[tex-live] CTAN packages and generated files

[Manfred Lotz]

On Sun, 2 Sep 2018 15:49:57 +0100
Joseph Wright <joseph.wright at morningstar2.co.uk> wrote:

> On 02/09/2018 15:46, Manfred Lotz wrote:
> > Hi folks,
> > For packages uploaded to CTAN we have a policy that in a package we
> > don't like to have files which are generated by .ins or .dtx
> > because we want to avoid redundancy.
> > 
> > So we check for either   \generate{  \file{...}  ... } or
> > generateFile{..} to find those files we then would complain about.
> > Hope this is technically correct.
> > 
> > A notable exception is the case where the mandatory README file
> > (which actaually may be one of README, README.txt or README.md) is
> > generated by a .dtx or .ins.
> > 
> > 
> > Now, my question:
> > 
> > It also could happen that an x.dtx contains a generate statement
> > which mentions x.ins. Perhaps, also the other way around. Dunno.
> > 
> > 
> > So, my thinking was if in x.dtx I find something like
> > 
> > \generate
> >    {
> >      ...
> >      \file{x.ins}
> >      ...
> >    }
> > 
> > I just ignore that because x.dtx and x.ins are always required to
> > exist as a pair. Otherwise LaTeX would complain when processing
> > x.ins/x.dtx. Actually, this is the way checking takes place
> > currently.
> > 
> > 
> > Is this correct?  
> 
> No. It's possible to make a 'self-contained' .dtx file which has the 
> .ins instruction in the .dtx and generates everything in a single
> "tex foo.dtx" run.
> 

Does it mean that in all cases where I find a .ins generate instruction
in a .dtx file I may conclude that the .dtx is a 'self-contained' .dtx
file?


-- 
Manfred