dvips: Configuration file searching
3.4.1 Configuration file searching
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The Dvips program loads many different configuration files, so that
parameters can be set globally across the system, on a per-device basis,
or individually by each user.
1. Dvips first reads (if it exists) 'config.ps'; it is searched for
along the path for Dvips configuration files, as described in ⇒
(kpathsea)Supported file formats.
2. A user-specific startup file is loaded, so individual users can
override any options set in the global file. The environment
variable 'DVIPSRC', if defined, is used as the specification of the
startup file. If this variable is undefined, Dvips uses a
platform-specific default name. On Unix Dvips looks for the
default startup file under the name '$HOME/.dvipsrc', which is in
the user's home directory. On MS-DOS and MS-Windows, where users
generally don't have their private directories, the startup file is
called 'dvips.ini' and it is searched for along the path for Dvips
configuration files (as described in ⇒(kpathsea)Supported file
formats.); users are expected to set this path as they see fit
for their taste.
3. The command line is read and parsed: if the '-PDEVICE' option is
encountered, at that point 'config.DEVICE' is loaded. Thus, the
printer configuration file can override anything in the site-wide
or user configuration file, and it can also override options in the
command line up to the point that the '-P' option was encountered.
(On MS-DOS, the printer configuration files are called
'DEVICE.cfg', since DOS doesn't allow more than 3 characters after
the dot in filenames.)
4. If no '-P' option was specified, and also the '-o' and '-f' command
line options were not used, Dvips checks the environment variable
'PRINTER'. If it exists, then 'config.$PRINTER' ('$PRINTER.cfg' on
MS-DOS) is loaded (if it exists).
Because the '.dvipsrc' file is read before the printer-specific
configuration files, individual users cannot override settings in the
latter. On the other hand, the 'TEXCONFIG' path can be set to anything,
so the users can always define their own printer-specific configuration
files to be found before the system's.
A few command-line options are treated specially, in that they are
not overridden by configuration files:
'-D'
As well as setting the resolution, this unsets the mode, if the
mode was previously set from a configuration file. If
'config.$PRINTER' is read, however, any 'D' or 'M' lines from there
will take effect.
'-mode'
This overrides any mode setting ('M' line) in configuration files.
'-mode' does not affect the resolution.
'-o'
This overrides any output setting ('o' line) in configuration
files.
The purpose of these special cases is to (1) minimize the chance of
having a mismatched mode and resolution (which 'mktexpk' cannot
resolve), and (2) let command-line options override config files where
possible.
Info Catalog
dvips: Config files
dvips: Configuration file commands