========================
 Docutils Release Notes
========================

:Author: Lea Wiemann
:Contact: LeWiemann@gmail.com
:Date: $Date$
:Revision: $Revision$
:Web site: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/
:Copyright: This document has been placed in the public domain.


This document summarizes the major changes in recent releases.  For a
more detailed list of changes, please see the `Docutils History`_.

.. _Docutils History: HISTORY.html

.. contents::


Changes Since 0.4
=================

reStructuredText:

* Changed the directive API to a new object-oriented system.
  (Compatibility for the old, functional-style directive interface is
  retained.)  See the updated `Creating reStructuredText Directives`__
  how-to.

  __ docs/howto/rst-directives.html


Release 0.4 (2006-01-09)
========================

.. Note::

   Docutils 0.4.x is the last version that will support Python 2.1.
   Docutils 0.5 will *not* be compatible with Python 2.1; Python 2.2
   or later will be required.

   Docutils 0.4.x is the last version that will make compromises in
   its HTML output for Netscape Navigator 4.  Docutils 0.5 will
   require more up-to-date browsers (the exact definition is to be
   determined).

Components:

* Added an `S5/HTML writer`__ and the rst2s5.py__ front end:
  multi-platform, multi-browser HTML slide shows.

  __ docs/user/slide-shows.html
  __ docs/user/tools.html#rst2s5-py

* The newlatex2e writer is nearing completion.

* Added a DocTree reader, ``publish_doctree`` and
  ``publish_from_doctree`` convenience functions, for document tree
  extraction and reprocessing.

reStructuredText:

* Added directives: "container__" (generic block-level container),
  "default-role__" (role used for \`backtick\` syntax), "title__"
  (document title metadata), and "date__" (generate the current local
  date, for substitution definitions).

  __ docs/ref/rst/directives.html#container
  __ docs/ref/rst/directives.html#default-role
  __ docs/ref/rst/directives.html#title
  __ docs/ref/rst/directives.html#date

* Length units are now supported for image__ sizes.

  __ docs/ref/rst/directives.html#image

* Added `standard definition files`__ for special characters etc.

  __ docs/ref/rst/definitions.html

Internationalization:

* Added Japanese and Simplified Chinese language mappings, and support
  for double-width CJK-characters in tables and section titles.

Documentation:

* Added a `guide for distributors`__ (package maintainers) and a
  `guide for developers`__.

  __ docs/dev/distributing.html
  __ docs/dev/hacking.html

General:

* Added significant `Emacs support for reST`__.

  __ docs/user/emacs.html

* Added a `--strip-comments`__ option.

  __ docs/user/config.html#strip-comments

* `--embed-stylesheet`__ is now the default for the HTML writer
  (rather than --link-stylesheet).

  __ docs/user/config.html#embed-stylesheet


Release 0.3.9 (2005-05-26)
==========================

* Added "file_insertion_enabled__" and "raw_enabled__" settings.

  __ docs/user/config.html#file-insertion-enabled
  __ docs/user/config.html#raw-enabled

* Added `auto-enumerated lists`__.

  __ docs/ref/rst/restructuredtext.html#enumerated-lists

* Added `"header" and "footer"`__ directives.

  __ docs/ref/rst/directives.html#document-header-footer

* Added "list-table__" directive.

  __ docs/ref/rst/directives.html#list-table

* Added support for `section subtitles`__.

  __ docs/user/config.html#sectsubtitle-xform

* Added "field_name_limit__" and "option_limit__" settings to HTML writer.

  __ docs/user/config.html#field-name-limit
  __ docs/user/config.html#option-limit

* Added "cloak_email_addresses__" setting to HTML writer.

  __ docs/user/config.html#cloak-email-addresses

* UTF-8 BOMs are now removed from the input stream.


Release 0.3.7 (2004-12-24)
==========================

* A special "`line block`__" syntax has been added.  (Also see the
  `quick reference`__.)

  __ docs/ref/rst/restructuredtext.html#line-blocks
  __ docs/user/rst/quickref.html#line-blocks

* Empty sections are now allowed.

* A "raw__" role has been added.

  __ docs/ref/rst/roles.html#raw

* The LaTeX writer now escapes consecutive dashes (like "--" or "---")
  so that they are no longer transformed by LaTeX to en or em dashes.
  (Please see the FAQ__ for how to represent such dashes.)

  __ FAQ.html#how-can-i-represent-esoteric-characters-e-g-character-entities-in-a-document

* A `dependency recorder`__ has been added.

  __ docs/user/config.html#record-dependencies

* A directive has been added for `compound paragraphs`__.

  __ docs/ref/rst/directives.html#compound-paragraph


Release 0.3.5 (2004-07-29)
==========================

* Improved, extended and reorganized the documentation__.

  __ docs/index.html

* Added "csv-table__" directive.

  __ docs/ref/rst/directives.html#csv-table
