1SYNCTEX(5) BSD File Formats Manual SYNCTEX(5)
2
4 synctex — Synchronize TeXnology help file
5
7 Synchronize TeXnology help file (synctexs) are text files that help
8 input/output synchronization during document preparation with the TeX
9 typesetting system.
10
12 The structure of this file should not be considered public, in the sense
13 that no one should need to parse its contents, except the synctex command
14 line utility, and the synctex_parser library which are both publicly
15 available. Unless it is absolutely not avoidable, access to the contents
16 of the synctex file should only be made through requests made to the
17 synctex command line utility.
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20 The element structure of a synctex file is a list of text line records as
21 follows. ‘*’, ‘+’, and ‘?’ have their usual EBNF meanings: ‘*’ means
22 zero or more, ‘+’ means one or more, and ‘?’ means zero or one (i.e.,
23 optional).
24 <SyncTeX> ::= (The whole contents in 4 sections)
26 <Preamble>
28 <Content>
30 <Postamble>
32 <Post Scriptum>
34 Each section starts with the first occurrence of a sectioning line, and
36 ends with the next section, if any. In the following definitions, we do
37 not mention the section ending condition.
38
40 <Preamble> ::=
41 "SyncTeX Version:" <Version Number> <EOL>
43 <Input Line>*
45 "Magnification:" <TeX magnification> <EOL>
47 "Unit:" <unit in scaled point> <EOL>
49 "X Offset:" <horizontal offset in scaled point> <EOL>
51 "Y Offset:" <vertical offset in scaled point> <EOL>
53 <Input Line> ::= "Input:" <tag> ":" <File Name> <EOL>
55
57 <Content> ::=
58 <byte offset record>
60 "Content:" <EOL>
62 (<Form(k)>|<Input Line>)*
64 <sheet(1)>
66 (<Form(k)>|<Input Line>)*
68 <sheet(2)>
70 (<Form(k)>|<Input Line>)*
72 ...
74 <sheet(N)>
76 (<Form(k)>|<Input Line>)*
78 <byte offset record> ::= "!" <byte offset> <end of record>
80 <sheet(n)> ::=
82 <byte offset record>
84 "{" <the integer n> <end of record>
86 <vbox section>|<hbox section>
88 <byte offset record>
90 "}" <the integer n> <end of record>
92 <Form> ::=
94 <byte offset record>
96 "<" <form tag> <end of record>
98 <vbox section>|<hbox section>
100 <byte offset record>
102 ">" <end of record>
104 <form tag> ::= <integer>
106 Forms are available with pdfTeX. All the numbers are integers encoded
108 using the decimal representation with "C" locale. The <box content>
109 describes what is inside a box. It is either a vertical or horizontal
110 box, with some records related to glue, kern or math nodes.
111 <box content> ::=
113 <vbox section>|<hbox section>
115 |<void vbox record>|<void hbox record>
117 |<current record>|<glue record>|<kern record>
119 |<math record>|<form ref record>|<Form>
121 <vbox section> ::=
123 "[" <link> ":" <point> ":" <size> <end of record>
125 <box content>*
127 "]" <end of record>
129 <hbox section> ::=
131 ( <link> ":" <point> ":" <size> <end of record>
133 <box content>*
135 ")" <end of record>
137 Void boxes:
139 <void vbox record> ::= "v" <link> ":" <point> ":" <size> <end of
141 record>
142 <void hbox record> ::= "h" <link> ":" <point> ":" <size> <end of
144 record>
145 <link> ::= <tag> "," <line>( "," <column>)?
147 <point> ::= <full point>|<compressed point>
149 <full point> ::= <integer> "," <integer>
151 <compressed point> ::= <integer> ",="
153 <line> ::= <integer>
155 <column> ::= <integer>
157 <size> ::= <Width> "," <Height> "," <Depth>
159 <Width> ::= <integer>
161 <Height> ::= <integer>
163 <Depth> ::= <integer>
165 The forthcoming records are basic one liners.
167 <current record> ::= "x" <link> ":" <point> <end of record>
169 <kern record> ::= "k" <link> ":" <point> ":" <Width> <end of
171 record>
172 <glue record> ::= "g" <link> ":" <point> <end of record>
174 <math record> ::= "$" <link> ":" <point> <end of record>
176 <form ref record> ::= "f" <form tag> ":" <point> <end of record>
178
180 The postamble closes the file If there is no postamble, it means that the
181 typesetting process did not end correctly.
182 <Postamble>::=
184 <byte offset record>
186 "Count:" <Number of records> <EOL>
188
190 The post scriptum contains material possibly added by 3rd parties. It
191 allows to append some transformation (shift and magnify). Typically, one
192 applies a dvi to pdf filter with offset options and magnification, then
193 he appends the same options to the synctex file, for example
194 synctex update -o foo.pdf -m 0.486 -x 9472573sp -y 13.3dd source.dvi
196 <Post Scriptum>::=
198 <byte offset record>
200 "Post Scriptum:" <EOL>
202 "Magnification:" <number> <EOL> (Set additional
204 magnification)
205 "X Offset:" <dimension> <EOL> (Set horizontal offset)
207 "Y Offset:" <dimension> <EOL> (Set vertical offset)
209 This second information will override the offset and magnification previ‐
210 ously available in the preamble section. All the numbers are encoded
211 using the decimal representation with "C" locale.
212
214 The <current record> is used to compute the visible size of hbox's. The
215 byte offset is an implicit anchor to navigate the synctex file from sheet
216 to sheet. The second coordinate of a compressed point has been replaced
217 by a "=" character which means that it is the second coordinate of the
218 last full point available above.
219
221 synctex(1) tex(1)
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224 The Synchronize TeXnology is essentially due to Jerome Laurens, with use‐
225 ful suggestions by some well known actors of the TeX world.
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228 This document has been updated on Sat Apr 22 09:57:20 UTC 2017 to include
229 \pdfxform support.
230Independent Jan 17, 2018 Independent