html2tex Version 2.0

This page describes version 2.0 of html2tex, a program that converts a collection of related HTML files into a single LaTeX file. (Current version is version 2.6.) Such a LaTeX file can be processed into a PostScript file. To generate a single LaTeX file from a number of HTML files, the user needs to give a skeleton LaTeX file and indicate where translated versions of the HTML files should be included. The user also has to specify at for each HTML file at which level (chapter, section, subsection, ..) it should be included. Links between the different HTML files are mapped to references in the LaTeX.

The program does extensive checking of links between the different files. Because of this reason it can also be used as a link checking program, by giving it a single HTML file, and specify that it should scan all referenced pages in the local directory (and its sub-directories).

Links to excluded HTML files (and other URL's) can either be reported as footnotes, or as a sorted bibliograph in the LaTeX file. Error messages are reported on the standard output file, and in a cross-reference file that is generated along side.

Functionality

The HTML to LaTeX conversion program is implemented by the C program html2tex.c, which needs to be compiled first. (The program is developed with the popular gcc compiler, which is freely available under the GNU public license.)

The program takes a single file as input. This should be a skeleton LaTeX file without any extension (or, if the program is only used for link checking, a HTML file with the extension .html) It will generate an LaTeX file with the same name as the input file, but with the extension .tex.

The input file

The input file should contain valid LaTeX commands. In the file all lines starting with %html will be interpreted as special lines by the conversion program. These are used to indicate which HTML files should be included, and to set the various options. The following special commands are recognized by the html2tex:

• %html fn.html level
  Causes the the file fn.html to be included as LaTeX at the given input line. The level should be an integer to specify the indentation depth of the headers. A value of 1 will map the H1 tag to the \section (or to \chapter for the book document style).

• %html -r URL
  Specifies the URL of the directory of the input file. This is needed to detect if any given URL's in the HTML files map to local HTML files. This command should be given before any HTML file is included as LaTeX.

• %html -b
  Causes LaTeX bibitems to be generated at the place of the input file for all excluded HTML files (and other URL's) as LaTeX bibitems. If this command is not given anywhere in the input file (and also not the -b command line option), all external URL's are given as footnotes.

• %html -m rel-URL comp-URL
  To map relative URL's to complete URL's. Normally not needed, but can be used to remap UNIX symbolic links.

Besides the LaTeX file that is generated, the program will also generate a cross-reference file with the .ref extension, that contains alot of usefull information.

Program options

If the program is given an input file with the extension .html, it does not generate a LaTeX output file, but only analyse the file, and the files it references (if the -s option is given).

The program recognizes the following command line options:

• -i : print info.
• -w : print warning (and info).
• -p : pendantic: does not report ommissions of HTML open and close tags.
• -s : scan not include HTML files. The program will scan all HTML files that can be reached from the included files, and that are found in the directory (and its sub-directories) of the input file.
• -r URL : the URL of the directory in which the program is runned. This is needed to find out if any full URL points to a local HTML file.
• -b : make bibliograph. If this option is not given, references to external URL will appear in footnotes. The input file should contain a line with %html -b.

Known bugs

• Output in .ref produces incorrect error messages for URL's.
• The use of <H6> as a means of getting small bold font can produce strange results.
• No support for IMG, PRE, BLINK, and more tags.
• . . . more . . .

Revision history

November 11, 1995: Beta of Version 2.0

• Included support for more tags. Improved checking of HTML input.

July 6, 1995: Version 1.0

• Support of references between <dt> and <dd>. If footnotes are used, a single reference between <dt> and <dd> is processed correctly. If a bibliography is used, there is no limit to the number of references used.

May 2, 1995:

• solved bug: program took first argument as output file name.
• references in <ADDRESS> are omitted during output generation.

March 3, 1995:

• solved bug in -s option. It now does a complete recursive search.
• some extra parsing added. Still alot is missing. No compliance with any standard.
• the program can now also except a single HTML file as input. It does not generate any LaTeX output.

June 8, 1995:

• Use numbers in the generated \label and \ref for the files now.
• Bug fixed in the URL's in the footnotes. These would print # if not needed and the other way around.