[tex-live] kpsewhich

[Hans Hagen]

At 23:20 26/03/2004, Olaf Weber wrote:

>Note that the syntax of environment variables is not determined by the
>OS.  It is determined by the interpreter retrieving the variables.
>Where command.com wants %FOO%, bash on the same OS wants $FOO.

exactly, and to make things worse, some os's are case sensitive with 
respect to env vars, while others aren't;

> >    -expand-path='var(SYSTEXMF)/fonts'
>
> > that would be upward compatible, wouldn't it?
>
>Not really, as it turns previously-uninterpreted text into something
>that is interpreted.

yes, but kind of controlled

>Of course, what happens when I run this on an OS where the default
>interpreter has its own ideas on the meaning of 'var(...)'?

then we cook up something so remote from var that no os will see it, like 
kpsevar(...)  -)

[we need something SOAP for os's i guess]

Hans

PS. I sometimes run into cshell systems, which adds another level of 
fuzzyness in attempts to make portable scripts (bat cmd sh csh ... where 
will it end)