List of Symbols/Abbreviations/Glosses with more then two entries
The synonym "sym" defined by \definesynonyms[sym][syms][\symdesc] can take 2 entries by default: \sym[<RefName>]{<ShortName>}{<LongName>} For theses and whitepapers in the natural sciences and in engineering it is needed to introduce another entry for the unit: \sym[<RefName>]{<ShortName>}{<Unit>}{<LongName>} (<-- This does of course not compile, take it as a feature request) e.g. \sym[Salpha]{\alpha\ }{$[W~m^{-2}~K^{-1}]$}{Heat Transfer Coefficient} where \sym[Salpha]{\alpha\ }{$[W~m^{-2}~K^{-1}]$ Heat Transfer Coefficient} cannot be a good workaround since \symdesc{Salpha} should not include the unit. And of course I want the unit entry to be in a separate column when calling \placelistofsynonyms[sym] In LaTeX I accomplished this with glossaries and glossary-mcols. Is there some neat trick to get this behaviour "the ConTeXt way" (maybe with some Lua + *.aux)? The next step would be to define the table headers of the list of symbols such as "Symbol \NC Unit \NC Description"... Thanks in advance and kind regards, Thomas
Since there has not been a response (and since I am still unhappy with the limitations of \definesynonyms) I came up with my own solution which is included in this mail. The code provides a fully automated handling of symbols. I think this might be useful for a lot of people in engineering, physics, etc.. It should be more generalized and packed into a module though.
Kind regards,
Thomas
% Document Layout
\setupcolors[state=start]
\setuppapersize[A4][A4]
% Typography
\setupwhitespace[medium]
\setupindenting[no]
\setupbodyfont[sans, 11pt]
% PDF Output Adjustments
\setupinteraction[state=start, focus=standard, style=, click=yes, color=, contrastcolor=,]
% Units
\defineunit[sunit][separator=small]
\setupunit[space=medium]
\setuphead[section][style={\bfc}, before={\bigskip}, after={}]
% Lua code to set up a database of symbols
\definedescription[SymItem][]
\startluacode
userdata = userdata or {}
userdata.listofsymbols = {} -- hash table with all symbols of the form keyword:{symbol, {unit=... , description=...}}
function userdata.addsym(keyword, symbol, option) -- parses the input and adds an entry to the hash table
keywords = utilities.parsers.settings_to_array(keyword)
symbols = utilities.parsers.settings_to_array(symbol)
options = utilities.parsers.settings_to_hash(option)
userdata.listofsymbols[keywords[1]] = {symbols[1], options}
end
function userdata.getsym(keyword) -- prints the symbol to a given keyword
context.math(userdata.listofsymbols[keyword][1])
end
function userdata.symattr(keyword, attribute) -- prints whatever attribute of the symbol (its unit, description, ...)
context(userdata.listofsymbols[keyword][2][attribute])
end
function userdata.sorttable(t,o) -- sorting algorithm: hash table gets inserted to an indexed array which then can be indexed by the iterator
local a = {}
for n in pairs(t) do
table.insert(a, n)
end
if o then
table.sort(a, function(a,b) return o(t, a, b) end)
else
table.sort(a)
end
local i = 0
local iterator = function ()
i = i + 1
return a[i], t[a[i]]
end
return iterator
end
function userdata.placelistofsymbols() -- prints the List of Symbols
greekgroup = {}
latingroup = {}
for keyword, values in next, userdata.listofsymbols do -- devides the symbol list into greek and latin letters
if values[2]["group"] == "greek" then
greekgroup[keyword] = values
elseif values[2]["group"] == "latin" then
latingroup[keyword] = values
end
end
context.setuptabulate{distance="1ex"}
context.starttabulate{"|lw(0.18\\textwidth)|lw(0.18\\textwidth)|p(0.6\\textwidth)|"}
context.NC()
context.bf() context("Symbol")
context.NC()
context.bf() context("Unit")
context.NC()
context.bf() context("Description")
context.NC()
context.FR()
context.HL()
function printlistitem(keyword, values)
context.NC()
context.startSymItem({reference="sym:"..keyword, title=values[1]})
context.math(values[1])
context.stopSymItem()
context.NC()
context(values[2]["unit"])
context.NC()
context(values[2]["description"])
context.NC()
context.MR()
end
for keyword, values in userdata.sorttable(greekgroup, function(t,a,b) return string.lower(a) < string.lower(b) end) do -- sorting algorithm uses the "<"-comparator to compare the keys a and b
printlistitem(keyword, values)
end
context.TB{"2ex"}
for keyword, values in userdata.sorttable(latingroup, function(t,a,b) return string.lower(a) < string.lower(b) end) do
printlistitem(keyword, values)
end
context.stoptabulate()
end
\stopluacode
% Create the hook to the lua functions
\def\addsym[#1][#2][#3]{\ctxlua{userdata.addsym([==[#1]==], [==[#2]==], [==[#3]==])}}
\def\getsym[#1]{\ctxlua{userdata.getsym([==[#1]==])}}
\def\symattr[#1][#2]{\ctxlua{userdata.symattr([==[#1]==], [==[#2]==])}}
% Print a symbol with \sym[keyword]. Printed as an internal link to the entry in the List of Symbols via \goto{symbol}[sym:keyword]
\def\sym[#1]{\goto{\getsym[#1]}[sym:#1]}
% Create a database containing all symbols with \addsym[keyword][symbol][options]
\def\loadsymbols{
\addsym[beta][\beta][unit={\sunit{meter per second}}, description={Mass transfer coefficient}, group={greek}]
\addsym[alpha][\alpha][unit={\sunit{watt per square meter per kelvin}}, description={Heat transfer coefficient}, group={greek}]
\addsym[c][c][unit={\sunit{kilogram per cubic meter}}, description={Concentration}, group={latin}]
\addsym[m][m][unit={\sunit{kilogram}}, description={Mass}, group={latin}]
\addsym[A][A][unit={\sunit{square meter}}, description={Phase boundary interface}, group={latin}]
\addsym[Q][Q][unit={\sunit{joule}}, description={Heat}, group={latin}]
\addsym[T][T][unit={\sunit{kelvin}}, description={Temperature}, group={latin}]
\addsym[t][t][unit={\sunit{second}}, description={Time}, group={latin}]
}
% Print the List of Symbols with \placelistofsymbols
\def\placelistofsymbols{\loadsymbols\ctxlua{userdata.placelistofsymbols()}}
\starttext
\startfrontmatter
\startsubject[title=Content]
\placecontent
\stopsubject
\startsection[title=List of Tables]
\placelistoftables
\stopsection
\startsection[title=List of Symbols]
\placelistofsymbols
\stopsection
\stopfrontmatter
\startbodymatter
\startsection[title=Symbols]
\startsubsection[title=Using the Symbols]
\placeformula
\startsubformulas
\startformula
\startalign
\NC \frac{d\sym[m]}{d\sym[t]} \NC = \sym[beta] \cdot \sym[A] \cdot \Delta \sym[c] \NR[eq:1]
\NC \frac{d\sym[Q]}{d\sym[t]} \NC = \sym[alpha] \cdot \sym[A] \cdot \Delta \sym[T] \NR[eq:2]
\stopalign
\stopformula
\stopsubformulas
This is a reference to \in{equation}{}[eq:1] where the change of \sym[m] is calculated. \sym[beta] is called \quote{\symattr[beta][description]} and its unit is \symattr[beta][unit].
\stopsubsection
\stopsection
\stopbodymatter
\stoptext
________________________________________
Von: Thomas Welter
participants (1)
-
Thomas Welter