HowTo_DeprecatedOptions

How to Replace Deprecated Options

When switching from KOMA-Script 2.9u to KOMA-Script 3—specifically in July 2006 with KOMA-Script 2.95, which was a pre-release version of KOMA-Script 3—many options were marked as obsolete and simultaneously replaced by new key-value options. The original plan was actually to remove these by the time KOMA-Script 3.00 was released. Although plenty of time had passed by the time it was released in November 2008, I decided at the time, at the request of users, to keep the deprecated options for a while longer. At the same time, using these options enabled a compatibility mode in KOMA-Script via the version=first option. This was intended exclusively for old documents that were to remain as unchanged as possible.

However, the desire to preserve documents with identical layout even years later has proven to be an illusion. For one thing, the elimination of clear bugs has already prevented this in some places within KOMA-Script itself. But to a far greater extent, old documents are affected by changes in other packages, fonts, and—since at least 2018—in the LaTeX kernel as well. Consequently, it is not only the outdated options that have been issuing very clear warnings against their use for years; warnings have also long been issued against the use of the option version itself.

Furthermore, since maintaining outdated code in KOMA-Script was increasingly becoming a maintenance issue, and since using the option version with newer LaTeX kernels isn’t really practical—and can even lead to incompatibilities and additional warnings when using a LaTeX rollback—it was decided to significantly change the situation after KOMA-Script 3.49. 2—roughly 20 years after the switch to KOMA-Script 3— and no longer support the deprecated options. This generally results in “Unused global option(s)” warnings and, at the same time, causes the corresponding options to be ignored.

Anyone who still wishes to retain this functionality had about 20 years to replace the outdated options in accordance with the warnings issued. Those who failed to do so should refer to the following brief comparison, listed in alphabetical order:

Deprecated	Valid	Class/Package (deprecated or valid)
<Format>paper	paper=<Format>	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt, typearea
<Value>headlines	headlines=<Value>	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt, typearea
<Value>pt	fontsize=<Value>pt	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
abstractoff	abstract=false	scrlttr2
abstracton	abstract=true	scrlttr2
BCOR<Value>	BCOR=<Value>	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt, typearea
bibtotoc	bibliography=totoc	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
bibtotocnumberes	bibliography=totocnumbered	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
bigheadings	headings=big	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
cleardoubleempty	cleardoublepage=empty	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
cleardoubleplain	cleardoublepage=plain	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
cleardoublestandard	cleardoublepage=current	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
DIVcalc	DIV=calc	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt, typearea
DIVclassic	DIV=classic	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt, typearea
DIV<Value>	DIV=<Value>	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt, typearea
footnosepline	footsepline=false	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt, typearea
halfparskip*	parskip=half*	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
halfparskip+	parskip=half+	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
halfparskip-	parskip=half-	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
headexclude	headinclude=false	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt, typearea
headnosepline	headsepline=false	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt, typearea
idxtotoc	index=totoc	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
komastyle	pagestyleset=KOMA-Script	scrlayer-scrpage
listsindent	listof=graduated	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
listsleft	listof=flat	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
liststotoc	listof=totoc	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
liststotocnumbered	listof=numbered	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
markuppercase	markcase=upper	scrlayer-scrpage
markusedcase	markcase=uses	scrlayer-scrpage
mpexclude	mpinclude=false	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt, typearea
noappendixprefix	appendixprefix=false	scrbook, scrreprt
nochapterprefix	chapterprefix=false	scrbook, scrreprt
noonelinecaption	caption=nooneline	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
normalheadings	headings=normal	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
nouppercase	markcase=ignoreuppercase	scrlayer-scrpage
onelinecaption	captions=oneline	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
orgdate	numericaldate=false	scrlttr2
parindent	parskip=false	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
parskip*	parskip=full*	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
parskip+	parskip=full+	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
parskip-	parskip=full-	scrartcl, scrbook, scrlttr2, scrreprt
pointednumbers	numbers=enddot	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
pointlessnumbers	numbers=noenddot	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
scrdate	numericaldate=true	scrlttr2
slocfield	locfield=narrow	scrlttr2
smallheadings	headings=small	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
standardstyle	pagestyleset=standard	scrlayer-scrpage
tablecaptionabove	captions=tableheading	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
tablecaptionbelow	captions=tablesignature	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
tocindent	toc=graduated	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
tocleft	toc=flat	scrartcl, scrbook, scrreprt
wlocfield	locfield=wide	scrlttr2

Regarding the <Format>paper and <Value>pt options, it should be noted that the options supported by the standard classes—a4paper, a5paper, b5paper, letterpaper, legalpaper, executivepaper, 10pt, 11pt, and 12pt—will continue to be processed to facilitate the transition from a standard class to a KOMA-Script class.

Of course, the scrlayer-scrpage package did not exist prior to KOMA-Script 3. However, its predecessor packages, scrpage and scrpage2, did exist. These were not listed in the table, however, since their option interfaces have not changed.

For some of the options, the classes were listed as well, even though the option is now handled by the typearea package. In some cases, however, the options are explicitly passed through by the classes or were previously handled directly by the classes.