I believe this thread here:
- LaTeX Community • View topic – Including tex files
talks about precisely the same thing: so it seems, the only alternatives are either using TEXINPUTS environment variable; or using the import package. (note, there is a variant on the import package on …Including tex files pg 3.)
A bit more about TEXINPUTS:
- TeX Frequently Asked Questions — “Temporary” installation of (La)TeX files
- Setting TeX Environment Variable Paths
- Environment Variables for Running LaTeX
- TeX (and Variations) for Writing Math – math.umn.edu (see ‘TeX Inputs’)
- Installing LaTeX packages – TeX search paths
Hope this helps;
Cheers!
EDIT: I hoped that one could set the TEXINPUTS path directly in the tex file (by using \write18 — and note, some versions of LaTeX use --enable-write18, mine uses -shell-escape to enable \write18; see also this) – but it seems it is not possible:
“… This isn’t possible. … The environment variable of the child process is set, but this hasn’t an effect to its parent process (TeX).” (Re: Setting the environmental variable TEXINPUTS within latex – comp.text.tex).
… so, now I just call pdflatex in my Linux bash like this:
TEXINPUTS=.//:$TEXINPUTS pdflatex ./myfile.tex
and then it will resolve directly \usepackage{mypackage} in the myfile.tex file – even if mypackage.sty is in a subdirectory, say ./subdir/mypackage.sty.