# News on Txt2tags v2.3

### Jun 2005

A quick guide showing the new features for this version. For a complete list of all the changes, see the ChangeLog.

# Table Column Span in (X)HTML Target

The table mark was improved to allow column span. To "span" a table column is to make it fill the space of two or more columns. The span can occur in any place of the table row and the mark syntax is as simple as adding trailing pipes "|" to the cell closing.

Example (span pipes in blue):

    |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |
    |  1  |  2  |    3+4   ||
    |  1  |    2+3   ||  4  |
    |      1+2+3    |||  4  |
    |        1+2+3+4     ||||

Is converted to:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4
1 | 2 | 3+4
1 | 2+3 | 4
1+2+3 | 4
1+2+3+4

The number of pipes at the cell closing define the number of cells to be joined and spanned. If there is two or more consecutive pipes, the span will occur.

Note: Currently HTML and XHTML are the only targets with column span support.

# New Options --dump-source and --config-file

The new `--dump-source` option shows the .t2t source file with all the `%!include` commands expanded. If your source includes lots of separate files (like chapters in a book), with this command you can join them all in a single .t2t file. Note: Only the "t2t-type" includes are expanded, raw and verbatim aren't.

> Example: `$ txt2tags --dump-source book-index.t2t > full-book.t2t`

The new `--config-file` option reads configuration from an external file. It is the command line pair for the `%!includeconf` command. There is also a short alias `-C` for this option.

> Example: `$ txt2tags -C myconfig.cfg book.t2t`

# Program test-suite

Now the full program test-suite is included on the distribution, under the "test" folder. It is a collection of Python scripts and txt2tags source files. The scripts convert the files and check the results, reporting the number of passed/failed tests. If your txt2tags is ok, no test will fail.

You don't need to run this test-suite to use txt2tags. It is just a handy self-check tool that tells if the program is behaving fine. Use it if you are experiencing problems.

# New Document "Markup Rules"

There is a brand new document on the txt2tags world. It is an "experts guide", listing all the rules and behavior of all marks. If you are new to txt2tags, prefer the Markup Demo, this guide is intended for experienced users.

The "Markup Rules" document is generated automatically from the test-suite sources. All the rules listed on it are 100% sync'ed with the current program code.

Note: This document obsoletes the old RULES and "Abuse Me" docs.

# Docs Translations

The translators worked hard on the last months. Full documents were translated, including the big User Guide! They are available online on the txt2tags site and under the "doc" folder of the program distribution.

- French: Sample file, Markup Demo, Man Page, Writing Books, User Guide

- Chinese: Sample file, Markup Demo

- Hungarian: Sample file

Download the new version!