> Since it is monday now, I'll try to be *really* constructive.
Ahh, you know *really* constructive is coding ;-)
> Asger> 3) LaTeX, xdvi, ghostview, DocBook, OS/2, SGMLtools, the shell
> Asger> all have different sets of problematic characters, and escaping
> Asger> rules.
>
> What programs have problems other than LaTeX?
I'm sure they all have problems with some characters.
At this point, we have identified problems with LaTeX and the shell.
It's only a question of time until we find problems with other external
programs.
The key point is that when we learn that something is broken, and
try to fix it, we also unnecessarily affect the LaTeX filenames, and
that leads us to the ___s___.tex situation.
Let's structure the code so we avoid this trap.
> Asger> 5) The export code all just spit out a file without asking for
> Asger> path or filenames.
>
> That's not really related as far as I know.
It aggravates the problem because then you do not have the chance
to overrule the heuristics.
> So what I propose is
>
> - SpaceLess should change characters that LaTeX does not understand.
> - we should have a function which quotes arguments for the shell.
>
> Should we send an official RFC now? ;)
It's close enough for a Monday. However, to make it more explicit:
Rename SpaceLess to MakeLaTeXFilename, because it should *only*
be used for the LaTeX filenames. Let's not end up in the same
situation again.
Greets,
Asger
