SGML2LATEX(1)

💅 SGML2LATEX — the group chat edition ✨

okay bestie, so sgml2latex is a General Commands Manual girlie, and she's here to turn your LinuxDoc DTD SGML source into LaTeX, DVI, PostScript or PDF. yes she's old. yes she's obsoleted. we'll get to that. 🫶

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🌸 NAME 🌸

sgml2latex — create LaTeX, DVI, PostScript or PDF output from a LinuxDoc DTD SGML source file. that's the whole job. that's her whole thing. 💖

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

sgml2latex [generic-option...]  [--output=tex|dvi|ps|pdf] [--bibtex]
[--makeindex] [--pagenumber=n] --quick [--latex=hlatexp|platex]
[--dvips=dvips|dvi2ps] [--verbosity=n] file[.sgml]

like, look at her. she's got range. 👑

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so sgml2latex is an old and obsoleted form of the latex converter command of LinuxDoc-Tools. and ngl, the name is a lil misleading — she is not a tool for any SGML DTD, she only supports the SGML LinuxDoc DTD. periodt.

bestie, please switch to the new form: linuxdoc -B latex. do it for me. do it for us. 😭

what she does: she converts a LinuxDoc DTD SGML source file into LaTeX output, using the nsgmls(1) or onsgmls(1) parser, and the sgmlsasp(1) translator. then, taking that LaTeX output plus the latex(1) text formatter, you can create DVI output, and PostScript output using the dvips(1) converter. 🌈

where does stuff land?

• file.tex for LaTeX output
• file.dvi for DVI output
• file.ps for PostScript output

...where file is the name of the SGML source file. iconic behaviour fr fr.

and if you take the LaTeX output and pair it with the pdflatex(1) text formatter? you get a nice PDF output 💅 suitable for viewing with PDF viewers like xpdf(1), acroread(1) or ghostview(1). main character energy.

also, the attribute/value pair "output=latex2e" is set for conditionals. iykyk. ✨

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

sgml2latex accepts all the generic options described in linuxdoc(1), plus these specific ones, bestie:

• --output=fmt, -o — specify the desired output format. the specifier fmt may be tex, dvi, ps, or pdf. pick your fighter. 🍓

Note: this version does not overwrite/remove the intermediate files: the tex file for dvi output, or the tex/dvi files for ps output. this is different behavior from the original SGML-Tools 1.0.9, so you are warned here. consider yourself warned. 💀

• --bibtex, -b — process the generated TeX with bibtex(1). citations girlies rise. 🎀
• --makeindex, -m — generate a TeX index file suitable for processing with makeindex(1) from and <idx> and <cdx> tags present in the SGML source.
• --pagenumber, -n — set the starting page number in the output DVI or PS file. numbering? we're starting from wherever you say. slay. 🔥
• --quick, -q — do only one pass of LaTeX formatting. this is often not sufficient to produce final output (because of references, etc.) but is useful for spotting TeX errors and justification problems. lowkey a vibe check for your errors. 👀
• --pass, -P — the argument of the pass option is inserted just after the LaTeX preamble generated by the document-type tag. specify the desired output format. the specifier fmt may be tex, dvi, ps, or pdf.
• --latex=alternate_latex_command, -x — this option is currently for Korean and Japanese. the alternate_latex_command can be latex (default), hlatexp (for Korean), platex or jlatex (for Japanese). this option can be used to render Korean document using HLaTeXp, or to render Japanese document using pLaTeX/jLaTeX. if not, HLaTeX should be installed to render Korean document. on the other hand, Japanese document can be rendered with jLaTeX (which is the default when -c nippon is specified), so if you already have jLaTeX, you may not need to install the pLaTeX. 🧚
• --dvips=alternate_dvips_command, -s — this option is currently for Japanese. the alternate_dvips_command can be dvips or dvi2ps. if you don't know this, then you may not need this. 🙈 honestly? fair.
• --verbosity, -V — set verbosity.
  • '0' (default) will show info about LaTeX run only in case of errors.
  • '1' will always show info for last run.
  • '2' will show info for all runs.

pick your chattiness level, bestie. 💬

• file — the SGML source file, named either file or file.sgml. 🦋

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💖 FILES 💖

many files and executables in /usr/share/linuxdoc-tools and /usr/bin are used. she's got friends everywhere. 🌸

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💀 BUGS 💀

None known. not one. she's perfect. (allegedly. 🤭) no cap.

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

originally written by Greg Hankins <greg.hankins@cc.gatech.edu>, based on scripts by Tom Gordon and Alexander Horz. later rewritten by Cees de Groot <cg@cdegroot.com>. PDF patches by Juan Jose Amor <jjamor@hispalinux.es>. previously maintained by Taketoshi Sano <sano@debian.org> for Linuxdoc-Tools. currently maintained by Agustin Martin <agustin6martin AT gmail com>. legends, all of them. 🫶✨

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

linuxdoc(1), sgml2html(1), sgml2info(1), sgml2lyx(1), sgml2rtf(1), sgml2txt(1), sgmlcheck(1).

go read the whole squad. you'll be obsessed. 💜

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okay that's the whole page bestie!! this one's from the General Commands Manual era, dated 2025-04-06, and yeah the page title is still just SGML2LATEX(1) — but honestly at this point she's answering to sgml2latex and that's that. 💅✨ bye ily, go use linuxdoc -B latex instead tho fr fr 🎀🦋