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From: squash@math.ufl.edu (Jonathan King)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: Re: Misc: Extentions, LaTeX and Eplain, How to get out if wrong filename?
Message-ID: <SQUASH.91Mar20115952@heat.math.ufl.edu>
Date: 20 Mar 91 16:59:52 GMT
References: <42.27E336F0@mom.uucp> <31174@usc> <66410@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
	<1991Mar20.131048.2505@zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu>
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Organization: University of Florida Department of Mathematics
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In-Reply-To: edgar@function.mps.ohio-state.edu's message of 20 Mar 91 13:10:48 GMT

In article <1991Mar20.131048.2505@zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu> edgar@function.mps.ohio-state.edu (Gerald Edgar) writes:

   References: <42.27E336F0@mom.uucp> <31174@usc> <66410@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
   >Since I am posting, I have a small question for long time: When I supply a 
   >wrong file name, TeX keeps say ``give me a correct filename:'' If I know
   >the filename that is fine, but sometimes I have to check directory and
   >I find it difficult to get out of there. [On unix, Control-C won't do

   I have a file called null.tex in my TeX inputs directory.  When this
   situation happens to me, I type "null" and this file is read.

My understanding is that the TeX system directory (where amstex.tex
etc files reside) is supposed to have an empty file  null.tex  for
exactly the purpose you describe.  In principle, then, individual
users do not need such a file.  On our system here, this does indeed
work. 

Jonathan