Re: [O] Babel - :export-dir and :file-ext arguments cause all blocks to emit files

[Alex Fenton]

Hi Aaron


> First of all, no issue arises with :output-dir alone.  It can be
> specified as a global header arg without issue.

Yes, now I check again that's true. Thank you for clearing that up.
> I designed :file-ext as a direct replacement for :file.  That is, instead
> of the above, one would specify:
>
> #+name: foo
> #+begin_src R :file-ext pdf
>    ...
> #+end_src
>
> and get the same result.  IOW, the design was *not* for :file-ext to be
> specified globally.
Now I understand how it was intended (a shortcut for people who are 
scrupulous about using #+NAME) it makes sense. I was thinking it was 
meant as an easy way to switch globally between different formats 
(sometimes I want PDF for ease, sometimes I want Tikz for 
publication-quality, sometimes I want SVG for online etc.).


> The change Nicolas proposes is how I would make :file-ext work if I were
> writing it from scratch today, with the benefit of hindsight.  I worry
> that introducing it would break org documents in the wild, but maybe it is
> worth it.

You (all) are a better judge of what is a reasonable non-back-compatible 
change.

all the best
alex