[preview-latex-devel] preview-latex 0.9 released...

[David K. <da...@gn...>]

The following message is a courtesy copy of an article
that has been posted to comp.emacs,comp.text.tex as well.


This is the large update everybody has been waiting for.  Of course, a
few last-minute bugs escaped notice, but they have been there for a
while, I guess.


Release notes for version 0.9 of the preview-latex package:

preview-latex makes LaTeX a tightly integrated component of your
editing workflow by visualizing selected source chunks (such as single
formulas or graphics) directly as images in the source buffer.
You get to have your eye candy and edit it, too.

The employed style file `preview.sty' is independently useful for
extraction of selected text elements as images.  EPS Graphics that
were created using dvips can now be used with the `tightpage' option,
and some new commands and options are available for selecting
previews.

The package is released under the GNU Public License (GPL).  At the
current point of time, at least GNU Emacs-21.3 under the X window
system or XEmacs-21 in version 21.4.10 or later, AUCTeX (11.51 or
later required for PDF support), a working LaTeX installation and
GhostScript are required.  dvipng (version 1.4 or later: teTeX-3.0
works, TeXlive2004 not), a very fast dvi converter, can be used to
speed up the conversion.  For Windows, MacOS Carbon or native GTK+
toolkit support, a developer version of GNU Emacs (to be released as
22.1) is definitely required; for other platforms, use of it is
advantageous.

This version finally gets rid of all 8bit issues that plagued
cooperation with several TeX distributions, and supports utf-8 and
other multibyte input.  X-Symbol (as of 4.5.1-beta) will still require
an 8bit-transparent TeX executable.  As a result of a drastic overhaul
in image file allocation, all known GhostScript versions should now
work for PostScript and PDF in SAFER mode.

Icons now come in several sizes, blending better with the text
display, and have been redesigned.

The installation procedure has been made more flexible and robust,
more conservative in the installation choices, and the Lisp startup
file will now be installed automatically.  It is strongly recommended
that you remove a previous installation before installing this version
to avoid keeping conflicting or unnecessary files.

The `README' file provides adequate information for firing up
preinstalled distributions, and pointers how to provide feedback.  The
`INSTALL' file contains a special section with advice for package
providers.  There is also a file `INSTALL.windows' detailing
instructions for users of that operating system.

The home page is <URL:http://preview-latex.sourceforge.net>, the
SourceForge project page that among others offers anonymous CVS access
is located at <URL:http://sourceforge.net/projects/preview-latex>.
However, development and CVS access are scheduled to be folded into
the AUCTeX project (located at Savannah) shortly after this release.

If you can spare the time, you can also comment on or rate this
project at <URL:http://freshmeat.net/projects/preview-latex>.

Paypal donations to the maintainer are possible directly or via
SourceForge.

Additional files can be found at
<URL:http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/preview-latex>:

* If you don't have texinfo 4.0 or later installed, prebuilt
  documentation files can be found there.

* Tarballs of preview-latex for all users, alternatively RPMs for
  RedHat Linux.  For the binary RPMs, you will need the
  preview-latex-common RPM as well as the Emacs-flavor specific RPM.

* AUCTeX is now located at <URL:http://www.gnu.org/software/auctex>.
  The download area should also provide you with RPM files.

* dvipng is currently available via its current project page
  <URL:http://sourceforge.net/projects/dvipng> and from CTAN.


-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum