----- Original Message -----
From: "Bo Peng" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Stephen Harris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <lyx-users@lists.lyx.org>
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 7:49 PM
Subject: Re: sixth release of LyXWinInstaller
My opinion is that if a file is allowed to 'browse in', it should
work. Otherwise, it is a bug. A normal user would not care if it is
latex' or lyx' or window', it is simply a bug. A lazy fix would give
out a warning when a bst file with space is browsed in (since lyx know
it will not work), and a better fix is handling .bst file the same way
as the figures.
Bo
The browse function works as designed if you browse to
a directory that adheres to the Miktex installation policy.
It is not a bug if you circumvent a function that works
correctly with the default bst directory install location.
Anybody who changes parameters of a default installation
is always responsible for problems arising from that change.
In order to qualify as a bug, you need to claim that LyX should
anticipate that a user will avoid installing bst files to the default
folder, the only type (without spaces) of folder that works, but
instead the user installs to a folder that won't work. Additionally,
the LyX documentation should check for this and create a
report for the user about what is essentially a Miktex gotcha.
IMO, that is way too much to expect from online Lyx
documentation, it falls short of being a bug.
OTOH, I don't think you made a dumb mistake. I do doubt that
it is a problem that a normal user will experience. Why is your
report just now bringing up this issue, why hasn't there been
a report about this from a normal user? Probably because the
normal user doesn't encounter or expose this browse function.
They probably use the ordinary procedures.
That addresses the priority and depth of a solution. Angus says
fixing this is fragile, difficult so time-consuming. It would fix a
rarely experienced problem which has a great alternate solution.
Using a directory without spaces is a very standard workaround.
Windows uses double quotes (" ") to surround a path with spaces,
and I think that should have a higher priority than: rewriting the LyX
online doc plus a method to check the current directory for spaces
and issue a warning to the user.
I think writing an entry under WinLyX Tips which makes people
aware of a potential problem is sufficient for a rarely encountered
sticking point. Unless you think this is a more common error for
normal users and nobody has bothered to report it in the past. I
think it will be years before LyX developers have nothing better to
do than to fix a Miktex/TeX limitation which is either not considered
a bug, is a WONTFIX, or maybe can't be fixed.
http://facweb.knowlton.ohio-state.edu/pviton/support/tex4ht.html
3.1 MiKTeX
"The approved way to use TeX4ht is via a series of batch files. Therefore,
it is important that you install MiKTeX to a folder whose name (and path)
does not include a space. The default location, c:\texmf, is perfect. If you
really don't want MiKTeX in c:\texmf, you should place it in some
subdirectory whose name does not include spaces, like c:\ProgramFiles (note:
no space here) or c:\DosPrograms. You could also place GhostScript and
ImageMagick in that folder."
Regards,
Stephen
