January 2006 - dev-context - NTG Mailing Lists

Re: [NTG-context] What about dynamic documentation?
by Taco Hoekwater 20 Jul '06

20 Jul '06

Hi Jérôme, > However, this seems rather far from the pdf manuals and does not really > help a newbie as I am. Definately it could be improved. In IT, almost everything is suboptimal starting the second after it's birth. Perhaps we should continue this discussion on the developers list, dev-context(a)ntg.nl? It is likely we will spend some other mails on this subject, and perhaps it is better not to clutter the general list. Anybody willing to discuss/help out can easily subscribe to that list (even if just for a while). Is that OK? > More precisely: > > 0 - Category search is missing. It is well known that searching by > contents or by command name won't give the proper result if the search > request is not well formed a priori. > Each command should have a list of associated key words, allowing smart > navigation and filtering > For example, the sectionning commands (including toc, headers and so on) > could be gathered in one big category. That could be as simple as allowing users / viewers to attach one or two key words/categories to the current commands, I think. There can be a predefined set of those, and there will not be all that many. It could also easily be backported to the XML data. Patrick? > 1 - The examples oftenly need output to let the user really understand > the effect. > Moreover, the information available in the graphical output is more > obvious thus more efficient. Perhaps the examples could be fed through the Live ConTeXt, just like the wiki examples? > 2 - Missing code template(s) to paste into the source, copy/paste does > noot help when really needed. Of course, I can grab them from > contextgarden but it is there both hidden and not well formatted. I am not sure what you mean. > 3 - The description only concerns the command. > Each key should also have its own description. Yes. > Each predefined value should also have its own description. Also yes. (both have been discussed before but never implemented due to lack of manpower). > Then the user interface can provide a layout a la headerdoc or some kind > of rollup tooltips. > > 4 - The data storage model for a size range seems weird. The range 5pt > ... 12pt is coded with an ordered list of 3 values "5pt" '..." and > "12pt" whereas it means an unordered list of 8 values: "5pt", "6pt", > ..., "12pt". This latter data model obviously turns into a pop up button > with a list of sizes. It is even a bit weirder. "5pt ... 12pt" usually stands for "any font size that is already defined using \definebodyfont". Except on the command itself, of course. There it means: "any font size you wish to define for use in the other commands that use 5pt ... 12pt". I'm smiling as I write this :-) It really should be an abstract type, like "cd:dimension" instead of those three values. > 5 - The command variants might need specials (eg \setupinterlinespace). Yes, the current solution for that command is not very nice. But there are more than a few commands with such variant calling conventions, and it is hard to come up with a nice-looking solution. Suggestions for solutions are welcome. > 6 - Sometimes the acceptable values depend on the context (eg arguments > of \ref), it means that all the relevant information is not static and > the data model should provide some entry points. But at first glance > this is a very advanced feature which cost might be unaffordable. You mean crossover functionality with reftex/auctex style programs? Would be nice to have I assume, but hard to do portably, and not really worth the effort if it cannot be done in a portable manner. (always speaking from my point of view, of course. YMMV) > Finally, it seems that the underlying data model needs more entropy. Thermodynaics says it will probably move in the right direction, once it starts moving ;-) Cheers, Taco

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context release packaging
by Taco Hoekwater 03 Feb '06

03 Feb '06

Hi Hans (esp.), Please consider: * Cont-pat.zip (Standalone distribution of pattern files) Is it not sensible to remove this? Most people should have a new one with patterns included now, and when not, it is wiser to let them upgrade their base files as well. * Cont-msw.zip (Font support files for microsoft verdana and arial) I suggest merging the windows support files with cont-fnt.zip. * Cont-ext.zip (Third party ConTeXt additions) This is nearly empty. I guess at least nath and amsl should be added, since they are widely used. Also, I'ld like to see the bib module moved to this zip. WDYT? * Cont-win.zip (texmfstart.exe for windows) Is this still needed/does it work to have only texmfstart as executable and the others as .rb? (I just don't know). * Cont-lmt.zip (Latin Modern font distribution) Now that Latin Modern is becoming more stable, perhaps this is no longer needed? Cheers, Taco

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collector item #20 (ignored dx/dy in label arranging)
by Taco Hoekwater 30 Jan '06

30 Jan '06

Hi Hans, This patch should do it: \def\pusharrangedpageXY#1% {\doglobal\increment\arrangedpageN \reportarrangedpage\arrangedpageN \doglobal\increment\arrangedpageM \global\setbox\arrangedpageB\hbox \ifdim\@@ppwidth>\zeropoint to \@@ppwidth \fi {\ifvoid\arrangedpageB\else \unhbox\arrangedpageB %TH three changed lines follow \ifdim\@@ppdx>\zeropoint \else \hss\fi \hskip\@@ppdx \ifdim\@@ppdx>\zeropoint \else \hss\fi \fi \box#1}% \ifnum\arrangedpageM<\arrangedpageX\else \global\setbox\arrangedpageA\vbox \ifdim\@@ppheight>\zeropoint to \@@ppheight \fi {\offinterlineskip \ifvoid\arrangedpageA\else \unvbox\arrangedpageA %TH three changed lines follow \ifdim\@@ppdy>\zeropoint \else \vss\fi \vskip\@@ppdy \ifdim\@@ppdy>\zeropoint \else \vss\fi \fi \box\arrangedpageB}% \doglobal\newcounter\arrangedpageM \fi \ifnum\arrangedpageN<\arrangedpageT\else \poparrangedpages \fi} Cheers, taco

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new release
by Taco Hoekwater 27 Jan '06

27 Jan '06

The latest and (hopefully) greatest: http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Context_2006.01.27 I won't do an official announce yet, I sort of expect another release in the not-so-distant future :-) Taco

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cont-en.xml: duplicate entries
by Patrick Gundlach 26 Jan '06

26 Jan '06

Hi, in cont-en.xml (and probably the others, too), the following entries have duplicates: placecombinedlist placeregister defineinteractionmenu setupstrut Patrick

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Re: [dev-context] How to help ConTeXt?
by Hans Hagen 26 Jan '06

26 Jan '06

Hi Junod I forward your mail to the context dev list. The primary sites to get context are our website (source code) and the internal svn server (manuals). Taco and Patrick are the ones who take care of the wiki, mirroring, announcing and such, so they can best tell what help is needed as soon as files leave our servers. Thanks for offering. >Hello Hans, > >I falled in love with ConTeXt and would like to help the project. I'm >a swiss student in computer science, ie I've no money to donate. But I >would be really happy to host a mirror or somethig equivalent, if >needed, on one of my german servers (big machines, fast networks). > >Let me know if you're interested! > >And thanks for having created ConTeXt! > > you're welcome >-Junod Antoine > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands tel: 038 477 53 69 | fax: 038 477 53 74 | www.pragma-ade.com | www.pragma-pod.nl -----------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: [dev-context] little unharmful bug in \showfont & using \iffontchar in \definecharacter
by Taco Hoekwater 25 Jan '06

25 Jan '06

Hans Hagen wrote: > Taco Hoekwater wrote: >> \sl is a language switch now. Those two-letter language switches are >> a bit problematic at times. >> > no, sl is still slanted, language switches are not defined when there is > an existing command and the font mechanism will redefine it anyway; > \mainlanguage[slovenian] should work as well; I guessed wrong, so I owe you something now. Beer at BachoTeX? Taco

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little unharmful bug in \showfont & using \iffontchar in \definecharacter
by Mojca Miklavec 25 Jan '06

25 Jan '06

Hello, I spotted a somehow strange behaviour in \showfont. It seems to be language-dependent for some reason. \showfont draws a gray square if there is no glyph present on some slot, but sometimes the blue numbers are drawn in that square and sometimes not. See for example the number 14 and 15 (gray square, numbers) in comparison to 16 and seventeen (gray square, no numbers) in the next example: \mainlanguage[sl] % try "en" or leave this line out and compare \starttext \showfont[ts1-lmr10] \font\tslmr=ts1-lmr10 % just to test: \page \def\test#1{#1: \getglyph{ts1-lmr10}{\char#1} {\sl\iffontchar\tslmr#1\else (empty)\fi}\par} \startcolumns[n=5] \dostepwiserecurse{0}{39}{1}{\test{\recurselevel}} \stopcolumns \stoptext When trying to understand what \showfont does I started wondering if it would be feasible to do font-depending encoding-depending definitions of glyphs (\definecharacter). If \iffontchar exists: why not using it? It's stupid to tell to ConTeXt that "ijligature" or "ccaron" exists in the font although the slot is empty, if ConTeXt could figure that out from the font itself and then use the fallback definition \buildtextcaron c instead. This would also reduce the need of files such as "enco-ecm.tex". I already asked some time ago if it would be possible to use something like this: \starttypescript [whatever font] \startencoding [ec] \definecharacter ijligature {ij} % or \undefinecharacter ijligature % or \definecharacter ijligature {\takethefallbackdefinitionofijligature} \stopencoding \stoptypescript But even if this was implemented, it would require quite some error-prone manual work. In contrast to that, \iffontchar would offer a fully automatic alternative and would solve many problems with third-party fonts (those that don't mind having TeX-specific characters). Mojca

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[Fwd: Re: little unharmful bug in \showfont & using \iffontchar in \definecharacter]
by Hans Hagen 25 Jan '06

25 Jan '06

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SciTE on linux
by Taco Hoekwater 24 Jan '06

24 Jan '06

Hi, I now have a SciTE environment running on linux, but I've had to tweak some stuff, that perhaps could be backported to the distro. * Especially, setting up the font was a bit weird. The X font server (at least the free version) does not understand OpenType fonts, so I had to convert LMTypewriter10-Regular to truetype using fontforge, then install the truetype font in X. The system name became "LMTypewriter10 Regular", and the addition of " Regular" is crucial. Just "LMTypewriter10" does not work. Also, I found I needed to add an exclamation mark in from of the name to get an antialiased font (it looks awful without that). So I have changed the two lines in context.properties to: font.monospace=font:!LMTypewriter10 Regular,size:16.5 font.errorfont=font:!LMTypewriter10 Regular,size:11.5 Now it works, with the exception that the top of a number of characters like [ and ] is not displayed in a most font sizes (that may be a problem caused by the auto-generated TTF font. does it happen on windows as well?). * I've changed the 'go' command so that it runs $(name.context.acrobat) $(FileName).pdf system() on unix does not automatically resolve file extensions like windows does, so the direct "$(FileName).pdf" did not work. * I also had to create texmfstart: that command does not exist on texlive (but it is in tetex 3.0). Cheers, Taco PS Shouldn't there be a cont-fr-scite.properties as well now?

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