tds: Top-level directories
3 Top-level directories
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The directories under the `texmf' root identify the major components of
a TeX system (see Section ⇒Summary for a summary). A site may
omit any unneeded directories.
Although the TDS by its nature can specify precise locations only
for implementation-independent files, we recognize that installers may
well wish to place other files under `texmf' to simplify administration
of the TeX tree, especially if it is maintained by someone other than
the system administrator. Therefore, additional top-level directories
may be present.
The top-level directories specified by the TDS are:
* `tex' for TeX files (Section ⇒Macros).
* `fonts' for font-related files (Section ⇒Fonts).
* `metafont' for Metafont files which are not fonts (Section ⇒
Non-font Metafont files).
* `metapost' for MetaPost files (Section ⇒MetaPost).
* `bibtex' for BibTeX files (Section ⇒BibTeX).
* `scripts' for platform-independent executables (Section ⇒
Scripts).
* `doc' for user documentation (Section ⇒Documentation).
* `source' for sources. This includes both traditional program
sources (for example, Web2C sources go in `texmf/source/web2c')
and, e.g., LaTeX `dtx' sources (which go in `texmf/source/latex').
The TDS leaves unspecified any structure under `source'.
`source' is intended for files which are not needed at runtime by
any TeX program; it should not be included in any search path. For
example, `plain.tex' does not belong under `texmf/source', even
though it is a "source file" in the sense of not being derived
from another file. (It goes in `texmf/tex/plain/base', as explained
in Section ⇒Macros).
* `IMPLEMENTATION' for implementations (examples: `emtex', `vtex',
`web2c'), to be used for whatever purpose deemed suitable by the
implementor or TeX administrator. That is, files that cannot be
shared between implementations, such as pool files (`tex.pool')
and memory dump files (`plain.fmt') go here, in addition to
Example implementation-specific trees:: for examples of real
`IMPLEMENTATION' trees.
Such implementation-specific configuration files should _not_ be
located using the main TeX input search path (e.g., `TEXINPUTS').
This must be reserved for files actually read by a TeX engine.
See Section ⇒Extensions.
* `PROGRAM' for program-specific input and configuration files for
any TeX-related programs (examples: `mft', `dvips'). In fact, the
`tex', `metafont', `metapost', and `bibtex' items above may all be
seen as instances of this case.
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