The PlainDoc system is actually composed of multiple programs. Most important of them is the pd2tex formatter (which despite of its name actually produces other formats too), but no meaningful output, other than HTML, can be obtained without a properly configured backend formatting tool chain, such as LaTeX system or DocBook tool chain. Some more frontend tools may be helpful if you need to add diagrams or images to your documents.
Table 1:Backend Tools used in a PlainDoc environment
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| pd2tex | The main PlainDoc processor itself |
| LaTeX (teTeX) | Typesetting system, PostScript and PDF backends |
| gs (GhostScript) | Rendering back-end |
| make | Automate document generation and maintenance |
| cvs | Version control and collaboration (optional) |
| perl | Tools are written in perl, but use few modules |
| gcc | For compiling the tools (optional) |
Table 2:Frontend Tools used in a PlainDoc environment (all optional)
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| GraphViz / dot | Draw graphs (vectorial) from textual input |
| gnuplot | Draw graphs (vectorial) from statistical data |
| dia | Vectorial diagram (hand drawn) support |
| gimp | Bitmap graphics and photography support |
| ImageMagick | Automated processing of bitmap graphics |
| gv (GhostView) | Previewing tool for postscript and pdf |
| acroread | Previewing tool for pdf |
| xpdf | Another previewing tool for pdf |
| emacs | Edit text, GUI for invoking commands |