Re: Re: Re: How change $AddOnsDirectory
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg41227] Re: [mg41203] Re: [mg41169] Re: [mg41128] How change $AddOnsDirectory
- From: Bobby Treat <drmajorbob at mailblocks.com>
- Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 09:37:07 -0400 (EDT)
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
We're not supposed to ask questions like that.
But seriously, it is possible to find some of this stuff if you have
enough patience and ingenuity.
Look at Help>Getting Started>System-specific Information>File Layout,
for instance. You could find that by exploring the categories, as I
did, or by typing "file" in the browser, pressing "Master Index", and
looking at the entries until you see "File layout".
Type "addons" in the Go To window and press "Master Index". That gets
you to A.8.7, where there's a little more information. Type "user" and
press "Master Index", and that gets you to A.8.5 (user configuration
files). Look in the third panel at the top, and you'll see "File
Organization after Installation".
Help>System Interface seems like a good place to start too, but it
doesn't list these directory variables under Global or System
parameters.
Armed with those clues, maybe you can find what you need.
But don't count on it.
It would help if we could search for words and phrases in the
documentation, rather than just assigned keywords. Keywords are always
inadequate, but if not enough are assigned, they're abysmally
inadequate.
It's really amazing that MATHEMATICA_ADDONS doesn't appear anywhere on
the Documentation site -- where words and phrases CAN be found, by the
way.
Bobby
-----Original Message-----
From: Kirk Reinholtz <kirk.reinholtz at jpl.nasa.gov>
To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
Subject: [mg41227] [mg41203] Re: [mg41169] Re: [mg41128] How change
$AddOnsDirectory
While we're on this topic, I'm wondering how one would have discovered
MATHEMATICA_ADDONS
without resorting to this list. My help in "master index" mode does not
find this. A
search on the wolfram.com website in the "search site" box also comes up
empty.
I found a couple described in A.7.1 of the book, neither of which is the
above, and a couple
of others near the documentation for Environment["var"]. Do they all
exist in one place???
Where is this and other such goodies documented???
John Fultz wrote:
>
> As of version 4.2, AddOns are no longer in versioned directories.
I.e.,
> $AddOnsDirectory won't change from 4.2 to 5.0 to future versions.
It's
> not clear to me from your email why you're trying to set up separate
> directories (the desirability of sharing the AddOns directory between
> versions is part of what motivated the design for $AddOnsDirectory in
the
> first place).
>
> As to the decision to add "Mathematica" afterwards, this has to do
with
> the fact that we build non-Mathematica products which are based upon
the
> Mathematica binaries. These products would append their own identity
> instead (for example, Calculation Center would append
"\CalculationCenter"
> afterwards). So one environment variable setting can affect the base
> directory chosen for $AddOnsDirectory by all Wolfram products.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> John Fultz
> jfultz at wolfram.com
> User Interface Group
> Wolfram Research, Inc.
>
> On Mon, 05 May 2003 09:04:07 -0400, Murray Eisenberg wrote:
> >Thank you -- but OUCH!
> >
> >I do not want to have "Mathematica" automatically appended to the
path I
> >specify! My directory structure has, under D:\Math, several separate
> >directories for different versions of Mathematica
> >(D:\Math\Mathematica4.0, D:\Math\Mathematica4.2, etc.)
> >
> >In order to use all my AddOns (except Standard AddOns), especially
> >Applications, with all versions of Mathematica -- without having to
> >maintain multiple copies of these AddOns -- I want a separate
directory
> >D:\Math\AddOnsMma for them (and then have subdirectories
Applications,
> >etc., of that.
> >
> >With the effect you describe of setting, say
> >MATHEMATICA_ADDONS=D:\Math\AddOnsMma, then this would force everthing
> >there to be buried one directory deeper than I want -- into
> >D:\Math\AddOnsMma\Mathematica.
> >
> >On the other hand, if I set, say MATHEMATICA_ADDONS=D:\Math, then
that
> >would be obviously (?) undesirable: the directory would be
> >D:\Math\Mathematica, which is obviously too much like the names of
the
> >top directories I'm using for the different versions of Mathematica
> >itself.
> >
> >Why in the world was the design decision made to automatically append
> >"Mathematica" to what those environment variables specified? Is
there
> >some decent way around this?
> >
> >John Fultz wrote:
> >>You can set the default value of the parent of $AddOnsDirectory and
> >>$UserAddOnsDirectory via an environment variable, which works for
both
> >>FE
> >>and kernel.
> >>
> >>MATHEMATICA_ADDONS for $AddOnsDirectory
> >>MATHEMATICA_USERADDONS for $UserAddOnsDirectory
> >>
> >>Mathematica will append '\Mathematica' to whatever you set, so if,
for
> >>example, you do:
> >>
> >>MATHEMATICA_ADDONS=D:\Math\AddOnsMma
> >>
> >>then the value of $AddOnsDirectory will be...
> >>
> >>"D:\\Math\\AddOnsMMa\\Mathematica"
> >>
> >>$AddOnsDirectory and $UserAddOnsDirectory in the kernel are
intended to
> >>be
> >>equivalent to something like $TopDirectory, which is to say that
they're
> >>
> >>constants derived from the system.
> >>
> >>Incidentally, the above is true for all operating systems; it is not
> >>Windows-specific.
> >>
> >>Sincerely,
> >>
> >>John Fultz
> >>jfultz at wolfram.com
> >>User Interface Group
> >>Wolfram Research, Inc.
> >>
> >>
> >>On Sun, 4 May 2003 03:57:04 -0400 (EDT), Murray Eisenberg wrote:
> >>
> >>>How do I supply a permanent new location for $AddOnsDirectory.
This is
> >>>under Windows XP.
> >>>
> >>>The HelpBrower documentation under "File Layout" seems to say that
if I
> >>>set a value for $AddOnsDirectory in an init.m file located
somewhere on
> >>>the ConfigurationPath, that value should be used.
> >>>
> >>>So in [top directory]\Configuration\FrontEnd -- where [top
directory]
> is
> >>>the directory containing Mathematica.exe -- I created a file
init.m.
> In
> >>>that file I tried, separately, all three of the following:
> >>>
> >>>$AddOnsDirectory="D:/Math/AddOnsMma"
> >>>
> >>>$AddOnsDirectory="D:\\Math\\AddOnsMma"
> >>>
> >>>$AddOnsDirectory=FrontEnd`FileName[{"D:", "Math", "AddOnsMma"}]
> >>>
> >>>None of these seems to have any effect, however: Once I open
> >>>Mathematica, the value of $AddOnsDirectory is still its original
value,
> >>>namely,
> >>>
> >>>"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Mathematica"