May 2026 - ntg-context - Mailing Lists

widget woes (input fields)
by Jim 06 Jun '26

06 Jun '26

Hi all, I have attached a minimal non-working example .tex file and the resulting PDF. If I type something in the text input line, and/or click the check box, when I print the file (from a variety of web browsers and versions of Acrobat reader on Linux and windows) those show up in the printout (or the "print to file" file). However, if I select a radio button, while on screen the button is visibly selected, but in the printout (or "print to file" file) the button is not selected. I understand (possibly incorrectly) that these widgets are using PDF features which are a bit out toward the edge of the PDF galaxy, but in case it is a "me" problem I come to the list, cap in hand. Can anyone tell me how I can fix my example so that a selected radio button prints out visibly selected? [[ This PDF causes my "evince" program to dump core. Without the buttons evince is somewhat happier, in that it doesn't dump core. I will wildly guess that these problem are somehow related. ]] (In case you are wondering... I created a fourth button because I don't want any visible button to be selected when the document is opened, and other methods I tried failed in various ways, depending on the program used to view the PDF.) Thanks. Jim

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Are fractional font sizes OK?
by Jim 02 Jun '26

02 Jun '26

Hi all, I have read (somewhere or other) that fractional point font sizes are ok. (And pagella at 10.5pt is what was used for the "fr" translation of ANSS.) For example, the following happily compiles into a nice PDF: %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% cut here %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% \setupbodyfont[10.5pt] \starttext This is a line of pagella at 10.5pt. %\switchtobodyfont[script] % Happiness in the world without this line. Boom! \stoptext %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% cut here %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% However, if one uncomments the \switchtobodyfont line, the context run fails with this: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ... fonts > 'fallback modern rm 10.5pt' is loaded tex error > tex error on line 7 in file ./crash-and-burn.tex: Illegal unit of measure (pt inserted) <to be read again> \relax <macro> \normalizebodyfontsize #1#2->\scratchdimen \ifchkdimension #2\or \lastchkdimension \else #2 \dimexpr \fontbody \relax \fi \expandafter \let \expandafter #1\csname \??fontnormalizedbody \number \scratchdimen \endcsname \ifrelax #1\normalizebodyfontsize_indeed #1\fi <macro> \font_helpers_define_unknown_check_sizes #1#2->\ifcsname \??fontenvironments \s!default #2\endcsname \expandafter \normalizebodyfontsize \csname \??fontenvironments #1#2\endcsname {\csname \??fontenvironments \s!default #2\endcsname \dimexpr #1\relax } \c_font_defining_state \conditionaltrue <macro> \font_helpers_process_relative_size_list #1->#1\v!big #1\v!small <macro> \font_helpers_define_unknown_font #1->\font_helpers_register_fontbody {#1}\c_font_defining_state \conditionalfalse \font_helpers_process_relative_size_list {\font_helpers_define_unknown_check_sizes {#1}} \ifconditional \c_font_defining_state \c_font_defining_state \conditionalfalse \f <macro> \font_basics_switch_points #1->\ifcsname \??fontbodyknown #1\endcsname \else \font_helpers_define_unknown_font {#1} \fi \ifcsname \??fontbodyknown #1\endcsname \font_basics_complete_switch {#1}\localbodyfontsize #1\relax \normalizebodyfontsize \normalizedbodyfontsize \localbody ... <line 3.7> \switchtobodyfont[script] % Happiness in the world without this line. 1 \setupbodyfont[10.5pt] 2 3 \starttext 4 5 This is a line of pagella at 10.5pt. 6 7 >> \switchtobodyfont[script] % Happiness in the world without this line. 8 9 Boom. 10 11 \stoptext 12 Dimensions can be in units of em, ex, sp, cm, mm, es, ts, pt, bp, dk, pc, dd cc or in; but yours is a new one! I'll assume that you meant to say pt, for printer's points: two letters. User units also have at most two characters. mtx-context | fatal error: return code: 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- What do I learn from this? (a) Fractional point font sizes are not a thing, and I shouldn't do that? (b) Fractional point font sizes may work, but are unreliable? (c) \switchtobodyfont[script] doesn't work with fractional point font sizes? (d) Something else entirely? Thanks. Jim

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Is it possible to link LMTX into an application so I can use textext() from MP internally to typeset and use that 'pic' in that other application (e.g. as PDF)?
by Gerben Wierda 27 May '26

27 May '26

See subject. I am looking at integrating LMTX-generated results into another application. But I'd rather (security and all) go outside with exec(). I'd rather use LMTX internally. Is that possible? Thanks, Gerben Wierda (LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerbenwierda>, Mastodon <https://newsie.social/@gctwnl>, Bluesky <https://bsky.app/profile/gerbenwierda.bsky.social>) R&A IT Strategy <https://ea.rna.nl/> (main site) Book: Chess and the Art of Enterprise Architecture <https://ea.rna.nl/the-book/> Book: Mastering ArchiMate <https://ea.rna.nl/mastering-archimate-edition-3-2/> YouTube Channel <http://www.youtube.com/@GerbenWierda>

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System for choosing RGB or CMYK elements
by Jan Ulrich Hasecke 27 May '26

27 May '26

Dear all, my print shop just rejected my last context created pdf job because some objects where rgb and some cmyk. For many good (or bad) reasons for too long I delayed my plan to establish a system for choosing the right elements according to the selected mode. In short I want that context chooses cmyk elements when I use the mode=isocoated for example, and when I use no mode or mode=web it shall use rgb elements. We have a lot of SVG graphics which are of course in rgb. I learned that I can convert these svg files via Scribus to cmyk pdf files. This is just tedious work, but I guess unavoidable. So I will end up with lots of files named filename.svg (RGB) for web pdfs and filename.pdf (CMYK) for print pdfs. I think of using \setupexternalfigures inside startstopmode[isocoated] to restrict method to pdf or something like this. Is this feasible? Or is it better to create files with a naming scheme that hints to the color space like cow-rgb.pdf and cow-cmyk.pdf and use the right file explicitly in the context file? I don't like this idea. I know that I also must have a good solution for raster images. What do you think? How do you solve this challenge? TIA and Ciao! juh

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ANSS-CE V1.2 released ... and a translation is under way!
by Jim 26 May '26

26 May '26

Hi all, There is a new release of "A Not So Short Introduction to ConTeXt (Community Edition)" found at https://codeberg.org/anss-ce/ANSS-CE/releases. This release adds the chapter on typsetting mathematics (thanks to all the contributors!). In other news, I'm happy to report that we have our first chunk of translation into another language (French) by Jean-Pierre Delange. I hope to get it to Codeberg very soon, so that French speakers can get benefit from it. Jim

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\field and friends: any documents to be found?
by Jim 25 May '26

25 May '26

Hi all, I've been trying to wrap my mind around \field, \setupfield and \definefield. Unfortunately, the (knowledgeable) wiki contributors have not yet got very deep into that corner of the wiki, and the chapter in .../tex/texmf-context/doc/context/sources/general/manuals/interaction dealing with widgets is "commented out". My grep command did not reveal anything else in the standalone distribution that uses \field & friends. Does anyone have a pointer to some current documentation for these things, or, failing that, any extensive examples? There is an example for one type of field (line) in the wiki, but not the others. Thanks. Jim

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ConTeXt labels in Asymptote
by Jairo A. del Rio 23 May '26

23 May '26

Hi, list! I know this probably should be asked in the Asymptote repo, but I'd want to know if anyone here could make ConTeXt work as the TeX engine for labels in Asymptote. When I try, I just get errors. AFAIK TeX support is hardcoded, so maybe someone in the list already patched or can share pointers to fix ConTeXt support, since C++ sources seem to prioritize LaTeX. Or maybe I just need to configure things properly. Thanks in advance. Regards, Jairo

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setup and usage for glossaries
by Kirk Lowery 20 May '26

20 May '26

Greetings! Although I'm a complete noob when it comes to ConTeXt, I'm a 30+ year user of LaTeX. Recently I decided I need to go outside the box and learn ConTeXt. For the past couple of weeks I've been exploring the documentation. I've got a question: I'm running ConTeXt LMTX from TeXLive 2026 on a Debian 12 VM. As a learning exercise, I've been creating a simple "essay" document from scratch, making it more complex as I successfully add features. I want to setup and then use a glossary. But after searching for several days I've been unable to find documentation on a glossary feature, nor any MWEs. Can you point me to a source(s) of info, howtos, examples, etc.? Any pointers much appreciated. TIA! Kirk Lowery

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Ton Otten email
by Jim 20 May '26

20 May '26

(Sorry to spam the list, but...) Ton, thanks for the comments on the math chapter. I tried to reply to your email, and I got a "permanent fatal error", saying all hosts for '<that hostname>' have been failing for a long time Maybe this is a transient error, but if you aren't getting any email recently, this could be the reason. Cheers. Jim

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New chapter in ANSS-CE
by Jim 20 May '26

20 May '26

Hi all (newer ConTeXt users in particular): I added a new Part to ANSS-CE ("New Topics"), which currently has one chapter (but other contributions are welcome :-). The new chapter is a fairly short "quick start" for typesetting mathematics. ANSS essentially did not touch that topic, and since I have used a lot of math in my TeX docs, I thought I might not be the only one who could get benefit from that top. There is, of course, the "Mathematics in ConTeXt" document (mathincontext-{screen,paper}.pdf on a disk or SSD near you), which this shortish chapter refers to. While everyone who typesets serious mathematics should read that, 292 pages may be intimidating for people who only need to know a tiny little bit. The new chapter is attached to this email so you don't have to download the whole document and compile it yourself. (But if you prefer to do that, great.) I haven't yet found anyone to proof-read the new chapter, so if you take a look and find some errors or have suggestions, please let me know. Jim

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