[xml/sgml-pkgs] Bug#416622: xmlto: passivetex removed from Debian => xmlto can't produce pdf/ps/dvi

[Andreas Hoenen]

Daniel Leidert <daniel.leidert at wgdd.de> wrote:

<snip/>
> @Andreas: I spoke with the new author and support for dblatex can be
> added upstream. The author just delayed it until 0.0.20 has been
> released (which I currently package). For the case you want to help to
> create a patch: The support for dblatex should be an option, not a
> replacement for docbook-xsl/passivetex nor docbook-xsl/fop.
>
> Please don't hesitate to contact me, if you have questions, suggestions
> or patches :)
<snip/>

Attached is a patch based on the 0.0.20 upstream release that adds the
dblatex backend for pdf, ps and dvi output.  I have implemented it
analogous to the fop backend, thus it should do no harm to xmlto's
architecture.  Some remarks:

- The dblatex section in the pdf, ps and dvi format files is identical,
  one could refactor it into a common location.

- The used dblatex options
  "-P doc.collab.show=0 -P latex.output.revhistory=0"
  prevent insertion of a page with empty collaboration and revision
  history tables, which IMHO is a reasonable default.  If one provides
  the needed data for filling these tables in the source document
  (e.g. compare the sources of the dblatex user manual), one would
  override the internal xmlto options by passing the argument string
  "-p '-P doc.collab.show=1 -P latex.output.revhistory=1'"
  to xmlto.

- An idea (not implemented) I would like to discuss:

  Most users won't have installed all backends, I'd even guess that the
  majority will have installed only one backend.  In these cases it's a
  lack of comfort needing to choose the backend explicitly.  And xmlto
  is a comfort frontend for the underlying tools, isn't it?  Thus I
  could imagine a mechanism that in absence of an explicit backend
  argument:

  - Determines for the specified input/output pair what backends are
    able to produce it (e.g. dblatex does not support XSL-FO as input
    format).

  - From these backends determines the installed ones.

  - From these backends chooses the first regarding to a hierarchy, e.g.:
    1) passivetex
    2) fop
    3) dblatex

  What do you think?  It should be quite easy to implement this.

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Regards, Andreas
--
Andreas Hoenen <andreas.hoenen at arcor.de>

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