Reading the source...?
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Hi, assume that I would like to read some parts of the ConTeXt source (to learn something interesting, to learn how to do that-and-that in ConTeXt, or just for fun;)). Where do I start? I mean: what is the non-terribly-difficult way for the beginner? I have rather good expertise in plain TeX and also some in LaTeX (if this helps). Thanks in advance -- Marcin Borkowski (http://mbork.pl) - Is it a Perl program or a Perl script? - Well, a script is what you give the actors. A program is what you give the audience. (Larry Wall)
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Hi Marcin, On Sat, 18 Oct 2008, Marcin Borkowski wrote:
Hi,
assume that I would like to read some parts of the ConTeXt source (to learn something interesting, to learn how to do that-and-that in ConTeXt, or just for fun;)). Where do I start? I mean: what is the non-terribly-difficult way for the beginner? I have rather good expertise in plain TeX and also some in LaTeX (if this helps).
Start by reading http://wiki.contextgarden.net/System_Macros This would explain how basic programming structures in Context work. Since you know plain tex, you can also read syst-gen.tex. Most of it is fairly straight forward. Then I would suggest that you start with some functionality that you use fairly often, and see how it is implemented in ConTeXt (don't start with section heads, they are the most convoluted ConTeXt macros). Most of ConTeXt source code is fairly easy to read. Also see http://archive.contextgarden.net/message/20080721.165918.1ce40456.en.html Aditya
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Dnia Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 06:17:35PM -0400, Aditya Mahajan napisał(a):
Hi Marcin,
On Sat, 18 Oct 2008, Marcin Borkowski wrote:
Hi,
assume that I would like to read some parts of the ConTeXt source (to learn something interesting, to learn how to do that-and-that in ConTeXt, or just for fun;)). Where do I start? I mean: what is the non-terribly-difficult way for the beginner? I have rather good expertise in plain TeX and also some in LaTeX (if this helps).
Start by reading http://wiki.contextgarden.net/System_Macros
Wow, I've just looked into this and it seems it's great - I hope I'll finally be able to actually understand some parts of ConTeXt!
This would explain how basic programming structures in Context work. Since you know plain tex, you can also read syst-gen.tex. Most of it is fairly straight forward.
I saw that this file seems to have some provisions for "pretty printing" (i.e., nice formatting by TeX/ConTeXt). How do I typeset it? (It will be more convenient to read than a bare text file, I guess.)
Then I would suggest that you start with some functionality that you use fairly often, and see how it is implemented in ConTeXt (don't start with section heads, they are the most convoluted ConTeXt macros). Most of ConTeXt source code is fairly easy to read.
I'll try it!
Also see http://archive.contextgarden.net/message/20080721.165918.1ce40456.en.html
Thanks, too!
Aditya
Thanks a lot!!! -- Marcin Borkowski (http://mbork.pl)
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On Sat, 18 Oct 2008, Marcin Borkowski wrote:
Dnia Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 06:17:35PM -0400, Aditya Mahajan napisał(a):
On Sat, 18 Oct 2008, Marcin Borkowski wrote:
This would explain how basic programming structures in Context work. Since you know plain tex, you can also read syst-gen.tex. Most of it is fairly straight forward.
I saw that this file seems to have some provisions for "pretty printing" (i.e., nice formatting by TeX/ConTeXt). How do I typeset it? (It will be more convenient to read than a bare text file, I guess.)
Usually you can do (in a temp dir) texexec --modules --color kpse:syst-gen.tex to get a typeset pdf. Also look at the link that Luigi sent. He has already typeset *all* the source files of ConTeXt are arranged them in a nice, easy to browse format. Aditya
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On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 12:01 AM, Marcin Borkowski < mbork@atos.wmid.amu.edu.pl> wrote:
Hi,
assume that I would like to read some parts of the ConTeXt source (to learn something interesting, to learn how to do that-and-that in ConTeXt, or just for fun;)). Where do I start? I mean: what is the non-terribly-difficult way for the beginner? I have rather good expertise in plain TeX and also some in LaTeX (if this helps).
Thanks in advance
If you want to see http://groups.foundry.supelec.fr/modules/ -- luigi
participants (3)
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Aditya Mahajan
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luigi scarso
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Marcin Borkowski