The SyncTeX parser library.

Since 2008, the Synchronization TeXnology named SyncTeX is a feature of TeX engines. It allows to synchronize between input and output, which means to navigate from the source document to the typeset material and vice versa. Here is how it works: during the typesetting process of foo.tex, the TeX engines writes some geometrical information in an auxiliary file named foo.synctex, this information is then used by editors or viewers to navigate between input and output.

Package contents

This package contains a SyncTeX parser library in C to help developers to embed in their viewer or editor the navigation feature between source and output. It consists in

• synctex_parser.c
• synctex_parser.h
• synctex_parser_advanced.h
• synctex_parser_c-auto.h
• synctex_parser_local.h
• synctex_parser_readme.md
• synctex_parser_readme.txt
• synctex_parser_utils.c
• synctex_parser_utils.h
• synctex_parser_version.txt

The header file synctex_parser.h contains detailed usage explanations.

Versions:

The version of the .synctex file format is actually 1. The version of the SyncTeX parser library or the SyncTeX tool are in synctex_parser_version.txt (1.21 as of Oct 2017). The very latest stable sources are always available from the TeXLive svn repository.

More details

This technology is threefold:

1) the specifications of the .synctex auxiliary files is available as a man page: man 5 synctex

2) the code for writing down the .synctex auxiliary file, as part of a TeX engine, is available from TeXLive source repository at

https://tug.org/svn/texlive/trunk/Build/source/texk/web2c/synctexdir/

It contains code for various TeX engines including pdfTeX and XeTeX. However, this folder may not contain the whole LuaTeX related code.

3) the C library in this package.

There is a CLI tool simply named synctex, available in TeXLive distributions, that implements the navigation using this library. See the man page or synctex --help for usage explanations.

Problems and bug reports.

Problems at the TeX engine level should be reported to the TeX development team. Problems concerning the SyncTeX parser library should be reported on the GitHub project page:

https://github.com/jlaurens/synctex

Acknowledgments:

SyncTeX was designed by Jérôme Laurens. From the very beginning, he received useful remarks from pdfTeX developers, XeTeX developers and other members of the TeX community. Viewers or editors developers have contributed to the SyncTeX parser library.

Nota Bene:

If you include or use a significant part of the synctex package into a software, I would appreciate to be listed as contributor and see "SyncTeX" highlighted.

Copyright (c) 2017 jerome DOT laurens AT u-bourgogne DOT fr