lines of text, where each line is a file, grep
then produces 10 lines of those that show you all of the pdf's
associated with memoir.

I've yet to be able to work out how to use grep with any intelligence.
I need a Unix guru to chat to for half an hour or so to put me straight.
The scores of hours I've spent reading documentation and tutorials on
the subject while playing with grep has just left me baffled and
incomprehending.

Oh, I've often *thought* I'd understood the documentation - but then
when I try it out, things just don't work out and I've never been able
to work out what the hell's going on.

You could prune further by adding additional
"| grep" lines. LIke:

locate memoir | grep tex | grep pdf

or, perhaps:

locate memoir | grep doc | grep pdf

In fact, the command:

locate memoir | grep doc

will probably work pretty well.

<shrug> Non-functional here.

If I'd want to have to deal with that sort of thing, I'd be running a
plain Unix of some sort, you know.

I think there's plenty of room for debate there.

<puzzled> But that is unquestionable exactly what I think.

What debate do you think might be possible? I am curious.

The CLI is a part of OS/X.

It's MacOS X, not OS/X. I think you're thinking of AU/X.

It's not some strange UNIX-emulator built
as an afterthought

Yes, I know - of course.

-- it's an integral part of the operating system.

Yes, I know - of course.

If you don't like using it, you don't have to use it.

I don't like it but I cannot avoid it if I want to use TeX the way I
like using it. Your assumption is wildly mistaken.

However, it's
wrong to assume that those who aren't afraid of it would rather be
using "plain Unix."

It is inexplicably wrong of you to assume that an inability to make good
use of the Terminal equates to fear of the command line.

It is also wrong of you to assume that my statement:

"If I'd want to have to deal with that sort of thing, I'd be running a
plain Unix of some sort, you know."

was meant to be read as applying to anyone else.

Surely it's perfectly clear that I was writing only about myself? Even
if your first language isn't English, that should have been
unmistakeably clear.

I just cannot learn how to use Unix from the available sources. I've
only ever been able to learn about Unix when I've had a tame Unix guru
to hand. That's because the documentation that exists is such that I
have great difficulty understanding it at all and have always needed
translations and expansions of what's written.

There's a lot more to UNIX than the CLI, and there's a lot more to OS/
X than the GUI.

Yes, I know. I thought I'd use sloppy terminology for the sake of
brevity. Do you think my posts would be improved if I applied maximally
precise pedantry to them?

What you've got to remember is that because I find it nigh on impossible
to learn about Unix without having a Unix guru to hand, those parts of
MacOS X (not OS/X) which are only accessible via the command line are
mostly inaccessible to me.

<shrug> One big problem I've got is that I forget command line
incantations almost as soon as I've figured them out. This is because I
cannot learn the logic behind them - any Unix command line command is to
me a purely arbitrary string of junk that has to be memorised as an
arbitrary string without any sense to it at all.

So I have text files with command line incantations in them for me to
cut-and-paste when I need them - very few, because it's almost
impossible to file this sort of stuff in a fashion that's useful. In
short, I've got a handful of TeX-specific commands I use and that's
pretty much that.

Rowland.
(whose Mac has finally come back from the menders)

--
Remove the animal for email address: rowland.mcdonnell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sorry - the spam got to me
http://www.mag-uk.org http://www.bmf.co.uk
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.

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