Text to HTML convertertxt2html is a filter that will convert plain, ordinary, text to HTML.My intent in writing this tool is to provide an easier way of convertingexisting text documents to HTML format. txt2html can also be used to aid inwriting new HTML documents, but there are probably better ways of doingthat.If you need to convert something other than plain text to HTML, or you needto convert from HTML, you should look for a more appropriate tool.You can search these pages.How to Install txt2htmlIt's a Perl script, so installation is trivial. 1. Get a copy of the script 2. Make sure you can run it. On unix systems, try: chmod 555 txt2htmlHow to Use txt2htmlIt's a simple filter that takes a plain text file on stdin, and outputsHTML on stdout. One of these days I'll put file i/o options in there, butit hasn't seemed very important. (If you disagree, tell me, and I'll moveit higher on my to-do list.)So what does all this mean? Well, if you are in a standard Unix shell orMS-DOS, you would do something like this:txt2html < someTextFile > yourNewHTMLfileMore HelpThe most popular request for txt2html is documentation. Ok, I'm a lout.There's still no documentation. I have a few suggestions for learning howto use txt2html. * txt2html --help This will give you a list of options. You probably won't ever need to use more than a few of these. Most of them are for tweaking various features. Most text files I've tried this on convert decently without tweaking, but I'm a big fan of configurability, so I threw tons of options in. * Look at the sample down below. It's not much of a guide in how to use txt2html, but it will show you what sort of things it can handle. * Read the Configurable Options section at the beginning of the script. That's where you'll find a more complete description of all the options, as well as the default values for everything. * "Use the source." I try to comment my code, but I still don't recommend this route for the faint of heart.sample document * Plain text copy (before conversion) * HTML copy (after conversion)Future PlansThe current version is v1.10, which was released on 15 Dec 1994. A list ofall my changes can be found within the script itself.txt2html isn't nearly as robust as I'd like it to be, though it's gettingthere. If it isn't converting your text as well as you'd like it to, pleasesend me a sample copy along with your ideas of what it should have donewith it.If you have suggestions, complaints, questions, or just want to say hi,please feel free to send me some mail. I am planning on (finally) puttingout another version of this fairly soon, which will include many fixes anda couple new features (such as automatic linking of things). The morepeople who express interest in this, the faster I'll get it out the door.A few people have suggested that I add some sort of table-of-contentsgenerator to txt2html. I believe that's the role of a decent browser, so Iprobably won't add that. (I'm also reluctant because of performancereasons.) Earl Hood's htmltoc will probably do what you want.ThanksThanks to all the people who have given me ideas for improvements.---------------------------------------------------------------------------seth@cs.wustl.eduLast modified: Fri Sep 1 14:23:31 1995
