September 2024 - ntg-context - NTG Mailing Lists

ConTeXt Journal 2022 finally online
by Henning Hraban Ramm 29 Sep '24

29 Sep '24

I just uploaded the articles from 2022: https://articles.contextgarden.net/journal/2022.html For 2023, there’s the table of contents, but as usual, we’ll wait a few months with the PDFs. (They’re already prepared.) (Thanks to Taco who did it up to 2021 and provided me with a script to simplify the task.) Hraban

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first line in different font
by Thomas Meyer 29 Sep '24

29 Sep '24

Hi guys, Is it possible to set the first line of an indented paragraph in a different font? I saw it in a book. There, the first line was indented to half the line width (\setupindenting[yes, .5\textwidth]) and set in smallcaps. Any hints? Thanks in advance Thomas

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Indexing redux
by Rik Kabel 28 Sep '24

28 Sep '24

Hello experts, Is there a way to generate an entry without a page number in an register that has page numbers enabled? This would enabled /See also/ entries to be generated with something like \setregisterentry[TopicIndex][keys:2=zzz,entries:1=punctuation,entries:2={{\em See also} marking}]% I do see that there is an alternative key defined for the command, but no explanation of what the alternatives are and if any would help. -- Rik

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index entry with sorting and processor
by Henning Hraban Ramm 27 Sep '24

27 Sep '24

Hi again, the page number of register entries from a glossary should have a different color: \defineprocessor[glossar][color=green] \define[1]\GlIndex{\index[glossar->]{#1}} This works, but I’d like to apply a macro to the text, and then I need to set the sort order: \define[1]\GlIndex{\index[glossar->#1]{\Word{#1}}} This also works, but I get separate index entries from \index{Something} and \GlIndex{something} Glossary entries may be lowercase, but in the index I’d like to normalize to uppercase initials. (The index command is part of a lemma setup.) How can I combine the entries? I also tried \setregisterentry but didn’t find out how to use a processor for the page number. In the wiki, the (generally working) processor option is undocumented, so if there’s another option, it’s also missing. In the source, I found processors for entry & page, but not how to address the latter. MWE: """ \defineprocessor[glossar][color=green] \define[1]\GlIndex{\index[glossar->#1]{\Word{#1}}} \starttext \samplefile{ward} \index{something} \index{anything} \page \samplefile{tufte} \GlIndex{something} \GlIndex{anything} \page \placeindex \stoptext """ Hraban

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Strange extra space when using cases in an inner align in math
by Gerion Entrup 27 Sep '24

27 Sep '24

Hi, I currently have the case of a strange extra space in math mode when using cases in inner align. Here is a MWE to demonstrate the problem: ``` \definemathsimplealign[inneralign] \startdocument \startformula \startalign \NC a = b \NR \NC \NC \startinneralign[n=3,align={1:right,2:middle,3:left}] \NC A \NC = \NC B \NR \NC f(x,y) \NC = \NC \startcases \NC \text{strange} \NC a \NR \NC \text{normal} \NC b \NR \NC \text{also normal} \NC b \NR \stopcases \stopinneralign \stopalign \stopformula \stopdocument ``` "strange" and "normal" are not aligned what I would expect but strange has more space in front of it. Is this a usage error or a bug in the math engine? Best, Gerion

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suitable macros for Pandoc custom styles for paragraphs, spans and tables
by mf 26 Sep '24

26 Sep '24

Hello list, I started a topic in Pandoc discussions (see https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/discussions/10208) about custom styles in pandoc tables. This is the framework: - in Pandoc, some textual elements have a "custom-style" attribute, whose value becomes the name of a paragraph or character style in DOCX, ICML or ODT when exported to those formats - e.g. when you have a Span with custom-style="myStyle" around some inline text, you'll get a character style "myStyle" in those formats - for paragraphs, it's a bit different: since they have no attributes in Pandoc, you set the "custom-style" attribute of a surrounding Div element, then all the paragraphs inside it will get that custom paragraph style in DOCX, ICML or ODT - for DOCX output you may set a "custom-style" attribute also in tables Why not using that information about custom styles for ConTeXt output too? I started from the last ones (tables), suggesting that a Table element with a "custom-style" attribute set to "myStyle" could be output in ConTeXt as: \startxtable[myStyle] (Currently, tables converted to ConTeXt by Pandoc start only with a "\startxtable" line) That's doable, because ConTeXt does not terminate with an error, when it encounters a \startxtable[myStyle] not preceded by a \definextable[myStyle]. Then JGM, Pandoc's main author, replied that it would be weird having custom styles for tables and not for spans or paragraphs in ConTeXt output. Good point. In ConTeXt, there are many ways to specify what in Word and LibreOffice are "character" and "paragraph" styles. For example, \definehighlight is suitable for character styles. Badumont, in the pandoc discussion, suggested \definestartstop; good, though you should be careful not to specify a custom style with the same name of an existing environment (e.g. "narrower"); maybe a prefix like "CS" could be a workaround, so that "myStyle" becomes "CSmyStyle", and also "narrower" becomes a less dangerous "CSnarrower". Also, in this case, Pandoc should prepend a \definestartstop[CSmyStyle] before \startCSmyStyle, otherwise ConTeXt would terminate with an error (I think this is doable in Pandoc code, anyways). (BTW, the wiki says \definestartstop is "used to define block level commands": does it mean it can't be suitable for spans of inline text in a paragraph?) Any ideas to specify paragraph and character styles? Massi

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Example for switching page numbering from roman to numeric in PDF outline
by Shiv Shankar Dayal 25 Sep '24

25 Sep '24

Hi all, I want to switch page numbering from roman(which is typical in frontmatter) to roman. I also want these to appear in PDF outline. Can someone provide an MWE? -- Respect, Shiv Shankar Dayal

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As a person with very basic LaTeX skills, no experience with programming languages and an interest in LMTX (I have been coding extremely basic LMTX), how do I properly learn LMTX as a beginner to any coded language?
by Felix 25 Sep '24

25 Sep '24

I am someone who knows very basic LaTeX (I mostly learned with YouTube videos, but I would also honestly use AI to generate some code that I wanted it to make), extremely basic LMTX, and nothing like C++ or anything that I think would be considered "proper" programming languages. I have an interest in learning the newest edition of ConTeXt, but I am not sure if there is anything that could even guide a beginner wanting to learn the newest edition of ConTeXt (I believe MKIV and LMTX are regarded as being quite different). I want to get out of the habit of using AI to make stuff for me and to truly understand LMTX, but how can I do so if I seemingly do not have much understanding of ... I'll say "coding" in general? It is sometimes hard for me to read the documentation on ConTeXt garden, and I don't understand some things, but is this due to my lack of experience of looking at documentation? I would love any advice given to me.

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How to change the way one input file's data is displayed, depending on where it is in the document.
by Joel 25 Sep '24

25 Sep '24

I have some code like this--it is a very reduced minimum-working example, from 10,000+ lines of code: fileA.tex------------------------------ \datatypeA{fish}{an animal that lives in the sea} \datatypeA{bear}{a big animal with claws and fur} \datatypeA{squid}{a sea creature with many legs} fileB.tex------------------------------ \datatypeB{fish}{an animal that lives in the sea} \datatypeB{bear}{a big animal with claws and fur} \datatypeB{squid}{a sea creature with many legs} main.tex------------------------------ \datatypeA[2]{\startitemize \item #1 #2 \stopitemize} \datatypeA[B]{#1 -- #2} \define[8]\activity{ \subject{#1} #2 \startitemize \item #3 \item #4 \item #5 \item #6 \item #7 \stopitemize #8 } \define[2]\balloongame{ \activity{Balloon Toss Game}{Instructions}{scissors}{plates}{construction paper}{#1}{#2}{\input fileA} } \define[2]\fishinggame{ \activity{Fun Fishing Game}{Instructions}{scissors}{plates}{construction paper}{#1}{#2}{\input fileB} } \starttext \balloongame{balloons}{tape} \fishinggame{crayons}{glue} \stoptext Basically, I have different classroom activities, defined as macros. \balloongame gives all details to the teacher about a "Balloon Toss Game" and \fishinggame defines a "Fun Fishing Game". (code has been reduced and simplified significantly). The main issue I have is I have data being stored in filesA.tex, fileB.tex, etc. (there are often a dozen such files). Note that strangly the datasets are all identical, but a different file is called, and the only difference in the dataset is they call different macros. So "Balloon Game" pulls the list, but displays them in datatypeA format, the other game takes the same data, but its in a different file, and since the macros are different, it displays the information differently. Basically, I have tons of data files sharing basically the same information, but each one defined inside the file as using a different macro, according to how the information is to be displayed (maybe sometimes as a list, sometimes in a table, etc.) This method seems horribly inefficient. I should be able to store that data in one file, but display the data in different ways. The problem is if I use one format, like this... \datatype{fish}{an animal that lives in the sea} \datatype{bear}{a big animal with claws and fur} \datatype{squid}{a sea creature with many legs} ...how do I get that dataset to be included, but displayed in a different format each time? My thinking is perhaps constantly redefine the macro \datatype, but that seems still inefficient and prone to lead to errors in the code. Is that the best solution? Any suggestion for the most proper way to go about displaying the information from this file, but in different ways in the document? NOTE: My event code already uses 8 of the #1 #2 variables, so there's not really room to include that information there. --Joel

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Curious about 3D Metapost
by Shiv Shankar Dayal 25 Sep '24

25 Sep '24

Please correct me if I'm wrong. LMTX has Metapost built in then can we not write a pure lua extension of it to do real 3D probably using Vulkan? -- Respect, Shiv Shankar Dayal

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