Inverse search#Implementations
Inverse search (also called "reverse search")[http://xdvi.sourceforge.net/inverse-search.html Inverse Search with Xdvi(k)] on sourceforge.net is a feature of some non-interactive typesetting programs, such as LaTeX and GNU LilyPond. These programs read an abstract, textual, definition of a document as input, and convert this into a graphical format such as DVI or PDF. In a windowing system, this typically means that the source code is entered in one editor window, and the resulting output is viewed in a different output window. Inverse search means that a graphical object in the output window works as a hyperlink, which brings you back to the line and column in the editor, where the clicked object was defined. The inverse search feature is particularly useful during proofreading.
Implementations
- In TeX and LaTeX, the package [http://ctan.org/pkg/srcltx srcltx] provides an inverse search feature through DVI output files (e.g., with yap or Xdvi), while [http://ctan.org/pkg/vpe vpe], [http://ctan.org/pkg/pdfsync pdfsync] and [http://itexmac.sourceforge.net/SyncTeX.html SyncTeX] provide similar functionality for PDF output, among other techniques. The Comparison of TeX editors has a column on support of inverse search; most of them provide it nowadays.
- GNU LilyPond provides an inverse search feature through PDF output files, since version 2.6. The program calls this feature Point-and-click,
- Many integrated development environments for programming use inverse search to display compilation error messages, and during debugging when a breakpoint is hit.
References
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Bibliography
- Jérôme Laurens, ”Direct and reverse synchronization with SyncTeX”, in TUGboat 29(3), 2008, p365–371, [http://www.tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb29-3/tb93laurens.pdf PDF (532KB)] — including an overview of synchronization techniques with TeX
External links
- [http://xdvi.sourceforge.net/inverse-search.html How to set up inverse search with xdvi]
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