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References: <v02130500b03ade1c3c2b@[130.237.37.124]>
Message-ID:  <7888-Tue09Sep1997123823+0100-s.rahtz@elsevier.co.uk>
Reply-To: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
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In-Reply-To:  <v02130500b03ade1c3c2b@[130.237.37.124]>
Date:         Tue, 9 Sep 1997 12:38:23 +0100
From: Sebastian Rahtz <s.rahtz@ELSEVIER.CO.UK>
Sender: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
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To: Multiple recipients of list LATEX-L
              <LATEX-L@RELAY.URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
Subject:      Re: HyperLaTeX
Status: R

Hans Aberg writes:
 >   I just came across the URL <http://xxx.lanl.gov/hypertex/> (this is an
 > offical archive for storing preprints), which discusses TeX/LaTeX macros
 > which enables one to embed hyperlinks in the source. The idea is that a
 > smart browser can convert those to real hyperlinks.
 >
 >   Are there any plans including such macros in LaTeX3? (If not, it seems to
 > be a good idea.)

I have devoted considerable effort over the last 3 years to a LaTeX
package which generates hypertex-style hyperlinks from normal LaTeX
markup (the hyperref package). Largely, it works. Give it a go:-} As
the LaTeX2e maintainers know, I would like more hooks in core LaTeX to
ease my task and I think they accept the principle, but none of us
has precisely defined the needs. So I would say there are 3 questions
to look at:

 1. how to get the real hyperlinks into the output; i don't think this
    is LaTeX's job, and it is moderately well understood. hyperref, for
    instance, can work with hypertex xdvi, pdftex, dvips->distiller-pdf,
    OzTeX previewer, dvipsone, and dviwindow as `browsers'. and, I
    think, Scientific Word
 2. whether to extend the standard LaTeX command set to include URL
    references and point-to-point links (\label isn't really a proper
    point), to avoid packages defining their own markup
 3. whether core LaTeX does need extra hooks for people who writing
    hypertext macros.

For me, 2. is what I want dealt with. hyperref, hyper and latex2html
define incompatible commands at present, and its verging on getting
messy.

Sebastian