>2 AscToHTM  A 8
AscToHTM 

Documentation for the OAscToHTM conversion utility



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This documentation can be downloaded as part of the  documentation set in .zip format (370k)



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The HTML version of this document has - of course - been producedA using AscToHTM itself. No post-processing has been done to theE HTML pages produced. The contents list, the navigation bar and allY the hyperlinks have been generated from a single source fileV a2hdoco.txt and a number of small configuration files.

A

The source text file for this manual is over 5,000 lines andq still growing having spawned the 6,500 line Policy manual and a 3,800 line Tag manual. See section 6.1 of this document to. see a list of the actual files involved.

F

Any RTF version has been generated by the new text-to-RTF program? AscToRTF which uses the same analysis engine as AscToHTM.

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This document describes AscToHTM version 4, which is& available from May 2001 onwards.

" R1 Introduction
h 1.1 AscToHTM's design objectives

g 1.1.1 Intelligent analysis.
e 1.1.2 Human-readable HTML
c 1.1.3 Simple user input
g 1.1.4 Standards compliance.

e 1.2 Expected uses of AscToHTM
b 1.3 Other uses of AscToHTM
" R2 Installation
\ 2.1 VMS installation
` 2.2 Windows installation

k 2.2.1 Install/uninstall version
j 2.2.2 Simple .ZIP file version
e 2.2.3 Console application

" X3 How AscToHTM works
^ 3.1 The big assumption
] 3.2 The analysis pass
^ 3.3 The collating pass
[ 3.4 The output pass

a 3.4.1 Generating HTML
l 3.4.2 Generating a contents list
} 3.4.3 Splitting the document into many HTML pages
l 3.4.4 Generating a set of FRAMES
{ 3.4.5 Generating HTML for the Windows clipboard

" V4 Running AscToHTM
[ 4.1 Windows version

g 4.1.1 Launching the program

i 4.1.1.1 Normal activation
u 4.1.1.2 Execution from a command line
m 4.1.1.3 Drag'n'Drop execution
w 4.1.1.4 Output to the Windows clipboard

m 4.1.2 Using the Windows Interface

z 4.1.2.1 Doing a straightforward conversion
e 4.1.2.2 The File menu
s 4.1.2.3 The Conversion options menu
i 4.1.2.4 The Settings menu
i 4.1.2.5 The Language menu
e 4.1.2.6 The View menu
e 4.1.2.7 The Help menu

b 4.1.3 Program settings

e 4.1.3.1 Documentation
c 4.1.3.2 Diagnostics
o 4.1.3.3 Drag and drop execution
g 4.1.3.4 Results viewers
k 4.1.3.5 Use of policy files

b 4.1.4 Language support

m 4.1.4.1 Existing translations
 4.1.4.2 Adding translations using "Language skins"


p 4.2 VMS and console application versions

h 4.2.1 Command line arguments
i 4.2.2 Command line qualifiers

l 4.2.2.1 The /COMMA qualifier
n 4.2.2.2 The /CONSOLE qualifier
o 4.2.2.3 The /CONTENTS qualifier
w 4.2.2.4 The /DEBUG and /LIST qualifiers
j 4.2.2.5 The /DOS qualifier
l 4.2.2.6 The /INDEX qualifier
u 4.2.2.7 The /LOG[=filespec] qualifier
s 4.2.2.8 The /OUT=filespec qualifier
m 4.2.2.9 The /POLICY qualifier
o 4.2.2.10 The /SILENT qualifier
o 4.2.2.11 The /SIMPLE qualifier
o 4.2.2.12 The /TABBED qualifier
n 4.2.2.13 The /TABLE qualifier


j 4.3 Getting the most from AscToHTM

k 4.3.1 Making your first attempt

m 4.3.1.1 From the command line
d 4.3.1.2 From Windows

g 4.3.2 Refining your results

k 4.3.2.1 Using a policy file
o 4.3.2.2 Using a link dictionary
s 4.3.2.3 Using multiple policy files
u 4.3.2.4 Creating DOS-compatible files
~ 4.3.2.5 Use the pre-processor and in-line tags

r 4.3.3 Processing several files at once

g 4.3.3.1 Using wildcards
u 4.3.3.2 Using a steering command file

f 4.3.4 Generating log files

a 4.4 Other tips and tricks

Y 4.4.1 General
a 4.4.2 Link dictionary
i 4.4.3 Contents List detection
r 4.4.4 Using "Send to" in Windows 95/NT
X 4.4.5 Tables
v 4.4.6 Using desktop icons and policy files

" Z5 HTML markup produced
W 5.1 Text layout

] 5.1.1 Indentation
k 5.1.2 Hanging paragraph indents
Y 5.1.3 Bullets

d 5.1.3.1 Bullet chars
h 5.1.3.2 Numbered bullets
j 5.1.3.3 Alphabetic bullets
m 5.1.3.4 Roman Numeral bullets

^ 5.1.4 Centred text
] 5.1.5 Definitions

h 5.1.5.1 Definition lines
m 5.1.5.2 Definition paragraphs


[ 5.2 Text formatting

^ 5.2.1 Quoted lines
Z 5.2.2 Emphasis
W 5.2.3 Fonts
d 5.2.4 Special characters

\ 5.3 Added hyperlinks

e 5.3.1 Contents List lines
b 5.3.2 Cross-references
V 5.3.3 URLs
c 5.3.4 Usenet Newsgroups
b 5.3.5 E-mail addresses
i 5.3.6 User-specified keywords
i 5.3.7 Other sections and URLs
!
s\ 5.4 Section headings

c 5.4.1 Numbered headings
wf 5.4.2 Capitalised headings
e 5.4.3 Underlined headings
;c 5.4.4 Embedded headings
te 5.4.5 Key phrase headings
ae 5.4.6 Numbered paragraphs
-i 5.4.7 Mail and USENET headers
 
:^ 5.5 Pre-formatted text

f 5.5.1 Lines and form feeds
q 5.5.2 User defined pre-formatted text
t{ 5.5.3 Automatically detected pre-formatted text
n
^ 5.5.3.1 Tables
d 5.5.3.2 Code samples
n 5.5.3.3 Ascii art and diagrams
c 5.5.3.4 Text blocks
tl 5.5.3.5 Other formatted text

/
H^ 5.6 Added value markup

` 5.6.1 Document Title
` 5.6.2 Contents lists

} 5.6.2.1 Contents lists in default conversions
4 5.6.2.2 Contents lists in conversions to a single HTML file
< 5.6.2.3 Contents lists in conversions to multiple HTML files
 5.6.2.4 Contents lists in conversions to frames
e
n` 5.6.3 Directory page
q 5.6.4 Headers, footers and JavaScript
 ` 5.6.5 HTML fragments

" a6 Using Document Policy files
i
a 6.1 An example conversion
 ] 6.2 Analysis policies
A
p 6.2.1 Overview ("look for") policies
i 6.2.2 General Layout policies
Ta 6.2.3 Bullet policies
Rl 6.2.4 Contents analysis policies
i 6.2.5 File Structure policies
 b 6.2.6 Heading policies
m 6.2.7 Pre-formatted text policies
.i 6.2.8 Table analysis policies
s
>[ 6.3 Output policies
o
e 6.3.1 Added HTML policies
"v 6.3.2 Cascading Style sheet policies (CSS)
n 6.3.3 Contents generation policies
j 6.3.4 Document Colour policies
i 6.3.5 Directory Page policies
fj 6.3.6 File generation policies
_ 6.3.7 Font policies
La 6.3.8 Frames policies
Sd 6.3.9 Hyperlink policies
l 6.3.10 Link Dictionary policies
i 6.3.11 Preprocessor policies
oi 6.3.12 HTML styling policies
hm 6.3.13 Table Generation policies
#j 6.3.14 Miscellaneous policies

3] 6.4 Settings policies
=
a 6.4.1 Error reporting
o
_k 6.5 Saving and loading policy files
N
Z 6.5.1 Overview
{ 6.5.2 Generating policy files for your document
O
l 6.5.2.1 Partial policy files
i 6.5.2.2 Full policy files
P
Le 6.5.3 Naming policy files

S
=" \7 Using the preprocessor
V 7.1 Directives

m 7.1.1 Marking up sections of text
S 7.1.2 Commands that influence the <HEAD>..</HEAD> of a file
aq 7.1.3 One line pre-processor commands
md 7.1.4 The TABLE commands
k 7.1.5 The CHANGE_POLICY command
=b 7.1.6 Block definition
` 7.1.7 HTML Fragments

hX 7.2 In-line tags

h 7.2.1 Format of in-line tags
i 7.2.2 Summary of in-line tags
A
H
h" L8 Frames
T 8.1 Overview
` 8.2 The frames generated

v 8.2.1 The master <FRAMESET> document
b 8.2.2 The "main" frame
f 8.2.3 The "contents" frame
r 8.2.4 The "header" and "footer" frames

v 8.2.4.1 Non-frames use of HTML headers
k 8.2.4.2 "main" frame header
df 8.2.4.3 "header" frame

B
By 8.3 Using policies to control the frame structure
 { 8.4 Using HTML fragments to override frame contents
Sj 8.5 NOFRAMES tag and NOFRAMES link

j 8.5.1 The "NOFRAMES" hyperlink
j 8.5.2 The <NOFRAMES> tag
{ 8.5.3 Generating frames and non-frames versions
H
m] 8.6 Hyperlink targets
4a 8.7 Splitting large files
 8.8 Selecting "Output HTML as a set of FRAMES" in the Windows version
h
t" r9 Purchasing AscToHTM, and contacts on the web
_ 9.1 Purchasing AscToHTM
B
q 9.1.1 Why should I purchase AscToHTM?
S 9.1.2 What happens if I don't register the shareware version of AscToHTM?
t 9.1.3 Can't I get something for nothing?
| 9.1.4 I'm convinced. How to I purchase AscToHTM?

_ 9.2 Contacts on the Web
 
_ 9.2.1 The home page
>X 9.2.2 E-mail
Y 9.2.3 Support
h
.
U#  W10 Known problems
Z 10.1 Bug reports
W 10.2 Features
ee 10.3 Coming soon... or not.
S
<# "W11 Change History
S
c 11.1 Version 4 (May 2001)
 
^ 11.1.1 Bug fixes
b 11.1.2 New functions
b 11.1.3 Other changes

Pf 11.2 Version 3.3 (June 2000)

^ 11.2.1 Bug fixes
b 11.2.2 New functions
b 11.2.3 Other changes

Ah 11.3 Version 3.2 (October '99)

^ 11.3.1 Bug fixes
b 11.3.2 New functions
b 11.3.3 Other changes

eg 11.4 Version 3.0 (August '98)
#
^ 11.4.1 Bug fixes
b 11.4.2 New functions
b 11.4.3 Other changes

.k 11.5 Version 2.3 (late April '98)
1
^ 11.5.1 Bug fixes
b 11.5.2 New functions
b 11.5.3 Other changes

oe 11.6 Version 2.20 (Feb '98)
"
^ 11.6.1 Bug fixes
b 11.6.2 New functions
b 11.6.3 Other changes

11.7 Version 2.10 (never officially released)
a
^ 11.7.1 Bug fixes
b 11.7.2 New functions
b 11.7.3 Other changes

ai 11.8 Version 2.00 (October '97)
h
^ 11.8.1 Bug fixes
b 11.8.2 New functions
b 11.8.3 Other changes

g 11.9 Version 1.1 (August '97)
 
^ 11.9.1 Bug fixes
b 11.9.2 New functions
b 11.9.3 Other changes

m 11.10 Version 1.05 (late July '97)
 
` 11.10.1 Bug fixes
d 11.10.2 New functions
d 11.10.3 Other changes

En 11.11 Version 1.04 (early July '97)

` 11.11.1 Bug fixes
d 11.11.2 New functions
d 11.11.3 Other changes

hi 11.12 Version 1.01 (April '97)
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B#& 
Valid HTML 4.0!Converted from 6 a single text file by A AscToHTM
tJ© 1997-2001 John A Fotheringham
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