Hi!

I'm a complete ms word user who wants to convert to context

Good decision!

But can anybody out there please tell me how i can start from the very beginning.

1. Download Perl from http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/ 2. Download some stable version of ConTeXt from (or any full TeX distribution) 3. Install ActivePerl (using its wizard) 4. Install ConTeXt following precise instructions specified in 'minstall.pdf' (this short manual is probably in every ConTeXt distributions)

To set it clear: i'm not a linux or unix-user, i use windowx xp.

Me to. Actually I use ONE ConTeXt distribution (one TeX in general distribution) under Linux and Windows. And many other NTG-members do so! There is NO obstacles to use ConTeXt under windows. The only obstacle is the very beginning of using TeX... Let me encourage You: ConTeXt allows to start TeXing smoothly.

Regards, Pawe/l

Welcome to the club. I've been using ConTeXt on Windows for a few years. I suggest using MiKTeX if you're a complete beginner. It comes with a graphical package manager and a graphical administration tool. They say fpTeX is closer to TeTeX, but you really don't want to be using command line stuff on Windows, it doesn't have the features XTerm users take for granted (such as decent histories and stuff).

You'll need ActivePerl to run texexec, which is a perl script that holds Context together. This is pretty painless, and just sits there and does its thing.

I can't recommend WinEdt http://www.winedt.com/ (note that is not the same as WinEdit) highly enough, and it is easy to create toolbars and menus to do ConText stuff. Its commercial, but reasonably priced, and the author operates a pretty speedy turnaround on support issues.

Ghostcsript is nice to have, but Acrobat is really much more usable, and renders better. I do use Ghostscript, but I can live without it. Mainly comes into its own when you are operating in Postscript mode with EPS figures and stuff. Context is perfectly capable of doing everything with PDF, so I can't see the point. Also Acrobate sucks on Linux, so people from that background don't know what they're missing.

Christopher

On Thu, 2004-01-22 at 16:52, Wilfried Van Hirtum wrote:

Hi

I'm a complete ms word user who wants to convert to context to make his mathematical textbooks. I have windows xp on my computer, but nothing (really nothing like perl, editor's or distribution) else. What exactly have i to do make my pc work with context? By the way, don't say to me to read the how to install context manual which are not meant to read by absolute beginners. I've spent hours on looking around on internet, on the pragma-website, reading manuals, but i don't find something clear and simple what tells me exactly to do and in which order to let me begin working with context. There seems to be so many pre-knowledge about perl, command line commands, and so on.. But can anybody out there please tell me how i can start from the very beginning. I would appreciate your advise very much. To set it clear: i'm not a linux or unix-user, i use windowx xp. I really want to begin with context, but there seems to be so many obstacles to overwin. Many thanks in advance.

Wilfried Van Hirtum

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On Thu, 22 Jan 2004, Wilfried Van Hirtum wrote:

But can anybody out there please tell me how i can start from the very beginning. I would appreciate your advise very much.

There are many versions of the same theme, but some ways do suit a Windows user quite well. I actually wouldn't know how to install ConTeXt in a linux or unix (should maybe try one day...), but I've found my way with Windows, like this:

System: TeXLive. I download the ISO image, burn it on a CD (XP's native software doesn't read ISO's, but for example Nero does) and use the one and same CD to install all the computers I use (1 x XP, 2 x W2k, 2 x NT). The necessary piece of information here seems to be that only the full installation of TeXLive works out-of-the-box - standard seems to forget some parts that are very necessary to the Windows user who hasn't used any programs like this before (been there, done that, lost half a day on it).

Editor: NTEmacs, comes in the TeXLive full installation. To make it work I have to add and compile context.el and fiddle a bit with the settings. Now I have a fully configured .emacs settings file which I just copy for each computer. If you are truly interested in using NTEmacs for ConTeXt work (and only that), I can set up detailed instructions with appropriate links and instructions and a ready-to-use .emacs (complete with printer settings). With the context.el (context mode) NTEmacs among others shows the ConTeXt codes in colours and uses the i-spell spell checker without getting stuck in the codes (and i-spell comes even i Finnish!). You'll get much of the same functionality with WinEdt, I just didn't like it (and couldn't figure out how to make a button to direct-compile my file) and I knew the Emacs keyboard commands from before.

Setup: Windows (whichever of them) automatically opens .tex files into NTEmacs. I edit them and can compile with a menu command or keyboard shortcut (prefer the latter, hate mousework). Because I set my system that way, the file is compiled straight into .pdf and I can use another command to open the file in Acrobat reader to view it (assuming the compilation worked out).

Advantages and disadvantages compared with Word (or similar): + files with umpteen large figures never ever crash and never get corrupted; the compilation may crash, but the file always survives - and takes a lot less space. + accepts pdf pictures (although this far I've always cropped them in full Acrobat; there must be an easier way), which is good when original is not in an easy vector format; jpg works perfectly, too. + table of contents, indices, references are so much easier to make and have a much higher success rate; and finding the ones that don't work is easy -> a manual I produced with ConText has a lot higher level of consistency than the earlier ones that were written with Word (and without using some of its existing reference mechanism) + our print shop loves the pdf files produced by the very default ConTeXt pdf compiling system - tables are a big pain - fonts used to be a big hassle, I think the last version of ConText makes them only a medium hassle - once in a while I go crazy because I know in Windows/Word language what I want, but cannot translate it into ConTeXt. I'm slowly learning to accept that I may never master ConTeXt the way I used to master Word (I'm a heavy-user); but the result will still be a lot better - there's some command line work involved; I've managed work around some of it by learning to make .bat files, but there's more to be done.

What's different: * if you are used to Word, the way real typesetting systems move floats (like pictures and floating tables) around feels a bit weird in the beginning (and trying to explain the behaviour to your boss may be "interesting"...) * the more you've used styles (defined headings etc) in Windows text processing, the easier ConTeXt will be for you; people who are used to formatting everything by hand (i.e. don't do structural thinking) will find this kind of typesetting very difficult to understand * there's a ton of new and different options; I just haven't gotten very far yet. One day I will try to understand the module system and make it work for me, to compile printable and interactive documents from the same sources.

One of my projects for a longish time has been to write detailed beginner instructions for ConTeXt in the Windows way (I used to teach beginner to intermediate Windows, I still speak the language, and Word too). If I manage to excavate my desk (probably at work) deep enough to find the new TeXLive CD I burned before Christmas, the pages should be up by mid-February.

Things have changed during the 18 months since I first took up my fight with ConTeXt, so I need to check all the notes I've made before releasing anything. And I'll probably start with Windows NT, but in my experience the Windows version doesn't make any difference as long as it's Win95 or newer and the user-rights are sufficient.

Greetings from the cold north (-15 centigrades!),

Mari from Finland mari.voipio@iki.fi