A Customizable Python Program for Translating LaTeX to HTML
This program can:
- Translates any environment (even enumerate-types) into a fully-customizable HTML container.
- Places footnotes at the end of the document (before
\end{document}) and hyperlinks them. - Link references.
- Places a bibliography at the end of the document (before the footnotes) with the citations used as well as hyperlinks them.
- Translates macros into fully-customizable HTML containers/tags.
This program cannot:
- Convert
tikzpicture(and its children such astikzcd) toSVG(however, XyJax can be used to fully encode diagrams in MathJax). - Compile (as opposed to translate) LaTeX to HTML such as TeX4HT.
The following modules are required:
tkinterregex(notre)
The following modules are optional:
bibtexparser(for bibliographies)
The following javascript are required:
The following javascripts are recommended:
- XyJax (for diagrams)
- Although
tikzcdis not available on MathJax,xypicsis available through XyJax. - AMScd can also be used (and is faster), but is limited to simple straight arrow diagrams.
- Although
- BigFootJS (for footnotes)
- Depends on jquery.
- BigFootJS removes the need for a footer filled with footnotes and places them in an overlay activated by the footnote's link.
The header in the example is similar to the one I use. The scripts and css are renamed for simplicity.
For footnotes:
- Place footnotes (
\footnote{sometext}) where you would like the footnote marker to appear. - Do not place your footnote in math delimiters. Use a footnote marker (
\footnotemarker) and place your footnote text (\footnotetext{texthere}) where you would like them to appear in HTML.
For environments:
- All environments (except the ones parsed by MathJax such as
equation) must be of the form
\begin{placeholder}[optional]
blah blah blah
\end{placeholder}For references:
- All references should follow a pattern of
prefixnumberor else they will have to be individually defined in the configuration.- It is possible to have all references backreference the labels without worry, however they will not be numbered properly since the program does not handle environments and labels jointly (which will not be implemented for obvious reasons). For example, say
\label{banans}and\label{pinans}handle Proposition 4 and Theorem 20. If these are the only labels in the document, then referencing them will just give 1 and 2 rather than 4 and 20.
- It is possible to have all references backreference the labels without worry, however they will not be numbered properly since the program does not handle environments and labels jointly (which will not be implemented for obvious reasons). For example, say
The strength of this program lies in the customizability. The customize.ini contains all the information about customizability options.
The RunScript.pyw file will launch a GUI for the program. If you have images, you should upload these online and paste the url in the text box (one per line) in the order they appear in your TeX document. If you have a bibliography, assure you have the requirements listed before and select the .bib file associated to it. After you choose your file, press Run and the freshly-dressed code should appear in the text box (replacing any URLs you may have placed there). You can edit, copy-and-paste, and save (using the Save button) however you wish. You can process multiple files without closing the window.
The example is Example.html in the Example folder, however it may be of use to learn how to get there.
The Example.tex can be compiled in LaTeX to verify it works. Run the program on Example.tex and the provided .bib file and save the text as body.html in the Example folder. You can open the newly-created HTML file to see how raw the output is. From here, you can take the header.html and the created HTML file to create a single HTML file with <header> on top and <body> at the bottom. This will be the same as Example.html. Opening this file, you can see how drastically different the stylesheets change the code. In particular, the labeled item is now truly a labeled item (using some position:relative trickery).
All macros and environments (except the ones used by MathJax) used in your document should be defined in the configuration file. Using classes and ids give this program an incredible amount of flexibility (e.g. the proposition environment in the example is defined the same way as the exercise environment, but differs in css). Enumerate especially handles well since nesting is built-in to css (the program does not process nesting of enumerate environments). See the environments.css file from the example for some inspiration.
There are a lot of methods for removing unwanted macros in this program. Not so obvious is the facts we can remove parameters in the HTML using some clever adjustments. For example, using the enumitems package allows for adjusting enumerate-type environments in the form \begin{enumerate}[options]. The [options] can be removed by not referencing it in replacement text. See the customize.ini file for some inspiration.
Changing the extension of the GUI script to py will allow the command line to appear while you run the program. If you find something, please do not hesitate to file an issue. Of course, please make sure your LaTeX code compiles before saying the application breaks. Also make sure you use different quotations in the customization file.