Re: [NTG-context] ConTeXt, Framemaker, and InDesign

On Mon, 30 Jun 2008, Idris Samawi Hamid wrote:

Hi Martin,

On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:18:37 -0600, Martin Schröder wrote:

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2008/6/30 Idris Samawi Hamid :

...

What does ConTeXt have that Framemaker does not?

I don't know about ConTeXt, but I know that something like LaTeX's \include/\includeonly was a new feature of Frame 7 (from 2002).

What is \include/\includeonly?

Suppose you are writing a book with 15 chapters, and it takes a long time to compile your chapters. In LaTeX, you can include each chapter using \include {name of file} and then add a command \includeonly{a few chapters} on the top of your file. Only the chapters specified by \includeonly are included. So, it saves a lot of time in compiling the file. (I think there is also a command to exclude specific chapters). It is roughly similar to compiling only a component of a big project in ConTeXt. However, I feel that the latex version works better since it maintains the numbering of chapters, etc. For example, in latex if I include chapter 3 of a big book, its chapter number will be 3, and all the cross references to material outside that chapter will be correct. In Context, if I compile the component containing chapter 3, its number will start from 1. I can get correct cross references by using \usereferences (and ignore the duplicate references warning), but the numbering of the compiled component is incorrect. This is one are where I wish context had better support. Note that latex's method is not perfect. \include starts a new page, but that way it can ensure that the materical of included file is somewhat isolated with rest of the material. Context's \component does not start a new page, which is often times useful. Aditya