Mearman LaTeX Command Decoder
Convert LaTeX command syntax to Unicode characters for readable text output.
Usage
npx tsx scripts/decode.ts [options] <text-or-file>
Options
--file- Read input from file instead of command line argument--output <file>- Write output to file--strip- Also remove formatting commands (like\textbf,\emph)
Examples
Decode LaTeX text
npx tsx scripts/decode.ts "caf'{e} na\\\"{\i}ve"
# Output: café naïve
Decode from file
npx tsx scripts/decode.ts --file paper.tex --output readable.txt
Decode and strip formatting
npx tsx scripts/decode.ts --strip "\\textbf{M\\\"{\u}ller}"
# Output: Müller
Decode BibTeX author names
npx tsx scripts/decode.ts "M\\\"{\u}ller, Hans and Garc'{\i}a, Mar'{\i}a"
# Output: Müller, Hans and García, María
Supported Commands
- Accented characters:
'{e},\{a},^{o},"{u},~{n}` - Accent shortcuts:
'e,\"a(without braces) - Ligatures:
\ae,\oe,\ss - Special characters:
\&,\%,\$,\#,\_ - Greek letters:
\alpha,\beta,\gamma - Dashes:
--(en-dash),---(em-dash) - Quotes:
''(close quote)
Technical Details
The decoder uses a comprehensive mapping table with ~100 LaTeX commands. Commands are decoded in order of length (longest first) to handle overlapping patterns correctly.
Both braced ('{e}) and non-braced ('e) accent syntax is supported.