Re: Set luatex cache directory path

[Hans Hagen <j.hagen@xs4all.nl>]

On 4/6/2021 8:59 PM, Thangalin wrote:
> Thanks Aditya.
> 
> What do you think of changing the default luatex-cache directory to the 
> system's temporary directory? Consider:
> 
>   * The $HOME directory is sacrosanct (4784 people agree:
>     https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/snapd/+bug/1575053
>     <https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/snapd/+bug/1575053>)
>   * The temp directory is cleared on Linux (Unix?) system reboots;
>     purged during regular Windows upkeep
>   * The temp directory is writable by default
>   * Changing the location requires calling an additional program, which
>     isn't obvious (principle of least astonishment)

Do you really want to recahe fonts so often?

> My text editor invokes ConTeXt like:
> 
>      if( TYPESETTER.canRun() ) {
>        env.put( "TEXMFCACHE", System.getProperty( "java.io.tmpdir" ) );
> 
>        mArgs.add( TYPESETTER.getName() );
>        mArgs.add( .. --path .. --purge .. --batch .. --result .. 
> --environment .. etc. );
>        mArgs.add( inputFilename );
>      }

--batch only makes sense for an unattended run
--purging every time can lead to extra runs

> The first line ensures that "context" is an executable located in a PATH 
> directory. The second line attempts to change the luatex-cache 
> directory. The remaining lines configure the command-line arguments 
> prior to running ConTeXt.
> 
> Fearing flaming wrath from users, an additional mtxrun call is required, 
> which incurs overhead:
> 
>   * Check for mtxrun executable
>   * Run mtxrun each time

see aditya's reply ... the --autogenerate is clever enough not to do 
redundant things (and context knows when it has been updated so ...)

> This would work but feels like a leaky abstraction (i.e., the context 
> executable should honour TEXMFCACHE without needing to invoke mtxrun 
> because context creates the luatex-cache directory).
see aditya's reply ... quite some effort has gone into making sure 
context starts up fast so i'm not going to advocate a different practice

Hans

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