3 - Generating Documents from the GUI

This chapter describes how to generate document files from a given set of HTML "source" files using the HTMLDOC GUI.

Starting the HTMLDOC GUI

To start the HTMLDOC GUI under UNIX, type:

# htmldoc Enter

To start the HTMLDOC GUI under Windows, choose HTMLDOC from the Start menu (Figure 1.)

Figure 1 - Starting HTMLDOC under Windows

The HTMLDOC GUI

The HTMLDOC GUI (Figures 2 through 7) is contained in a single window showing the input, output, and generation options. At the bottom are buttons to load, save, and generate documents.

Document File Operations

Starting a New Document

To start a new document, click on the New button.

Opening an Existing Document

To open a document you've saved previously, click on the Open... button.

Saving the Current Document

To save the current document, click on the Save button. If you have never saved the document before or would like to save it with a new filename, click on the Save As... button instead.

Generating Your Document

To generate your document, click on the Generate button. The progress meter at the bottom of the window will show the progress as each page is written.

Exiting from the HTMLDOC GUI

To exit from the HTMLDOC GUI, click on the Close button.

Figure 2 - HTMLDOC Window and Input Tab

The Input Tab

Setting the Document Type

Normally HTMLDOC generates indexed documents from your HTML files. To convert a single "web page" click on the Web Page radio button.

Adding HTML Input Files

Click on the Add... button to add an HTML file to your document.

Deleting HTML Input Files

To remove one or more HTML files from your document, click on the file (or drag multiple files) in the input file list and then click on the Delete button. The files are removed from your document but are not deleted from your disk.

Editing HTML Input Files

To edit one or more HTML files in your document, click on the file (or drag multiple files) in the input file list and then click on the Edit... button. By default this starts the nedit editor under UNIX and the Notepad editor under Windows. See "The Options Tab" later in this chapter for details on how to change the editor that is used.

Moving HTML Input Files

To change the order of the input files, click on a file to move (or drag multiple files) in the input file list and then click on the Move Up or Move Down button.

Selecting a Logo Image

The logo image is shown on the title page of PostScript and PDF output files and in the navigation bar of HTML files. To select a logo image file, click on the Browse button. After the standard file selection dialog appears, double-click on the desired image file.

Figure 3 - HTMLDOC Output Tab

The Output Tab

Selecting File or Directory Generation

HTMLDOC can generate a single HTML or PostScript file or a series of files, one per chapter plus the table of contents (index) file. To select single file output click on the File radio button. To generate multiple files to a directory click on the Directory radio button.

Selecting an Output File or Directory

The output file is the HTML, PostScript, or PDF file you wish to generate from your HTML files. To select an output file, click on the Browse button. After the file selection dialog appears, type the name of the file you would like to create.

Selecting the Output Format

To select an output format, click on the corresponding Output Type button. Be careful when generating Level 2 PostScript output, as Level 1 PostScript printers do not support the Level 2 image commands generated by HTMLDOC (most printers manufactured in the last 4 years are Level 2).

NOTE: Choose Level 2 PostScript output for Level 3 PostScript printers.

Selecting Grayscale Output

When generating PostScript or PDF files you can choose to convert all images to grayscale. This is necessary for many Level 1 printers that do not support color images and can reduce the size of output files considerably.

To select grayscale output, click on the Grayscale button.

Selecting Compressed Output

PDF files are compressed using Flate (a.k.a. ZIP) compression by default. If you need to view the PDF files produced by HTMLDOC with an older version of Acrobat Reader (2.x or earlier) click on the Compression toggle button to turn compression off.

Disabling the Title Page

A title page is generated for your document by default. To turn the title page off, click on the Title Page toggle button.

Using JPEG Compression

HTMLDOC supports JPEG compression of large images when generating Level 2 PostScript and PDF files. To enable JPEG compression, click on the JPEG Big Images toggle button. The output quality can be controlled by dragging the JPEG Quality slider in the options tab.

Once you have enabled JPEG compression, any color image that cannot be converted to an 8-bit (or less) colormapped image will be JPEG'd. Similarly, any grayscale image that cannot be represented by 16 (or less) shades will be JPEG'd.

JPEG compression can dramatically reduce the size of output files, however with low quality settings the images can look blotchy.

Changing the Navigation Bar Color

To change the color of the navigation bar used in HTML output, type in a color name in the Bar Color field or click on the Lookup... button to graphically pick a color.

Figure 4 - HTMLDOC Window and Page Tab

The Page Tab

Selecting a Page Size

The page size option is only available for PostScript and PDF output. HTMLDOC supports the following standard page size names:

Letter - 8.5x11in (216x279mm)
A4 - 8.27x11.69in (210x297mm)
Universal - 8.27x11in (210x279mm)

To select a custom page size, double-click on the page size text and enter the page width and length separated by the letter "x". Append the letters "in" for inches, "mm" for millimeters, or "cm" for centimeters.

Selecting Double-Sided Output

To select double-sided (duplexed) output click on the Double-Sided toggle button.

NOTE: This option does not select duplexing on the printer, it only generates pages with the left/right margins swapped on even numbered pages and forces all chapters (and the table-of-contents) to start on an odd-numbered page. You must still select duplexing from your application or printer options.

Setting the Page Margins

The left, right, top, and bottom margins can be changed by clicking in the appropriate text field and entering a new margin. Append the letters "in" for inches, "mm" for millimeters, or "cm" for centimeters.

Customizing the Header and Footer

To customize the header and footer for the document/body pages, select the desired text from each of the option buttons. The leftmost option buttons set the text that is left-justified, while the middle buttons set the text that is centered and the right buttons set the text that is right-justified.

Figure 5 - HTMLDOC Window and TOC Tab

The Table-Of-Contents Tab

Customizing the Table of Contents

To change the number of header levels listed in the table of contents, or to turn off table-of-contents generation entirely, click on Table of Contents chooser and select the number of levels desired.

Numbering Table of Contents Headings

To number the headings in your document, click on the Numbered Headings toggle button.

Customizing the Header and Footer

To customize the header and footer for the table-of-contents pages, select the desired text from each of the option buttons. The leftmost option buttons set the text that is left-justified, while the middle buttons set the text that is centered and the right buttons set the text that is right-justified.

Figure 6 - HTMLDOC Fonts Tab

The Fonts Tab

The fonts tab contains all of the document font options. The default options roughly correspond to those used by most browsers.

Changing the Base Font Size

To change the base font size, click on the left arrow buttons to decrease the font size and the right arrow buttons to increase the font size. The font size value is in points (there are 72 points per inch).

Changing the Line Spacing

To change the line spacing, click on the left arrow buttons to decrease the line spacing and the right arrow buttons to increase the line spacing.

Changing the Body Typeface

The body typeface is the font used for paragraphs and most other text in a document. To change the body typeface click on the chooser and pick the desired typeface.

Changing the Heading Typeface

The heading typeface is the font used for headings. To change the headings typeface click on the chooser and pick the desired typeface.

Changing the Header/Footer Size

To change the header and footer font size, click on the left arrow buttons to decrease the font size and the right arrow buttons to increase the font size. The font size value is in points (there are 72 points per inch).

Changing the Header/Footer Typeface

The header/footer typeface is the font used for headers at the top of the page and footers at the bottom of the page. To change the header/footer typeface click on the chooser and pick the desired typeface.

Figure 7 - HTMLDOC Options Tab

The Options Tab

Changing the HTML Editor Command

To change the HTML editor that is used, type in the program name in the HTML Editor field or click on the Browse... button. The "%s" is required and is replaced by the file to edit.

NOTE: To use Netscape Communicator as your HTML editor you need to add the "-edit" option before the "%s".

Changing the JPEG Quality

To change the JPEG quality setting, move the mouse pointer over the slider knob and drag the slider using the left mouse button. Release the mouse button when the desired quality is shown.

Changing the Compression Setting

To change the compression setting, move the mouse pointer over the slider knob and drag the slider using the left mouse button. Release the mouse button when the desired level is shown.