LaTeX refactoring, use \RequirePackage always, not \input

[jfbu]

• Refactoring

At Sphinx 4.0.0 the file sphinx.sty was split into multiple smaller files.

Some of them structured as packages others as files using \ProvidesFile.

I am currently working on some LaTeX PR, and this situation is a slight annoyance. Files with using \ProvidesFile can only be \input and then only once (due to \newcommand which can not be executed twice). This is sometimes a problem when for some reason we want to indicate in one file that its macros require some defined in some other file. In TeX, macros do not have to be defined beforehand to be used in other macro definitions, but abusing this is no good for future maintenance.

Using \RequirePackage is a good way, because we can do it multiple times and it will not complain and will actually load the required file only once. And A can require B while B requires A. No problem about that in LaTeX. Here Package A requires B which is itself a package requiring A. Nothing bad happens:

 (./A.sty
Package: A 2024/07/28 Package A

(./B.sty
Package: B 2024/07/28 Package B
))

Using \ProvidesFile and not \ProvidesPackage was a mistake.

This fixes it.

Only people (do they exist at all?) having really messed around with replacing some of those files with custom ones will have to adjust and also use \ProvidesPackage in their own (surely less good) variants of Sphinx own perfect files.

I think a simple addition to CHANGES will be enough to signal some internal change.

[jfbu]

@AA-Turner Thanks for review. This is basically internal refactoring, do you think it deserves some CHANGES entry, and if yes where?

[AA-Turner]

For refactoring I tend not to do a CHANGES entry, as it is purely internal.

A

[jfbu]

Ok, thanks for advice. I trust nobody has really completely overwritten any of the .sty file with one's own, if yes, they need to replace also \ProvidesFile by \ProvidesPackage line. Hopefully people will find this comment in case of need. I will merge now.