Hey, developers. Can you make LyX look in the current working directory for class files and turn off the warnings the pop up with LyX 2.0.7? Please?
For our doctoral students, I worked out a LyX example (LaTeX as well) and it uses a custom class file. I have the cls file in the document directory. Along with a biblio style and the document itself. All was well until LyX 2.0.7 http://pj.freefaculty.org/guides/Computing-HOWTO/KU-thesis/ (I'd like advice on how to create a real LyX template that would conceal the ERT in the LyX main document, but that's a different email I need to write to you). The PDF output passed the inspection of our administrators, and we have started teaching students how to use this. So far, there have been 6 dissertations written with LyX at KU. LyX 2.0.7 seems to have introduced a new warning that is driving the users crazy. I had never seen it before this Saturday. Maybe this is just in Windows. Every time they open the LyX dissertation document, warnings pop up over and over saying the kuthesis.cls file is not installed and they cannot compile anything until they get it. I say ignore those warnings, click OK 5 times, the document compiles, all is well. But I'd rather not bother with the warnings. I suppose you are thinking I should teach them LaTeX distribution maintenance so they can install the cls file. I want to resist. It should not be needed. Windows has made doing even the most basic user accountant maintenance chores into a frustrating battle for users. I don't think it should be necessary, just make LyX take notice of the cls file in the current working directory and move on. Just to whine about Windows for a while, since I complain all the time about it. I spent Saturday afternoon installing LyX on student computers and no two Windows systems behaved in the same way to the LyX install. The new installer works quite nicely, really, except for interaction with the MikTeX package manager is still problematic. It hangs the LyX process completely on about 1/2 of the systems we tried. There can be a silent failure of communication between LyX and MikTeX, I've never gotten to the bottom of it. I realize now the right thing is to just ask for help in preparing instructions for MikTeX users. For people that have admin powers, here is what to do. Maybe you double check me. 1. Find your MikTeX under c:\Program Files .... 2. Find a subdirectory in there texmf\tex\latex. You might have to search for it, but it is certainly under the main MikTeX folder 3. You could drop the kuthesis.cls file into that directory, but don't. Please be tidy. Inside tex\latex, make a directory, call it whatever you want. For example, we used "misc" or "kuthesis". But, wait, you are not done yet. MikTeX does not know about that file. 4. In the Start Menu, find the MikTeX settings (admin) program, there should be a button on the first panel that says "update FNDB", which will have the same effect as "texhash" on Linux & mac systems. It indexes the class & style files. I found it difficult to describe to people how to find this menu on Windows 8, so I said get a command box open as administrator and run this at the prompt: *> initexmf --update-fndb* The only tricky part there is getting the command box with admin powers. On the start screen, type "cmd" and when it suggests a program, right click the launcher, choose run as administrator. 5. Run Lyx, do Preferences -> Reconfigure. Hopefully, all is well after you close LyX and re-start. In my experience, this is the least error probe method, but it only works for people who have admin powers to write in tex\latex. We did not succeed on the system where the user could not be the administrator. I realize there are documents that say a local Windows user can set up a personalized LaTeX tree, but I've not seen it succeed with my own eyes. We did try, adding a folder in the hidden AppData folder of the user account pj -- Paul E. Johnson Professor, Political Science Assoc. Director 1541 Lilac Lane, Room 504 Center for Research Methods University of Kansas University of Kansas http://pj.freefaculty.org http://quant.ku.edu
