Document 19

Error: Failed to set a temporary directory

Version: 2.5 - Scientific WorkPlace & Scientific Word for the Macintosh

Problem

When you click the SW icon, you get this message:

Failed to set a Temporary Directory. SW can not run without a Temporary Directory

Explanation

There are at least two ways to get this message:

  • You tried to run the program directly off the CD without running the Installer.

  • You have installed into a folder or onto a disk whose name contains an illegal character.

    Since SW uses TeX to process documents, filenames must be legal for TeX. Unfortunately, this requirement will keep SW from running at all in certain situations. For instance, if you installed SW into a folder named \SW25/, SW would not run correctly. Such a folder name would not be legal in a TeX document, so the path name is rejected.

Solution

To fix the problem, rename the folder to a name not containing one of these illegal characters: \ " / <> \ [ = ] ; : , * ?

Added 07/24/96

This document was created with Scientific WorkPlace.