[comp.windows.x] More info on VorTex

DAN@IBM.COM.UUCP (04/17/87)

Can someone supply more info on VorTex? like where and how
to order it and what restrictions there are on use.

ken@rochester.ARPA (Ken Yap) (04/17/87)

Here is a posting to Unix-TeX I saved. It is dated but the contact
address is the same. They have more stuff now.

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Date: Thu, 17 Oct 85 11:43:41 PDT
From: phc@ucbrenoir.Berkeley.EDU (Peehong Chen)
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To: unix-tex@washington.arpa
Subject: Announcement from Berkeley VorTeX group
Resent-Date: Mon 21 Oct 85 11:21:48-PDT
Resent-From: Richard Furuta <Furuta@WASHINGTON.ARPA>
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Status: R

Announcements from Berkeley

The Berkeley VorTeX project now has a new distribution of their work ready for
public release.  It consists of a tape containing a number of programs which
greatly facilitate using TeX and related systems for high quality document 
preparation.  Here is an overview of the major subsystems:

1. ``dvitool'' is a previewer for DVI files which runs on the SUN workstation. 
This system is very robust, handles arbitrary DVI files, and provides a great
many features.  It is a full tool in the sense of the SUN window system and
can be adjusted to any size the user finds appropriate.  It is possible to 
keep a small window on the screen for previewing at the same time a source 
window is present.  This is extremely valuable in debugging. 
Changing the view you have of a page is instantaneous.

2. ``texdvi'' is a program that runs TeX and previews the results using 
``dvitool.''  If the tool does not exist it is started, if the tool exists
it is opened and the file is read into it automatically.  ``latexdvi'' and 
``slitexdvi'' are similar systems for LaTeX and SliTeX respectively.  This is 
actually one program and would work with your own version of ``FooTeX'' as 
well (by linking ``texdvi'' to ``foodvi'', for example).

3. ``pxtool'' is a SUN-based font editor for PXL files.  It is similar in 
spirit to ``icontool'' or ``fonttool''.  A graphics window is available and an
image of the font is shown with the pixels depicted on the screen. 
Using the mouse, one is able to edit pixels.  There is also a ``show mode'' 
in which the finished character is displayed on the screen. 
This tool is very useful for creating and editing fonts.

4. FONTS: A rather complete set of fonts is available for TeX and LaTeX in the
sizes needed for the previewer (note that SliTeX fonts are not included in 
this distribution.)  These are regularly in use at Berkeley and rarely have 
people run into missing font problems (``dvitool'' responds gracefully
to missing fonts.)  These fonts, mostly supplied by the UNIX TeX distribution
at the University of Washington, are somewhat bit-tuned using ``pxtool'' for 
the SUN screen. 

5. ``bibtex.ml'' is a very large macro package for Gosling Emacs that greatly 
facilitates the preparation of ``.bib'' files for document preparation.  
This is intended for use with LaTeX and BibTeX. The user selects the type of 
reference intended such as an article and the program provides fields to be 
filled in, copies fields from previous entries,  provides various kinds of 
checking and assists you in other ways.  One particularly useful option is 
preparing a draft bibliography which includes  numerical references, symbolic 
references and a formatted version of the entries.  Another of the options 
allows previewing on the SUN or printing on any of your local printers.
This particular system is not SUN specific although it does interface nicely 
with ``dvitool'' mentioned above.  A companion program ``texbib.ml'' can be
used as a bibliography preprocessor for TeX documents under Emacs.
These programs are expected to be ported to GNU Emacs in the near future.

If you are interested in the this distribution, please write to:

	Professor Michael A. Harrison
	Re: VorTeX Distribution
	Computer Science Division
	571 Evans Hall
	University of California
	Berkeley, CA 94720

or through the net, to: dist-vortex@berkeley.edu.

mayer@hplabsc.UUCP (Niels Mayer) (04/17/87)

And please post summaries of responses to the net! Others may be
interested too! Last I heard about vortex was a poting in comp.emacs
from:
> John Coker
> University of California, Berkeley
> Berkeley VorTeX Project
> john@renoir.Berkeley.EDU

My question is this: is VorTex just a multiwindow gnuemacs-like editor, or is
it something more?

-- Niels Mayer.