tds: Macro structure
C.1 Macro structure
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The TWG settled on the `FORMAT/PACKAGE' arrangement after long
discussion about how best to arrange the files.
The primary alternative to this arrangement was a scheme which
reversed the order of these directories: `PACKAGE/FORMAT'. This
reversed arrangement has a strong appeal: it keeps all of the files
related to a particular package in a single place. The arrangement
actually adopted tends to spread files out into two or three places
(macros, documentation, and fonts, for example, are spread into
different sections of the tree right at the top level).
Nevertheless, the `FORMAT/PACKAGE' structure won for a couple of
reasons:
* It is closer to current practice; in fact, several members of the
TWG have already implemented the TDS hierarchy. The alternative
is not in use at any known site, and the TWG felt it wrong to
mandate something with which there is no practical experience.
* The alternative arrangement increases the number of top-level
directories, so the files that must be found using subdirectory
searching are spread out in a wide, shallow tree. This could have
a profound impact on the efficiency of subdirectory searching.
Info Catalog
tds: Is there a better way?
tds: Font structure