====================================================================== TeXPower bundle Creating dynamic online presentations with LaTeX alpha version (v0.0.9d) This readme file last changed on May 15, 2003 Author: Stephan Lehmke Lehrstuhl Informatik I Universität Dortmund Dortmund, Germany ====================================================================== This bundle contains style and class files I have written for creating dynamic online presentations with LaTeX. ====================================================================== The TeXPower project homepage is located at SourceForge: http://texpower.sourceforge.net/ The mailing list is also located at SourceForge: http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/texpower-users ====================================================================== Contents: ========= So far, the bundle contains the following files and directories: 00readme.txt This file. 01install.txt Installation instructions. 0changes.txt Change history. texpower.sty Implements some commands for presentation effects. This includes * setting page transitions (thanks to Marc van Dongen for the code) and durations for automatic advancement of pages; * color highlighting; * incremental displaying of pages; * navigation helpers; * setting page backgrounds and `panels'. The code should work with all ways of PDF creation. Thanks to Klaus Gunterman for allowing me to build this package on the basis of his texpause.sty from the PPower4 bundle. tpcolors.cfg tpoptions.cfg tpsettings.cfg Configuration files for texpower.sty. powersem.cls A wrapper for seminar which sets up everything for dynamic presentations. For this alpha version, it doesn't do much more than load seminar.cls and do some bug fixes. \documentclass{powersem} should be used as a replacement for \documentclass{seminar}. powersem loads seminar and passes all options to seminar. addons (directory) Auxilliary packages and classes which use or augment the TeXPower bundle. doc (directory) Contains several tex files which provide examples and documentation (in tex and pdf format) for TeXPower. Compiled examples can be downloaded from http://texpower.sourceforge.net/doc/ Makefile Doesn't do much that is useful to the end user at the moment. make install will try to put texpower where your TeX system can find it. contrib (directory) Contains some additions to the TeXPower bundle contributed by other people. ====================================================================== Disclaimer: =========== Beware. This is work in progress. Use only if you know what you're doing. During the subsequent error correction and extension of the functionality, the syntax and implementation of the macros are liable to change. So far, the files themselves contain only scarce inline documentation, as the code is too much of a moving target to make rigorous documentation a sensible endeavour. As soon as this bundle is ready for beta release, I will make fully documented dtx files. ====================================================================== License: ======== The TeXPower bundle is distributed under the GNU General Public license < http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html >. ====================================================================== Known and open problems: ======================== The \stepwise command (which is the main part of texpower.sty so far; see fulldemo.pdf for some examples and documentation) is rather fragile and doesn't harmonize with some of the more sophisticated TeX structures. The following are the main problems known to me at the moment: * math formatting. a) Everything is done several times. As \stepwise has to do a lot of accounting to keep track of what's going on, this can really mess things up. AMSLaTeX's measuring pass for aligned equations is taken care of explicitly, so I expect no problems from this side. \mathchoice is another matter. Currently, I'm using a kluge which seems to work in my own presentations, but might cause trouble elsewhere. If there's any expert who could look into the code and suggest something better, I'd be forever grateful. I don't know if there's anything else which causes things to be typeset several times. If there is, it has to be hacked. b) To leave the proper amount of blank space, \stepwise currently uses \phantom. This can cause problems with math spacing. The widths of \phantom{a+}b and a+b are different. As a consequence, math spacing often has to be corretced manually when `stepping through' formulae. This can be remedied by using colors instead (\hidevanish), but that in turn doesn't work with structured backgrounds (or is there a color `transparent'?). I'd be thankful for hints on alternatives. * File access, labels and hyperlinks. As \stepwise executes everything several times, commands changing counters globally or accessing files are a problem. Labels and hyperlinks are redefined several times. Counters are taken care of by \stepwise. Commands accessing toc files and such (like \section) are taken care of by the whatsit suppression mechanism (see below). I don't know what can be done about labels and links. They work sort of (giving a lot of warnings though), but I'm at a loss as what the `correct' behaviour is. * duplication of specials Some drivers, like dvips and textures, use a color stack which is controlled by \special items included in the dvi file. When page contents are duplicated, then these specials are also duplicated, which can seriously mess up the color stack. texpower implements a `color stack correction' method by maintaining a stack of color corrections, which should counteract this effect. Owing to potential performance problems, this method is turned off by default. If you should experience strange color switches in your document, turn it on with the option fixcolorstack. Expect problems with color stack correction if an automatic page break should occur in a `colorful' document, as the drivers color stack and texpowers color correction stack are likely to be unrelated then. Remedy remaining problems by inserting explicit page breaks. * catcode mongery. As the argument of \stepwise is read as a normal macro argument, constructs involving catcode changes (like \verb or language switches) won't work in the argument of \stepwise. Owing to a great suggestion by Ross Moore, I hope to remedy this at least to some extent until the alpha release. ====================================================================== Further development: ==================== Until the first alpha release (which should appear Real Soon Now), I'll try to * Fix bugs (but I need bug reports). * Complete the documentation. * Extend the functionality. The following are on my agenda at the moment: * Add further background styles (wallpaper type). * Add rudimentary support for `fancy' steps (text flying around). * Add rudimentary support for self-defined page transitions. * Add rudimentary support for `pop-ups' and other things requiring sophisticated navigation (animations with "stop" and "rewind" buttons). * Add rudimentary support for pdf actions. * Make a more sophisticated version of tpslifonts.sty. * Respect catcode changes in the argument of \stepwise. * Remove remaining quirks and problems in connection with file access, labels/hyperlinks and duplication of page contents. From then until the beta release (which can go on CTAN), I'm planning to do mainly bug fixes and write the dtx files. After the first beta release, the following to-do list of postponed developments has built up during recent years: * Add `driver' files providing more sophisticated support for special pdf features involving forms and actions. See the file 0changes.txt for recent changes.