[OS X TeX] Embedding pdfsync into pdftex

[Roussanka Loukanova]

Hi,

On Fri, 25 Jan 2008, Jérome Laurens wrote:

> Hi list,
>
> The pdfsync technology is very useful but it also breaks too many even more 
> useful packages.
> Actually, I managed to move pdfsync to pdftex itself. The benefits are:
> - synchronization won't break nor alter any other package
> - synchronization works far better
> - synchronization works the same whatever format is used, plain , context, 
> latex, latex2e, latex3, latex4, latex5...
> - synchronization works the same for dvi or pdf output
> - no more \includepackage{pdfsync}
> I think this is a major improvement for synchronization.

Absolutely, yes!

> I have submitted a patch to the pdftex developers list, but I don't know what 
> they think of it, nor if they plan to ever include these modifications.
> If you think that such a synchronization is really an important feature for 
> pdftex, please add a comment to

I will do so in any case, but it would be good, if you could answer a 
question: how is this to affect the dvips dependent typesetting with 
pdfsync viewing? It seems to me that would make all far easier. I have 
been all the way in attempts to use pdfsync with pdf viewers from Emacs, 
in one or other way, since there isn't any direct way:

- For now, under OS X 10.4, I am using Emacs + PDFView via a AUCTex 
command for simpdftex, by having had in advance a pdf copy of the file 
opened in PDFView

- PDFSync viewing of dvips dependent files is not directly included in 
Skim, i.e. one also needs some workaround, like patches for simpdftex 
in Skim.

It seems to me that your patch will make far easier life even in another 
aspect: for running same tex files either under OS X or Linux, on 
unpredictable occasions (since I have a Linux workstation in my office 
and classes in Linux labs). I haven't seen yet how to run 
latex->dvips->ps2pdf in one command like simpdftex under Linux, although 
there might be such. Since xdvi is the default under Emacs on Linux, as of 
now, I use it. This means that I have to comment out 
\includepackage{pdfsync} from my tex files when running them under the 
Linux account, or otherwise I have to install pdfsync.sty 
(since latex doesn't find it from the common tex installation).

Roussanka

  >
> http://sarovar.org/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=871&group_id=106&atid=495
>
> TIA
>
> PS: The xetex engine would be adapted accordingly(quite easy)
>