>
> at the compile of the file. I usually write a latex file as the
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This, today, is deprecated syntax and to be avoided at all cost.
> following form:
>
> \documentstyle{article}
^^^^^ This, today, is no longer LaTeX
> \newcommand{...}
> \newcommand{...}
> ....
> \title{...}
> \author{...}
> \date{...}
> \begin{document}
> \maketitle
> (body)
> \end{document}
As Ross pointed out, apart for old files, which could be difficult
to convert, today, more than four years after LaTeX2e replaced the
old 2.09 syntax (meaning that today LaTeX=LaTeX2e, as described in the
second edition of Lamport's Reference Manual), there is no excuse to not
use LaTeX2e for all documents, except for old pre-1994 legacy documents.
I, of course, understand that habits are hard to die, but for all new
documents or old ones where non-trivial changes have to be introduced,
one should never go on using the old syntax.
Ross and the other latex2html developers has already enough problems
supporting the zillions of LaTeX2e features and packages, so latex209
(and plain TeX!) compatibility should only be considered a low-priority
issue compared to other genuine LaTeX developments. LaTeX2HTML is not
TeX, but a utility to convert conforming LaTeX documents into HTML.
Michel Goossens
