- ntg-context - Mailing Lists

notes on TeXLive and Truetype fonts
by Bill McClain 16 Apr '03

16 Apr '03

I've added new material to my help page: http://home.salamander.com/~wmcclain/context-help.html (1) I've switched to TeXLive and adjusted the installation section accordingly. (2) I've added a section on installing Truetype fonts using ttf2tfm. -Bill -- Sattre Press Curiosities of the Sky http://sattre-press.com/ by Garrett Serviss info(a)sattre-press.com http://csky.sattre-press.com/

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Creating List with separate numbering
by Nigel King 15 Apr '03

15 Apr '03

Dear Contextnicians, I would like a separate numbered list in this case called Problems. I have created a small test file below. Unfortunately I cannot see how to get this to number separately from section numbering. (I was not having any success before using \definehead[Problems][section] \definelist [Problems] \definehead [Problems] [section] \setuphead [Problems] [style=\ss\bf,color=red,before={\blank {\ss\bf\red Problem }},after={\qquad}] \def\problem#1#2{{\par\Problems{#1}{\red #2}\par}} \starttext List of Problems\par\blank[big] \placelist [Problems] [alternative=c,criterium=all,width=2em,interaction=all] \blank[big] \section{Tufte} \input tufte \problem{a first problem}{the first problem description} \input tufte \problem{a second problem}{second problem description} \section{Another Tufte} \stoptext TIA -- Nigel

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RandomSeed
by Fermin Otalora 14 Apr '03

14 Apr '03

Hello everybody. I'm trying to get some special effects using Metafun. The idea is to get slightly different letterheads from run to run of texexec. I tried randomseed and randomized() but, once the value value of randomseed is fix in the source, all further graphics are equally distorted. In other programming languages this is achieved by assigning to the random seed a value related to the current time and date. I suppose that something similar (or even simpler) should be available in TeX/Context, but my expertise seems not enough for this (may be trivial challenge). Could someone help? Many thanks Fermin -- Fermin Otalora <otalora(a)ugr.es> Laboratorio de Estudios Cristalograficos

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combining start/stop environments
by Guy Worthington 14 Apr '03

14 Apr '03

Hello, I'd like to introduce new code by highlighting it with a background. For instance the following snippet of code does what I want: ----- \starttext \input tufte \setupcolors[state=start] \startbackground \startJV import java.io.IOException ; import org.xml.sax.SAXException ; \stopJV \stopbackground \input tufte \stoptext ----- I'd like to get the two nested environments startbackground/startJV, grouped together under a single concept, in this case the single concept startNewCode. I thought I'd just slurp up the argument nested between the keywords \startNewCode and \stopNewCode into memory and then process the argument. This is my attempt: ----- \definetype [typeJV] [option=JV,palet=graypretty] \def\startNewCode{\blank[medium] \begingroup \catcode`\\=12 \STARTNewCode} { \catcode`\|=0 \catcode`\\=12 |long|gdef|STARTNewCode#1\stopNewCode{% |startbackground |typeJV{#1} |stopbackground |blank[medium] |endgroup}} \starttext \input tufte \startNewCode import java.io.IOException ; import org.xml.sax.SAXException ; \stopNewCode \input tufte \stoptext ----- This unfortunately doesn't work. It gets rid of blank lines and doesn't pretty-print. I realize my attempt is naive, but I've run out of ideas of how to combine a background with a verbatim argument.

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layer documentation?
by Patrick Gundlach 14 Apr '03

14 Apr '03

Hello Hans and others, is there any layer documentation out there that I have missed? I found some fragments in the metafun manual, the details.pdf and (well, of course!) the source. Where should the layers be hooked in? If I say \setupbackgrounds[text][text][background=relpos], the layer relpos gets repeated; if I use \setupbackgrounds[page][..], the layer won't be repeated, even if I say \setupbackgrounds[page][background=..,state=repeat]. (Yes, I know that I can use \setuplayer[...][state=repeat]; I try to understand what is going on.) So should I always use the [page] background to anchor the layer? Patrick

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A Request from TUG: Sharing Your Corners of the Field [ ConTeXt List ]
by Wendy McKay 14 Apr '03

14 Apr '03

Sunday April 13, 2003 Dear ConTeXt Users. The 24th Annual Meeting and Conference of the TueX Users Group, TUG 2003: the Silver Anniversary -- 25 Years! -- of TeX will be held on July 20-24, 2003 on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Hans Hagen will be giving two presentations at the meeting and there will be a one-day free Post-Conference Workshop "Getting to know all about ConTeXt" on July 25, from 9:00 to 3:30 pm http://www.tug.org/tug2003/talks/ Apple Computers Inc. is co-sponsoring TUG 2003 with the loan of several iBooks with wireless cards and a base station to allow particpants to have a hands-on experience of installing TeXshop and teTeX and running programs such as ConTeXt. If you are interested in attending the conference please check the webpages at http://www.tug.org/tug2003/ We hope that some you will be able to attend. The letter attached is a grass rooots appeal to help support the participation of volunteer speakers and developers, who share their work freely with the TeX community. Thank you for any support you can provide. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DATE: Friday, April 11, 2003 TO: All TeX Users Worldwide --- Academics, Publishers, Prepress, Commercial Vendors, Open Source Supporters, Members of Mailing Lists, Local User Groups RE: Grass Roots Appeal to help sponsor the TUG 2003 speakers and developers and further TeX Development. A Request from TUG: Sharing Your Corners of the Field Dear Friends of TeX, If you believe in squeezing every last bit of value from your resources, then you might be interested in TeX and its future development. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AHEAD OF ITS TIME ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may already know about TeX and some of its offspring, such as LaTeX, pdfTeX, ConTeXt, and even Lollipop. TeX and its descendants are totally free typesetting software packages for mathematical, scientific, technical and general publishing, plus, increasingly, for everyday office work. They are to typesetting and publishing what space research is to industry in general. TeX and its derivatives are usually well in front of the leading edge when it comes to high quality typesetting and publishing software. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AN ALTERNATIVE TO WORD PROCESSING AND DESKTOP PUBLISHING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TeX is a text processing tool for all modern operating systems. The basic user interface is any text editor plus several command-line typesetting programs. Free extended applications --- such as LyX and TeXmacs --- provide realtime formatting, similar to commercial word processors, but on multiple platforms. The learning curve for TeX is similar to that of the most widely-used word processors. TeX documents can be simple or intricate. Once understood, TeX is much more efficient than word processors, because TeX does consistent formatting for every letter, article, report or manual. And the results are good to your eyes. Increasingly, TeX and its children are attracting enterprises, organizations and individuals who are dissatisfied with the high cost, excessive overhead, invasive licensing, weak security and questionable quality of commercial word processors and desktop publishing programs. Thousands of newcomers are learning and using TeX or its offshoots for letters, fliers, posters, reports and books, plus more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SOLID, SUPPLE AND PORTABLE DESIGN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TeX has been stable software since the early 1980's. It runs on Unix, Windows and Macintosh systems. Documents you create on one operating system easily transfer and produce the same beautiful output on any other operating system with TeX installed. And, the results are better than most commercial typesetting software. Also, because of its adaptable design, TeX integrates smoothly with other text management and publishing technologies. For example, TeX works well as a typesetting backend for XML and as a content development frontend for HTML. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TOTALLY FREE, NOT ONE STRING ATTACHED ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TeX is free. It costs enterprises and users nothing other than installation and training time. Also, unlike promotional freeware and trial software, TeX comes in only one level of quality --- high, very high. TeX is arguably the best typesetting software available. To illustrate this, several software developers now incorporate TeX technology into their commercial publishing systems, some costing $700-a-seat and more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ANNUAL TUG MEETING AND CONFERENCE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TeX is regularly being improved through the work of volunteers from various parts of the world. Once a year, a sundry group of TeX developers and users gather for face-to-face discussions. This conference is coordinated by the TeX Users Group (TUG), a U.S. not-for-profit organization with members in 61 countries. Conference attendees evaluate the state of the tools and their applications. Typical topics include work flows, interfaces, fonts, printing, new technologies, howto's and case studies, among others. TeX aficionados attend from around the world. This year the annual meeting is July 20-24 in the Pacific islands of Hawaii. All are welcome; more information and registration at http://www.tug.org/tug2003. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHARING THE CORNERS OF YOUR FIELDS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The TeX conference for 2003 is celebrating 25 years of TeX. This is a good time to make your enterprise known to the TeX community by sponsoring the conference. But TeX is free. Right? Correct! And we are committed to keeping it free. All of us are volunteers and receive no financial compensation from our work with TUG. However, like many other organizations, we need funds to help support our collaborative development. We are not looking for $700 per seat. Instead, we are asking for a small part of your tax-deductible giving. (See http://www.tug.org/tax-exempt/ for information about our tax exempt status.) We like to think of this as sharing the ``corners of your fields''. In some ancient cultures, the landowners harvested the center part of their crops, leaving the corners for others to take according to their needs. That is our need. Nothing more. For you, it's a opportunity to add to the value of your typesetting resources and to give something back to the TeX community. ~~~~~~~~~ NOW WHAT? ~~~~~~~~~ All support helps. If you would like to donate $1 or a $1,000, please contact us through our: secure web site: https://www.tug.org/tug2003/donate/ e-mail: office(a)tug.org mail: TeX Users Group 1466 NW Naito Parkway, Suite 3141 Portland, OR 97209-2820, USA voice: +1-503-223-9994 fax: +1-503-223-3960 For donations of $50 and more you can receive a copy of the TeX Live CD. This CD includes TeX installers for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and several UNIX derivatives. Assorted other TeX gifts are also available. Also, please print and post or distribute the "sharing" poster: http://www.tug.org/tug2003/donate/texharvest.pdf Please encourage others to support TUG. Your support for the conference at any level makes a big difference to the future of TeX. We need your help. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hope to See You in Hawaii ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We would also like to see you at the TUG conference. Please register at our web site: https://www.tug.org/tug2003/registration.html Sincerely, wendy mckay TUG 2003 Organizing Committee tug2003(a)tug.org ~~~~ p.s Donations may also be made in the following currencies: Euro (EUR), Indian Rupee (INR) CONTACTS Europe: Volker Schaa, president(a)dante.de, LBF (LUG Banking Facility) India: CV Radhakrishnan, cvr(a)tug.org, India TeX Users Group MORE INFO: http://www.tug.org/tug2003/donate/donate.html#currency

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Font switch and memory
by Adam Lindsay 14 Apr '03

14 Apr '03

Hi folks, When I get an error message like the following, what exactly am I running out of, and can I make sure there's more of it? I am indeed doing a lot of switching of very large fonts, but the error doesn't show up at some font sizes and appears at others. ! Font \*9ptrctf*=texnansiOSFSC-WarnockPro-Regular at 9.0pt not loaded: Not eno ugh room left. <to be read again> \relax \xxdododefinefont ...tspec {#4}\newfontidentifier \let \localrelativefontsiz... \fontstrategy ...ame #1\csname #2#3#4#5\endcsname \tryingfontfalse \fi <inserted text> ...yle \fontalternative \fontsize \fi \iftryingfont \fontstr... \synchronizefont ...strategy \the \fontstrategies \relax \fi \ifskipfontchar... \complexswitchstyleonly ...lue {\@shortstyle@ #1}} \the \everybodyfont l.24 {\rm text {\switchstyleonly\rc text \it text} text}\crlf -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Adam T. Lindsay atl(a)comp.lancs.ac.uk Computing Dept, Lancaster University +44(0)1524/594.537 Lancaster, LA1 4YR, UK Fax:+44(0)1524/593.608 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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MikTeX hash size limit ?
by Sebastian Rooks 13 Apr '03

13 Apr '03

Hello ConTeXters, First of all I would like to thank you Hans for ConTeXt. It is a great pleasure to use it to write my PhD thesis. I have just upgraded to the lastest versions of ConTeXt and MikTeX and my draft doesn't compile any more: pdfeTeX complains that it runs out of "multiletter control sequences" (see part of the log file below). I did not found what it is nor how to increase it. Maybe someone on this list can give me some advice ? Yours, Seb. This is pdfeTeX, Version 3.141592-1.10b-2.1 (MiKTeX 2.2) (preloaded format=cont-en 2003.3.31) 1 APR 2003 01:01 entering extended mode **these.tex (these.tex{pdftex.cfg} ConTeXt ver: 2003.3.11 fmt: 2003.3.31 int: english mes: english [...] ! TeX capacity exceeded, sorry [hash size=35000]. [...] Here is how much of TeX's memory you used: 6285 strings out of 67835 96036 string characters out of 755177 566094 words of memory out of 1205208 35000 multiletter control sequences out of 35000 68410 words of font info for 185 fonts, out of 500000 for 1000 56 hyphenation exceptions out of 607 61i,21n,101p,2577b,1356s stack positions out of 1500i,500n,5000p,200000b,32768s 1215 PDF objects out of 65536 223 named destinations out of 20000 673 words of extra memory for PDF output out of 65536 ! ==> Fatal error occurred, the output PDF file is not finished!

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Figure-database
by Willi Egger 13 Apr '03

13 Apr '03

Hi all, i prepared today a figure database. Within the comment fields there are words containeng accented letters. <figure> <file></file> <label>Beispiel</label> <copyright>WE</copyright> <comment>Oberfläche</comment> </figure> When saying <\figurelibrary language="en"> at the beginning I get the given example word as Oberfl""ache The same is valid for the language="nl". If i use the <\figurelibrary language="de"> then I get the example word as Oberfl"äche. I am puzzled ... What am I doing wrong? For testing in your environment I attach a minimal file. Thanks Willi

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pdf printing
by Idris S Hamid 13 Apr '03

13 Apr '03

Dear gang, Ok; this is a post-context problem but I desperately need your help. I created a book cover using ConTeXt/Gamma/eomega in three parts; front, back, and spine. ps2pdf got the colors wrong so I had to use distiller to convert each part to pdf. Per my instructions, in Acrobat, a colleague overlaid the three components and created a final single cover pdf. She sent it to the printer and everything came out fine except the fonts "came out all pixilated and blurry". The fonts are all Type1 and dvips is definitely getting the Type1's I think The printer suggested that Distiller was screen-optimized, not print-optimized. I'll check that when I get home but before I get there I need your advice and wisdom: What things in ConTeXt/dvips/distiller should I optimize to make sure the printer is able to print this thing properly? Are there any questions I can ask the printer? As I get more info I'll try to make things more precise. Aside: Maybe there is way to make a single cover in ConTeXt instead of combining three pdfs in Acrobat (which is a pain). I'd be happy to learn:-) Best wishes Idris

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