latex2rtf

Section: User Commands (1)
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NAME

latex2rtf - Converts LaTeX file to RTF text-format

SYNTAX

latex2rtf [-V] [ -o outputfile ] [ inputfile ]

DESCRIPTION

The command converts a LaTeX file into RTF text format. The text and much of the formatting information is translated to RTF making the new file look very similar to the original. If inputfile is not specified, standard input is read. Unless an outputfile is specified the resulting RTF is produced on standard output. The -V option prints version information on standard output and exits.

User defined LaTex commands are ignored. If you are familiar with the RTF format and the commands can be translated by simply inserting a format string into the RTF file you can add these commands to the direct.cfg configuration file. See format description below.

To correctly convert font names you must edit the fonts.cfg configuration file. You have to specify the font names you use and how the LaTeX default font names should be converted to RTF. See format description below.

LaTeX variables and user defined commands are not evaluated. They will be simply ignored. To let know the names of variables you can add them in the ignore.cfg file. See format description below.

The environment variable RTFPATH may contain a search path for the support files (all files ending in .cfg). If no file is found during the search in the search-path or if the environment variable is not set, the compiled-in default for the configuration-file directory is used. If the files are not found at all the program aborts.

\label, \ref, and \pageref commands from LaTeX are translated to hidden text in the RTF file. This makes it possible to correctly edit the resulting file in the target word processor.

CAUTION

Please make sure that the input file is a correct LaTeX file. Use LaTeX to find and correct errors before using The conversion command does not properly handle all errors because of corrupt input files.

Make sure that the configuration files direct.cfg and fonts.cfg are in the correct directory. You may have to change fonts.cfg or direct.cfg to suit your needs.

CONFIGURATION FILES

direct.cfg is used for converting LaTeX commands by simple text exchange. Write the LaTex command with backslash, followed by comma. The rest of the line until the '.' character will be written to the RTF file when the command is recognized in the LaTeX file. After the '#' character everything is ignored until end of line. To select a specific font use *fontname*. Make sure that the font name fontname is listed in the fonts configuration file at least as dummy. To write the '*' character use "**". example: \alpha,{\f*Symbol* a}. #alpha under Windows Symbol Font \copyright,{\ansi\'a9\pc}. fonts.cfg contains the fonts conversion table. A line consists of a font name in LaTeX followed by comma and a font name in RTF. The end is marked by a dot. No spaces are allowed. The LaTeX font will be converted to the RTF font if encountered in the LaTeX file. If multiple translations for a LateX font are specified, only the first is used. All fonts in a LaTeX file that are not in this file will be mapped to the default font. All RTF fonts listed in this file will be in every RTF file header whether used or not. After the '#' character everything is ignored till end of line. To add a RTF font not used as substitute for a LaTeX font - for example a Symbol font used in direct.cfg - use a dummy LaTeX name like in the following example: Dummy3,MathematicalSymbols. Make sure you use the correct font name. Take care of spaces in font names. The default fonts are named Roman (command \rm), Slanted (command \sl), Sans Serif (command \sf), Typewriter (command \tt).

ignore.cfg is the file for defining how to ignore certain commands. This file is used for recognition of LaTeX-variables, user defined variables, and some simple commands. All variables are ignored but the converter must know the names to correctly ignore assignments to variables. Write the variable-name with backslash, followed by comma then write the type of the variable followed by '.'. Possible Types are:
NUMBER : simple numeric value
MEASURE : numeric value with following unit of measure
OTHER: ignores anything to the first character after '=' and from there to next space. eg. \setbox\bak=\hbox
COMMAND: ignores anything to next '\' and from there to occurence of anything but a letter. eg. \newbox\bak
SINGLE: ignore single command. eg. \noindent
Please write the type in upper case exactly as above. Do not use spaces. After the '#' character everything is ignored till end of line. Example: \pagelenght,MEASURE.

BUGS

Some environments like figure are currently ignored. It would be nice to scan the included information and convert things if possible.

The configuration files are reopened for each token, there should really be an internal representation of the configuration files that is read once and then consulted by more efficient mechanisms.

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 12:50:53 GMT, June 25, 2022