mfb@super.ORG (Michael F. Bridgland) (09/22/90)
Short version:
(1) Save your old amstex.tex and amsppt.sty under other names
when you install version 2 of AmS-TeX, because version 2 is
not backward-compatible with older versions.
(2) Beware of the syntax error in line 133 of cyrcsc.mf
Long version:
Via ftp, I recently retrieved from labrea.stanford.edu the new
AmS-TeX, version 2.0, and the new METAFONT sources for the associated
fonts (Cyrillic, Fraktur, special symbols, etc.). As many of you know,
the usefulness of older versions of AmS-TeX had been limited by the
fact that sources for the symbol fonts were available only in an
obsolete form of METAFONT, so that it was effectively impossible to
magnify the fonts.
The new distribution provides sources for everything that the new
version uses. Rejoice! But beware! AmS-TeX 2.0 is not
backwards-compatible with earlier versions. The most obvious change is
that the syntax for some topmatter commands for amsppt.sty is
different from the old syntax. Converting old documents should be a
minor task, if they use amsppt.sty. But anyone with some other style
file to update has their work cut out for them. I urge those of you
maintaining site copies to rename your old amstex.tex and amsppt.sty
to something like oldamstex.tex and oldamsppt.sty before installing
the new stuff.
The last time I looked, labrea had three subdirectories of
/pub/tex devoted to AmS-TeX: ams, amstex, and amsfonts. The new stuff
is in tex/ams and its subdirectories; the old stuff is in tex/amstex and
tex/amsfonts. I was informed by someone at the AMS that the old stuff is
there only because the folks at Stanford have not gotten around to
removing it.
One of the METAFONT source files for the new fonts has a syntax error.
In ams/amsfonts/sources/cyrillic/cyrcsc.mf, line 129 currently is this:
ligtable "e": "0"=:oct"032", "1"=:oct"013", "2"=:oct"015",
The final comma should be a semicolon; i.e., the correct line is this:
ligtable "e": "0"=:oct"032", "1"=:oct"013", "2"=:oct"015";
A glance at lines 130--132 will reveal the source of the error. The
AMS is aware of the problem.
--Mike Bridgland
Supercomputing Research Center
mfb@super.org