Include *.sty file from a super/subdirectory of main *.tex file

This probably isn't relevant to you any more, but here is another way to do what you want. Set up your git repository like this:

mystyle.sty
project/
    makefile
    project.tex

and put \usepackage{mystyle} in the preamble of project.tex. Compiling project.tex manually won't work, of course, because mystyle.sty is not in the same directory as project.tex.

However, if makefile contains something along the lines of:

project.pdf: mystyle.sty project.tex
    pdflatex project

mystyle.sty: ../mystyle.sty
    cp ../$@ $@

then running make from within the project directory will cause mystyle.sty to be copied to the correct place before project.tex is (this time successfully) compiled.

This way might seem a little bit over the top, but it does combine the best features of other methods.

  1. If several projects in the same repository require mystyle.sty then having a common mystyle.sty sitting above them all makes more sense than having a copy in each project directory; all these copies would have to be maintained.
  2. The compilation is portable, in the sense that if you gave me your copies of mystyle.sty and project.tex then I would (in theory at least) be able to compile manually without needing to modify the files you gave me. For example, I would not have to replace \usepackage{/your/path/mystyle} with \usepackage{/my/path/mystyle}.

You can import a style file (mystyle.sty) into your document in two ways:

  1. If you have it in your path or in the same folder as the .tex file, simply include this line in your preamble: \usepackage{mystyle}
  2. If you have it in a different folder, you can access using its full path as \usepackage{/path/to/folder/mystyle}

That said, if you're not sure if the style file is in everyone's installation, simply include it in the same directory and make sure you do git add mystyle.sty and track it along with the rest of your files (although most likely there won't be any changes to it). There is no need for a parent directory. But if you insist on a different directory, see option 2 above.

It would be better if it were in a subdirectory than in a parent directory, as you can still call the file as \usepackage{subdir/mystyle} and be certain that you are invoking your style file. However, if you escape out to the parent directory, you never know if the other users have a similarly named folder that is not part of your package, which can result in errors.

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