head	1.1;
branch	1.1.1;
access;
symbols
	john2:1.1.1.1.0.8
	lapyu1:1.1.1.1.0.6
	john1:1.1.1.1
	lapyu-work:1.1.1.1.0.4
	john-work:1.1.1.1.0.2
	SIXALPHA:1.1.1.1
	TEXLIVE:1.1.1;
locks; strict;
comment	@# @;


1.1
date	2000.10.03.04.02.54;	author plaice;	state Exp;
branches
	1.1.1.1;
next	;

1.1.1.1
date	2000.10.03.04.02.54;	author plaice;	state Exp;
branches;
next	;


desc
@@



1.1
log
@Initial revision
@
text
@				texdoctk v.0.3

texdoctk is a Perl/Tk-based frontend for easy access of package documentation
for the TeX typesetting system on Unix platforms. It includes the following
files:

	texdoctk 	  - the program source
	texdoc-100.dat 	  - the database containing the information about the
			    accessible documentation files for teTeX-texmf
			    v.1.0.0
	texdoc-102.dat 	  - the database containing the information about the
			    accessible documentation files for teTeX-texmf
			    v.1.0.1 and 1.0.2
	texdocrc.defaults - the system-wide default specification for viewer
			    and printer settings
	README		  - this file
The current version is 0.3.

REQUIREMENTS
The program is written in Perl/Tk; it requires Perl 5 and Perl/Tk 8.x. It is
known to run with Perl 5.004_04 or higher and PerlTk 800.015.
The database files texdoc-10x.dat are made for the teTeX distribution,
teTeX v.1.0.x. Most of it might work with teTeX 0.9 as well, though.
Note that the program is *not* a viewer, but an interface to access a document
with the appropriate viewer. Thus, you need to have appropriate viewers for
the different formats to actually read the files. Documentations are available
as .dvi, .ps, .pdf, .html or plain text.
If you want to print the documentations, you will need converters to turn
non-PS files into PostScript. Here are some suggestions:
dvi->ps:	dvips (is part of teTeX)
		http://www.radicaleye.com/dvips.html
pdf->ps:	Acrobat Reader
		http://www.adobe.com
		pdf2ps
		http://??
html->ps:	html2ps
		http://www.tdb.uu.se/~jan/html2ps.html
plain text->ps:	a2ps
		http://www-inf.enst.fr/~demaille/a2ps/

INSTALLATION
The program texdoctk can be copied into any directory where programs are stored
on your system, e.g. into /usr/local/bin or, probably more adequate, into
/usr/local/teTeX/bin. You may need to change the first line of the code if
your perl executable has a different path.
The database files texdoc-10x.dat and the configuration file texdocrc.defaults 
must then be put into a subdirectory of the texmf directory called texdoctk.
If you want to customize the database file for your local system, copy the
appropriate database file texdoc-10x.dat for your texmf version to
texdoc-local.dat in the same directory. Make sure to run texhash after
installation.
Set the defaults in texdocrc.defaults according to your system; you can
replace the settings which are specified in the shipped file, but do not
uncomment variables for items which are not available or applicable for you,
but just leave the value empty by specifying nothing.
The individual users can define their own preferences by copying the system
texdocrc.defaults to ~/.texdocrc and assign new values to the items to be
changed.
If you meet the requirements concerning the teTeX distribution, I assume that
the texdoc-10x.dat file should work without failures; if you have another
distribution or if your texmf/doc tree is somehow modified, it may happen that
a file is not found in spite of the program trying to find it elsewhere. You
will have to edit the file then, but make sure to keep the right format for
the entries:
<package-name>;Short description for listbox (opt. <package-name>);path in doc
directory;optional keywords
(without breaking the line, of course!).
The documentation is grouped into 17 categories; the 18th button of the main
panel is inactive by default. If you have special documents which do not fit
into any of the categories, you can append an 18th block to texdoc-local.dat
with the respective entries.
In the settings window you see a checkbox in the html->ps and text->ps
converter menus for switching on/off output redirect. This is due to the fact
that some converters do not write their output into a file but to stdout by
default, so a redirect is needed, e.g.
a2ps myfile.txt >myfile.ps

DISCLAIMER
texdoctk v.0.3 (March 11, 2000) - GUI for TeX documentation access
Copyright (C) 2000  Thomas Ruedas
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As this is my first application written in PerlTk, it happened that I could
not solve every problem with my book and the other documentation, but had to
ask for help on comp.lang.perl.tk. Paul R. Andersen has given helpful replies
and examples for me to try out.
Thomas Esser offered inclusion of the program in the contrib area of teTeX.
He provided me with informations about changes in the texmf tree and made a
number of very useful suggestions.

TO DO LIST
- refined printing facility
- make portable for use with fpTeX

BUGS
There may be troubles with the handling of HTML documentation files, especially
if you already have a browser window running.
Please let me know if you find bugs or have suggestions for improvements.

HISTORY
v.0.3	- implementation of some suggestions by Thomas Esser:
	  use of kpsewhich, changes in directory and database configuration
	  implemented cd to file directory to ensure rendering of graphics
	  made viewer message output suppression really quiet
	  better layout of help window
v.0.2	- first public release (preliminary)
v.0.1	- private trial version, does not exist anymore

AUTHOR
Thomas Ruedas
ruedas@@geophysik.uni-frankfurt.de
http://www.geophysik.uni-frankfurt.de/~ruedas/progs.html
@


1.1.1.1
log
@sun2.dante.de download 2/10/2000 of TeXLive (Omega 1.11)
@
text
@@
