Including a file with relative path

Question

I'm trying to include a file whose path relative to the main tex file is ../folder/chapter.tex. I tried

\input{../folder/chapter.tex}

but it doesn't work: I get an error of file not found. I'm using MikTex 2.9 under Windows.

You know it should be \input{../folder/chapter.tex} (i.e. braces not parentheses) right? — Ian Thompson, Mar 10 '15 at 22:25
Sorry, I fail to see the difference. If you refer to the curly braces, I have already edited them in the question (I typed regular parentheses by accident, I have curly braces in my document, sorry about that). — Simone, Mar 10 '15 at 22:27
@Johannes_B You can normally read from up: it's writing that's forbidden. With \input that should be OK, but \include would fail. — Joseph Wright, Mar 10 '15 at 22:38
@JosephWright Ah, ok. That somehow slipped my mind at this hour. Thanks for clarification. — Johannes_B, Mar 10 '15 at 22:40
I think we could do to see the full text of the error here: presuming the file is where you've pointed to there must be more to this. — Joseph Wright, Mar 10 '15 at 22:41
@Simone Have you checked that the file is indeed there? The usual cause for LaTeX not finding a file is very simple, it does not exist. Please check file and dir names, Lower-/upper case is just as important. Windows doesn't care about stuff like that, LaTeX does. — Johannes_B, Mar 10 '15 at 22:41
@Johannes_B, the file was in fact there. I found an answer here: http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/39083/input-files-in-different-directories?rq=1 - I must \import the file before \input — Simone, Mar 10 '15 at 22:42
@Johannes_B LaTeX sometimes cares about that on case-insensitive file systems. Sometimes it doesn't. (At least, that's how it was on OS X although admittedly that is, or was, pretty mixed up itself about whether it cared about cases or not.) — cfr, Mar 11 '15 at 02:27
There's also a solution to parse the path to the current file -- Full path of current file - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange — user202729, Nov 01 '21 at 14:38
Related question include - How to make the main file recognize relative paths used in the imported files? - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange — user202729, Jun 17 '22 at 08:31

Tim Stewart · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-14T19:39:46.500

5

After some testing from the command line using xelatex.exe, it seems to be the case that Latex requires the relative paths in your source files to be defined relative to the folder in which the Latex compiler is executed (not relative to the location of your main Latex file). This actually makes a fair bit of sense. These relative paths aren't being passed to your main Latex file; they're being passed to the Latex compiler. It will interpret relative paths in relation to where it was invoked.

Since you're using a GUI, I have no idea what MikTeX considers to be the folder in which the Latex compiler is executed.

I see two different solutions:

One, abandon relative paths and use absolute paths. You can even include the drive letter. Just remember to keep on using Latex's preferred forward slashes for the directory levels, for example:

\input{C:/project/latexfiles/mychapter.tex}

Two, you can start compiling from the command line. Keep a DOS box open to the folder where your main Latex file lives. When you're ready to compile, run the command to do so. Here are the parameters I use:

xelatex -synctex=-1 -shell-escape -halt-on-error mymainfile.tex

When I need to recompile, I go to the DOS box and press up to get the last command, then I hit return. Very convenient. You can of course use pdflatex.exe or whichever Latex compiler you need, and you can google to learn more about the various command line parameters and their effects.

edited May 14 '19 at 19:39

answered Mar 11 '15 at 00:47

Tim Stewart

500

You're right about paths: this is exactly why my command failed. I'm not fond of using relative paths, but after all it may not be too bad. A way to use paths that are relative to the main tex file is the import package. – Simone Mar 11 '15 at 21:04
This is no longer true with \input, at least with XeLaTex from TeXLive 2015. Relative paths are fine. I am not sure about \include, though. I'm having some trouble with it .... – Mars May 14 '19 at 00:44
@Mars What specifically are you saying is no longer true? I suggested absolute paths as an easy solution to his problem. Relative paths are also a fine solution as long as you know from which directory they are relative. – Tim Stewart May 14 '19 at 03:27
2

Tim, I think that I may have misunderstood "requires the relative paths in your source files to be defined relative to the folder in which the Latex compiler is executed". I took that to mean "relative to the location of the executable". I now think you probably mean "relative to the current working directory when the latex command is executed." I always run xelatex relative to where the main file I'm compiling is located, and my \input paths are always relative to that. (If that's what you meant--I now think it is--maybe a small clarification would be worthwhile.) – Mars May 14 '19 at 14:31
(But fwiw, I am done trying to make \include work with any paths. The failure messages aren't even consistent across runs of xelatex, or across different kinds of path specifications. I don't have sufficient time or interest to ask for help about it here, given that \input provides a perfectly good solution.) – Mars May 14 '19 at 14:35
@Mars I like your suggestion. Edited my answer to refer to the location relative to where the command is invoked. What do you think? – Tim Stewart May 14 '19 at 19:40
Tim, I don't see the difference. (Forgot to save?) – Mars May 14 '19 at 20:58
@Mars No worries. It was a small change. Search for the word “invoked” in my answer. That’s the updated part. – Tim Stewart May 14 '19 at 22:39
1

Ah, I see it now. – Mars May 15 '19 at 02:02

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 18 '21 at 13:09

Using an IDE is in general more practical than command line. When an IDE is asked to typeset a file, it somehow goes to the directory of the file and launches the typesetting tool such that relative file paths are resolved relatively to the directory where the main file is located.

Some IDEs implement a concept of project (LaTeX Workshop...), whereas others just typeset the current file. TeXworks and others support magic comments to specify the master file.

In that case your chapter.tex could start with something like

% !TEX root = ../Main/main.tex

telling the IDE where the main file to be typeset is located.

Including a file with relative path

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