path: root/RELEASE-NOTES.txt

========================
 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::


Release 0.6 (2009-10-11)
========================

.. Note::

   Docutils 0.5 is the last version supporting Python 2.2.

   Docutils 0.6 is compatible with Python versions from 2.3 up to 2.6
   and convertible to 3.1 code.

.. note::

   The "newlatex" writer is orphaned.

   The recommended way to generate PDF output is to use either the
   LaTeX2e writer or one of the alternatives listed at
   http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/user/links.html#pdf.

* reStructuredText:

  - Allow length units for all length specifications.
  - Allow percent sign in "scale" argument of "figure" and "image" directives.
  - Bugfix: The "figalign" argument of a figure now works as intended
    (aligning the figure not its contents).
  - Align images with class "align-[right|center|left]"
    (allows setting the alignment of an image in a figure).
  - Hard tabs in literal inclusions are replaced by spaces. This is
    configurable via the new "tab-width" option of the "include" directive
    (a negative tab-width prevents tab expansion).

* HTML writer:

  - ``--stylesheet`` and ``--stylesheet-path`` options now support a comma
    separated list of stylesheets.

* LaTeX2e writer:

  - New defaults:
    - font-encoding: "T1" (formerly implicitely set by 'ae').
    - use-latex-toc: true (ToC with page numbers).
    - use-latex-footnotes: true (no mixup with figures).
    - Float placement defaults to "here definitely" (configurable).
    - Align of image in a figure defaults to 'center'.
    - Use class defaults for page margins ('typearea' now optional).
  - Support LaTeX packages as ``--stylesheet`` arguments.
  - Use ``bp`` for lengths without unit or unit ``pt``,
    do not convert ``px`` to ``pt``.
  - Do not use 'ae' and 'aeguill' packages if font-encoding is set to ''.
  - Set sub- and superscript role argument as text not math.
  - Support custom roles based on standard roles.
  - Load packages and define macros only if required in the document.
  - All Docutils specific LaTeX macros are prefixed with ``DU``.
  - Better conformance to Docutils specifications with "use_latex_toc".
  - If 'sectnum_xform' is False, the 'sectnum' directive triggers
    section numbering by LaTeX.
  - Use default font in admonitions and sidebar.
  - Typeset generic topic as "quote with title".
  - Use template (file and configuration option).
  - Render doctest blocks as literal blocks (indented).

* ODT writer:

  - moved from sandbox to Doctutils core.

* manpage writer:

  - moved from sandbox to Doctutils core.


Release 0.5 (2008-06-25)
========================

Components:

* HTML writer.

  - Dropped all ``name`` attributes of ``a`` elements (``id`` is
    universally supported now).

* LaTeX2e writer:

  - Better bibTeX citation support.
  - Add ``--literal-block-env``

* PEP writer:

  - Changed to support new python.org website structure and
    pep2pyramid.py.

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

* Allow ``+`` and ``:`` in reference names requested for citations.

Documentation:

* Added `Deploying Docutils Securely`__

  __ docs/howto/security.txt

Internationalization:

* Added hebrew mappings.

General:

* Configuration files are now assumed and required to be
  UTF-8-encoded.

* Added docutils/writers/html4css1/template.txt.

* Enhance emacs support.

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