[tex-live] use of -jobname

[Harald Hanche-Olsen]

+ Robin Fairbairns <Robin.Fairbairns at cl.cam.ac.uk>:

> Patrice Dumas <pertusus at free.fr> wrote:
> 
> > What is the use of the -jobname?
> 
> also sets \jobname, so any macro package which generates its own
> files (e.g. latex .aux files, and so on) will use the revised name
> rather than the name of the parent file.

Plus, you can do all sorts of wonderful hackish things with it.  I
have some tex files that generate different output depending on the
value of \jobname.  For example, I like to typeset stuff for A5 paper,
but if \jobname has a value ending in "-a4", I put pairs of these A5
pages together to make A4 pages instead.  (My code does this by
modifying \shipout, but this has the unfortunate disadvantage that
\pagerefs don't work out right.  There may be other bad side effects
as well.)

- Harald