NAME

       hishrink- translating ASCII HINT files to binary files

SYNOPSIS

       hishrink [options] [file]

DESCRIPTION

       Shrinking  converts  an  ASCII  HINT file, usually with the extension .hint, into a binary
       HINT file, with the extension .hnt.

       The ASCII based HINT  file  format  -  also  called  `long'  format  -  is  optimized  for
       readability.  It  can  be edited using a text editor. Hence it allows simple modifications
       that would be difficult to achieve when using the binary format.  It  is  also  convenient
       when debugging.

       The  binary  HINT  file  format - also called `short' format - is optimized for displaying
       HINT files. It can be parsed equally well in forward and backward direction to enable fast
       forward or backward navigation in the file.

       The  binary HINT file format is designed for on-screen reading of documents.  Using a HINT
       viewer to display a HINT file, its content will dynamically adapt to the available display
       area.  For  complete  information on the HINT file format and programs to view HINT files,
       see https://hint.userweb.mwn.de.

OPTIONS

       This version of hishrink understands the following command line options:

       -a     Use only the localized names for auxiliary files as explained in the FILES  section
              below.

              If  you  know  that the auxiliary files can be found using the localized names, for
              example after creating them with  histretch  using  the  -a  option,  you  can  use
              hishrink with the -a option to limit the search for the auxiliar files.  If you are
              unsure, you should use neither the -a nor the -g option.  hishrink will then search
              for  auxiliar  files  first  using the localized path names and then using the path
              names as given.

       -c     Enable the use of compression for the HINT file. Compressed files are  smaller  but
              require  decompression  when  viewing.  Use  only  for large files if the file size
              matters.

       -d bitmask
              Sets HINT file debugging flags according to the bitmask.  Use the --help option for
              details.

       -g     Do  not  use  the  localized  names  for  auxiliary files as explained in the FILES
              section below.

              You may use this option if you know that all auxiliar files are  at  the  locations
              described by the path names stored in the HINT file.  If you are unsure, you should
              use neither the -g nor the -a option.  hishrink will then search for auxiliar files
              first using the localized path names and then using the path names as given.

       --help Print help message and exit.

       -l     Redirect standard error to a log file. The name of the log file is derived from the
              name of the input file replacing the extension .hint by the extension .log.

       -o name
              Use name for the output file instead of deriving it from  the  name  of  the  input
              file.  Append the extension .hnt if the name does not already has that extension.

       --version
              Print version information and exit.

FILES

       Binary  HINT  files  must contain all resources necessary to display the file, for example
       font and image files.  These files are called auxiliary files.  ASCII HINT  files  contain
       only the path names of these files.

       When  creating  a  binary HINT file from an ASCII HINT file, it is necessary to find these
       files, read them, and include them in the binary output file.  When creating an ASCII HINT
       file from a binary HINT file, it is convenient if these files can be extracted and written
       to the file system.  To avoid clobbering arbitrary directories with files when  extracting
       auxiliary  files,  it  is  possible  to  map  the path names as stored in the HINT file to
       localized path names before writing or reading auxiliar files.

       When computing a localized path name from a given path name, a distinction is made between
       global  resources,  like  fonts,  that  are referenced by an absolute path name, and local
       resources, for example an image,  that  are  referenced  by  a  relative  path  name.  The
       directory that starts the localized path name of the former has the extension .abs and for
       the latter the extension .rel is used.  To keep auxiliary files  in  these  subdirectories
       even  if  their path contains links to a parent directory, parent links `..'  are replaced
       by `__' links to subdirectories.

       For example, given an input file paper.hint,  the  global  resources  are  stored  in  the
       paper.abs  directory  and  local resources are stored in paper.rel.  An absolute path like
       /usr/share/fonts/ will then map to the localized  path  paper.abs/usr/share/fonts/  and  a
       relative   path   like   ../image/img1.jpg   will   then   map   to   the  localized  path
       paper.rel/__/image/img1.jpg.

NOTES

       This manual page is not meant to be exhaustive.  The complete documentation can  be  found
       in  the HINT: The file format.  This document is available as a book or in electronic form
       from the HINT project home page at https://hint.userweb.mwn.de.  There you find additional
       software, most importantly viewers for HINT files, and further information.

AVAILABILITY

       hishrink should compile on a large variety of machine architectures and operating systems.
       It is part of the TeX Live distribution.

SEE ALSO

       histretch(1), hitex(1),

AUTHORS

       Martin Ruckert