[Info-vax] modern LaTeX on VMS (Alpha)

[Robert Heller]

At Sun, 4 Dec 2011 09:05:33 +0000 (UTC) helbig at astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de (Phillip Helbig---undress to reply) wrote:

> 
> In article <QvidnZwtpfA-I0fTnZ2dnUVZ_rydnZ2d at posted.localnet>, Robert
> Heller <heller at deepsoft.com> writes: 
> 
> > Generally a typically TeX distro would have everything bundled in an
> > archive (eg tar file) with the proper file stucture and/or with some
> > build script (or Makefile), that will install everything in the right
> > places and/or create a DCL file that defines the logical names, etc.
> > that are needed.
> 
> Right, but how VMS-aware is it.  All file names ODS-2 clean?  Any sort 
> of VMS-aware startup procedure?

What is ODS-2 clean?  I don't think that LaTeX depends on file name case
(or else it is pushed into the low-level FS code).  LaTeX does not
tolerate file names with spaces, which I know that VMS does not tolerate
either (file names with spaces are a hassle under Linux in CLI usage and
seem to be excessively favored in the mess-windows world).  None of the
LaTeX system expects file names with more than one dot (eg x.foo.y), or
even extensions of more then three letters (eg .tex, .ltx, .fmt, .sty,
cls, .dvi, .ps, .pdf, .mf, etc.).  AFAIK, LaTeX plays very nicely with
VMS. It did way back when and I suspect it still does.

> 
>                                        

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Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933 / heller at deepsoft.com
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