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Categories: Customization
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Documentation about the LyX user directory

The user directory holds local settings and additional/locally modified files used by LyX. If you want to add layout files, modules, etc., this is the place to put them (unless you are a system administrator). Note that files in the user directory will take precedence over files in the global system directory, so you can "overwrite" global settings by placing modified versions of a file here.

The location of the LyX user directory depends upon the system LyX is installed on. Some common locations are below.

  • Linux and other Unix-like systems: usually found at ~/.lyx, where ~ is your home directory.
  • Mac OS X: ~/Library/Application Support/LyX-<VERSION>/
  • Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 10: usually at C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\lyx<VERSION>\ (note: this is if you installed LyX for all users)
  • Windows 2000/XP: usually at C:\Documents and Settings\[your username]\Application Data\lyx<VERSION>\
  • Windows 95/98/ME: C:\Program Files\lyx\Resources\lyx\ (note: needs to be confirmed - this looks a bit like the SystemDir)

The Help→About LyX dialog contains information about where your user directory is:

The user directory can principally contain the same subdirectories and files as the system directory, but in practice it usually contains only a subset. If a specific subdirectory or file is missing, you can manually add it (but not all make sense).

It can contain the following subdirectories:

bind/
files defining KeyboardShortcuts
clipart/
stock graphics
commands/
configuration file for the "call" lyx function (cf. this explanation)
doc/
local LyX manuals, if you feel like it
examples/
example documents for various text classes
fonts/
fonts needed by LyX (e.g. to display math)
images/
icons and other images needed by the User Interface
kbd/
keyboard maps (see sec. 4.2 of the Customization manual)
layouts/
modified and additional layout files and modules (see Concepts)
lyx2lyx/
the lyx2lyx scripts that converts/reverts between different versions of LyX. Only useful if you hack on these scripts.
scripts/
various (python) helper scripts used by LyX. Only useful if you hack on these scripts.
templates/
user template files (set templates path in Tools→Preferences→Paths to access these with File→New from Template)
tex/
nonsensical in the user directory
ui/
modified user interface (menu and toolbar) definition files

and the following files:

bibFiles.lst
a list of all bibtex databases found by the TeX search interface (displayed in Tools→TeX Information)
bstFiles.lst
a list of all bibtex style files found by the TeX search interface (displayed in Tools→TeX Information)
clsFiles.lst
a list of all LaTeX classes found by the TeX search interface (displayed in Tools→TeX Information)
configure.log
a log file documenting the latest reconfiguration of LyX.
encodings
modified specifications for the encodings supported by LyX
external_templates
local specifications for the external inset (cf. Insert→File→External Material)
languages
modified specifications for the languages supported by LyX
lyxmodules.lst
a list of all the installed modules (see Concepts)
lyxrc.defaults
default preferences as determined by the configuration.
packages.lst
a list containing those natively supported packages that are installed on the current system.
preferences
the actual preferences as set in Tools→Preferences
session
various session informations (list of recently used files, bookmarks, etc.)
styFiles.lst
a list of all LaTeX style files found by the TeX search interface (displayed in Tools→TeX Information)
symbols
modified information for the display of math characters/symbols
textclass.lst
a list containing those natively supported document classes that are installed on the current system.
unicodesymbols
a modified list of the supported unicode characters, defining how they should be handled by LyX

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Page last modified on 2023-01-11 14:49 UTC