PS2HTML

PS2HTML, which was written specifically for this project (and which bears no relationship to any other program of a similar name), acts as the interface between TopLeaf and Livelink. It is used after TopLeaf has been instructed to print a PostScript file, which is a part of the entire renditioning sequence. TopLeaf generates the PostScript file of either the current changes or of the previous published version of the document (all pages with the previous set of changes rolled into it), and outputs it to a system-configurable directory. PS2HTML has been likewise configured to monitor that same directory. Livelink informs TopLeaf what the name of the PostScript file should be, and, after TopLeaf has finished generating the PostScript, proceeds to create a configuration file (.cf extension), which identifies for PS2HTML which Livelink user requested the file, which object owns the rendition in Livelink, and where the file lives on the file system. In earlier versions, there were multiple timing issues. On some occasions, for large PostScript files, PS2HTML would call Distiller as soon as the file system change was detected, but before the file writing was completed by TopLeaf. This meant that Distiller would not be able to open the file, since it was still being written. Thus, the job would fail. Various attempts to solve the problem did not completely eliminate it. Finally, in desperation, the two-file, BSD-style method was implemented. Not only did it solve the timing problem, it added more intelligence to PS2HTML so that renditions loaded back into Livelink could be better audited as to who requested what.

In the end, PS2HTML is a pretty generic Livelink uploader. It can be used to convert PostScript from any application, and automatically load the result back into Livelink.