- ntg-context - Mailing Lists

Problems placing figures II
by Richard Gabriel 18 May '05

18 May '05

Hi all, regarding my problems with figure placing (posted on 2005-05-05), I've found out that problems occur only if there are too many unplaced figures (pending floats). After a lot of googling, I've only found out that in LaTeX, there's a command \clearpage which places all unprocessed floats and starts a new page. In addition, the commands \totalnumber, \topnumber and \bottomnumber are available to set the maximum float count on one page. (for details, see http://www.tug.org.in/tutorial/chap09-scr.pdf) Is there any similar mechanism in ConTeXt? Which command(s) can I use to place all unprocessed figures immediately? Thanks in advance. Richard

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RE: [NTG-context] Context, LaTeX, or an XML for academic writing?
by Ville Voipio 18 May '05

18 May '05

> I've also seen the MS thesis of Han The Thanh. It's good. But I would > need something more suited for natural sciences that accomodates > plenty of figures and references. Also I would like to "cloak" my > thesis by avoiding Computer Modern. LaTeX is developed for mathematical sciences by a mathematician. It works beautifully with complex equations and embedding maths into text. Everything in it -- including the CM fonts -- screams "mathematics!". ConTeXt is developed for typesetting manuals. Some requirements are the same, for example the need for very solid and reliable cross-references. Some requirements are different. Manuals and other documentation require more control over the layout and a very good support for illustrations. Writing a thesis in science falls somewhere in between. If you are writing something about quantum mechanics, I'd say you should use LaTeX. If you are living on the fringe and doing something more computer-oriented (or even chemical), the intentions of ConTeXt developers and you converge better than with LaTeX. I wrote my PhD thesis with LaTeX, because that was the only viable alternative back then (four years ago). Now I think I'd use ConTeXt due to its better layout handling. [For the curious: the thesis is available at http://lib.tkk.fi/Diss/2001/isbn9512257270/ I can supply the LaTeX sources plus a document telling about the tools and rationale behind, if someone needs it. But be warned, it is not up-to-date information.] --- Someone suggested using a ready-made template. Sure, if you can get one somewhere with all the bells and whistles suitable for your academic institution, take it. Be it ConTeXt or LaTeX, you'll save a lot of trouble using a proven platform. Beautiful documents with minimal effort. That's exactly what the universities should supply. Very unfortunately, there are seldom any good templates around. Very often there are no *TeX templates around, regardless of quality. There may be some half-hearted Word templates around, but at that point ducking or running -- whichever is more convenient -- is a good alternative. And if there are no good templates around, then you'll need to roll your own. One which fulfills all requirements set by the administrators (all those lovely forms) and is easy-to-read and looks nice. One of the mixed blessings (=curses) brought about by computers is that now you need to be an academic writer, a typesetter, and a graphic artist at the same time. At this point the number of should-knows explodes. On the typography side you have to know a million small things. What kind of quotes to use, when to use en dash, when to use em dash, how to hyphenate, how to type numbers and units. Then you need to decide on the typefaces to use, and the general layout of the page. After all this is understood, then the technical problems have to be overcome. You will need to find the fonts you want to use, and you will need to be able to explain all this to the type- setting system in use. Also, you have to be able to draw the illustrations, with the requirement that they are both aesthetically pleasing and help to convey the message they carry. To do this, you need the software to draw the illustrations and the file formats to transfer the drawings to the typesetting system. After all this is done, you can try to produce the printed book. This may sound trivial, but is far away from that. There may be problems with file formats (with an old version of pdfLaTeX I managed to make a file which crashed a commercial RIP system, this happened a few days before a big deadline), or at least with color matching if nothing else. --- Does the above sound easy? Not for me. Still, you are expected to make a professional-looking document in a situation where you need to know half a dozen professions completely unrelated to your own scientific field. The result is that most people resort to using the Word and a lot of other four-letter words. The documents range from hideous to just slightly ugly, and are extremely fragile and difficult to maintain. --- What I am trying to say is that choosing the tool is only one part of the project. Whichever tool you choose, you'll end up in trouble at some point. With some tools (WYSIWYG) you'll end up in worse trouble, but even with *TeX the road is bumpy at best, unless you really have a tested and proven templates which you can use. The bumpiness has (IMO) slightly different nature in LaTeX than in ConTeXt. In LaTeX there are a lot of great packages and a lot of documentation. Books, web resources, mailing lists, etc. The huge user base makes all this available. However, finding the right packages and debugging some odd interactions and conflicts between packages may be very difficult. ConTeXt gives a lot more control over layout in itself without any packages or modules. And if you want something more exotic, take metapost and do it. But the downside of this is that as ConTeXt is a new system and has relatively fewer users, the state of documentation is not very good. Even the official documents are sometimes out-of-date. (This is really not to blame Hans or anyone else. Hey, we get free high-quality software! But this is something that has to be acknowledged and in the long run acted upon. By us users.) Whichever you choose, you'll have moments when you wish you'd chosen differently. --- Sorry, a long posting without really any good answer. The only suggestion I give is that try to make the layout rather early in the process. That way the writing is more fun, as you can see the outcome already during the writing process. And if you cannot stretch the tools to make the layout, you can change the tools without too much trouble. Good luck with your thesis! - Ville

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How to make a PDF workbook structure with index?
by Thomas Schrader 18 May '05

18 May '05

Hi everybody, is anyone experienced in archiving PDF? I need archiving lots of different PDFs in different sizes and formats into workbooks or folders with index files. How could I possibly look into each PDF, getting the title info and generate an index? How do I do clickable references to each content PDF? How could I practically bind PDF together (ZIP, tar, ...)? Is there some sort of workbook-like file-format? I had problems with re-arranging oddly generated PDFs via pdftex so I want avoiding re-arrangement. Thanks much for any hint. Thomas Schrader

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font mapfiles
by Thomas A. Schmitz 18 May '05

18 May '05

Sorry for reposting, but I'm really curious about this issue! I just had to reinstall my TeX installation (upgrade to OS X 10.4). After mucking around with my old TeX, I decided to reinstall, and I hit a problem: even though I ran updmap, ConTeXt doesn't seem to work with the fonts I installed myself unless I include the \loadmapfile [foo] either in the typescript or in the source file. This wasn't the case before. I also tried moving the mapfiles to texmf/fonts/map/ pdftex/context insteadt of just fonts/map/, but that didn't change anything. Am I missing something obvious, or is this the expected behavior? I much prefer to have system-wide mapfiles since I use LaTeX from time to time and want the same fonts available there. They work with plain pdfetex as well, it's just ConTeXt that gives trouble. So my question is: is this the new setup, are we supposed to load mapfiles this way, and what is the advantage over the old method? Thanks! Thomas

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Math startarray and \cases{xxx} bug?
by Maurice Diamantini 17 May '05

17 May '05

Bonjour à tous, I'm using amsl module, but it seems there is a probleme with the startarray/stoparray environment which apear with the "t" type of column (t for text). So the basic cases commande doesn't work. Also the \startcases/stopcases should have the same meaning thas \cases{xxx} has, but it doen't. I use textlive distrib with a copy og t-amsl.tex version 2004.11.18 Thank you for any help! -- Maurice Diamantini %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% \usemodule[amsl] \starttext \startformula {\bf f(x)} = \cases{ \sum_{x=1}^n x & if I am false \\ \displaystyle% just to see the difference \sum_{x=1}^n x^2 & \text{if I am true} } \stopformula % This formala works as expected, but if I replace % the forth column of type "l" which contains some \text{xxx} stuffs % with a column of type "t" without using the \text command, % there is an error. \startformula {\bf e_u(t)} = \left\{ \startarray{dlll}% ou bien : \startarray{| d | l | r | l} \displaystyle \sum_{x=1}^n f(x) & = ax^2 + b.x + c, & = a & \text{Here some text} \\ \hfil y_2 % just to center stuff within a "d" column & = 3ax^3 + 3ax^2 + b.x + c, & = b & \\ \sum_{x=1}^n h(x) & = y_2, & = a + b & \text{encore du $(x^2)$ texte} \stoparray \right. \stopformula \startformula {\bf e_u(t)} = \startcases \sum_{x=1}^n f(x) & if I am true \\ \displaystyle \sum_{x=1}^n h(x) & if I am false \stopcases \stopformula \stoptext

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RE: [NTG-context] centering framed boxes
by Idris Samawi Hamid 17 May '05

17 May '05

>===== Original Message From Hans Hagen <pragma(a)wxs.nl> ===== >\starttext > >\definelayer[test][width=12\bodyfontsize,height=12\bodyfontsize] > >\setlayerframed[test][preset=middle][width=12\bodyfontsize,height=12\bodyfont size]{one} >\setlayerframed[test][preset=middle][width= 9\bodyfontsize,height= >9\bodyfontsize]{two} >\setlayerframed[test][preset=middle][width= 6\bodyfontsize,height= >6\bodyfontsize]{three} >\setlayerframed[test][preset=middle][width= 3\bodyfontsize,height= >3\bodyfontsize]{four} > >\tightlayer[test] > >\stoptext Hi Hans, I tried your code (so beautiful and simple!): it properly stacks the frames but places the text for each level, not midway between frames as desired, but in the middle frame (on top of one another). Anyway, the following file illustrates the exact effect I'm trying to acheive (note the final overlay of some text across all four levels). I certainly would prefer to do this the ConTeXt way (e.g. is there a better way to stretch the word `testing'?)! Thanks as always for your guidance and help. Best Idris ============================================ \setupoutput[pdftex]% \setuppagenumbering[state=stop] \starttext\showstruts \startbuffer[Test] \setupfloats[location=middle] \placefigure [here][fig:Test]{4 levels.} {\startbuffer[test]\vbox{ \midaligned{\it \framed [width=12\baselineskip,height=12\baselineskip,strut=yes] {\midaligned{\raise.25ex\hbox{level 1}} $\vcenter% {\framed[width=9\baselineskip,height=9\baselineskip,strut=yes] {\midaligned{\raise.25ex\hbox{level 2}} $\vcenter% {\framed[width=6\baselineskip,height=6\baselineskip,strut=yes] {\midaligned{\raise.25ex\hbox{level 3}} $\vcenter% {\framed[width=3\baselineskip,height=3\baselineskip,strut=yes] {\midaligned{\raise3.6ex\hbox{level 4}}} }$ \midaligned{\null}}% }$ \midaligned{\null}}% }$ \midaligned{\null}} } } \stopbuffer \startbuffer[testing]\vbox{\midaligned{\kern-6\baselineskip\itb \lower1.4ex\hbox{t\,e\,s\,t\,i\,n\,g}}} \stopbuffer \hbox{$\vcenter{\getbuffer[test]}\llap{$\vcenter{\getbuffer[testing]}$}$} } \stopbuffer \getbuffer[Test] \stoptext =============================================== ============================ Professor Idris Samawi Hamid Department of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523

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RE: [NTG-context] spurious text produced by TABLE
by Idris Samawi Hamid 17 May '05

17 May '05

Hi Hans >===== Original Message From Hans Hagen <pragma(a)wxs.nl> ===== >> TABLE produces a spurious dot in the following (look closely at the center of > >the dot is a division line between your span I replaced \VL with \DC and the dot disappears. There is still something wrong with \DL \DC \DR. Look very closely at the right edge of the attached table: There is a gap between 2 stacked vertical lines instead of one. If you exchange the commented line with the one below it disappears (I suspect that \VL overwrites the \DR). Interestingly, the gap appears to be the same size as the spurious dot-) See also absolute page 42 of the ConTeXt excursion. In the typeset table, to the right of `Table', the same gap appears. (I have not tested your new code yet to see if this resolves that) Thanks as always for your help! Idris % output=pdf interface=en \setuppagenumbering[state=stop] \starttext \setupfloats[location=middle] \placetable [here][tab:sciences]{There is a spurious dot in the big box.} \starttable{|c|c|c|} \HL \VL {test} \VL \TWO{} \VL\FR %\DL \DC \VL\DR \DL \DC \DR \VL {test} \VL \TWO{} \VL\FR \HL \stoptable \stoptext ============================ Professor Idris Samawi Hamid Department of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523

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Context, LaTeX, or an XML for academic writing?
by Tobias Wolf 17 May '05

17 May '05

> Ask somebody in your field who is really good at TeX for the LaTeX > sources of his/her thesis, > and use them as templates. Spend as little time as possible thinking > about > layout and as much as you can about content. You speak the truth. I really want to avoid that. I do have solid experience with LaTeX and could start right away with it. Considering ConTeXt comes from its clear conceptual advantages. I'm basing the decision on whether someone can point me into a direction and say: "use this, it looks great and you'll be content with it". > You only will have the energy to strive for excellence in layout after > you have > had the satisfaction of creating content worthy of it. I did a presentation before with ConTeXt and exactly that was the painful lesson I learned. Thanks for the advice - Tobias

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Context, LaTeX, or an XML for academic writing?
by Tobias Wolf 17 May '05

17 May '05

Dear NTG-context denizens, today I went to work to make up my mind about whether it would be a good idea to go ahead and produce my BSc. Thesis with ConTeXt. It's clear, I'm very much attracted to it's approach, I do like the syntax and the focus on PDF output (I never used DVI before) et cetera pp. This is my first post to the list and I'm happy that CB just formulated my main requirements. The hard contraints are certainly 2, 3 and 5. I've seen Hrabans' ciee juxtaposition of ConTeXt and LaTeX, and after searching the list I am not sure whether going for a KOMA class wouldn't be better considering that I definitely don't have time develop my own ConTeXt environment this time. I've also seen the MS thesis of Han The Thanh. It's good. But I would need something more suited for natural sciences that accomodates plenty of figures and references. Also I would like to "cloak" my thesis by avoiding Computer Modern. Do ready-made "academic templates" by one of you experts exist - or do you dissuade me from "just using" ConTeXt for for writing academic literature? - Tobias

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unrelated errors
by Jörg Hagmann 17 May '05

17 May '05

Dear list members, I made the following observation and I am wondering whether that is to be expected: After, with the help of this list, I found out how to insert greek strings, I adjusted the .tex file accordingly. But because I used an automatic replacement procedure (in emacs), one of the many replacements turned out "\Greek" instead of "\greek". texexec complained, but I didn't spot the mistake immediately and pressed return. In the resulting pdf file I found the following unrelated errors: 1. One "\inmargin" figure appeared as if the command was "\inothermargin" 2. One "\inothermargin" word appeard "\inmargin" 3. All the references to figures and tables went unrecognised ("??"). After I changed \Greek to \greek, all these errors disappeared. This seems to be the same problem I had earlier, when I used \inmarge instead of \inmargin and my newer setups didn't recognise it: all the references were gone, and reappeared when the mistake was corrected. Cheers, Jörg.

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