Wishlist

This is a list of projects for AUC TeX. Bug reports and requests we can not fix or honor right away will be added to this list. If you have some time for emacs lisp hacking, you are encouraged to try to provide a solution to one of the following problems.

• Add support for different extensions. Such as `texi' and `ltx'.
• Make AUC TeX work with ange-ftp.
• Control TeX compilation window. It is not good that half of the screen is wasted for the log when TeX is processing a file. It is possible to make the log screen smaller, but the best solution would be to have a user configurable window layout that could be defined by some variables as for VM or GNUS. Or a log screen that opens only in case of an error. -- Tim Geisler `<tmgeisle@immd8.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>'
• Make features. A new command TeX-update (C-c C-u) could be used to create an up to date dvi file by repeatedly running BibTeX, MakeIndex and (La)TeX, until an error occur or we are done.
• C-u C-c { should add braces around region. C-u - C-c { should remove braces. C-u - C-c C-f should remove font. See code by Martin Sjolin `<marsj@ida.liu.se>'.
• Hook naming should be accoriding to the Emacs (19) guidelines. Specifically, only the hook variable should be names `-hook'. The hook functions should have other names.
• Define TeX-add-hook while we wait for Stallman.
• The documentation of the minor modes should be separated. They are distributed independently of AUC TeX, and should therefore also be documented independently of AUC TeX.
• Documentation of variables that can be set in a style hook. We need a list of what can safely be done in an ordinary style hook. You can not set a variable that AUC TeX depends on, unless AUC TeX knows that it has to run the style hooks first. Here is the start of such a list.

  LaTeX-add-environments

  TeX-add-symbols

  LaTeX-add-labels

  LaTeX-add-bibliographies

  LaTeX-largest-level

  The rules for what can be done in a format package hook are different.
• Correct indentation for table, math, and array environments.
• Customizable indentation for verbatim-like user defined environments.
• Speciel indentation after an `\item'.

  \begin{itemize}
  \item blabalaskdfjlas lajf adf
        lkfjl  af jasl lkf jlsdf jlf 
  \item f lk jldjf lajflkas flf af
  \end{itemize}
  

• Completion for citations, counters, and sboxes. The two latter is easy the first is useful.
• Outline should be able to hide environments. Probably being one level below LaTeX-lowest-level.
• Outline should be (better) supported in TeX mode. At least, support headers, trailers, as well as TeX-outline-extra.
• Outline Minor Mode should support non-regexp outlines better. Something like TeX-outline-extra should be standard support in `min-out.el'.
• TeX-header-start and TeX-trailer-end. We might want these, just for fun (and outlines)
• Plain TeX and LaTeX specific header and trailer expressions. We should have a way to globally specify the default value of the header and trailer regexps.
• Add support for original TeX-mode keybindings. A third initialization file (`tex-mode.el') containing an emulator of the standard TeX-mode would help convince some people to change to AUC TeX.
• Minor modes should be able to document themselves conveniently. Have a special minor mode help (bound to C-h x) with help for all the active minor modes. Here is one suggestion.

  ;; minor-map mode documentation by Guido Bosch (bosch@loria.crin.fr)
  
  ;; At a given time, one major mode and some minor modes may be active.
  ;; The following function is useful to allow the user to choose among
  ;; the documentations of all of them. It overrides the standard
  ;; describe-mode (usually bound to C-h)
  
  ;; I found it useful to have a buffer local variable `minor-modes',
  ;; being the list of minor modes currently active. It is ment to be
  ;; the counterpart to the variable `major-mode'.
  
  (defvar minor-modes nil
    "list of symbols for current buffers minor modes")
  
  (make-variable-buffer-local 'minor-modes)
  
  (defun describe-mode ()
    "Display documentation of current major or minor modes.
  If there are minor modes loaded, ask the user which mode to describe."
  
    (interactive)
            
    (let ((mode
           (if minor-modes
               (let ((mode-name
                      (completing-read
                       (format "Modes: %s: " (cons major-mode minor-modes))
                       (or (cons (list (symbol-name major-mode))
                                 (mapcar '(lambda (s) (list (symbol-name s)))
                                         minor-modes))
                           (error "There is no current minor mode."))
                       nil t)))
                 (if (string= mode-name "")
                     major-mode
                   (intern mode-name)))
             major-mode)))
            
      (with-output-to-temp-buffer "*Help*"
        (princ mode)
        (princ " Mode:\n")
        (princ (documentation mode))
        (print-help-return-message))))    
  

• The minor mode keymap support should be able to add and remove prefix characters conveniently.
• Make TeX-next-error parse ahead and store the results in a list, using markers to remember buffer positions in order to be more robust with regard to line numbers and changed files. This is what next-error does.
• When LaTeX-environment is given an argument, change the current environment. Be smart about `\item[]' versus `\item ' and labels like `fig:' versus `tab:'.
• Check out if lightening completion from Ultra TeX is anything for us.
• The files in the `style' should define all symbols and environments described in the LaTeX book. This would allow people to not install or ignore the `auto' directory, and only get completion on the public symbols. It would also be faster, since less files would be loaded.
• TeXinfo mode.
• BibTeX mode.
• AMSTeX and AMSLaTeX support.
• Better LaTeX letter environment. Make a database system for addresses in the letter environment Make the letter environment hook produce `documentstyle' too
• Directory for contributed style files. Hopefully people will start writing AUC TeX lisp style files supporting styles that are not part of the official TeX distribution (hint hint). These should be placed in a special contrib directory.
• Add code for submitting a report, like this:

  ;;;; BUG REPORTS
  
  ;;; this section is provided for reports.
  ;;; adopted from Barry A. Warsaw's c++-mode.el
  
  (defvar crypt-mailer 'mail
    "*Mail package to use to generate report mail buffer.")
  
  (defconst crypt-help-address
    "dodd@roebling.poly.edu, rwhitby@research.canon.oz.au"
    "Address(es) accepting submission of reports on crypt++.el.")
  
  (defconst crypt-maintainer "Larry and Rod"
    "First name(s) of people accepting submission of reports on crypt++.el.")
  
  (defconst crypt-file "crypt++.el"
    "Name of file containing emacs lisp code.")
  
  (defun crypt-submit-report ()
    "Submit via mail a report using the mailer in crypt-mailer, filename in
  crypt-file, to address in crypt-help-address."
    (interactive)
    (funcall crypt-mailer)
    (insert crypt-help-address)
    (if (re-search-forward "^subject:[ \t]+" (point-max) 'move)
        (insert "Report on " crypt-file " version " crypt-version))
    (if (not (re-search-forward mail-header-separator (point-max) 'move))
        (progn (goto-char (point-max))
               (insert "\n" mail-header-separator "\n")
               (goto-char (point-max)))
      (forward-line 1))
    (set-mark (point)) ;user should see mark change
    (insert "\n\n---------\n")
    (insert (emacs-version) "\n")
    (insert "code: " crypt-file ",v " crypt-version)
    (insert "\n\n")
    (insert "current value of crypt-encoding-alist:\n\n")
    (insert (prin1-to-string crypt-encoding-alist))
    (exchange-point-and-mark)
    (insert "\n" crypt-maintainer ",\n\n  ")
    (message "%s, please write the message, use C-c C-c to send" (user-login-name)))