beck@bongo.cs.cornell.edu (Micah Beck) (10/06/90)
Announcing the release of TransFig 2.1. This release is based on a new Fig file format, V2.1, which is intended to replace all existing Fig file formats. This will provide full interchangeability of files between versions of Fig. A little background: currently, Suntools Fig 1.4 uses the V1.4-TFX file format; XFig 2.0 uses a differnt format, V2.0. The V1.4-TFX format is defined in a more easily portable way, especially in the handling of font names; V2.0 uses PostScript font names. For this reason, XFig 2.0 can be compiled in "compatibility mode," which causes it to use the V1.4-TFX format. Files in the V2.0 format cannot be read into Suntools Fig 1.4. The V2.1 file format is essentially a unification of the V1.4-TFX and V2.0 formats, with a couple of extensions to the definition of text objects. TransFig 2.1 is compatible with previous Fig file formats; however, the new V2.1 features will only be accessible when Fig 2.1 and XFig 2.1 are released, which should be soon. In addition to supporting the V2.1 file format, TransFig 2.1 includes two new output drivers: TeXtyl and psTeX. The TeXtyl driver produces DVI specials which are understood by the TeXtyl DVI postprocessing program. This driver was contributed by Gary Beihl of MCC. psTeX seperates text with formatting commands embedded from the rest of the figure, processing the former part in LaTeX and rendering the latter part into PostScript. This driver was contributed by Jose Alberto Fernandez R. (U. of Maryland). The release is available by anonymous FTP from svax.cs.cornell.edu or from sun.soe.clarkson.edu in directory ~ftp/pub/fig. It is also available by mail from the Clarkson mail archive server. A beta version of Fig 2.1 for SunView is also available on svax. Please direct bugs, bug fixes, comments and questions to me. Micah Beck beck@cs.cornell.edu Dept of Computer Science Cornell University