Update MH-E's documentation about HTML renderers

* doc/misc/mh-e.texi (HTML): Remove the footnote with the minimum Gnus
version (we are no longer trying to support multiple Emacs
releases). Sort the table of HTML renderers by name (the previous
ordering was based on a 10-year-old survey). Add shr and gnus-w3m to
the table. Remove the entry for w3 (no longer available).  Update
existing entries so that they are more consistent about what features
are discussed, and to reflect recent testing (Debian 8). Small tweaks
to existing text.
This commit is contained in:
Mike Kupfer 2016-05-30 16:13:10 -07:00 committed by Bill Wohler
parent 89018f003a
commit 602bb40029

View file

@ -2527,8 +2527,7 @@ in the @cite{The Gnus Manual}.
@cindex HTML @cindex HTML
@cindex Gnus @cindex Gnus
MH-E can display messages that have been sent in HTML@footnote{This MH-E can display messages that have been sent in HTML. The
feature depends on a version of Gnus that is at least 5.10.}. The
content of the message will appear in the MH-Show buffer as you would content of the message will appear in the MH-Show buffer as you would
expect if the entire message is HTML, or there is an inline HTML body expect if the entire message is HTML, or there is an inline HTML body
part. However, if there is an HTML body part that is an attachment, part. However, if there is an HTML body part that is an attachment,
@ -2549,86 +2548,107 @@ based upon the presence of a known browser on your system. If you wish
to use a different browser, then set this option accordingly. See the to use a different browser, then set this option accordingly. See the
documentation for the browser you use for additional information on documentation for the browser you use for additional information on
how to use it. In particular, find and disable the option to render how to use it. In particular, find and disable the option to render
images as this can tip off spammers that the email address they have images, as displaying remote images can tip off spammers that the
used is valid. email address they have used is valid.
@vindex mm-text-html-renderer @vindex mm-text-html-renderer
If you're confused about which @code{mm-text-html-renderer} to use, If you're confused about which @code{mm-text-html-renderer} to use,
here's a brief description of each, sorted by popularity, that here's a brief description of each, sorted by name.
includes the results of a quick poll of MH-E users from 2005-12-23.
@table @asis @table @asis
@cindex browser, @samp{gnus-w3m}
@cindex @samp{gnus-w3m}
@cindex browser, @samp{w3m} @cindex browser, @samp{w3m}
@cindex @samp{w3m} @cindex @samp{w3m}
@kindex mouse-2 @item @samp{gnus-w3m}
@item @samp{w3m} 7 The @samp{gnus-w3m} browser requires an external program. It's quick,
The @samp{w3m} browser requires an external program. It's quick, produces pretty nice output, and it highlights links. It renders
produces pretty nice output, and best of all, it's the only browser @samp{–} and @samp{®} okay. It sometimes fails to wrap lines
that highlights links. These can be clicked with @kbd{mouse-2} to view properly. It always downloads remote images.
the content of the link in @samp{w3m}. The @samp{w3m} browser handles
tables well and actually respects the table's width parameter (which
can cause text to wrap if the author didn't anticipate that the page
would be viewed in Emacs).
@c -------------------------
@cindex browser, @samp{w3m-standalone}
@cindex @samp{w3m-standalone}
@item @samp{w3m-standalone} 3
This browser, along with @samp{nil} for the external browser, are the
only choices that work without having to download a separate lisp
package or external program. This browser is quick, but does not show
links. It handles simple tables but some tables get rendered much
wider than the Emacs frame. This browser was the only one not to
handle the escape @samp{–} (it printed a @samp{?}), but it did
render @samp{®}.
@c -------------------------
@cindex browser, @samp{links}
@cindex @samp{links}
@item @samp{links} 1
The @samp{links} browser requires an external program. It's quick, and
produces nicer output than @samp{lynx} on single column mails in
tables. However, it doesn't show links and it doesn't do as nice a job
on multi-column tables as some lines wrap. At least it fits in 80
columns and thus seems better than @samp{w3} and
@samp{w3m-standalone}. Converts escapes such as @samp{®} to (R).
@c -------------------------
@cindex browser, @samp{lynx}
@cindex @samp{lynx}
@item @samp{lynx} 1
The @samp{lynx} browser requires an external program. It's quick and
produces pretty decent output but it doesn't show links. It doesn't
seem to do multi-column tables which makes output much cleaner. It
centers the output and wraps long lines more than most. Handles
@samp{®}.
@c -------------------------
@item @samp{nil} 1
This choice obviously requires an external browser. Like
@samp{w3m-standalone}, it works out of the box. With this setting,
HTML messages have a button for the body part which you can view with
@kbd{K v} (@code{mh-folder-toggle-mime-part}).
@c -------------------------
@cindex browser, @samp{w3}
@cindex @samp{w3}
@item @samp{w3} 0
This choice does not require an external program as all of the
rendering is done in lisp. You do need to get the package separately.
This browser is @strong{slow}, and doesn't appear to have been updated
since 2001 and the author hasn't responded to my emails. It displays
unknown tags instead of hiding them, so you get to see all the
Microsoft crap in certain messages. Tends to make multi-column tables
wider than even a full-screen Emacs can handle. Like @samp{w3m}, you
can follow links, but you have to find them first as they are not
highlighted. Performs well on single-column tables and handles escapes
such as @samp{®}.
@c ------------------------- @c -------------------------
@cindex browser, @samp{html2text} @cindex browser, @samp{html2text}
@cindex @samp{html2text} @cindex @samp{html2text}
@item @samp{html2text} 0 @item @samp{html2text}
The @samp{html2text} browser requires an external program. I noticed The @samp{html2text} browser requires an external program. Some users
that it can do some nasty things with simple HTML mails (like filling have reported problems with it, such as filling the entire message as
the entire message as if it were one paragraph, including signature). if it were one paragraph, or displaying chunks of raw HTML.
On another message, it displayed half of the HTML tags for some @c -------------------------
reason. @cindex browser, @samp{links}
@cindex @samp{links}
@item @samp{links}
The @samp{links} browser requires an external program. It's quick, and
produces nicer output than @samp{lynx} on single column mails in
tables. However, it doesn't show links and it doesn't do as nice a job
on multi-column tables as some lines wrap. It does do a good job of
fitting text within 80 columns. It appears to render special
characters using ASCII equivalents. For example, @samp{®} appears
as (R). It does not download images.
@c -------------------------
@cindex browser, @samp{lynx}
@cindex @samp{lynx}
@item @samp{lynx}
The @samp{lynx} browser requires an external program. It's quick and
produces pretty decent output but it doesn't show links. It doesn't
seem to do multi-column tables which makes output much cleaner. It
centers the output and wraps long lines more than most. It does not
always handle special characters like @samp{®} or @samp{–}.
It does not download images.
@c -------------------------
@item @samp{nil}
This choice obviously requires an external browser. With this setting,
HTML messages have a button for the body part which you can view with
@kbd{K v} (@code{mh-folder-toggle-mime-part}). Rendering of special
characters and handling of remote images depends on your choice of
browser.
@c -------------------------
@item @samp{shr}
@cindex @samp{shr}
This choice does not require an external program, but it does require
that Emacs be configured at build time to use @samp{libxml2}. It is
fairly quick, it highlights links, and it supports HTML color
declarations. It renders @samp{–} and @samp{®} okay. It
sometimes truncates text, particularly if the message tries to have
fancy text layout. By default it does not download images; this
behavior is controlled by the options @code{mm-html-blocked-images}
and @code{mm-html-inhibit-images}
@ifinfo
(@pxref{Display Customization,,,emacs-mime}).
@end ifinfo
@ifnotinfo
(see section @uref{http://www.gnus.org/manual/emacs-mime_6.html,
Display Customization} in the @cite{The Emacs MIME Manual}).
@end ifnotinfo
@c -------------------------
@cindex browser, @samp{w3m}
@cindex @samp{w3m}
@kindex mouse-2
@item @samp{w3m}
The @samp{w3m} browser requires an external program. It's quick,
produces pretty nice output, and it highlights links. These can be
clicked with @kbd{mouse-2} to view the content of the link in
@samp{w3m}. The @samp{w3m} browser handles tables well and actually
respects the table's width parameter (which can cause text to wrap if
the author didn't anticipate that the page would be viewed in Emacs).
It does not download images by default; this behavior is controlled by
the option @code{mm-w3m-safe-url-regexp}
@ifinfo
(@pxref{Display Customization,,,emacs-mime}).
@end ifinfo
@ifnotinfo
(see section @uref{http://www.gnus.org/manual/emacs-mime_6.html,
Display Customization} in the @cite{The Emacs MIME Manual}).
@end ifnotinfo
@c -------------------------
@cindex browser, @samp{w3m-standalone}
@cindex @samp{w3m-standalone}
@cindex browser, @samp{w3m}
@cindex @samp{w3m}
@item @samp{w3m-standalone}
This browser is quick, but does not show links. It handles simple
tables but some tables get rendered much wider than the Emacs frame.
This browser renders @samp{–} and @samp{®} okay. It does not
download images.
@end table @end table
@vindex mm-text-html-renderer @vindex mm-text-html-renderer
@ -2637,13 +2657,14 @@ For a couple more sources of information about
@code{mm-text-html-renderer}, @code{mm-text-html-renderer},
@ifinfo @ifinfo
@xref{Display Customization,,,emacs-mime}, and the documentation for @xref{Display Customization,,,emacs-mime}, and the documentation for
the Gnus command @kbd{W h} (@pxref{Article Washing,,,gnus},). the Gnus command @kbd{W h} (@pxref{Article Washing,,,gnus}).
@end ifinfo @end ifinfo
@ifnotinfo @ifnotinfo
see section @uref{http://www.gnus.org/manual/emacs-mime_6.html, see section @uref{http://www.gnus.org/manual/emacs-mime_6.html,
Display Customization} in the @cite{The Emacs MIME Manual} and the Display Customization} in the @cite{The Emacs MIME Manual} and the
documentation for the Gnus command @kbd{W h} (see section documentation for the Gnus command @kbd{W h} (see section
@uref{http://www.gnus.org/manual/gnus_99.html, Article Washing} in the @uref{http://www.gnus.org/manual/gnus_48.html#Article-Washing, Article
Washing} in the
@cite{The Gnus Manual}). @cite{The Gnus Manual}).
@end ifnotinfo @end ifnotinfo