The program "umlaut.com" substitutes the umlaute in a TeX-file
  on a PC under MS-DOS

according to the
     german.sty Version
or
     American PlainTeX (or LaTeX) Version

by making the following substitutions in the  file:

For the german style version:

	       „  (0x84)   to "a
	       ”  (0x94)   to "o
	         (0x81)   to "u
	       Ž  (0x8E)   to "A
	       ™  (0x99)   to "O
	       š  (0x9A)   to "U
	       α  (0xE1)   to "s

   Usage: umlaut g <filename> (with or without .tex)

For the American PlainTeX (or LaTeX) Version:

	       „  (0x84)   to \"a
	       ”  (0x94)   to \"o
	         (0x81)   to \"u
	       Ž  (0x8E)   to \"A
	       ™  (0x99)   to \"O
	       š  (0x9A)   to \"U
	       α  (0xE1)   to {\ss}

     Usage:  umlaut  p  <filename> (with or without .tex)
or
              reconverts a file with Umlaute

according to the
     german.sty Version
or
     American PlainTeX (or LaTeX) Version

by making the following resubstitutions in the  file:

For the german style version:

	       "a   to   „  (0x84)
	       "o   to   ”  (0x94)
	       "u   to     (0x81)
	       "A   to   Ž  (0x8E)
	       "O   to   ™  (0x99)
	       "U   to   š  (0x9A)
	       "s   to   α  (0xE1)
	       \3   to   α  (0xE1)

   Usage: umlaut  rg  <filename> (with or without .tex)

For the American PlainTeX (or LaTeX) Version:

	       \"a   to   „  (0x84)
	       \"o   to   ”  (0x94)
	       \"u   to     (0x81)
	       \"A   to   Ž  (0x8E)
	       \"O   to   ™  (0x99)
	       \"U   to   š  (0x9A)
	      {\ss}  to   α  (0xE1)
	       \ss  not followed by a letter  to  α  (0xE1)

   Usage: umlaut  rp  <filename> (with or without .tex)

The programm also searches for the presence of other illegal
characters (ASCII value greater than 0x7E), when substituting.

During the substitution a temp file, 2 intermediate files,
and a backup file with the same filename
(and extensions .tmp, .~$~, and .~~x)
are created, which are removed afterwards.

Applications:

1) Substitute the umlaute in a TeX file before mailing it by e-mail
   or before TeX-compiling it.

2) Transform a TeX-file using plain TeX umlaute to the German Style
   version or vice versa by first resubstituting the umlaute and then
   substituting them with the other style versions.

We use this program automatically (called by a batch file) when
TeX-compiling anything (plain with English and german with German texts).
Especially the secretary is happy that she need not pay attention typing
\"a or "a  instead of „ ... when writing a German or English text.
It has been used now in several preliminary versions for over 2 years.

The program tries to be self-explaining: Just type  "umlaut" and watch
what is happening.


Please report problems or comments to

Robert W. Berger                   e-mail:    rberger@math.uni-sb.de
Fachbereich Mathematik                     
Universit„t das Saarlandes
Postfach 15 11 50
D-66041 Saarbrcken

May 20, 1994.