13.1 Using pdfL^ATEX

ProgDoc works fine with pdfL^ATEX. However there is a problem if using L^ATEX and pdfL^ATEX alternately. This is due to an incompatibility in the format of the auxiliary file <filename>.aux, which is used by both, L^ATEX and pdfL^ATEX to propagate information from one program run to the next.

Thus executing pdflatex after an execution of latex will usually result in a bunch of confusing error messages. The solution of the problem is quite simple: remove the L^ATEX generated .aux file every time before executing pdflatex. (This can be automated for example in a makefile.) Notice that the procedure just described is not necessary if executing latex after pdflatex.

Another problem with pdfL^ATEX is the fact that you get mangled names in the table of contents generated by pdfL^ATEX in the left Acrobat Reader window, if the section titles contain not pure text, but additionally L^ATEX commands. This problem has nothing to do at all with ProgDoc, but it is very annoying, especially for beginners. That's why the file progdoc.sty contains a redefinition of the pdfL^ATEX macro \texorpdfstring{ <TeX-String>}{ <PDF-String>} which is known to pdfL^ATEX but not to L^ATEX. The macro is a conditional statement for strings. If you use L^ATEX, the macro evaluates to <TeX-String>. If you use pdfL^ATEX the macro evaluates to <PDF-String> in the PDF table of contents only, but to <TeX-String> in any other case. Thus you can write documents which you can process with L^ATEX as well as with pdfL^ATEX.