Short: Finds common errors in (La)TeX files Author: (Jens T. Berger Thielemann) Uploader: (Jens T. Berger Thielemann) Type: text/tex ##### ### ### ######## ### ## ### ## ## ## ## ## # @@ @@ @@@ @@ @@ @@ ####### @@ @ @@ @@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ ## # @@ && && && &&&& && @@ & && &&& && && && && && && @@@@ & && %%%%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %% && %%% %%% v1.0 && & %%%%%%% ChkTeX v1.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~ This program was written in frustration of that some constructs in LaTeX are sometimes non-intuitive, and easy to forget. It was written in ANSI C, so you could use this at your UNIX/MSDOS/whatever site also. Full source included. In the Amiga version, however, the program is localized. The localization was created by using C2LOCAL, the automatically generated source code is not included. A catalog for Norwegian is included, plus a skeleton for further translation. The program itself does not have any machine requirements, an Amiga compiled version is included which should work on all Amigas. You'll get translations only on 2.1+, though. Legal stuff ~~~~~~~~~~~ ChkTeX, its documentation and its installation scripts are copyright (C) 1995 Jens T. Berger Thielemann. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Errors searched for ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Currently, it will catch the following errors, the error being underlined: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- \LaTeX is a typesetting package. ^ Most probably, you would like this to look like this: \LaTeX\ is a typesetting package. An environment file tells ChkTeX which commands that may end with a normal space, like `\bf' or similar, which don't produce any text output. In math mode, this checking is of course turned off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please refer to figure \ref{foo}. ^ This should rather look like this: Please refer to figure~\ref{foo}. An environment file tells ChkTeX which commands that should be prefaced with a non-breaking space. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is an example of use of accents: \'{i}. This will not look pretty. It should rather be: This is an example of use of accents: \'{\i}. It does also try to differ between whether we're in math mode or not. It is possible to customize which functions which needs the use of \i or \j. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is an example, i.e. an demonstration. ^ This will cause incorrect spacing, and should be written as: This is an example, i.e.\ an demonstration. The abbrevs which you wish to search for, are of course kept in the very same env-file. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've seen an UFO! Right over there! ^ Will once more cause incorrect spacing, it should read: I've seen an UFO\@! Right over there! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't know quite...I think it's wrong. This ellipsis will not look good. You should rather write: I don't know quite\ldots I think it's wrong. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It wasn't anything - just a 2---3 star--shots, or something else. ^ ^^^ ^^ In all cases, an incorrect dash-length was used, it should be like this: It wasn't anything --- just a 2--3 star-shots, or something else. This check is rather vague, as it will only check the character in front of the dashes. It uses the following table: o If the dashes are leaded by a space, there should be three `-'s. o If the dashes are leaded by a digit, there should be two `-'s. o If the dashes are leaded by a character, there should be one `-'. This is more or less correct, according to my references. Hopefully this check can be improved (suggestions?). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wherever `a space' is mentioned, we'll of course also detect tabs and other spacing characters recognized by isspace(). In addition, it will keep track of brackets characters (`{}[]()'), and make sure that they match. Everything found is of course pumped nicely to stdout, with line number and error position. To get a quick demonstration of ChkTeX' features, run it on the file `Test.tex'. Although most of the file is nonsense in a TeXnical manner (lots of pseudo-commands), it will show what ChkTeX has to offer. Porting and translation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Porting should be rather easy. However, to ensure that the porting proceeds painless, read the first lines of the `ChkTeX.h' file. Not very much to do, and it will make life easier later. If you wish to translate the strings used in the programs (should only need 5 minutes of work), look in the Catalogs directory. Write your translations in the file ChkTeX_locale.ct, and mail it to me. I'll include it in the next release. In advance, thanks for your support. Usage ~~~~~ Easy-peasy: ChkTeX No options - currently. You should, however, take a look at the `.chktexrc' file. It is located in `ENV:' and `ENVARC:' on 2.04+ Amiga's, in `S:' on 1.3 Amiga's, in your $HOME directory on UNIX boxes. This depends also upon what you did to the `ChkTeX.h' file. It should be rather self-explanatory, and should help you customize the program to your own needs. Bugs ~~~~ No fatal ones, I think, but the program currently has some problems when a command/parameter stretch over a two lines. Also, the killing of comments is still at bit brutal (but correct :-) ). The detection of whether we're in math mode is also not perfect. The only codes which are recognized for getting in/out of math mode are: `$', `$$', `\(', `\)', `\[' and `\]'. Environments like \begin{displaymath}, user-defined commands, etc., do thus not work. This is usually no problem, as it just creates a bit more warnings than needed. Contacting the author ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you wish to contact me for whatever (more tests, bug reports, suggestions, hellos, smiley's, etc.), write to: Jens Berger Spektrumvn. 4 N-0666 Oslo Norway E-mail: Any signs of intelligent life is welcomed; that should exclude piracy. Have fun.