GNU bug report logs - #58425
Unable to achieve advertised "word-level" accuracy using SyncTeX with PDF Tools

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: O G <opngid <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-auctex <at> gnu.org
Subject: Unable to achieve advertised "word-level" accuracy using SyncTeX with
 PDF Tools
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2022 19:18:43 -0400

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

From the AucTeX Changelog (v. 11.89):

"To open the PDF output file you can now also use PDF Tools, a document
viewer for Emacs. With it, as a plus, forward and backward search is
accurate at word level."

I'm only able to achieve word-level accuracy on reverse sync search. On
forward sync search, the arrow that appears in the left-hand margin of the
PDF preview buffer can be off by as much as a half-dozen lines.

Is there a way to configure AucTeX+PDFTools in order to highlight the word
in the PDF Tools preview buffer corresponding to where the cursor is
positioned in the AucTeX latex source buffer during a forward search
instead of placing an arrow in the left-hand margin, which by construction
can only be line-level accurate at best?

Emacs 28.2 (MSYS2) w/ latest pdf-tools.

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #8 received at 58425 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Arash Esbati <arash <at> gnu.org>
To: O G <opngid <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 58425 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#58425: Unable to achieve advertised "word-level" accuracy
 using SyncTeX with PDF Tools
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2024 19:58:50 +0200

O G <opngid <at> gmail.com> writes:

> From the AucTeX Changelog (v. 11.89):
>
> "To open the PDF output file you can now also use PDF Tools, a
> document viewer for Emacs. With it, as a plus, forward and backward
> search is accurate at word level."
>
> I'm only able to achieve word-level accuracy on reverse sync
> search. On forward sync search, the arrow that appears in the
> left-hand margin of the PDF preview buffer can be off by as much as a
> half-dozen lines.
>
> Is there a way to configure AucTeX+PDFTools in order to highlight the
> word in the PDF Tools preview buffer corresponding to where the cursor
> is positioned in the AucTeX latex source buffer during a forward
> search instead of placing an arrow in the left-hand margin, which by
> construction can only be line-level accurate at best?
>
> Emacs 28.2 (MSYS2) w/ latest pdf-tools.

(I'm going through old bug reports that unfortunately weren't resolved
at the time.)

I'm not sure but IIRC, the wording above was provided by PDFTools itself
back then.  Can you reproduce this with the latest version of
Emacs/PDFTools/AUCTeX?

Best, Arash

Message #11 received at 58425 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Arash Esbati <arash <at> gnu.org>
To: O G <opngid <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 58425 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#58425: Unable to achieve advertised "word-level" accuracy
 using SyncTeX with PDF Tools
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2024 08:39:43 +0200

O G <opngid <at> gmail.com> writes:

> Thanks for getting back on this issue.  

Thanks for your quick response.

> I uninstalled my PDFTools configuration more than a year ago because
> of this bug and then switched over to SumatraPDF for my future
> forward/reverse synctex needs.

I agree, SumatraPDF is a great tool.

> Have been very pleased with how well it works with emacs so I'm likely
> going to stay with it until I can find a compelling reason that makes
> me want to switch back.

Maybe you can catch up on this if you switch back.  Until then, I'm
closing this report.  Again, sorry it took us long.

Best, Arash

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