SFN:CloudTeX

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Objectives

• Micro-publishing framework for TeX authors.
• Integration of TeX and XML technologies.
• Provide modern features of STM content.
• Collaborative authoring, editing, etc.
• Outputs for all possible devices and media.
• Accessibility.

Features

• A fully functional TeX typesetting system in cloud.
• Web based text editor with common editor functions.
• Unicode compliant.
• Real time collaboration, messaging and live annotation.
• Allows to download document sources and output as a tarball or zip archive.
• Live technical support.

Tracking packages

pdfTeX and LuaTeX provide a feature namely, recorder, as a run time compiler option which when invoked provides a file list containing all the files read in and written out during compilation of a document. We shall make use of this feature to track the versions of packages used to generate output from a document so that the same versions of packages shall be used on a later date to avoid run time errors due to package revisions. This saves the author from the frustrating experiences of nagging errors just because a few of the packages used in the document have been modified by their respective authors between the revisions of the document under consideration.

However, if the document is originally compiled in CloudTeX, it will keep track of all packages and version information separately which will be read before making another compilation in CloudTeX. The author is ensured to get exactly the same output created in the previous compilation.

TeXPad — the Editor

• TeX and XML aware text editor.
• TeX → PDF with all packages and fonts in CTAN.
• Seamless TeX → XML/MathML.
• Supports TeX → XML → PDF.
• Viewers for different kinds of outputs.
• Interactive Math editing.

TODO

Editor

Urgent items

• User management (DONE)
• Switch between different compilers — latex, pdflatex, xelatex and lualatex.
• Button to invoke:
  • Nomenclature
  • Index program
  • Glossary program
  • BibTeX
  • Biber

Non-urgent items

• Save processed file to Google Drive and Dropbox (Nov 2013)
• Optional privilege control among collaborators (DONE)
• Optional mastercopying facility (Dec 2013)
• *.gif, *.jpg, *.png or *.svg images of math (DONE)
• WYSIWYG editing of XML/MathML files (Dec 2013)
• Integration of BibTeX, Biber, BibLaTeX and multiple indices (DONE)
• Integration of DOI lookup (Dec 2013)
• Integration of PubMed, CrossRef linking (Dec 2013)
• Integration of linking public databases (Gene, Species, Chem, …, banks) (Dec 2013)
• Integration of author disambiguation (ORCID) (Dec 2013)
• SVG for graphics integration (DONE)
• Tagged PDF (accessible PDF) (Mar 2014)

TeX

• Edit changes as tooltips in PDF (Nov 2012)
• Auto breaking of long equations (DONE)
• Specimens showing different kinds PDF's (books, articles, handouts, …)
• Facility to choose preferred compiler (TeX/pdfTeX/XeTeX/LuaTeX), macro package (Plain/LaTeX/ConTeXt), makeindex, bib processor (bibTeX/Biber), TeX4ht, pdf generator (dvips and ps2pdf/dvipdfm) …
• Support documentation

XML

• Support for major DTD’s like NLM (DONE)
• Support for major DTD’s like DocBook, TEI (Nov 2012)
• XML/MathML → HTML/MathJax (Oct 2012)
• XML → MediaWiki format (Dec 2012)
• XML → ePub as per version 3.0 (Dec 2012)
• XML to Braille (Jan 2013)
• XML → Libre´ Office → MS Word (Jan 2013)