[Tex/LaTex] Including a relative path to a class file

filesystem-access

I'm trying to set the documentclass type of a certain .tex file to be a class that is in the parent folder. However, I'm not sure how to include the path to the .cls file. I can write

\documentclass[letterpaper,12pt]{../foo}

But that complains that the imported class isn't the same as the provided class (in foo.cls I have \ProvidesClass{foo}. I know that this is just a warning and I could ignore it, or I could write \ProvidesClass{../foo}, but was wondering if there was a cleaner way to do the document class declaration.

Best Answer

You can use the TEXINPUTS environment variable to locally change the search paths.

Unix

Run

export TEXINPUTS="..:"

before your LaTeX commands. Or set the variable only for one command:

TEXINPUTS="..:" pdflatex …

Windows

Run

set TEXINPUTS="..;"

to set the environment variable in a current command line shell or batch file session.

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\newread\myread
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[Tex/LaTex] the LaTeX filename length limit for images

I am not aware of specific restrictions within LaTeX but you would need to be within any limits of your OS or any programs you call (many, for example, do not allow filenames with special characters or spaces).

Depending on the purpose of the documents you create there may be restrictions on the naming of graphic files imposed by a publisher. For example, the AMS requires:

File names should be no longer than 20 characters, including an extension.
Use only lowercase letters, numbers, a dash, or an underscore in the file names.
File names should be specific and descriptive, not generic: smith-fig-3.eps is better than fig3.eps.

(taken from their creating-graphics.pdf)