texi2html - texinfo to html v1

8/3/2019 Texi2HTML - Texinfo to HTML v1

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4/12/11 Texi2HTML - Texinfo to HTML v1.70: Texi2HTML

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Texi2HTML

Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Portions oftexi2html

Copyright 1999, 2000 Lionel Cons

Copyright 1999, 2000 Karl Berry

Copyright 1999, 2000 Olaf Bachmann

Copyright 2002, 2003 Patrice Dumas

Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003 Derek Price

Copyright many others.

Portions of this manual

Copyright 1999, 2000 Karl Heinz Marbaise (manual)

Copyright 2003 Patrice Dumas (manual)

Copyright 2003 Derek Price (manual)

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission noticeare preserved on all copies.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided thatthe entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified

versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a translation approved by the Free Software Foundation.

This manual, last updated 26 February 2004, describes version 1.70 of the texi2html Perl script which converts Texinfo into HTML.

Please send bug reports concerning this manual to the Texi2HTML user discussion list [email protected]. Please state theexact version of the manual which contains the bug, as given above.

This manual is currently under construction and of course incomplete. ;-)

1. Overview

2. Obtaining texi2html Obtaining a copy of the texi2html source code distribution

3. Installation oftexi2html Installing texi2html

4. Invoking texi2html Description of the command line options

5. Overview of initialization files content andloading

What kind of variables and subroutines appear in init files and how they arecalled

6. Fine tuning of the page layout


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7. Customizing HTML and text style in init files Fine tuning of the HTML elements associated with the texinfo constructs

A. Internationalization Help translating !

B. Command Line Option Index

C. Variable Index

D. Concept Index

[ < ] [ > ] [ > ] [Top] [Contents] [Index] [ ? ]

1. Overview

Texinfo is the official documentation format of the GNU project. It uses a single source file to produce both online information andprinted output.

It is often desirable to have a way to produce HTML from Texinfo sources, as GNU-Info files are produced. It is much simpler to runa converter than it is to rewrite all the documentation in HTML, especially considering that there is so much Texinfo documentation inthe world.

Some time agomakeinfo wasn't able to produce HTML output format, but people still wanted documentation in HTML. This wasthe birthing hour for texi2html. The basic purpose oftexi2html is to convert Texinfo documents into HTML.

Since then, HTML support inmakeinfo has improved, but texi2html is still stronger in many areas, including the degree to which itallows customization. With texi2html, some important aspects of the resulting HTML files may be specified via command lineoptions, and configuration files provide an even finer degree of control over the final output, allowing most every aspect of the finaloutput not specified in the Texinfo input file to be specified. Configuration files are written in perl, like the main program, andanything which may be specified on the command line may also be specified within a configuration file.

For an example of the kind of pages texi2html is capable of producing, have a look at the following sites: the Singular Manual, theCederqvist (CVS Manual).

1.1 Why texi2html and notmakeinfo?


1.1 Why texi2html and not makeinfo?

You would like to produce HTML files from your existing Texinfo files? There are two programs you can use to do this. The first ismakeinfo (see (texinfo)Generating HTML). The second is texi2html.

The design goal ofmakeinfo's HTML output was to produce readable HTML output. This is all it produces: basic, readable, HTMLoutput, with little attention to attractive styling or configurability.

The current development oftexi2html tries to provide for producing the more interesting and sophisticated HTML pages that today'sInternet users have come to expect. The goal behind texi2html is to generate attractive HTML by default but also to allow usersconsiderable freedom to affect the final style and design of the output HTML pages. This is achieved via command line options andflexible configuration files.

In contrast to the HTML produced bymakeinfo --html (themakeinfo program is part of the Texinfo distribution), the texi2htmlprogram, among other differences, allows for the customization of the entire page layout, including headers, footers, style sheets, etc.,allows for customization of the low level HTML formatting, provides for splitting documents at various levels, and provides for usingthe latex2html program to convert @tex sections of the Texinfo source.

texi2html should reasonably convert all Texinfo 4.6 constructs. If you find it does not, please send a bug report to [email protected] email list.


2. Obtaining texi2html

The latest version of the source code for texi2html should be available from texi2html.cvshome.org.


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3. Installation oftexi2html

To install texi2html, you must first obtain a copy of the source distribution. See section Obtaining texi2html.

texi2html also requires perl version 5.004 or above. The current version has not been tested extensively on versions ofperl below5.6, however.

texi2html is a standard Automake-based distribution. If you have a source version, you should run ./configure to regenerate theexecutable `texi2html' file. ./configure accepts options to select the installation directory for the `texi2html' file, the defaultdirectories texi2html will use to look for configuration files, and other details. Run ./configure --help for more information.

Running ./configure combines four files into the final `texi2html' program file:

`texi2html.pl' contains the base program,

`MySimple.pm' handles the command line options,

`texi2html.init' is the default configuration file, and

`T2h_i18n.pm' is used for internationalization.

`translations.pl' contains the translations of the strings used in documents.

Running ./configure also builds themake configuration files (`Makefile's). To make the documentation runmake.

make install performs the installation to the locations specified to the ./configure script. This usually involves placing the actual`texi2html' file someplace in your path, such as `/usr/local/bin' or `/usr/bin'.

Installing texi2html in your path should be sufficient to run it. To use default initialization files, or a configuration file forLaTeX2HTML when using latex2html to convert @tex sections (see section Expanding @tex and @math regions usingLaTeX2HTML), install them in the package data directory specified to configure. This is `/usr/local/share/texi2html/' bydefault, but depends on the value of the `--pkgdatadir=dir' option passed to the ./configure script. Files used for stringscustomization and internationalization are also searched for in the `i18n' directory of this directory. See section Use initialization filesfor fine tuning for more.


4. Invoking texi2html

To produce an HTML manual, run texi2html with a Texinfo file as an argument. For example, this manual is created with:

$ texi2html texi2html.texi

The behaviour oftexi2html may be changed with command line options. These command line options are always associated with

corresponding perl variables which may appear in init files, and these variables are presented in this chapter each time a switch isdescribed.

Boolean command line switches always have a corresponding negated switch, obtained by prepending `no' or `no-' to the switchname. For example `--nomenu' does the reverse of `--menu'.

4.1 Specifying where to split the generated document The HTML output may be split at different levels

4.2 Setting output file and directory names

4.3 Specifying which regions get expanded

4.4 Command line options related to Texinfo language features

4.5 Page layout related command line options Customizing page layout

4.6 Customizing the HTML and text style

4.7 Expanding @tex and @math regions using LaTeX2HTML

4.8 Use initialization files for fine tuning Specifying initialization files for fine tuning


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4.1 Specifying where to split the generated document

The HTML manual resulting from the processing of the Texinfo source may be split into files at different levels. This is specified withthe option `--split' which takes an argument, namely the level of splitting (variable: $SPLIT). This level may be:

`chapter'

The document is split at @chapter, @appendix, or @unnumbered.

`section'

The document is split at the same places as it is using the `chapter' argument, and also at @section, @appendixsec or@unnumberedsec.

`node'

The document is split at every sectioning command. It is not necessarily split at each node, if the @node structure doesn'tcorrespond with the sectioning command structure (see below).

`none'

The document isn't split. This is the default.

There are two kinds of commands which may be used to define sectioning elements in Texinfo: @node and the structuring commands(@top, @section, @appendixsubsec, and so on). A node just preceding a structuring command is considered to be part of the samesectioning element as that command. If the @node Top isn't associated with a structuring command it also defines a sectioningelement.

By default, nodes which aren't associated with a structuring command are not considered to be sectioning commands. They are alwaysconsidered to be part of a sectioning element defined by a structuring command. It is possible to change this behaviour via the ` --use-nodes' option (variable $USE_NODES). In this case, nodes not associated with structuring commands are also considered to besectioning commands defining a sectioning element.

This default behaviour mimics texi2dvi behaviour, which ignores @node commands for the purprose of sectioning, while the secondlooks likemakeinfo behaviour (see (texinfo)Two Paths).

As an illustration, the following table shows how a sample Texinfo document is divided into sectioning elements when `--use-nodes' is used and not:

Texinfo code default case with --use-nodes'

@node node1@chapter node 1node1 text

@node node2node2 text

@node node3node3 text@chapter node 3chapter text

first element:

@node node1@chapter node 1

node1 text


second element:

@node node3node3 text@chapter node 3chapter text

first element:

@node node1@chapter node 1node1 text

second element:


third element:

@node node3

node3 text@chapter node 3chapter text



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4.2 Setting output file and directory names

By default, texi2html generates files in the current directory. The basename for the files is constructed by stripping the `.texi',`.txi', `.texinfo', or `.txinfo' extension from the Texinfo file name. If the output is split, an underscore followed by a number isappended to that basename for the files corresponding with sectioning elements, with the exception of the top element. The filescontaining special elements pages have an underscore and a 3 letter code corresponding to their content (`toc' for table of contents,àbt' for about, òvr' for overview) appended. Lastly, an `.html' file extension is appended.

Thus, if the texinfo file àfile.texi' is processed and split at chapters into 3 files, the generated files will be:

afile.html --> @node Top or @top sectionafile_1.html --> Chapter 1afile_2.html --> Chapter 2afile_toc.html --> Table of Contents

afile_abt.html --> About Page

This default behavior may be modified by several command line options. If the output isn't split, the prefix file name may be overridedby the `--output' command line option (variable $OUT). If the output is split, and `--output' is set, the files are placed in thedirectory specified by the argument to the option. The default is to put the files in the current directory.

The basename may be overridden with `--prefix' (variable $PREFIX). If `--short-ext' is given, `.htm' is appended instead of`.html' in the final step (variable $SHORTEXTN). The `--top-file' option overrides the top element file name (variable $TOP_FILE).

This can be used to name the top element file ìndex.html'. Similarly, `--toc-file' changes the name of the table of contents file(variable $TOC_FILE).

Reusing the example above, but this time calling texi2html like so:

$ texi2html -split chapter -prefix manual -short-ext -top-file index.htm -toc-file contents.htm

we get:

index.htm --> @node Top or @top section manual_1.htm --> Chapter 1 manual_2.htm --> Chapter 2contents.htm --> Table of Contents

manual_abt.htm --> About Page

The file names generated by texi2html differ from those generated bymakeinfo.makeinfo uses the node name to construct the filenames while splitting at nodes. It is possible to get the same behaviour out oftexi2html by specifying the `--node-files' option(variable $NODE_FILES). If the output isn't split at nodes, texi2html will still output files named after the nodes, without real contentbut redirecting to the right file. The default is false for this option. This trick enables the generated HTML manual to be a target for thecross-references of other manuals generated bymakeinfo or texi2html.

Warning: the waymakeinfo (and hopefully texi2html) handle HTML manual cross references should change in the future.


4.3 Specifying which regions get expanded

The default for texi2html is to expand the @ifhtml, @html, and @menu regions, all the @ifnot regions except @ifnothtml, and noother @if regions.

It is possible to expand other regions by setting `--if', where `' is replaced by the literal name of the region (forexample, `--iftex'). Symetrically, if `--no-if' is specified, the `' region is ignored. The configuration file array,@EXPAND, holds the names of regions which should be expanded. The only region name present in @EXPAND in the default case is`html'.

If `--nomenu' is set, the @menu sections are not expanded (variable $SHOW_MENU). The default is to expand @menu sections.



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4.4 Command line options related to Texinfo language features

Miscalleneous Texinfo related things may be specified via command line options.

`--lang=lang'

Sets the document language similar to the Texinfo directive, @documentlanguage lang (variable $LANG). The default is `en',that is, use the english language strings.

`-Dvar'

Sets var. Equivalent to, @set var 1, in Texinfo.

`-Uvar'

Clears var. Equivalent to, @clear var, in Texinfo.

`-Pdir'

Prepend dir to the list of directories to search for @include files (the associated array is @PREPEND_DIRS, empty in the defaultcase).

`-Idir'

Append dir to the list of directories to search for @include files (the associated array is @INCLUDE_DIRS, empty in the defaultcase).

The include files are always searched for in the current directory.


4.5 Page layout related command line options

If the `--frames' option is specified, HTML frames are used. A file describing the frame layout is generated, and the document pageis associated with a frame where the short table of content appears (variable $FRAMES). The default is not to use frames.

It is also possible to suppress the section navigation panel with `--nosec-nav' (variable $SECTION_NAVIGATION, the default is tooutput all the navigation panels), and to specify whether footnotes should appear at the foot of the same page which contains thereference to the note or on a separate page with `--separated-footnotes' (variable $SEPARATED_FOOTNOTES). The default is tohave separated footnotes.


4.6 Customizing the HTML and text style

Miscalleneous style changes may be achieved with command line options.

`--doctype=DTD'

`--frameset-doctype=DTD'

You can specify the document DTD by setting these options. `--frameset-doctype' applies to the file describing the frameswhen frames are used (corresponding variables are $DOCTYPE and $FRAMESET_DOCTYPE).

The default for the document doctype is:


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`--iso'

If this option is set, ISO8859 entities are used for some special symbols, like Copyright (variable $USE_ISO). It is the default.

`--css-include=file'

This command line switch provides for the inclusion of an external Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) file. More than one file may bespecified, and `-' stands for the standard input (array @CSS_FILES).

The option use is the same than for makeinfo and is described extensively in (texinfo)HTML CSS. Briefly, the CSS @import

lines from the external file CSS file are pasted before the texi2html CSS rules, and the external file CSS rules are pasted afterthe texi2html CSS rules.

`--html-xref-prefix=path'

This option sets the base directory for external HTML texinfo manuals (variable $EXTERNAL_DIR). Defaults to `../'.

`--def-table'

If this option is set, HTML tables are used to format definition commands, rather than HTML definition tables (variable$DEF_TABLE). Default is false.

`--short-ref'

If this option is set, cross-references are given without section numbers (variable $SHORT_REF). Default is false.

`--number'

If this option is set, sections are numbered (variable $NUMBER_SECTIONS). This is the default.

`--toc-links'

If this option is set, links from headings to TOC entries are created (variable $TOC_LINKS). Default is false.


4.7 Expanding@tex

and@math

regions using LaTeX2HTMLIt is possible to use LaTeX2HTML to process @tex regions and @math{} commands. This is an attractive way to displaymathematical constructs in the HTML manual. The `--l2h' option activates this feature (variable $L2H). It is usually desirable toexpand @tex sections when this option is specified (see section Specifying which regions get expanded). The default is not to use thisfeature.

The `--l2h-l2h=program' option enables changing the name/location of the LaTeX2HTML program processing TeX regions(variable $L2H_L2H). The default is latex2html.

`--l2h-tmp' sets the directory used for temporary files, this name shouldn't contain a dot `.' (variable is $L2H_TMP). Defaults to thecurrent dir.

The file specified by `--l2h-file' is used as LaTeX2HTML init file. It is searched at the same places than init files (see section Use

initialization files for fine tuning), and the default is `l2h.init'.


4.8 Use initialization files for fine tuning

Initialization variables are read first from `/usr/local/share/texi2html/Config' (the exact location being changeable with the `--pkgdatadir=dir' option of the configure script, see Installation oftexi2html), `/usr/local/etc/texi2html/Config' (the exactlocation being changeable with the `--sysconfdir=dir' option of the configure script, see Installation oftexi2html), from`./Config' then from `$HOME/.texi2html/Config'. Any command-line option can override the corresponding option set in init file,and the option `--init-file' specifies an init file to be loaded, with later settings overriding earlier ones.

The init files specified with `--init-file' are searched first in the current directory, then in the `$HOME/.texi2html/' directory, inthe `/usr/local/etc/texi2html/' directory and lastly in the `/usr/local/share/texi2html/' directory.

A file is also included based on the language selected, by $LANG, `--lang' or @documentlanguage. If no language was selected `en'


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is considered to be the language. All the files with name the language name in ` /usr/local/share/texi2html/i18n/',`/usr/local/etc/texi2html/i18n/', `$HOME/.texi2html/i18n/' and then `./i18n/' are included.

The default initialization options are defined in the `texi2html.init' file contained in the texi2html distribution (which getsincluded near the beginning of the texi2html script that gets installed).

To customize texi2html it is best if you copy the appropriate sections from the `texi2html.init' contents into an appropriate localinitialization file, make the necessary changes there, and then have texi2html read this initialization file by one of the meansdescribed above.


5. Overview of initialization files content and loading

The initialization files are perl files, read as explained in Use initialization files for fine tuning. You don't need to know much ofperlto do some simple changes in variable values, however, to be able to really take advantage of all the features of the initialization file, agood knowledge ofperl is required.

In initialization file two kind of variables appear. These are normal variables (including arrays and hashes) and references onfunctions. The later permits the dynamic redefinition of functions used to produce the HTML manual. You should be able to changethe value of some normal variables without a deep knowledge ofperl, by looking at the existing examples. The possible mistakes in

that case could be omitted `;', and bad quoting.

Initialization file are loaded from the main program by the mean of a require, while in the Texi2HTML::Config namespace. Thismeans that the namespace of the main program and the namespace of inititalization files are distinct, which ensures that no name clashshould happen. The variables are declared with the our specifier, such that it should be possible to use the use strict pragma in theinitialization file code.

To avoid messing with the variables in themain namespace all the global variables which could be of use in the init files are in theTexi2HTML namespace. Notice that the functions of the main program are still in themain namespace.

5.1 Redefining functions in initialization files Function redefinition is achieved with redefinition of references on functions.

5.2 Conventions used for function prototypes Conventions used in that manual for function reference prototypes display.


5.1 Redefining functions in initialization files

To redefine a function you must replace the corresponding funtion reference with a reference on your function. Thus you should writeyour function, give it a name you are certain it is unique in the Texi2HTML::Config namespace, and override the value of thefunction reference with your own function reference. When another function from the main program (or from another functions of aninitialization file) calls the reference, your function will be used.

For example the function reference corresponding with the function called when doing an anchor is called $anchor. Thus if you wantto override the corresponding function you could write:

# override the function reference$anchor = \&my_own_function;

# the function reference now refers tosub my_own_function {# process arguments and return an html anchor}


5.2 Conventions used for function prototypes

As the functions are defined by a reference name, we will always use the reference name in function prototypes. For the functionarguments we will use \@array for a reference on an array and similarly \%hash for a reference on a hash.

Thus, the prototype for the function associated with the function reference `$formatting_function' will be:


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Function Reference: $text formatting_function $arg1 \@arg2

formatting_function takes as first argument $arg2, as second argument a reference on an array\@arg2 and returns theformatted text $text.

To redefined the corresponding function, you should write:

$formatting_function = \&my_formatting_function

sub my_formatting_function($ $)

{my $arg1 = shift;my $arg2 = shift;# prepare $formatted_text.....return $formatted_text

}


6. Fine tuning of the page layout

Some features of the page layout might be specified with command line options, the corresponding variables are described in Pagelayout related command line options. Fine tuning of the page layout may be achieved with redefinition of other variables and functionreferences in the initialization files.

6.1 The different categories of pages and sectioningelements

The different categories of pages.

6.2 Page layout and navigation panel overview The elements of a page.

6.3 Customization of the navigation panels buttons How to change the navigation panel.

6.4 Main program variables and usefull functions

The available main program variables and some usefull functions from themain program.

6.5 Preparing the output Setting variables before the document production but after the texinfo parsing.

6.6 Finalizing the output Cleaning after document generation.

6.7 Customizing the texi2html css lines Customizing css lines.6.8 Customizing the page header

6.9 Customizing the sections

6.10 Customizing the page footer

6.11 Special pages formatting Customizing table of contents, top, about page.

6.12 Customizing the file names

6.13 Generation of external files for index entries Putting index entries in external files.


6.1 The different categories of pages and sectioning elements

The following sectioning elements can be associated with pages:

Normal elements

These are normal sections or nodes. Their association with pages is determined by the splitting of the document. See sectionSpecifying where to split the generated document.

Top element

The top element is the higher element in the document structure. If there is a @top section it is the element associated with thatsection. Otherwise it is the element associated with the @node Top. If there is no @node Top the first element is the top element.

The top element is formatted differently than a normal element if there is a @top section or the @node Top isn't associated with a

sectioning command.

Misc elements


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These elements are associated with pages if the document is split. There are four misc elements:

1. Table of contents

2. Short table of contents, also called Overview

3. Footnotes page

4. About page

TheAbout page shouldn't be present for documents consisting in only one sectioning element. The Footnote page should onlybe present if the footnotes appear on a separated page (see section Page layout related command line options), however afootnote element is present if the document isn't split. The Table of contents should only be formatted if@contents is present inthe document. Similarly the Overview should only appear if@shortcontents or @summarycontents is present.


6.2 Page layout and navigation panel overview

A page is broken up in three parts. A page header, the sections and a page footer. A common element in the page layout is anavigation panel with icons or text linking to other sections or pages. Another common element is a rule, separating sections or footer.The navigation panel and the rules may be part of the sections or part of headers or footers. You may use the variables $SMALL_RULE,

$DEFAULT_RULE, $MIDDLE_RULE and $BIG_RULE for rules of different sizes. The defaults are

$SMALL_RULE = '';$DEFAULT_RULE = '';$MIDDLE_RULE = '';$BIG_RULE = '';

In the header some important meta data may be defined, like the title or style information, and textual informations may be present incomments. All this doesn't appear directly in the displayed HTML, though.

The page layout is mainly controlled by functions, the precise functions called depending on the document splitting. The navigationpanel, however, can be customized with variables.

Element labels

There are 19 items associated with elements. Each of these is associated with a name and a reference to the element they represent,when such an element exists. The element is either a global element or an element relative to the current element. The relative elementsare found with respect with the document structure defined by the section structuring commands ( @chapter, @unnumbered) or bythe nodes (in that case the node directions are specified on node line or in menu organization). These items are called element labels.They may be associated with a button (see section Specifying the buttons formatting), and used in the formatting functions (see sectionMain program variables and usefull functions).

Here is the list:

`'An empty button

Top

Top element. The associated name is $TOP_HEADING if that variable is defined. This variable is not set by default.

Contents

Table of contents

About

About (help) page

Overview

Overview, short table of contents


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First

First element in reading order

Last

Last element in reading order

Index

The first chapter with @printindex. The associated name is $INDEX_CHAPTER, if the variable is set. This variable is not set bydefault.

This

The current element

Back

Preceding element in reading order

FastBack

Beginning of this chapter or previous chapter if the element is a chapter

Prev

Previous section on the same level

NodePrev

Previous node

Forward

Next element in reading order

FastForward

Next chapter

Next

Next section on the same level

NodeNext

Next node

Following

Next node in node reading order

Up

Up section

NodeUp

Up node


6.3 Customization of the navigation panels buttons

A lot of customization of the navigation panel may be achieved without redefining functions, with variables redefinition. In case it isn'tenough, it is also possible to redefine the function doing the navigation panel formatting.


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6.3.1 Controlling the navigation panel panel at a high level Variables controlling the navigation panel at a global level

6.3.2 Specifying the buttons formatting

6.3.3 Changing the navigation panel formatting


6.3.1 Controlling the navigation panel panel at a high level

The global formatting of the navigation panels may be changed with the following variables:

$VERTICAL_HEAD_NAVIGATION

A vertical navigation panel will be used for the header navigation panel if this variable is true.

$ICONS

Icons are used instead of textual buttons if this variable is true.

$SECTION_NAVIGATION

If this variable is false there is no section navigation, no navigation panels for the elements within the pages, only at thebeginning and the end of the page (see section Page layout related command line options).


6.3.2 Specifying the buttons formatting

Several arrays and hashes enable a precise control on the buttons and their display. The following arrays determine the buttons presentin navigation panels:

@SECTION_BUTTONS

This array is used for the navigation panel buttons present at the begining of sectioning elements. If split at node or section theyare also used at the page footer, and in the case of section navigation at the page header.

@SECTION_FOOTER_BUTTONS

@NODE_FOOTER_BUTTONS

This array is used for the navigation panel buttons present at the footer of pages when split at node or at section.

If$WORDS_IN_PAGE is set and the output is split at nodes, these buttons are only present if there are more than $WORDS_IN_PAGEwords in the sectioning element text. This counting is very rough and include punctuation marks, html elements, numbers. Thedefault is to include the buttons after 300 words.

@CHAPTER_BUTTONS

This array is used for the buttons appearing at the page footer if split at chapter, and at the page header if split at chapter andthere is no section navigation.

@MISC_BUTTONS

These buttons appear at the beginning of special and sections and at the end of these section pages if the output is split.

The array specify the buttons displayed in navigation panels, and how the button is displayed. Each element is associated with abutton of the navigation panel from left to right. The signification of the array element value is the following:

reference on a function

The function is called with first argument a filehandle reference on the current file and second argument a boolean true if thenavigation panel should be vertical.

reference on a scalar

The scalar value is printed. For some possibly usefull scalars, Accessing elements informations.

reference on an array

In this case the first array element should be a reference on text and the second element an element label. In that case a link to


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the element associated with the element label with the scalar value text is generated.

For example if the buttons array element is

[ 'Next', \$Texi2HTML::NODE{Next} ]

The button will be a link to the next section with text $Texi2HTML::NODE{Next}.

element label

If icons are not used, the button is a link to the corresponding element which text is defined by the value associated with theelement label in the %NAVIGATION_TEXT hash, surrounded by [' and `]'. If the element label is `', there is no `[' and `]'. Theelement of the %NAVIGATION_TEXT hash are defined dynamically, in the init_out function reference (see section Preparing theoutput).

If icons are used, the button is an image with file determined by the value associated with the element label in the%ACTIVE_ICONS hash if the the link really leads to an element, or in the %PASSIVE_ICONS hash if there is no element to link to.Of course if there is a link to the element the icon links to that element.


6.3.3 Changing the navigation panel formatting

If you are not satisfied with this scheme, it is possible to control exactly the formatting of navigation panels by redefining a functionreference. The function controlling the display of navigation panel is associated with the following function reference:

Function Reference: print_navigation $filehandle \@buttons $vertical

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. \@buttons is an array reference which should hold thespecification of the buttons for that navigation panel. $verticalis true if the navigation panel should be vertical.


6.4 Main program variables and usefull functions

In the functions controlling the page layout some global variables set by the main program are available, with value correspondingwith the current layout element.

6.4.1 Accessing elements informations Accessing information related with the different elements

6.4.2 Accessing global informations Accessing global informations, like date, title

6.4.3 Function usefull in page formatting main program usefull functions


6.4.1 Accessing elements informations

Four hashes are available, with key the elements labels (as described in Element labels) and values:

%Texi2HTML::NAME

The formatted element name

%Texi2HTML::HREF

The element hypertext reference

%Texi2HTML::NODE

The element node name

%Texi2HTML::NO_TEXI

The element name after removal of texi commands


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6.4.2 Accessing global informations

Three kinds of global informations are available, miscalleneous global strings, flags set by @set and special flags and section lines.

Global strings

The %Texi2HTML::THISDOC hash holds some global informations:

fulltitle

title set by @title. If there is no @title other possibilities are tried (@settitle, @shorttitlepage).

title

title set by @settitle, or fulltitle.

title_no_texi

title without texi formatting

title_texi

title with texi commands

author

Authors list set by @author.

authors

A reference on an array containing each author set by @author.

copying

Text appearing in @copying with all the texinfo commands removed, put in comments.

program

The name and version oftexi2html.

program_homepage

Homepage for texi2html.

program_authors

Authors oftexi2html.

file_base_name

base name of the texinfo manual file.

destination_directory

Destination directory for the resulting files.

toc_file

The file name of the table of contents.

today

The date.

Flags

Flags defined by @set may be accessed through the %main::value hash. The key is the flag name, the value is the flag value at theend of the document.


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Special flags are set by the main program. They correspond with a texinfo command, like @setfilename, or @settitle, @authorThe corresponding flag is the command name with _' appended, for example,_titlefont corresponds with @titlefont. Like otherflags they are available in %main::value.

Section lines

The following array references or arrays holds formatted lines:

$Texi2HTML::THIS_SECTION

Lines of the current element.

$Texi2HTML::THIS_HEADER

Lines of the current element appearing before the element label (anchors).

$Texi2HTML::OVERVIEW

Lines of short table of contents. See section Special pages formatting.

$Texi2HTML::TOC_LINES

Lines of table of contents. See section Special pages formatting.


6.4.3 Function usefull in page formatting

The usefull function is a function used to print an array of lines, which also counts the number of words in the array, if needed.

Function: $words_number main::print_lines $filehandle \@lines_array

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. \@lines_array is the array line the function should write to thefile. If this argument is omitted, the function uses $Texi2HTML::THIS_SECTION. $words_number is the number of words in thearray, only defined if split at nodes and $WORDS_IN_PAGE is defined.


6.5 Preparing the output

After the texinfo file has been parsed, some information is available which can be used to modify some variables and prepare theoutputting. For example the document language, the document encoding, values set with @set or @setfilename and other similar @-commands are not known before the texinfo parsing.

The following function reference may be redefined to be called after texinfo processing and before document generation:

Function Reference: $encoding init_out

This function perform the initialization of variables and any other task before document outputting. It returns the encoding usedfor the output files.

In the default case the $BODYTEXT (see section Customizing the page header) and the hashes %NAVIGATION_TEXT (see sectionSpecifying the buttons formatting) and %BUTTONS_GOTO (see section Formatting of about text) are initialized.

To perform the default initializations and also add more code, you could do as in the following example (save the default functionreference and call it in your own function) :

my $default_init_out = $init_out;$init_out = \&makeinfo_like_init_out;sub makeinfo_like_init_out(){

my $encoding = &$default_init_out();

$NAVIGATION_TEXT{'Following'} = ' > ';return $encoding;

}


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6.6 Finalizing the output

If you want to do some cleaning after the document was generated (close files, write at the end of files and so on), the followingfunction reference may be redefined:

Function Reference: finish_out

This function is called after the document generation.

The default is to do nothing.


6.7 Customizing the texi2html css lines

It is possible to modify the texi2html css lines by modifying the entries or adding to the %css_map hash. Each key is a css selector,the corresponding value is a style string.

The whole css text is in the variable $CSS_LINES. If this variable is defined the variable value is used instead of being constructed

using the %css_map entries. For example if you don't want any css entries, set

$CSS_LINES = '';

It is also possible to change completely the way $CSS_LINES are generated by redefining the following function reference:

Function Reference: css_lines \@import_lines \@rule_lines

This function should be used to construct the $CSS_LINES.\@import_lines are the @import lines of the files specified with `--include-css', and\@rule_lines are the css commands lines of these files. See section Customizing the HTML and text style.


6.8 Customizing the page header

It is possible to add lines to the text within the HTML elements, by defining the variable $EXTRA_HEAD. Similarly it is possibleto add text just after the element with the variable $AFTER_BODY_OPEN. These variables are empty by default.

The encoding of the texinfo file is defined by $DOCUMENT_ENCODING if no @documentencoding appears in the document. The defaultis a `en-ascii' encoding. The encoding of the resulting document is defined by $ENCODING. The default is the$DOCUMENT_ENCODING.

The description of the document may be specified in $DOCUMENT_DESCRIPTION. If this variable is undef, the text associated with@documentdescription is used, and if there isn't such test a default description is constructed using the document title and the name

of the first section of the file.

The element attributes may be set by defining the variable $BODYTEXT. If you want to define that variable dynamically, youshould use the init_out function reference (see section Preparing the output).

The default functions call the function associated with $print_head_navigation to format the navigation panel for the page header.Thus you can control parts of the formatting by redefining the function reference.

Function Reference: print_head_navigation $filehandle \@buttons

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. \@buttons is an array reference which should hold thespecification of the buttons for the navigation panel.

If you want even more control, you can have full control over the page header formatting by redefining three function references. Thefunction associated with $print_page_head is called for all the pages, and after that, the function associated with$print_chapter_header is called if the document is split at chapters, or the function associated with $print_section_header iscalled if the document is split at sections.


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Function Reference: print_page_head $filehandle

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. This function should print the page head, including the element.

Function Reference: print_chapter_header $filehandle

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. This function is called if the document is split at chapters, afterprint_page_head.

Function Reference: print_section_header $filehandle

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. This function is called if the document is split at sections, afterprint_page_head.


6.9 Customizing the sections

The functions associated with the following function references are used for the formatting of sections:

Function Reference: print_section $filehandle $first_in_page $previous_is_top

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. $first_in_page is true if this section is the first section in thepage. $previous_is_top is true if this section is the section following the Top section. This function should print the currentsection.

Function Reference: end_section $filehandle $last_element_or_before_top

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. $last_element_or_before_top is true if this section precedes thetop element or is the last one in page, or before the special elements.


6.10 Customizing the page footerIt is possible to add text just before the element with the variable $PRE_BODY_CLOSE. Nothing is added by default.

The default functions call the function associated with $print_foot_navigation to format the navigation panel for the page footer.Thus you can control parts of the formatting by redefining the function reference.

Function Reference: print_foot_navigation $filehandle \@buttons

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. \@buttons is an array reference which should hold thespecification of the buttons for the navigation panel.

If you want even more control, you can have full control the page footer formatting by redefining three function references. Thefunction associated with $print_chapter_footer is called if the document is split at chapters, or the function associated with$print_section_footer is called if the document is split at sections. After that the function associated with $print_page_foot iscalled.

Function Reference: print_page_foot $filehandle

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. This function should print the page foot, including the element.

Function Reference: print_chapter_footer $filehandle

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. This function is called if the document is split at chapters,before print_page_foot.

Function Reference: print_section_footer $filehandle

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. This function is called if the document is split at sections,before print_page_foot.


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6.11 Special pages formatting

For the special elements, two things must be formatted: the content and the page layout

6.11.1 Customizing the content of the special pages

6.11.2 Customizing the layout of the special pages


6.11.1 Customizing the content of the special pages

6.11.1.1 Top element text formatting

6.11.1.2 Table of contents and Short table of contents

6.11.1.3 Formatting of footnotes text

6.11.1.4 Formatting of about text


6.11.1.1 Top element text formatting

The top element formatting is controlled by three function which also controls the layout of the top element page or section. Theassociated function references are:

Function Reference: print_Top_header $filehandle $begin_page

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. $begin_page is true if the element is the first in a page. Thisfunction should begin the Top element. At the time this function is called the top element text hasn't been parsed.

Function Reference: print_Top $filehandle $has_top_heading

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. $has_top_heading is true if there is a @heading command or

@titlefont command appearing in the Top element text. This function should be used to format the Top element text andnavigation panel.

Function Reference: print_Top_footer $filehandle $end_page

$filehandle is the opened filehandle the function should write to. $end_page is true if the element is the last in a page. Thisfunction should end the Top element.


6.11.1.2 Table of contents and Short table of contents

Several variables may be used to control the formatting of table of contents and short table of contents:

$DO_CONTENTS

If the variable is true a table of contents is done even if there is no @contents command.

$DO_SCONTENTS

If the variable is true a short table of contents is done even if there is no @summarycontents command.

$BEFORE_OVERVIEW

The variable value is inserted before the short table of contents text.

$AFTER_OVERVIEW

The variable value is inserted after the short table of contents text.

$BEFORE_TOC_LINES


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The variable value is inserted before the table of contents text.

$AFTER_TOC_LINES

The variable value is inserted after the table of contents text.

$TOC_LIST_STYLE

This should contain a css style used for the list style if the tables of content are formatted with a list.

$TOC_LIST_ATTRIBUTE

This should contain an attribute text used for the list element if the tables of content are formatted with a list.

More control on the table of contents and short table of contents formatting may be achieved by redefining a function with thefollowing associated function reference:

Function Reference: toc_body \@elements

\@elements is an array reference contining informations about all the elements of the document. Each of the entry of this array isan hash reference which entries correspond with different informations about the element. Interesting keys have the followingmeaning:

top

true if the element is the top element,

index_page

true if the element is an index page added because of index splitting,

toc_level

level of the element in the table of content. Highest level is 1 for the top element and for chapters, appendix and so on, 2for section, unnumberedsec and so on...

tocid

label used for reference linking to the element in table of contents,

file

the file containing the element, usefull to do href to that file in case the document is split,

text

text of the element, with section number,

name

text of the element, without section number.

This function doesn't return anything but should fill the array corresponding with the $Texi2HTML::TOC_LINES and$Texi2HTML::OVERVIEW references with the table of contents and short table of contents.


6.11.1.3 Formatting of footnotes text

The footnotes text is allready formatting when @footnote commands are expanded. See section Customizing the footnotesformatting.


6.11.1.4 Formatting of about text

The default about element contains an explaination of the buttons used in the document (@SECTION_BUTTONS, Specifying the buttonsformatting) and an example locating the buttons targets in an example. The formatting of this text may be influenced by the following


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hashes and variables:

$PRE_ABOUT

$AFTER_ABOUT

This variable may be a scalar or a function reference. If it is a scalar, the value is used. If this is a function reference it isexpanded and the returned text is used. The text is added before or after the main about text.

%BUTTONS_GOTO

The keys of this hash are element labels (see Element labels). The value is the text associated with the element label in the about

text. The element of the hash are defined dynamically, you should in the init_out function reference (see section Preparing theoutput).

%BUTTONS_EXAMPLE

The keys of this hash are element labels (see Element labels). The value is the text associated with the element label in the aboutexample, typically a section number.

If this is not enough and you want to control exactly the formatting of the about text, you can redefine the function associated with thefollowing function reference:

Function Reference: $about_text print_about

This function should return the about text.


6.11.2 Customizing the layout of the special pages

The formatting of each of the special pages, or section in case the document is not split, is controlled by a function. The associatedfunction reference is called accordingly:

print_Topprint_Top_headerprint_Top_footer

Formatting of top element page or section. It is also used for the formatting of the top element text (see section Top element textformatting).

print_Toc

Formatting of table of contents page or section

print_Overview

Formatting of short table of contents page or section

print_About

Formatting of about (help) page or section

print_Footnotes

Formatting of footnotes section or page in case footnotes are on a separated page or the document isn't split.

In the default case, $print_Top calls $print_Top_header for the header and $print_Top_footer for the footer of top element. Allthe other function call $print_misc which in turn calls $print_misc_header for the headers and $print_misc_footer for thefooters.


6.12 Customizing the file names

It is possible to specify the file names with more control than with the command line options (see section Setting output file anddirectory names). First the extension may be overrided by the variable $EXTENSION value. Two function references enable furthercustomization. One is usefull in case $NODE_FILES is true and it is used to customize the node file name itself and is also used toproduce a file name with a redirection leading to the node file.


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Function Reference: ($node_file $redirection_node_file) node_file_name $node

$node is a hash reference with the following interesting keys (there are much more keys):

texi

The texinfo node name.

with_section

True if associated with a section.

The result is the node file name $node_file, and the file containing a redirection to the node $redirection_node_file.

The other is usefull if$NODE_FILES isn't true. It is used to customize the file associated with each element.

Function Reference: $file element_file_name $element $is_top $docu_name

$elementis a hash reference with the following interesting keys (there are much more keys):

texi

The texinfo element name.

number

The number associated with a section.

doc_nr

A number incremented whenever a new file should begin, based on how the document is split (see section Specifyingwhere to split the generated document).

text

The element text.

name

The element text without section number.

$is_top is true if the element is considered as the top element. $docu_name is the basename of the texinfo manual. The result isthe element file name.


6.13 Generation of external files for index entries

Within the document, @printindex commands are expanded as explained in Customizing the formatting of index lists. In case youwant to do something special with index entries, outside of the document, you should first set the variable $IDX_SUMMARY true. Afterthat some function reference will be called for each non empty index. For each index there are 3 function references, one called for

initialization, one called for each index entry and the last one called for finalazation.

Function Reference: index_summary_file_begin $index_name $is_printed

$index_name is the two letters name for the index. This function is called for each index appearing in the document, beforeindex_summary_file_entry. $is_printedis true if there is a @printindex for that index.

Function Reference: index_summary_file_entry $index_name $entry_text $entry_reference $formatted_entry $texi_entry$entry_element_reference $entry_element_header $is_printed

This function is called for each entry of an index. index_name is the name of the index. $entry_textis the entry in plain text,$formatted_entry is the index entry formatted, $texi_entry is the entry with texinfo commands. $entry_reference is the referenceplaced at the index entry place, in the form `file#id'. $entry_element_header is the formatted header of the element containingthe index entry. entry_element_header is the reference to the beginning of the element containing the index entry, in the form

`file#id'. $is_printedis true if there is a @printindex for that index.

Function Reference: index_summary_file_end $index_name $is_printed


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$index_name is the two letters name for the index. This function is called for each index appearing in the document, afterindex_summary_file_entry. $is_printedis true if there is a @printindex for that index.


7. Customizing HTML and text style in init files

Some simple customization may be achieved with the redefinition of the variables associated with the command line options. For thedescription and an explanation of the meaning of these variables, Customizing the HTML and text style.

Other variables and hash entries can be modified in initialization file to achieve more customization. Lastly, functions referencescorresponding with functions called from the main program and initialization files may be redefined.

7.1 Three contexts for expansions: preformatted,normal and string

there are three different contexts for command expansion: normal text,preformatted text and strings.

7.2 Customizing the formatting of commandswithout argument

7.3 Customizing accent, style and other simplecommands

7.4 Formatting of special simple commands Formatting of@anchor, @image and @sp

7.5 Processing special characters in text Some characters are processed specially

7.6 Customizing strings written by texi2html texi2html write some strings in the output different for each languages

7.7 Customizing ignored commands and text

7.8 References

7.9 Commands used for centering and flushing oftext

@center, @flushleft

7.10 Formatting a paragraph or a preformattedregion

7.11 Formatting of complex formats (@example,@display)

@example, @display

7.12 Customizing the formatting of lists, tables andquotations

7.13 Definition commands formatting 7.14 Customizing headings formatting

7.15 Formatting of special regions (@verbatim,@cartouche)

@verbatim, @cartouche

7.16 Menu formatting

7.17 Indices formatting

7.18 Customizing the footnotes formatting

7.19 Customizing other commands You can handle specifically other commands


7.1 Three contexts for expansions: preformatted, normal and string

There are three contexts of interest, one is the normal context, the other is a special context, called the preformattedcontext and thelast is the string context. The preformatted context occurs when the spacing between words is kept. This is the case, for example, in@display or @example regions, and in menu comments (see section Menu formatting). The preformatted regions are usually renderedin elements in HTML. The string context occurs when rendering strings without formatting elements, in comments or titles forexample.

Some HTML elements are not allowed in preformatted context. This is the case for , for example. Thus, sometime, a functiondoing some formatting have to reopen and reclose the preformatted context around the newly generated text.

For example, we suppose we have HTML resulting from command

@foo@item an item

@end foo


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looking like:

an item

with foo_itemthe function formating the @foo@itemline.

And the HTML resulting from:

@examplesome text@end example

looks like

some text

Suppose that we want to handle the construct:

@example@foo@item an item@end foo@end example

This could lead to the invalid HTML:

an item

To avoid that, @foo will close the preformatted context opened by @example, and the function foo_itemwill have to reopen it,leading to

an item

which is valid.

All such function should allready have an hash reference passed as one of their arguments, the state. The only entry of interest in thecorresponding hash is 'preformatted' which is true if the function was called in a preformatted context. Opening and closing the

preformatted context should then be done by calling a function from the main program,main::do_preformatted with the text andthe state as arguments.

Here is an example:

sub foo_item{my $arg1 = shift;my $arg2 = shift;my $state = shift;

if ($state->{'preformatted'}){

my $text;

# add some text to $text,# possibly using $arg1 and $arg2.return '' . main::do_preformatted($text, $state) . '';

}else


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{.....

}


7.2 Customizing the formatting of commands without argument

This includes the commands whose name is a nonletter character like @@, the commands with lettered characters and braces but whose

braces should be empty, like @TeX{}, or some commands associated with accentted letters like @AA{}. If there happens to besomething within the braces, it is put after the command, thus

@TeX{something}

leads to the same than

@TeX{} something

Each of these categories of commands have three associated hashes, one for normal context, the other for preformatted context and thelast in strings. The keys of the hashes are the command names, the associated value is the text replacing the command.

The hashes are:

command type normal text preformatted text string

one nonlettered character %simple_map %simple_map_pre %simple_map_texi

nothing in braces %things_map %pre_map %texi_map

To change the HTML resulting from these constructs, just change the value. For example, if you want to be outputted for @- innormal and preformatted context, write in your init file:

$simple_map{'-'} = '';$simple_map_pre{'-'} = '';


7.3 Customizing accent, style and other simple commands

The formatting of the HTML produced by style and indicatric commands (@tt, @code, @email, @titlefont), the accentuationrelated commands taking argument (@', @udotaccent, @dotless) and miscalleneous commands (@email, @verb, @w, @uref, @math,@asis) is controlled by two hash in the default case, %style_map for normal context, %style_map_pre for preformatted context and%style_map_texi in string context.

The key of the hashes are the command names. There are two possibilities for the values corresponding with two interfaces. Thevalues may be strings or hash references, and you can chose the interface depending on the one you prefer. The interface with hashreference is a bit more flexible but might also be regarded as more complex. If you don't like either of these interfaces you can defineyour own.

Some remarks are in order:

The nonlettered accent commands which following character is considered to be the argument (like in @`a) should be keys of

the hash %accent_map hash, even if no value is associated.

@math is handled differently if LaTeX2HTML is used.


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7.3.1 An interface for commands formatting with a hash reference 7.3.2 An interface for commands formatting with a string

7.3.3 Defining the style and indicatric commands interface


7.3.1 An interface for commands formatting with a hash reference

The key of the hashes are the command names. The value determine how the command argument is formatted. This value is areference on a hash. In this hash each key corresponds with a type of information for the formatting, and the value is the

corresponding information. For example, in

$style_map{'command'} = { 'args' => ['code'], 'attribute' => 'code'};

the arguments for @command are interpreted as specified by the values associated with the `args' key while the attribute associatedwith that command is `code'.

The following keys in the hashes associated with each command have the following meaning:

` args'

The value associated is a reference on an array. Each element of the array defines how the arguments (separated by ` ,' in the

texinfo code) for the @-command should be formatted. The possibilities are

normal

for normal text,

code

for text with `---', `--', `''' and ```' kept as is,

keep

if the texinfo should be kept as is, without interpretation of the @-commands.

For example, we have

$style_map{'email'}->{'args'} = ['code', 'normal'];

because `---', `--', `''' and ```' should be kept as is in the first argument of@email.

The default is `['normal']'.

` attribute'

If the associated value is a word, it is considered to be an HTML element name, and the argument is enclosed between theelement opening and the element closing. For example, if the value is elem, the resulting HTML is arg.

If the text is a word followed by some text, the word and is interpreted as above, and the text is considered to be the attributestext of the element. Thus elem class="elem" leads to arg.

This works only if there is only one argument.

` begin'

The associated value is added in front of the text.

` begin'

The associated value is added after the text.

` quotes'

If the corresponding value is true, the result is enclosed in quotes $OPEN_QUOTE_SYMBOL and $CLOSE_QUOTE_SYMBOL, withdefaults ``' and `''.


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` function '

The corresponding value should be a function reference. The corresponding function is called with the following arguments:

$command

The @-command name

$args

A reference on an array containing the arguments of the @-command.

$style_stack

A reference on an array containing the name of the @-commands containing the @-command being formatted.

$state

A reference on a hash containing a lot of informations about the context of the @-command.

$line_nr

An opaque structure containing the information about the line number of the @-command. It can be used to callmain::echo_error ormain::echo_warning with first argument a message, and second argument $line_nr.


7.3.2 An interface for commands formatting with a string

The keys of the hashes are the command names. The value determine how the command argument is formatted. If the value beginswith `"', the result is enclosed in quotes $OPEN_QUOTE_SYMBOL and $CLOSE_QUOTE_SYMBOL, with defaults ``' and `''.

The command argument is allready formatted as HTML. The remaining of the value text (or the value text if there were no ` "') isinterpreted as follow:

If the text is empty the argument of the command is left as is.

If the text is a `&' followed by a name, like `

&function', the name is considered to be a function name, and this function iscalled to format the argument of the command. The first argument of the function is the command name, the second is the

command argument. For example, if the value associated with the (fictituous) command @foo is &my_func and we have:

sub my_func{

my @args = split /,\s*/ $_[1];return "$_[0]: $args[0]" if ($args[1] = 1);return "$args[0]";

}

The result of

@foo{truc, 1}@foo{truc, bidule}

will be

foo: tructruc

If the text is a word, it is considered to be an HTML element name, and the argument is enclosed between the element openingand the element closing. For example, if the value is elem, the resulting HTML is arg. Similarly "quoted leadsto `arg'.

If the text is a word followed by some text, the word and is interpreted as above, and the text is considered to be the attributestext of the element. Thus elem class="elem" leads to arg.


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7.3.3 Defining the style and indicatric commands interface

If you don't like this scheme, it is possible to change how those commands are processed by redefining the following functionreference:

Function Reference: $resulting_text style $style $command $text $args $no_close $no_open $line_nr $state $style_stack

$commandis the @-command, $style is the value associated with the $commandin the %style_map, %style_map_pre or%style_map_texi hashes. The $textis the text appearing within the @-command braces. args is a reference on an arraycontening the command arguments formatted according to the same conventions than with the reference hash style (providedthe value associated with the @-command is a hash reference with a $arg key as described in Reference hash args). If$textissplit in paragraphs each paragraph is passed through the function, and $no_close is true if it is not the last paragraph, while$no_open is true if it is not the first paragraph. $line_nr is an opaque structure containing the information about the line numberof the @-command. It can be used to call main::echo_error or main::echo_warning with first argument a message, andsecond argument $line_nr. $state is a reference on a hash containing a lot of informations about the context of the @-command. $style_stackis a reference on an array containing the name of the @-commands containing the @-command beingformatted.


7.4 Formatting of special simple commands

The formatting of special simple commands is controlled by functions. To customize the output, the corresponding function referencesshould be redefined.

The formatting of anchors is controlled by $anchor, but the function associated with the function reference does more, it is usefull toproduce a reference target or link.

Function Reference: $anchor anchor $identifier $href $text $attributes

If$identifier is not empty, this value should be used to create a target for links (typically associated with a name or id attribute inHTML). The $hrefargument specifies a hpertextual reference which should be used to link to a target. In case both $identifierand $hrefare given the text produced should be both a target for $identifier and a link to $href. $textis the text to be displayed.

$attributes are additional attributes. It should be reasonable to assume that the attributes are for a HTML element.

The formatting of@image is controlled by:

Function Reference: $image image $file_path $basename $preformatted $file_name

$file_path is the image file name with the path, $basename is the alternate text or the file name without extension if no alternatetext is given. $preformattedis true if the image appears in preformatted text. $file_name is the file name without path but withextension.

The formatting of@sp is controlled by:

Function Reference: $sp sp $number $preformatted

$number is the numeric argument of@sp. $preformattedis true if the @sp appears in preformatted text.


7.5 Processing special characters in text

Some characters are processed especially in text: `---', `--', ```' and `'''. This is done only if in normal text and not in somecommands (@code, @env). A function reference is called to process those characters in text

Function Reference: $processed_text normal_text $text

The function processes `---', `--', ```' and `''' in $textand returns $processed_text. The default is to change `---' to `--', `--'to `-', and ```' and `''' to `"'.

Some characters are special in HTML (`&', `"', `


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Function Reference: $protected_text protect_text $text

The function processes the unprotected text $textand returns the resulting protected text $protected_text.

Empty lines are processed by the following function reference, which could be usefull if empty lines are to be removed for example

Function Reference: $resulting_text empty_line $empty_line

This function processes an $empty_line and returns the resulting text $resulting_text. Empty lines are left as is by default.


7.6 Customizing strings written by texi2html

texi2html writes some strings in the generated document at various places, at the page footers, on the help page, for special sectionheadings, buttons alt text and so on. These strings are customizable. The string chosen depends on the language of the document (setby `--lang', $LANG or @documentlanguage). This is the basis for internationalization as it allows for strings translations.

The strings are found in a hash reference, $LANGUAGES. Each key is a language code. The associated value is also a hash reference.The key is an english string and the associated value is the string replacing the english string, if present. For example, we have

$LANGUAGES->{'fr'} = {' Up ' => 'Plus haut',};

It means that whenever the string ` Up ' is to be written and the language is `fr', `Plus haut' is written. It is possible to customize theenglish strings by redefining the `en' language hash.

When a string contains a `%' followed by `{' name `}' it means that the string will be expanded by texi2html. For example, if wehave

$LANGUAGES->{'fr'} = {

'See %{node_file_href}' => 'Voir %{node_file_href}',};

`%{node_file_href}' will be expanded to an href for a node in a file by texi2html in the string. A `%%' will be expanded as `%'.

For more on internationalization, see Internationalization.


7.7 Customizing ignored commands and text

The ignored commands are the keys of a hashe: %to_skip The associated value determines how things following the ignoredcommand are handled. There are four possibilities:

1

only the command is ignored,

space

spaces (but no new line) following the command are skipped,

arg

an argument following the command is skipped,

line

The line following the command is skipped,

whitespace


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spaces and new lines following the command are skipped.


7.8 References

The references are produced with two function references, one for the reference to external manuals the other for refences within themanual.

Function Reference: $text external_ref$command $section $book $node_and_file $href $cross_ref_name

This function formats a reference to an external texinfo manual. The $commandis the ref command (ref, xref or pxref, intext, at sentence beginning or in parenthesis). The optionnal $section argument is the section in the book and bookis the booktitle. $node_and_file is the node and file name formatted according to the convention used in info: `(file)node'. $hrefit anhypertextual reference to the distant manual constructed using the same conventions than makeinfo. $cross_ref_name is anoptionnal cross reference name appearing in the reference command. This function returns the text corresponding with theexternal html manual reference. This function returns the full formatted text of the external reference.

Function Reference: $text internal_ref$command $href $short_name $name $is_section

This function formats a reference to a node in the current manual. The $commandis the ref command (ref, xref or pxref, intext, at sentence beginning or in parenthesis). $hrefit an hypertextual reference linking to the corresponding node or section.

$short_name and $name hold the text for the reference but $short_name can be the node name which is assumed to be shorterthan the section name. $is_section is a boolean true if the reference is a reference to a section. This function returns the fullformatted text of the internal reference.


7.9 Commands used for centering and flushing of text

When a command controlling the alignement of text is used (@center, @flushleft and @flushright), the main program takes careof opening and closing paragraphs. The alignement commands are the key of the %paragraph_style hash. The value is used in thefunction doing the formatting of the paragraphs. See section Formatting a paragraph or a preformatted region.


7.10 Formatting a paragraph or a preformatted region

The formatting of a paragraph region or a preformatted region, is controlled by function references:

Function Reference: $paragraph_text paragraph $text $alignement $formatting_command $formatting_command_formatted\$paragraph_number $format $item_number $enumerate_style $number

This function formats a paragraph. $textis the text of the paragraph, $alignementis the empty string when no alignementcommand has been seen, otherwise it is the current alignement command name. See section Commands used for centering and

flushing of text.

The remaining arguments are usefull when the paragraph appears within a list or table. It is usefull whenever the paragraph hasto be formatted differently when appearing in such environments. Moreover in that case the format command (@itemize)may have an associated formatting command. $formatting_commandis this formatting command (like @minus).$formatting_command_formattedis the command formatted in html in case the formatting command is a leading command(like @minus) which should be leading the first paragraph.\$paragraph_number is a reference on the number of paragraphs inthat format command. The corresponding variable should be increased when a paragraph is added. $formatis the formatcommand. See section Formatting individual table and list items.

If the $formatis an enumerate, $item_number is the number of the item in the list, $enumerate_style is the argument of theenumerate, $number is the number or letter corresponding with this item.

Function Reference: $preformatted_text preformatted $text $style $region_name $formatting_command

$formatting_command_formatted \$preformatted_number $format $item_number $enumerate_style $number

This function formats a preformatted region. $textis the text of the preformatted region, $style is the css style associated withthat preformatted region (See section Customizing the texi2html css lines). $region_name is the name of the command


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opening the preformatted region (example, see Formatting of complex formats (@example, @display)) or a identifier forthe preformatted context (for examplemenu-comment, see Menu formatting). The alignment commands are not taken intoaccount, as the spaces are preserved in preformatted regions, you should flush and center by hand.

The remaining arguments are usefull when the preformatted region appears within a list or table. It is usefull whenever thepreformatted region has to be formatted differently when appearing in such environments. Moreover in that case the formatcommand (@itemize) may have an associated formatting command. $formatting_commandis this formatting command (like@minus). $formatting_command_formattedis the command formatted in html in case the formatting command is a leadingcommand (like @minus) which should be leading the first preformatted region.\$preformatted_number is a reference on thenumber of preformatted regions in that format command. The corresponding variable should be increased when a preformatted

region is added. $formatis the format command. See section Formatting individual table and list items.

If the $formatis an enumerate, $item_number is the number of the item in the list, $enumerate_style is the argument of theenumerate, $number is the number or letter corresponding with this item.


7.11 Formatting of complex formats (@example,@display)

Here we see how a whole complex format is formatted. For the formatting of the text, see Formatting a paragraph or a preformattedregion.

The formatting of the complex formats is ultimately controlled by a function, however the default for this function uses a hashreference and changing the hash reference values should be enough in most cases. This hash reference is called$complex_format_map. It has a key for each of the complex format commands (example, smallexample, lisp, smalllisp,display, smalldisplay, format, smallformat).

The associated value

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