2. Installation

2.2.2 Kpathsea application distributions

The archive ftp://ftp.tug.org/tex/texk.tar.gz contains all of the Kpathsea applications I maintain, and the library itself. For example, since NeXT does not generally support X11, you'd probably want to skip `xdvik' (or simply remove it after unpacking `texk.tar.gz'. If you are not interested in all of them, you can also retrieve them separately:

`dviljk.tar.gz'

DVI to PCL, for LaserJet printers.

`dvipsk.tar.gz'

DVI to PostScript, for previewers, printers, or PDF generation.

`web2c.tar.gz'

The software needed to compile TeX and friends.

`web.tar.gz'

The original WEB source files, also used in compilation.

`xdvik.tar.gz'

DVI previewing under the X window system.

If you want to use the Babel LaTeX package for support of non-English typesetting, you may need to retrieve additional files. See the file `install.txt' in the Babel distribution.

2.2.3 Changing search paths

If the search paths for your installation differ from the standard TeX directory structure (see section `Introduction' in A Directory Structure for TeX files), edit the file `kpathsea/texmf.in' as desired, before running configure. For example, if you have all your fonts or macros in one big directory.

You may also wish to edit the file `mktex.cnf', either before or after installation, to control various aspects of mktexpk and friends. See section 2.2.9.1 `mktex' configuration.

You do not need to edit `texmf.in' to change the default top-level or other installation directories (only the paths). You can and should do that when you run configure (next step).

You also do not need to edit `texmf.in' if you are willing to rely on `texmf.cnf' at runtime to define the paths, and let the compile-time default paths be incorrect. Usually there is no harm in doing this.

The section below explains default generation in more detail.

• Default path features
• Default path generation

2.2.3.1 Default path features

The purpose of having all the different files described in the section above is to avoid having the same information in more than one place. If you change the installation directories or top-level prefix at configure-time, those changes will propagate through the whole sequence. And if you change the default paths in `texmf.in', those changes are propagated to the compile-time defaults.

The Make definitions are all repeated in several Makefile's; but changing the top-level `Makefile' should suffice, as it passes down all the variable definitions, thus overriding the submakes. (The definitions are repeated so you can run Make in the subdirectories, if you should have occasion to.)

By default, the bitmap font paths end with `/$MAKETEX_MODE', thus including the device name (usually a Metafont mode name such as `ljfour'). This distinguishes two different devices with the same resolution--a write/white from a write/black 300dpi printer, for example.

However, since most sites don't have this complication, Kpathsea (specifically, the kpse_init_prog function in `kpathsea/proginit.c') has a special case: if the mode has not been explicitly set by the user (or in a configuration file), it sets MAKETEX_MODE to /. This makes the default PK path, for example, expand into .../pk//, so fonts will be found even if there is no subdirectory for the mode (if you arranged things that way because your site has only one printer, for example) or if the program is mode-independent (e.g., pktype).

To make the paths independent of the mode, simply edit `texmf.in' before installation, or the installed `texmf.cnf', and remove the `$MAKETEX_MODE'.

See section 2.2.9.3 `mktex' script arguments, for how this interacts with mktexpk.

See section 2.4 TeX directory structure, for a description of the default arrangement of the input files that comprise the TeX system. The file `kpathsea/HIER' is a copy of that section.

2.2.3.2 Default path generation

This section describes how the default paths are constructed.

You may wish to ignore the whole mess and simply edit `texmf.cnf' after it is installed, perhaps even copying it into place beforehand so you can complete the installation, if it seems necessary.

To summarize the chain of events that go into defining the default paths:

1. `configure' creates a `Makefile' from each `Makefile.in'.
2. When Make runs in the `kpathsea' directory, it creates a file `texmf.sed' that substitutes the Make value of $(var) for a string @var@. The variables in question are the one that define the installation directories.
3. `texmf.sed' (together with a little extra magic--see `kpathsea/Makefile') is applied to `texmf.in' to generate `texmf.cnf'. This is the file that will eventually be installed and used.
4. The definitions in `texmf.cnf' are recast as C #define's in `paths.h'. These values will be the compile-time defaults; they are not used at runtime unless no `texmf.cnf' file can be found. (That's a lie: the compile-time defaults are what any extra :'s in `texmf.cnf' expand into; but the paths as distributed have no extra :'s, and there's no particular reason for them to.)

2.2.4 Running configure

Run sh configure options (in the top-level directory, the one containing `kpathsea/'), possibly using a shell other than sh (see section 2.2.4.1 configure shells).

configure adapts the source distribution to the present system via #define's in `*/c-auto.h', which are created from the corresponding `c-auto.in'. It also creates a `Makefile' from the corresponding `Makefile.in', doing `@var@' and `ac_include' substitutions).

configure is the best place to control the configuration, compilation, and installed location of the software, either via command-line options, or by setting environment variables before invoking it. For example, you can disable mktexpk by default with the option `--disable-mktexpk'. See section 2.2.4.2 configure options.

• configure shells
• configure options
• configure environment
• configure scenarios
• Shared library

2.2.4.1 configure shells

Considerable effort has gone into trying to ensure that the configure scripts can be run by most Bourne shell variants. Should sh run into trouble, your best bet is to use Bash, the GNU shell (see section `Top' in Bash Features).

Bourne shell variants for which problems have been reported in the past are:

ksh

Old versions of the Korn shell may fail to handle the scripts. The Korn shell may be installed as `/bin/sh' on AIX, in which case `/bin/bsh' may serve instead.

ash

Old versions of ash are unable to handle the scripts. Ash is sometimes installed as `/bin/sh' on NetBSD, FreeBSD, and Linux systems. `/bin/bash' should be available for those systems, but might not be part of a default installation.

Ultrix /bin/sh

`/bin/sh' under Ultrix is a DEC-grown shell that is notably deficient in many ways. `/bin/sh5' may be necessary.

2.2.4.2 configure options

For a complete list of all configure options, run `configure --help' or see section `Running configure scripts' in Autoconf, (a copy is in the file `kpathsea/README.CONFIGURE'). The generic options are listed first in the `--help' output, and the package-specific options come last. The environment variables configure pays attention to are listed below.

Options particularly likely to be useful are `--prefix', `--datadir', and the like; see section 2.2.4.4 configure scenarios.

This section gives pointers to descriptions of the `--with' and `--enable' options to configure that Kpathsea-using programs accept.

`--without-mktexmf-default'

`--without-mktexpk-default'

`--without-mktextfm-default'

`--with-mktextex-default'

Enable or disable the dynamic generation programs. See section 2.2.9.1 `mktex' configuration.

`--enable-shared'

Build Kpathsea as a shared library, and link against it. Also build the usual static library. See section 2.2.4.5 Shared library.

`--disable-static'

Build only the shared library. Implies `--enable-shared'.

`--enable-maintainer-mode'

Enables make targets that are useful for the maintainer and likely to be a pain for anyone else; the makefiles created when this option is enabled may not work at all for you. You have been warned.

2.2.4.3 configure environment

configure uses the value of the following environment variables in determining your system's characteristics, and substitutes for them in Makefile's:

`CC'

The compiler to use: default is gcc if it's installed, otherwise cc.

`CFLAGS'

Options to give the compiler: default is `-g -O2' for gcc, `-g' otherwise. CFLAGS comes after any other options. You may need to include -w here if your compilations commonly have useless warnings (e.g., NULL redefined), or configure may fail to detect the presence of header files (it takes the messages on standard error to mean the header file doesn't exist).

`CPPFLAGS'

Options to pass to the compiler preprocessor; this matters most for configuration, not the actual source compilation. The configure script often does only preprocessing (e.g., to check for the existence of #include files), and CFLAGS is not used for this. You may need to set this to something like `-I/usr/local/include/wwwhatever' if you have the libwww library installed for hyper-xdvik (see `xdvik/INSTALL').

`DEFS'

Additional preprocessor options, but not used by configure. Provided for enabling or disabling program features, as documented in the various program-specific installation instructions. DEFS comes before any compiler options included by the distribution `Makefile's or by configure.

`LDFLAGS'

Additional options to give to the loader. LDFLAGS comes before any other linker options.

`LIBS'

Additional libraries to link with.

2.2.4.4 configure scenarios

Here are some common installation scenarios:

• Including X support in Metafont. This is disabled by default, since many sites have no use for it, and it's a leading cause of configuration problems.

  configure --with-x
  

• Putting the binaries, TeX files, GNU info files, etc. into a single TeX hierarchy, say `/here/texmf', requires overriding defaults in configure:

  configure --prefix=/here/texmf --datadir=/here
  

• You can compile on multiple architectures simultaneously either by building symbolic link trees with the lndir script from the X11 distribution, or with the `--srcdir' option:

  configure --srcdir=srcdir
  

• If you are installing binaries for multiple architectures into a single hierarchy, you will probably want to override the default `bin' and `lib' directories, something like this:

  configure --prefix=texmf --datadir=texmf \
    --bindir=texmf/arch/bin --libdir=texmf/arch/lib
  make texmf=texmf
  

  (Unless you make provisions for architecture-specific files in other ways, e.g., with Depot or an automounter.)
• To compile with optimization (to compile without debugging, remove the `-g'):

  env CFLAGS="-g -O" sh configure ...
  

  For a potential problem if you optimize, see section 2.6.5.4 TeX or Metafont failing.

2.2.4.5 Shared library

You can compile Kpathsea as a shared library on a few systems, by specifying the option `--enable-shared' when you run `configure'.

The main advantage in doing this is that the executables can then share the code, thus decreasing memory and disk space requirements.

On some systems, you can record the location of shared libraries in a binary, usually by giving certain options to the linker. Then individual users do not need to set their system's environment variable (e.g., LD_LIBRARY_PATH) to find shared libraries. If you want to do this, you will need to add the necessary options to LDFLAGS yourself; for example, on Solaris, include something like `-R${prefix}/lib', on IRIX or Linux, use `-rpath${prefix}/lib'. (Unfortunately, making this happen by default is very difficult, because of interactions with an existing installed shared library.)

Currently, shared library support is implemented only on Linux, SunOS 4 (Solaris 1), SunOS 5 (Solaris 2), IRIX 5, and IRIX 6. If you're interested and willing in adding support for other systems, please see the `configure' mode in the `klibtool' script, especially the host-specific case statement around line 250.

2.2.5 Running make

make (still in the top-level directory). This also creates the `texmf.cnf' and `paths.h' files that define the default search paths, and (by default) the `plain' and `latex' TeX formats.

You can override directory names and other values at make-time. `make/paths.make' lists the variables most commonly reset. For example, `make default_texsizes=600' changes the list of fallback resolutions.

You can also override each of configure's environment variables (see section 2.2.4.3 configure environment). The Make variables have the same names.

Finally, you can supply additional options via the following variables. (configure does not use these.)

`XCPPFLAGS'

`XDEFS'

Preprocessor options.

`XCFLAGS'

Compiler options.

`XLDFLAGS'

Loader options (included at beginning of link commands).

`XLOADLIBES'

More loader options (included at end of link commands).

`XMAKEARGS'

Additional Make arguments passed to all sub-make's. You may need to include assignments to the other variables here via XMAKEARGS; for example: `make XMAKEARGS="CFLAGS=-O XDEFS=-DA4"'.

It's generally a bad idea to use a different compiler (`CC') or libraries (LIBS) for compilation than you did for configuration, since the values configure determined may then be incorrect.

Adding compiler options to change the "universe" you are using (typically BSD vs. system V) is generally a cause of trouble. It's best to use the native environment, whatever that is; configure and the software usually adapt best to that. In particular, under Solaris 2.x, you should not use the BSD-compatibility library (`libucb') or include files (`ucbinclude').

If you want to use the Babel LaTeX package for support of non-English typesetting, you need to modify some files before making the LaTeX format. See the file `install.txt' in the Babel distribution.

2.2.6 Installing files

The basic command is the usual make install. For security issues, see section 2.3 Security.

The first time you install any manual in the GNU Info system, you should add a line (you choose where) to the file `dir' in your `$(infodir)' directory. Sample text for this is given near the top of the Texinfo source files (`kpathsea/kpathsea.texi', `dvipsk/dvips.texi', and `web2c/doc/web2c.texi'). If you have a recent version of the GNU Texinfo distribution installed (ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/texinfo-3.9.tar.gz or later), this should happen automatically.

On the offchance that this is your first Info installation, the `dir' file I use is included in the distribution as `etc/dir-example'.

You may wish to use one of the following targets, especially if you are installing on multiple architectures:

• make install-exec to install in architecture-dependent directories, i.e., ones that depend on the $(exec_prefix) Make variable. This includes links to binaries, libraries, etc., not just "executables".
• make install-data to install in architecture-independent directories, such as documentation, configuration files, pool files, etc.

If you use the Andrew File System, the normal path (e.g., prefix/bin) only gets you to a read-only copy of the files, and you must specify a different path for installation. The best way to do this is by setting the `prefix' variable on the make command line. The sequence becomes something like this:

configure --prefix=/whatever
make
make install prefix=/afs/.system.name/system/1.3/@sys/whatever

With AFS, you will definitely want to use relative filenames in `ls-R' (see section 3.4 Filename database (ls-R)), not absolute filenames. This is done by default, but check anyway.

2.2.7 Cleaning up

The basic command is make distclean. This removes all files created by the build.

Alternatively,

• make mostlyclean if you intend to compile on another architecture. For Web2C, since the generated C files are portable, they are not removed. If the lex vs. flex situation is going to be different on the next machine, rm web2c/lex.yy.c.
• make clean to remove files created by compiling, but leave configuration files and Makefiles.
• make maintainer-clean to remove everything that the Makefiles can rebuild. This is more than `distclean' removes, and you should only use it if you are thoroughly conversant with (and have the necessary versions of) Autoconf.
• make extraclean to remove other junk, e.g., core files, log files, patch rejects. This is independent of the other `clean' targets.

2.2.8 Filename database generation

You will probably want to set up a cron entry on the appropriate machine(s) to rebuild the filename database nightly or so, as in:

0 0 * * * cd texmf && /bindir/mktexlsr

See section 3.4 Filename database (ls-R).

Although the mktex... scripts make every effort to add newly-created files on the fly, it can't hurt to make sure you get a fresh version every so often.

2.2.9 `mktex' scripts

If Kpathsea cannot otherwise find a file, for some file types it is configured by default to invoke an external program to create it dynamically (see section 2.2.9.1 `mktex' configuration). This is most useful for fonts (bitmaps, TFM's, and arbitrarily-sizable Metafont sources such as the Sauter and EC fonts), since any given document can use fonts never before referenced. Trying to build all fonts in advance is therefore impractical, if not impossible.

The script is passed the name of the file to create and possibly other arguments, as explained below. It must echo the full pathname of the file it created (and nothing else) to standard output; it can write diagnostics to standard error.

• mktex configuration
• mktex script names
• mktex script arguments

2.2.9.1 `mktex' configuration

The following file types can run an external program to create missing files: `pk', `tfm', `mf', `tex'; the scripts are named `mktexpk', `mktextfm', `mktexmf', and `mktextex'.

In the absence of configure options specifying otherwise, everything but `mktextex' will be enabled by default. The configure options to change the defaults are:

--without-mktexmf-default
--without-mktexpk-default
--without-mktextfm-default
--with-mktextex-default

The configure setting is overridden if the environment variable or configuration file value named for the script is set; e.g., `MKTEXPK' (see section 2.2.9.3 `mktex' script arguments).

As distributed, all the scripts source a file `texmf/web2c/mktex.cnf' if it exists, so you can override various defaults. See `mktex.opt', for instance, which defines the default mode, resolution, some special directory names, etc. If you prefer not to change the distributed scripts, you can simply create `mktex.cnf' with the appropriate definitions (you do not need to create it if you have nothing to put in it). `mktex.cnf' has no special syntax; it's an arbitrary Bourne shell script. The distribution contains a sample `mktex.cnf' for you to copy and modify as you please (it is not installed anywhere).

In addition, you can configure a number of features with the MT_FEATURES variable, which you can define:

• in `mktex.opt', as just mentioned;
• by editing the file `mktex.opt', either before `make install' (in the source hierarchy) or after (in the installed hierarchy);
• or in the environment.

If none of the options below are enabled, mktexpk, mktextfm, and mktexmf follow the following procedure to decide where fonts should be installed. Find the tree where the font's sources are, and test the permissions of the `fonts' directory of that tree to determine whether it is writable. If it is, put the files in the tree in appropriate locations. If it isn't writable, see whether the tree is a system tree (named in SYSTEXMF). If so, the VARTEXFONTS tree is used. In all other cases the working directory is used.

The `appendonlydir' option is enabled by default.

`appendonlydir'

Tell mktexdir to create directories append-only, i.e., set their sticky bit (see section `Mode Structure' in GNU File Utilities). This feature is silently ignored on non-Unix platforms (e.g. Windows/NT and MS-DOS) which don't support similar functionality. This feature is enabled by default.

`dosnames'

Use 8.3 names; e.g., `dpi600/cmr10.pk' instead of `cmr10.600pk'. Note that this feature only affects filenames that would otherwise clash with other TeX-related filenames; `mktex' scripts do nothing about filenames which exceed the 8+3 MS-DOS limits but remain unique when truncated (by the OS) to these limits, and nether do the scripts care about possible clashes with files which aren't related with TeX. For example, `cmr10.600pk' would clash with `cmr10.600gf' and is therefore changed when `dosnames' is in effect, but `mf.pool' and `mp.base' don't clash with any TeX-related files and are therefore unchanged. This feature is turned on by default on MS-DOS. If you do not wish `dosnames' to be set on an MS-DOS platform, you need to set the MT_FEATURES environment variable to a value that doesn't include `dosnames'. You can also change the default setting by editing `mktex.opt', but only if you use the `mktex' shell scripts; the emulation programs don't consult `mktex.opt'.

`fontmaps'

Instead of deriving the location of a font in the destination tree from the location of the sources, the aliases and directory names from the Fontname distribution are used. (see section `Introduction' in Fontname).

`nomfdrivers'

Let mktexpk and mktextfm create metafont driver files in a temporary directory. These will be used for just one metafont run and not installed permanently.

`nomode'

Omit the directory level for the mode name; this is fine as long as you generate fonts for only one mode.

`stripsupplier'

Omit the font supplier name directory level.

`striptypeface'

Omit the font typeface name directory level.

`strip'

Omit the font supplier and typeface name directory levels. This feature is deprecated in favour of `stripsupplier' and `striptypeface'.

`varfonts'

When this option is enabled, fonts that would otherwise be written in system texmf tree go to the VARTEXFONTS tree instead. The default value in `kpathsea/Makefile.in' is `/var/tmp/texfonts'. The Linux File System Standard recommends `/var/tex/fonts'. The `varfonts' setting in MT_FEATURES is overridden by the USE_VARTEXFONTS environment variable: if set to `1', the feature is enabled, and if set to `0', the feature is disabled.

2.2.9.2 `mktex' script names

The following table shows the default name of the script for each possible file types. (The source is the variable kpse_make_specs in `kpathsea/tex-make.c'.)

`mktexpk'

Glyph fonts.

`mktextex'

TeX input files.

`mktexmf'

Metafont input files.

`mktextfm'

TFM files.

These names are overridden by an environment variable specific to the program--for example, DVIPSMAKEPK for Dvipsk.

If a mktex... script fails, the invocation is appended to a file `missfont.log' (by default) in the current directory. You can then execute the log file to create the missing files after fixing the problem.

If the current directory is not writable and the environment variable or configuration file value TEXMFOUTPUT is set, its value is used. Otherwise, nothing is written. The name `missfont.log' is overridden by the MISSFONT_LOG environment variable or configuration file value.

2.2.9.3 `mktex' script arguments

The first argument to a `mktex' script is always the name of the file to be created.

In the default `mktexpk' implementation, additional arguments may also be passed:

`--dpi num'

Sets the resolution of the generated font to num.

`--mfmode name'

Sets the Metafont mode to name.

`--bdpi num'

Sets the the "base dpi" for the font. This must match the mode being used.

`--mag string'

A "magstep" string suitable for the Metafont mag variable. This must match the combination of bdpi and dpi being used.

`--destdir string'

A directory name. If the directory is absolute, it is used as-is. Otherwise, it is appended to the root destination directory set in the script.

2.2.10 Installation testing

Besides the tests listed in section 2.1 Simple installation, you can try running `make check'. This includes the torture tests (trip, trap, and mptrap) that come with Web2c (see section `Triptrap' in Web2c).

2.3 Security

None of the programs in the TeX system require any special system privileges, so there's no first-level security concern of people gaining illegitimate root access.

A TeX document, however, can write to arbitrary files, e.g., `~/.rhosts', and thus an unwitting user who runs TeX on a random document is vulnerable to a trojan horse attack. This loophole is closed by default, but you can be permissive if you so desire in `texmf.cnf'. See section `tex invocation' in Web2c. MetaPost has the same issue.

Dvips, Xdvi, and TeX can also execute shell commands under some circumstances. To disable this, see the `-R' option in section `Option details' in Dvips, the xdvi man page, and section `tex invocation' in Web2c, respectively.

Another security issue arises because it's very useful--almost necessary--to make arbitrary fonts on user demand with mktexpk and friends. Where do these files get installed? By default, the mktexpk distributed with Kpathsea assumes a world-writable `/var/tmp' directory; this is a simple and convenient approach, but it may not suit your situation because it means that a local cache of fonts is created on every machine.

To avoid this duplication, many people consider a shared, globally writable font tree desirable, in spite of the potential security problems. To do this you should change the value of VARTEXFONTS in `texmf.cnf' to refer to some globally known directory. See section 2.2.9.1 `mktex' configuration.

The first restriction you can apply is to make newly-created directories under `texmf' be append-only with an option in `mktex.cnf'. See section 2.2.9.1 `mktex' configuration.

Another approach is to establish a group (or user) for TeX files, make the `texmf' tree writable only to that group (or user), and make mktexpk et al. setgid to that group (or setuid to that user). Then users must invoke the scripts to install things. (If you're worried about the inevitable security holes in scripts, then you could write a C wrapper to exec the script.)

The `mktex...' scripts install files with the same read and write permissions as the directory they are installed in. The executable, sgid, suid, and sticky bits are always cleared.

Any directories created by the `mktex...' scripts have the same permissions as their parent directory, unless the appendonlydir feature is used, in which case the sticky bit is always set.

2.4 TeX directory structure

This section describes the default installation hierarchy of the distribution. It conforms to both the GNU coding standards and the TeX directory structure (TDS) standard. For rationale and further explanation, please see those documents. The GNU standard is available as ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/standards/standards.texi and mirrors. The TDS document is available from `CTAN:/tex-archive/tds' (see section 2.5 `unixtex.ftp': Obtaining TeX).

You can change the default paths in many ways (see section 2.2.3 Changing search paths). One common desire is to put everything (binaries and all) under a single top-level directory such as `/usr/local/texmf' or `/opt/texmf'---in the terms used below, make prefix and texmf the same. For specific instructions on doing that, see section 2.2.4.4 configure scenarios.

Here is a skeleton of the default directory structure, extracted from the TDS document:

prefix/      installation root (`/usr/local' by default)
 bin/         executables
 man/         man pages
 include/     C header files
 info/        GNU info files
 lib/         libraries (`libkpathsea.*')
 share/       architecture-independent files
  texmf/      TDS root
   bibtex/     BibTeX input files
    bib/        BibTeX databases
     base/       base distribution (e.g., `xampl.bib')
     misc/       single-file databases
     pkg/       name of a package
    bst/        BibTeX style files
     base/       base distribution (e.g., `plain.bst', `acm.bst')
     misc/       single-file styles
     pkg/       name of a package
   doc/         additional documentation
   dvips/       `.pro', `.ps', `psfonts.map'
   fonts/       font-related files
    type/         file type (e.g., `tfm', `pk')
     mode/          type of output device (types `pk' and `gf' only)
      supplier/       name of a font supplier (e.g., `public')
       typeface/        name of a typeface (e.g., `cm')
        dpinnn/           font resolution (types `pk' and `gf' only)
   metafont/    Metafont (non-font) input files
    base/        base distribution (e.g., `plain.mf')
    misc/        single-file packages (e.g., `modes.mf')
    pkg/           name of a package (e.g., `mfpic')
   metapost/    MetaPost input files
    base/        base distribution (e.g., `plain.mp')
    misc/        single-file packages
    pkg/           name of a package
    support/     support files for MetaPost-related utilities (e.g., `trfonts.map')
   mft/         `MFT' inputs (e.g., `plain.mft')
   tex/         TeX input files
    format/         name of a format (e.g., `plain')
     base/        base distribution for format (e.g., `plain.tex')
     misc/        single-file packages (e.g., `webmac.tex')
     local/       local additions to or local configuration files for format
     pkg/           name of a package (e.g., `graphics', `mfnfss')
    generic/     format-independent packages
     hyphen/      hyphenation patterns (e.g., `hyphen.tex')
     images/      image input files (e.g., Encapsulated PostScript)
     misc/        single-file format-independent packages (e.g., `null.tex').
     pkg/           name of a package (e.g., `babel')
   web2c/        implementation-dependent files (`.pool', `.fmt', `texmf.cnf', etc.)

Some concrete examples for most file types:

/usr/local/bin/tex
/usr/local/man/man1/xdvi.1
/usr/local/info/kpathsea.info
/usr/local/lib/libkpathsea.a
/usr/local/share/texmf/bibtex/bst/base/plain.bst
/usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/pk/ljfour/public/cm/cmr10.600pk
/usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/source/public/pandora/pnr10.mf
/usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/tfm/public/cm/cmr10.tfm
/usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/type1/adobe/utopia/putr.pfa
/usr/local/share/texmf/metafont/base/plain.mf
/usr/local/share/texmf/metapost/base/plain.mp
/usr/local/share/texmf/tex/plain/base/plain.tex
/usr/local/share/texmf/tex/generic/hyphen/hyphen.tex
/usr/local/share/texmf/web2c/tex.pool
/usr/local/share/texmf/web2c/tex.fmt
/usr/local/share/texmf/web2c/texmf.cnf

2.5 `unixtex.ftp': Obtaining TeX

This is ftp://ftp.tug.org/tex/unixtex.ftp, last updated 26 April 2000. Also available as http://www.tug.org/unixtex.ftp. The IP address is currently [158.121.106.10], and the canonical host name is currently `tug.org'. It is also in Kpathsea source distributions as `etc/unixtex.ftp' (although the network version is usually newer). Mail tex-k@mail.tug.org with comments or questions.

Following are general instructions for Unix or other sites who wish to acquire the Web2c distribution, (plain) TeX, LaTeX (2e), BibTeX, Metafont, MetaPost, DVI processors for the X window system, PostScript, the PCL language in the HP LaserJet, and related programs. They are oriented towards building from the original sources, though some information on alternative packages is included in the last section. See also http://www.tug.org/web2c, the Web2c and Kpathsea home page.

Please note that the Web2c distribution is a bare-bones distribution in source form, and building a complete installation from it is a non-trivial matter. For most uses, it is a better idea to install a distribution with pre-packaged binaries for your platform. An example of such a distribution is teTeX, which is based on the Web2c sources.

Please consider joining the TeX Users Group (TUG) to help support the maintenance and development of the programs you retrieve. Email office@tug.org or see http://www.tug.org for information and a membership form.

For actual installation instructions after obtaining the necessary sources, see section 2. Installation. A copy is in the distribution file `kpathsea/INSTALL'.

• Electronic distribution: CTAN and so forth.
• CD-ROM distribution
• Other TeX packages

2.5.1 Electronic distribution

In many places we refer to CTAN:. This is both a host name and a directory name. Here are some primary locations:

ftp://ctan.tug.org/tex-archive    (California, USA)
ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive    (Germany)
ftp://ftp.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive   (England)

CTAN has many mirrors worldwide; see the top-level file `README.mirrors' from one of the sites above, or finger ctan@ftp.tug.org, or see http://www.tug.org/CTAN.sites. A list current as of the time of distribution is in the top-level file `./MIRROR'.

You can also access CTAN via the World Wide Web, Gopher, electronic mail, or NFS. The same `README.mirrors' file explains how.

You will need to retrieve some or all of the following archives, depending on your needs (don't forget to set binary mode for file transfers):

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/texmflib.tar.gz'

A basic collection of fonts (TFM files only) and macro packages (including Texinfo and LaTeX 2e). It unpacks into `texmf/'; if you change the structure of this hierarchy, you will also have to change the default search paths (see section 2.2.3 Changing search paths). It is required unless you already have these files, in which case you should change the default paths as necessary to find them.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/web.tar.gz'

The original WEB source files, written mostly by Don Knuth. Required unless you already have this `web' version. (The WEB sources change irregularly with respect to Web2c itself.) Unpacks into `web2c-version'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/web2c.tar.gz'

The Web2c system. Required. Also unpacks into `web2c-version'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/web2c-etex.tar.gz'

Additions to the Web2c system for building e-TeX. Optional. Unpacks into `web2c-version'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/etexlib.tar.gz'

Additions to the texmf tree needed to build e-TeX. Optional. Unpacks into `texmf/'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/etexdoc.tar.gz'

Documentation for e-TeX as an addition to the texmf tree. Optional. Unpacks into `texmf/'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/web2c-omega.tar.gz'

Additions to the Web2c system for building Omega. Optional. Unpacks into `web2c-version'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/omegalib.tar.gz'

Additions to the texmf tree needed to build Omega. Optional. Unpacks into `texmf/'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/omegadoc.tar.gz'

Documentation for Omega as an addition to the texmf tree. Optional. Unpacks into `texmf/'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/web2c-pdftex.tar.gz'

Additions to the Web2c system for building pdfTeX. Optional. Unpacks into `web2c-version'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/pdftexlib.tar.gz'

Additions to the texmf tree needed to build pdfTeX. Optional. Unpacks into `texmf/'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/pdftexdoc.tar.gz'

Unpacks into `texmf/'. Documentation for pdfTeX as an addition to the texmf tree. Optional. Unpacks into `texmf/'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/texk.tar.gz'

The web and web2c sources, plus the additions for web2c, plus the dvi drivers mentioned below, plus extra dvi drivers and tools not packaged separately. Recommended if you want to build a complete system, but may contain an older version of the separate packages. Unpacks into `texk-version'.

`CTAN:/systems/web2c/texklib.tar.gz'

The basic texmf tree, plus the additions for e-TeX, Omega, and pdfTeX. The match for texk.tar.gz, and therefore may also be older than the separate packages. Unpacks into `texmf/'.

`CTAN:/dviware/dvipsk/dvipsk.tar.gz'

DVI-to-PostScript translator. Unpacks into `dvipsk-version'. Optional.

`CTAN:/dviware/xdvik/xdvik.tar.gz'

X window system DVI previewer. Unpacks into `xdvik-version'. Optional.

`CTAN:/dviware/dviljk/dviljk.tar.gz'

DVI-to-PCL (HP LaserJet) translator. Unpacks into `dviljk-version'. Optional.

All that said, the originating host for the software above is `ftp.tug.org'. You can retrieve these distributions (but not much else) from the `tex/' directory on that host.

2.5.2 CD-ROM distribution

Numerous organizations distribute various TeX CD-ROM's:

• TUG, UK TUG, and GUTenberg (French-speaking TeX user group) collaborated to produce the TeX Live CD-ROM, based on teTeX, which in turn is based on Web2c; email tex-live@mail.tug.org or see http://www.tug.org/tex-live.html.
• Dante (the German-speaking TeX user group) has produced a CD-ROM. See http://www.dante.de/dante/DANTE-CTAN-CD-ROM.html, and http://www.dante.de/tex-informationen/CD-ROMs.html for information about TeX CD's in general. Both are in German.
• The Free Software Foundation's Source Code CD-ROM contains the minimal TeX source distribution described in the previous section (i.e., enough to print GNU documentation); email gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu.
• The Gateway! CD-ROM set contains a runnable NetBSD/Amiga distribution and sources; see http://www.netbsd.org/Sites/cdroms.html.
• The InfoMagic CD-ROM is a copy of CTAN (see previous section); see http://www.infomagic.com.
• NTG (Dutch-speaking TeX user group) produced the 4allTeX CD-ROM; email ntg@nic.surfnet.nl, or see http://www.ntg.nl/4allcd/. This is a runnable system.
• The Prime Time TeXcetera CD-ROM is also a copy of CTAN; email ptf@ctcl.com or see http://www.ptf.com/ptf/.
• Walnut Creek's TeX CD-ROM is also a copy of CTAN; email info@cdrom.com or see http://www.cdrom.com:/titles/tex.html.
• Most Linux distributions include some TeX package based on Web2c; see the Linux documentation file `Distribution-HOWTO' for a comparison of Linux distributions, available (for example) via http://www.linux.org.

If you know of additional TeX CD-ROM distributions to add to this list, please inform tex-k@mail.tug.org.

2.5.3 Other TeX packages

Many other TeX implementations are available in `CTAN:/systems', including ready-to-run distributions for Unix, Amiga, Acorn, VMS, Macintosh, DOS, and Windows (in various forms). Although Web2c has support in the source code for many operating systems, and in fact some of the other distributions are based on it, it's unlikely to work as distributed on anything but Unix. (Please contribute improvements!)

The Unix distribution alluded to above is the teTeX distribution. This includes both complete sources and precompiled binaries for many popular Unix variants, including Linux. It is based on Web2c, and contains many other TeX-related programs as well.

The host labrea.stanford.edu is the original source for the files for which Donald Knuth is directly responsible: `tex.web', `plain.tex', etc. However, unless you want to build your TeX library tree ab initio, it is more reliable and less work to retrieve these files as part of the above packages. In any case, labrea is not the canonical source for anything except what was created by Stanford TeX project, so do not rely on all the files available at that ftp site being up-to-date.

2.6 Reporting bugs

(A copy of this chapter is in the file `kpathsea/BUGS'.)

If you have problems or suggestions, please report them to tex-k@mail.tug.org using the bug checklist below.

Please report bugs in the documentation; not only factual errors or inconsistent behavior, but unclear or incomplete explanations, typos, wrong fonts, ...

• Bug checklist: What to include in a good bug report.
• Mailing lists: Joining the bugs or announcements mailing lists.
• Debugging: Analyzing runtime problems.
• Logging: Recording searches.
• Common problems: When things go wrong.

2.6.1 Bug checklist

Before reporting a bug, please check below to be sure it isn't already known (see section 2.6.5 Common problems).

Bug reports should be sent via electronic mail to tex-k@mail.tug.org, or by postal mail to 135 Center Hill Road / Plymouth, MA 02360 / USA.

The general principle is that a good bug report includes all the information necessary for reproduction. Therefore, to enable investigation, your report should include the following:

• The version number(s) of the program(s) involved, and of Kpathsea itself. You can get the former by giving a sole option `--version' to the program, and the latter by running `kpsewhich --version'. The `NEWS' and `ChangeLog' files also contain the version number.
• The hardware, operating system (including version number), compiler, and make program you are using (the output of uname -a is a start on the first two, though often incomplete). If the bug involves the X window system, include X version and supplier information as well (examples: X11R6 from MIT; X11R4 from HP; OpenWindows 3.3 bundled with SunOS 4.1.4).
• Any options you gave to configure. This is recorded in the `config.status' files. If you are reporting a bug in `configure' itself, it's probably system-dependent, and it will be unlikely the maintainers can do anything useful if you merely report that thus-and-such is broken. Therefore, you need to do some additional work: for some bugs, you can look in the file `config.log' where the test that failed should appear, along with the compiler invocation and source program in question. You can then compile it yourself by hand, and discover why the test failed. Other `configure' bugs do not involve the compiler; in that case, the only recourse is to inspect the configure shell script itself, or the Autoconf macros that generated configure.
• The log of all debugging output, if the bug is in path searching. You can get this by setting the environment variable KPATHSEA_DEBUG to `-1' before running the program. Please look at the log yourself to make sure the behavior is really a bug before reporting it; perhaps "old" environment variable settings are causing files not to be found, for example.
• The contents of any input files necessary to reproduce the bug. For bugs in DVI-reading programs, for example, this generally means a DVI file (and any EPS or other files it uses)---TeX source files are helpful, but the DVI file is necessary, because that's the actual program input. GNU shar, available from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu is a convenient way of packaging multiple (possibly binary) files for electronic mail. If you feel your input files are too big to send by email, you can ftp them to ftp://ftp.tug.org/incoming (that directory is writable, but not readable).
• If you are sending a patch (do so if you can!), please do so in the form of a context diff (`diff -c') against the original distribution source. Any other form of diff is either not as complete or harder for me to understand. Please also include a `ChangeLog' entry.
• If the bug involved is an actual crash (i.e., core dump), it is easy and useful to include a stack trace from a debugger (I recommend the GNU debugger GDB, available from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu). If the cause is apparent (a NULL value being dereferenced, for example), please send the details along. If the program involved is TeX or Metafont, and the crash is happening at apparently-sound code, however, the bug may well be in the compiler, rather than in the program or the library (see section 2.6.5.4 TeX or Metafont failing).
• Any additional information that will be helpful in reproducing, diagnosing, or fixing the bug.

2.6.2 Mailing lists

Web2c and Kpathsea in general are discussed on the mailing list tex-k@mail.tug.org. To join, email tex-k-request@mail.tug.org with a line consisting of

subscribe you@your.preferred.email.address

in the body of the message.

You do not need to join to submit a report, nor will it affect whether you get a response. There is no Usenet newsgroup equivalent (if you can be the one to set this up, email `tex-k-request'). Traffic on the list is fairly light, and is mainly bug reports and enhancement requests to the software. The best way to decide if you want to join or not is read some of the archives from ftp://ftp.tug.org/mail/archives/tex-k/.

Be aware that large data files are sometimes included in bug reports. If this is a problem for you, do not join the list.

If you only want announcements of new releases, not bug reports and discussion, join tex-archive@math.utah.edu (via mail to tex-archive-request@math.utah.edu).

If you are looking for general TeX help, such as how to use LaTeX, please use the mailing list info-tex@shsu.edu mailing list, which is gatewayed to the `comp.text.tex' Usenet newsgroup (or post to the newsgroup; the gateway is bidirectional).

2.6.3 Debugging

Kpathsea provides a number of runtime debugging options, detailed below by their names and corresponding numeric values. When the files you expect aren't being found, the thing to do is enable these options and examine the output.

You can set these with some runtime argument (e.g., `-d') to the program; in that case, you should use the numeric values described in the program's documentation (which, for Dvipsk and Xdvik, are different than those below). It's best to give the `-d' (or whatever) option first, for maximal output. Dvipsk and Xdvik have additional program-specific debugging options as well.

You can also set the environment variable KPATHSEA_DEBUG; in this case, you should use the numbers below. If you run the program under a debugger and set the variable kpathsea_debug, also use the numbers below.

In any case, by far the simplest value to use is `-1', which will turn on all debugging output. This is usually better than guessing which particular values will yield the output you need.

Debugging output always goes to standard error, so you can redirect it easily. For example, in Bourne-compatible shells:

dvips -d -1 ... 2>/tmp/debug

It is sometimes helpful to run the standalone Kpsewhich utility (see section 3.5 kpsewhich: Standalone path searching), instead of the original program.

In any case, you can not use the names below; you must always use somebody's numbers. (Sorry.) To set more than one option, just sum the corresponding numbers.

KPSE_DEBUG_STAT (1)

Report `stat'(2) calls. This is useful for verifying that your directory structure is not forcing Kpathsea to do many additional file tests (see section 2.6.5.2 Slow path searching, and see section 3.3.6 Subdirectory expansion). If you are using an up-to-date `ls-R' database (see section 3.4 Filename database (ls-R)), this should produce no output unless a nonexistent file that must exist is searched for.

KPSE_DEBUG_HASH (2)

Report lookups in all hash tables: `ls-R' and `aliases' (see section 3.4 Filename database (ls-R)); font aliases (see section 4.3.2 Fontmap); and config file values (see section 3.2.1 Config files). Useful when expected values are not being found, e.g.., file searches are looking at the disk instead of using `ls-R'.

KPSE_DEBUG_FOPEN (4)

Report file openings and closings. Especially useful when your system's file table is full, for seeing which files have been opened but never closed. In case you want to set breakpoints in a debugger: this works by redefining `fopen' (`fclose') to be `kpse_fopen_trace' (`kpse_fclose_trace').

KPSE_DEBUG_PATHS (8)

Report general path information for each file type Kpathsea is asked to search. This is useful when you are trying to track down how a particular path got defined--from `texmf.cnf', `config.ps', an environment variable, the compile-time default, etc. This is the contents of the kpse_format_info_type structure defined in `tex-file.h'.

KPSE_DEBUG_EXPAND (16)

Report the directory list corresponding to each path element Kpathsea searches. This is only relevant when Kpathsea searches the disk, since `ls-R' searches don't look through directory lists in this way.

KPSE_DEBUG_SEARCH (32)

Report on each file search: the name of the file searched for, the path searched in, whether or not the file must exist (when drivers search for `cmr10.vf', it need not exist), and whether or not we are collecting all occurrences of the file in the path (as with, e.g., `texmf.cnf' and `texfonts.map'), or just the first (as with most lookups). This can help you correlate what Kpathsea is doing with what is in your input file.

KPSE_DEBUG_VARS (64)

Report the value of each variable Kpathsea looks up. This is useful for verifying that variables do indeed obtain their correct values.

GSFTOPK_DEBUG (128)

Activates debugging printout specific to gsftopk program.

MAKETEX_DEBUG (512)

If you use the optional mktex programs instead of the traditional shell scripts, this will report the name of the site file (`mktex.cnf' by default) which is read, directories created by mktexdir, the full path of the `ls-R' database built by mktexlsr, font map searches, MT_FEATURES in effect, parameters from mktexnam, filenames added by mktexupd, and some subsidiary commands run by the programs.

MAKETEX_FINE_DEBUG (1024)

When the optional mktex programs are used, this will print additional debugging info from functions internal to these programs.

Debugging output from Kpathsea is always written to standard error, and begins with the string `kdebug:'. (Except for hash table buckets, which just start with the number, but you can only get that output running under a debugger. See comments at the hash_summary_only variable in `kpathsea/db.c'.)

2.6.4 Logging

Kpathsea can record the time and filename found for each successful search. This may be useful in finding good candidates for deletion when your filesystem is full, or in discovering usage patterns at your site.

To do this, define the environment or config file variable TEXMFLOG. The value is the name of the file to append the information to. The file is created if it doesn't exist, and appended to if it does.

Each successful search turns into one line in the log file: two words separated by a space. The first word is the time of the search, as the integer number of seconds since "the epoch", i.e., UTC midnight 1 January 1970 (more precisely, the result of the time system call). The second word is the filename.

For example, after setenv TEXMFLOG /tmp/log, running Dvips on `story.dvi' appends the following lines:

774455887 /usr/local/share/texmf/dvips/config.ps
774455887 /usr/local/share/texmf/dvips/psfonts.map
774455888 /usr/local/share/texmf/dvips/texc.pro
774455888 /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/pk/ljfour/public/cm/cmbx10.600pk
774455889 /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/pk/ljfour/public/cm/cmsl10.600pk
774455889 /usr/local/share/texmf/fonts/pk/ljfour/public/cm/cmr10.600pk
774455889 /usr/local/share/texmf/dvips/texc.pro

Only filenames that are absolute are recorded, to preserve some semblance of privacy.

2.6.5 Common problems

Here are some common problems with configuration, compilation, linking, execution, ...

• Unable to find files: If your program can't find fonts (or whatever).
• Slow path searching: If it takes forever to find anything.
• Unable to generate fonts: If mktexpk fails.
• TeX or Metafont failing: Likely compiler bugs.
• Empty Makefiles: When configure produces empty makefiles.
• XtStrings: When _XtStrings is undefined.
• dlopen: When dlopen is undefined.
• ShellWidgetClass: For dynamic linking troubles under OpenWindows.
• Pointer combination warnings: For old compilers that don't grok char *.

2.6.5.1 Unable to find files

If a program complains it cannot find fonts (or other input files), any of several things might be wrong. In any case, you may find the debugging options helpful. See section 2.6.3 Debugging.

• Perhaps you simply haven't installed all the necessary files; the basic fonts and input files are distributed separately from the programs. See section 2.5 `unixtex.ftp': Obtaining TeX.
• You have (perhaps unknowingly) told Kpathsea to use search paths that don't reflect where the files actually are. One common cause is having environment variables set from a previous installation, thus overriding what you carefully set in `texmf.cnf' (see section 4.1 Supported file formats). System `/etc/profile' or other files such may be the culprit.
• Your files reside in a directory that is only pointed to via a symbolic link, in a leaf directory and is not listed in `ls-R'. Unfortunately, Kpathsea's subdirectory searching has an irremediable deficiency: If a directory d being searched for subdirectories contains plain files and symbolic links to other directories, but no true subdirectories, d will be considered a leaf directory, i.e., the symbolic links will not be followed. See section 3.3.6 Subdirectory expansion. You can work around this problem by creating an empty dummy subdirectory in d. Then d will no longer be a leaf, and the symlinks will be followed. The directory immediately followed by the `//' in the path specification, however, is always searched for subdirectories, even if it is a leaf. Presumably you would not have asked for the directory to be searched for subdirectories if you didn't want it to be.
• If the fonts (or whatever) don't already exist, mktexpk (or mktexmf or mktextfm) will try to create them. If these rather complicated shell scripts fail, you'll eventually get an error message saying something like `Can't find font fontname'. The best solution is to fix (or at least report) the bug in mktexpk; the workaround is to generate the necessary fonts by hand with Metafont, or to grab them from a CTAN site (see section 2.5 `unixtex.ftp': Obtaining TeX).
• There is a bug in the library. See section 2.6 Reporting bugs.

2.6.5.2 Slow path searching

If your program takes an excessively long time to find fonts or other input files, but does eventually succeed, here are some possible culprits:

• Most likely, you just have a lot of directories to search, and that takes a noticeable time. The solution is to create and maintain a separate `ls-R' file that lists all the files in your main TeX hierarchy. See section 3.4 Filename database (ls-R). Kpathsea always uses `ls-R' if it's present; there's no need to recompile or reconfigure any of the programs.
• Your recursively-searched directories (e.g., `/usr/local/share/texmf/fonts//'), contain a mixture of files and directories. This prevents Kpathsea from using a useful optimization (see section 3.3.6 Subdirectory expansion). It is best to have only directories (and perhaps a `README') in the upper levels of the directory structure, and it's very important to have only files, and no subdirectories, in the leaf directories where the dozens of TFM, PK, or whatever files reside.

In any case, you may find the debugging options helpful in determining precisely when the disk or network is being pounded. See section 2.6.3 Debugging.

2.6.5.3 Unable to generate fonts

This can happen if either mktexpk hasn't been installed properly, or if the local installation of Metafont isn't correct.

If mf is a command not found by mktexpk, then you need to install Metafont (see section 2.5 `unixtex.ftp': Obtaining TeX).

If Metafont runs, but generates fonts at the wrong resolution, you need to be sure the `M' and `D' lines in your Dvips configuration file match (see section `Config files' in Dvips). For example, if mktexpk is generating 300dpi fonts, but you need 600dpi fonts, you should have:

M ljfour
D 600

If Metafont runs but generates fonts at a resolution of 2602dpi (and prints out the name of each character as well as just a character number, and maybe tries to display the characters), then your Metafont base file probably hasn't been made properly. (It's using the default proof mode, instead of an actual device mode.) To make a proper `plain.base', assuming the local mode definitions are contained in a file `modes.mf', run the following command (assuming Unix):

inimf "plain; input modes; dump"

Then copy the `plain.base' file from the current directory to where the base files are stored on your system (`/usr/local/share/texmf/web2c' by default), and make a link (either hard or soft) from `plain.base' to `mf.base' in that directory. See section `inimf invocation' in Web2c.

2.6.5.4 TeX or Metafont failing

If TeX or Metafont get a segmentation fault or otherwise fail while running a normal input file, the problem is usually a compiler bug (unlikely as that may sound). Even if the trip and trap tests are passed, problems may lurk. Optimization occasionally causes trouble in programs other than TeX and Metafont themselves, too.

Insufficient swap space may also cause core dumps or other erratic behavior.

For a workaround, if you enabled any optimization flags, it's best to omit optimization entirely. In any case, the way to find the facts is to run the program under the debugger and see where it's failing.

Also, if you have trouble with a system C compiler, I advise trying the GNU C compiler. And vice versa, unfortunately; but in that case I also recommend reporting a bug to the GCC mailing list; see section `Bugs' in Using and Porting GNU CC.

To report compiler bugs effectively requires perseverance and perspicacity: you must find the miscompiled line, and that usually involves delving backwards in time from the point of error, checking through TeX's (or whatever program's) data structures. Things are not helped by all-too-common bugs in the debugger itself. Good luck.

One known cause of trouble is the way arrays are handled. Some of the Pascal arrays have a lower index other than 0, and the C code will take the pointer to the allocated memory, subtract the lower index, and use the resulting pointer for the array. While this trick often works, ANSI C doesn't guarantee that it will. It it known to fail on HP-UX 10 mchines when the native compiler is used, unless the `+u' compiler switch was specified. Using GCC will work on this platform as well.

2.6.5.5 Empty Makefiles

On some systems (NetBSD, FreeBSD, AIX 4.1, and Mach10), configure may fail to properly create the Makefiles. Instead, you get an error which looks something like this:

prompt$ ./configure
...
creating Makefile
sed: 1: "\\@^ac_include make/pat ...": \ can not be used as a string delimiter

So far as I know, the bug here is in /bin/sh on these systems. I don't have access to a machine running any of them, so if someone can find a workaround that avoids the quoting bug, I'd be most grateful. (Search for ac_include in the configure script to get to the problematic code.)

It should work to run bash configure, instead of using /bin/sh. You can get Bash from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu and mirrors.

Another possible cause (reported for NeXT) is a bug in the sed command. In that case the error may look like this:

Unrecognized command: \@^ac_include make/paths.make@r make/paths.make

In this case, installing GNU sed should solve the problem. You can get GNU sed from the same places as Bash.

2.6.5.6 XtStrings

You may find that linking X programs results in an error from the linker that `XtStrings' is undefined, something like this:

gcc -o virmf ...
.../x11.c:130: undefined reference to `XtStrings'

This generally happens because of a mismatch between the X include files with which you compiled and the X libraries with which you linked; often, the include files are from MIT and the libraries from Sun.

The solution is to use the same X distribution for compilation and linking. Probably `configure' was unable to guess the proper directories from your installation. You can use the configure options `--x-includes=path' and `--x-libraries=path' to explicitly specify them.

2.6.5.7 dlopen

(This section adapted from the file `dlsym.c' in the X distribution.)

The Xlib library uses the standard C function wcstombs. Under SunOS 4.1, wcstombs uses the `dlsym' interface defined in `libdl.so'. Unfortunately, the SunOS 4.1 distribution does not include a static `libdl.a' library.

As a result, if you try to link an X program statically under SunOS, you may get undefined references to dlopen, dlsym, and dlclose. One workaround is to include these definitions when you link:

void *dlopen() { return 0; }
void *dlsym()  { return 0; }
int dlclose()  { return -1; }

These are contained in the `dlsym.c' file in the MIT X distribution.

2.6.5.8 ShellWidgetClass

(This section adapted from the comp.sys.sun.admin FAQ.)

If you are linking with Sun's OpenWindows libraries in SunOS 4.1.x, you may get undefined symbols _get_wmShellWidgetClass and _get_applicationShellWidgetClass when linking. This problem does not arise using the standard MIT X libraries under SunOS.

The cause is bugs in the Xmu shared library as shipped from Sun. There are several fixes:

• Install the free MIT distribution from `ftp.x.org' and mirrors.
• Get the OpenWindows patches listed below.
• Statically link the Xmu library into the executable.
• Avoid using Xmu at all. If you are compiling Metafont, see section `Online Metafont graphics' in Web2c. If you are compiling Xdvi, see the -DNOTOOL option in `xdvik/INSTALL'.
• Ignore the errors. The binary runs fine regardless.

Here is the information for getting the two patches:

Patch ID: 100512-02
Bug ID's: 1086793, 1086912, 1074766
Description: 4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 libXt jumbo patch

Patch ID: 100573-03
Bug ID: 1087332
Description: 4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 undefined symbols when using shared libXmu.

The way to statically link with libXmu depends on whether you are using a Sun compiler (e.g., cc) or gcc. If the latter, alter the x_libs Make variable to include

-static -lXmu -dynamic

If you are using the Sun compiler, use `-Bstatic' and `-Bdynamic'.

2.6.5.9 Pointer combination warnings

When compiling with old C compilers, you may get some warnings about "illegal pointer combinations". These are spurious; just ignore them. I decline to clutter up the source with casts to get rid of them.

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