Re: HTMLize a FAQ

angus@cgl.citri.edu.au
Sun, 20 Nov 1994 11:20:44 +1100 (EDT)

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just to throw another method into the fray, the following
section is text output from the in-edit version of my FAQ...
as yet, the texi2html script doesn't generate proper external links
(whereas T.A. Fine's ascii->html _does_ pick them up),
but it'll probably only take about an hour to hack in.
as yet there's no SGML output for the PC users (but that can't be hard),
nor any news `digest' format output, which i haven't yet looked into.
note that all these productions are first-generation.

Creating this FAQ
=================

I write the FAQ in Texinfo, the GNU documentation language. I use
Texinfo because it is specifically designed for production of both
online hypertext (Info format) and printed output (DVI format).
Texinfo's like LaTeX to write in -- much easier to write in than HTML.
I edit it using GNU Emacs' Texinfo major mode, which provides useful
tools to keep links consistent, update menus, etc. I then convert the
Texinfo source into Info, DVI, PostScript, HTML, AmigaGuide, or plain
text (ASCII) formats.

I convert the Texinfo source to these formats using the following.

Info
GNU's `makeinfo' (provided in their `texinfo' distribution), or
the `texinfo-format-buffer' command provided by GNU Emacs, will
both convert Texinfo to Info. Info is GNU's hypertext format, and
is readable from within GNU Emacs, or using `info' (again from the
`texinfo' distribution) on almost any text-capable terminal.

plain text (ASCII)
`makeinfo --no-headers' will convert Texinfo to plain text. I use
the `--no-split' option so the file's not chopped up. This, the
lowest-common-denominator format, is readable on (almost) any
computer.

DVI
LaTeX -- a special LaTeX macro file is provided in the `texinfo'
distribution. Texinfo is really a special flavour of LaTeX, so
DVI output's not a problem.

PostScript
The only second-generation production so far (and even then, not
really), I convert to PostScript from DVI (see above) using Radical
Eye's `dvips', or similar.

HTML
Lionel (`<lionel.cons@cern.ch>') Cons' `texi2html' Perl script
does the trick. It's available over the WWW as
`http://asis01.cern.ch/infohtml/texi2html.html'.

AmigaGuide
An Amiga port and hack of GNU `makeinfo', available from aminet
(as `ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/text/hyper/mkguide155.lha')
converts from Texinfo to the Amiga's native hypertext format,
AmigaGuide.

-- 
 angus@mega.cgl.citri.edu.au  graphics/animation postgrad  melbourne, australia

Next message: Ian Jackson: "Re: HTMLize a FAQ"
Previous message: TRUTH -: "Re: HTMLize a FAQ, new info.."
In reply to: Andras Salamon: "Re: HTMLize a FAQ"
Next in thread: Elf M. Sternberg: "Re: HTMLize a FAQ"

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