So, I've been contemplating whether I should move "up" the
abstraction ladder to ConTeXt or "down" to plain TeX and really
learn to build the world from boxes and glue. :-)
I wrote my dissertation using plain TeX plus eplain, and spent several
days learning about insertions so that I could float figures in the
margin. It looked decent, but I got tired of maintaining and
improving the macro hackery, so I decided to leap over LaTeX to
ConTeXt. I use LaTeX under duress (e.g. journal gives you a style
file). But for any document where I decide the layout, I use ConTeXt,
and I'm very happy with the decision to leap.
Here is a hello-world template that I just wrote. It contains many of
the ConTeXt commands that I use most frequently. Maybe it should go
on the wiki?
-Sanjoy
% "Hello world!" document for the ConTeXt typesetting system
%
% === History ===
% 2006-12-29 Sanjoy Mahajan
% * Created
%
% This document is the public domain (no copyright).
\setupcolors[state=start] % otherwise you get greyscale
\definecolor[headingcolor][r=1,b=0.4]
% for the document info/catalog (reported by 'pdfinfo', for example)
\setupinteraction[state=start, % make hyperlinks active, etc.
title={Hello world!},
subtitle={A ConTeXt template},
author={Sanjoy Mahajan},
keyword={template}]
% useful urls
\useURL[author-email][mailto:a.u.thor@somewhere.edu][][a.u.thor@somewhere.edu]
\useURL[wiki][http://wiki.contextgarden.net][][\ConTeXt\ wiki]
\useURL[sanjoy][mailto:sanjoy@mit.edu][][sanjoy@mit.edu]
% for US paper; the sensible default is [A4][A4] (A4 typesetting,
% printed on A4 paper)
\setuppapersize[letter][letter]
\setuplayout[topspace=0.5in, backspace=1in, header=24pt, footer=36pt,
height=middle, width=middle]
% uncomment the next line to see the layout
% \showframe
% headers and footers
\setupfooter[style=\it]
\setupfootertexts[\date\hfill \ConTeXt\ template]
\setuppagenumbering[location={header,right}, style=bold]
\setupbodyfont[11pt] % default is 12pt
\setuphead[section,chapter,subject][color=headingcolor]
\setuphead[section,subject][style={\ss\bfa},
before={\bigskip\bigskip}, after={}]
\setuphead[chapter][style={\ss\bfd}]
\setuphead[title][style={\ss\bfd},
before={\begingroup\setupbodyfont[14.4pt]},
after={\leftline{\ss\tfa A. U. Thor $\langle$\from[author-email]$\rangle$}
\bigskip\bigskip\endgroup}]
\setupitemize[inbetween={}, style=bold]
% set inter-paragraph spacing
\setupwhitespace[medium]
% comment the next line to not indent paragraphs
\setupindenting[medium, yes]
\starttext
\title{Hello, world!}
Here is a hello-world template document to illustrates a few \ConTeXt\
features. Have fun. You can find a lot more information at
\from[wiki]; the preceding text should be colored and clickable, and
clicking it should take you to the wiki.
\subject{A list}
Here is an example of a list.
\startitemize[a] % tags are lowercase letters
\item first
\item second
\item third
\stopitemize
\subject{Math}
An equation can be typeset inline like $e^{\pi i}+1=0$, or as a
displayed formula:
\startformula
\int_0^\infty t^4 e^{-t}\,dt = 24.
\stopformula
% don't use $$...$$ (the plain TeX equivalent)
You can also have numbered equations:
\placeformula[eq:factorial-example]\startformula
\int_0^\infty t^5 e^{-t}\,dt = 120.
\stopformula
And you can refer to them by name. I called the previous equation {\tt
factorial-example}, and it is equation \in[eq:factorial-example].
\ConTeXt\ figures out the number for you. And with interaction turned
on, you can click on the equation number to get to the equation.
\subject{Text with figures}
Now text with a few figures. The first figure goes on the right, with
the paragraph flowing around it.
\placefigure[right,none]{}{\externalfigure[dummy]}
\input tufte
The next figure will go inline, like a displayed formula:
\placefigure[here,none]{}{\externalfigure[dummy]}
\input tufte
Here's another reference to the numbered equation -- equation
\in[eq:factorial-example] on \at{page}[eq:factorial-example], so that
you can test clicking on it or on the page reference.
% most plain TeX commands work
\vfill
\noindent
\framed[corner=round, width=\textwidth,height=1in,
backgroundcolor=gray,background=color]
{This document is in the public domain, so that you can improve it, share
it, and otherwise do what you want with it.
Suggestions are welcome. You can send them to me
at \from[sanjoy] (Sanjoy Mahajan).}
\stoptext
