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diff --git a/systems/mac/Kto8/Kto8.txt b/systems/mac/Kto8/Kto8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..a4a96e5956 --- /dev/null +++ b/systems/mac/Kto8/Kto8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,81 @@ + + + ******* Kto8 DOCUMENTATION ******* + + +OVERVIEW + +The "Kto8" program converts the strangely encoded text files +output by D. Knuth's "TeX" program (v 3.x) into true 8-bit +text files. + +This is helpful when text files output by TeX are to be edited +visually -- which occurs, for example: + + --- when TeX has been called upon to change the encoding of +a text file, and + + --- when an index being prepared on the basis of +information gleaned by TeX. + +[In the latter role, Kto8 may not be suitable; more precisely it +tends to be suitable only when TeX writes the gleaned words in +an "unexpanded" form, i.e. more-or-less as originally typed. +Alas, a few older TeX formats may fail to do this.] + + Be aware that many implementations of TeX do write 8-bit +text files, and thus have little use for Kto8. In a text file +output by TeX, the sign of need for conversion by Kto8 is the +presence of pairs ^^ of hat characters. If there are no such +pairs, Kto8 will merely copy the file intact. + + Kto8 is a small freeware program that was first realized +for Macintosh as a tiny 16Ko drag-and-drop utility. Hopefully +equally convenient binaries will become available also for +Windows, and some linux, and unix platforms. + + +ENCODING DETAILS + +Knuth's original Web version of the current TeX program, by +default, writes all text files in a peculiar ASCII encoding. +The ASCII characters 32--126 are roughly those that appear on +every typewriter or computer keyboard. + +These 'normal' ASCII characters appear unaltered. All other +octets 0--255 are represented by a sequence of 3 or 4 normal +ASCII characters beginning with the pair ^^. More precisely: + +(i) the octets 0,1,2,...,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31 are +represented by the 32 triples: + + ^^@, ^^A, ^^B, ... ^^Y, ^^Z, ^^[, ^^\, ^^], ^^^, ^^_ + +(ii) the octets 128, 129, ... , 254, 255 are represented by +the quadruples consisting of ^^ followed by the lowercase +2-digit hexadecimal representation of the integer: + + ^^80, ^^81, ... , ^^fe, ^^ff + +(ii) The remaining octet 127 is represented as ^^?. (Some +TeX implementations use ^^7f for greater clarity.) + + This Knuthian encoding of 8-bit text files is unambiguous +only because (or if!) the 8-bit text encoded is known to +contain none of the triples and quadruples above. + + Beware that TeX implementations claiming to write 8-bit +text satisfactorily may use the Knuthian encoding for several +characters deemed to be troublesome. Thus, even a progressive +TeX implementation may occasionally need Kto8! + + +BUGS + + Please report bugs by email to: + + lcs@topo.math.u-psud.fr + or + laurent@math.toronto.edu + + |