French and PS fonts support + migration

French and PS fonts support + migration

[Damien WYART]

Dear ConTeXt users,

Currently trying to switch from LaTeX to ConTeXt (using mainly
<http://berend.gameren.nl/tex/LaTeX2ConTeXt.pdf>,and some ConTeXt
docs), I have a few questions :

- I am mainly writing in French ; I think there is no direct support
  for this language (even in latest beta). If I remember well, Denis
  Roegel had begun to work on this. Could you tell me the status of
  French support in ConTeXt ? Are guillemets correctly handled ? If
  there is no such support, I will not switch at once.

- I use bibTeX. I got the latest m-bib (june 2001), but I think there
  were unsolved problems with it ; is this module really usable and
  maintained ?

- I have played a bit with fonts in LaTeX and installed some PS Type1
  fonts with fontinst (even tried to play MM fonts, but stopped before
  really making them work). Is this reusable with ConTeXt ? Is there a
  special installation procedure ?

- I think Thanh's typographical extensions are directly supported in
  ConTeXt (are they ?). I have not really played with them, due to
  lack of examples. Could someone provide help about this ?

- I think many things have changed in the latest betas. What I would
  like to have is a test file where I could type in french, with an
  already installed font (say Adobe Garamond), using maximal refinment
  from Thanh and bibliograic files. Is it feasible ? It would really
  make me *want* to switch rapidly from LaTeX.

Many thanks for helping me having a smooth transition.
-- 
Damien Wyart

Re: French and PS fonts support + migration

[Hans Hagen]

At 01:40 PM 8/22/2001 +0200, Damien WYART wrote:
>Dear ConTeXt users,
>
>Currently trying to switch from LaTeX to ConTeXt (using mainly
><http://berend.gameren.nl/tex/LaTeX2ConTeXt.pdf>,and some ConTeXt
>docs), I have a few questions :
>
>- I am mainly writing in French ; I think there is no direct support
>   for this language (even in latest beta). If I remember well, Denis
>   Roegel had begun to work on this. Could you tell me the status of
>   French support in ConTeXt ? Are guillemets correctly handled ? If
>   there is no such support, I will not switch at once.

there is a rough il1 regime now which for most cases should work

guillemots should not be a problem, but i need to know escapes

>- I use bibTeX. I got the latest m-bib (june 2001), but I think there
>   were unsolved problems with it ; is this module really usable and
>   maintained ?

both, since taco uses it for typesetting scientific stuff from kluwer; we 
will probably add a xml interface later this year, next year

>- I have played a bit with fonts in LaTeX and installed some PS Type1
>   fonts with fontinst (even tried to play MM fonts, but stopped before
>   really making them work). Is this reusable with ConTeXt ? Is there a
>   special installation procedure ?

fonts are supported, see relatively new manual mfonts.pdf on our site; 
existing fonts should work ok when set up properly, and you can expect 
quite some new font support pretty soon [tested now]; i really want users 
to use the (free) fonts that are around

mm is no problem [using it now in some projects], but beware: adob eno 
longer supports is [will show up again in open type]

>- I think Thanh's typographical extensions are directly supported in
>   ConTeXt (are they ?). I have not really played with them, due to
>   lack of examples. Could someone provide help about this ?

protruding is supported, and hz will be soon [than is still fixing some 
loose ends]; for protruding + examples see mfonts.pdf

>- I think many things have changed in the latest betas. What I would
>   like to have is a test file where I could type in french, with an
>   already installed font (say Adobe Garamond), using maximal refinment
>   from Thanh and bibliograic files. Is it feasible ? It would really
>   make me *want* to switch rapidly from LaTeX.

actually, the biggest change was the new typescript font layer; once 
stablem this should give downward compatibility to some of the old font-* 
styles, but more important, it will permit pretty hefty mixture of fonts 
[due to proper namespace support] and simple definitions with relative 
scaling.

So, if you have input on french, i'll add it asap; the framework is there 
already.

Hans
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE | pragma@wxs.nl
                       Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands
  tel: +31 (0)38 477 53 69 | fax: +31 (0)38 477 53 74 | www.pragma-ade.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Re: French and PS fonts support + migration

[Damien WYART]

* Hans Hagen <pragma@wxs.nl> [010822 14:28]:

> there is a rough il1 regime now which for most cases should work
> guillemots should not be a problem, but i need to know escapes So, if
> you have input on french, i'll add it asap; the framework is there
> already.

I will wait until Denis Roegel is back from USA to talk about all this.
I know he has made some code pieces.

> fonts are supported, see relatively new manual mfonts.pdf on our site;
> existing fonts should work ok when set up properly, and you can expect
> quite some new font support pretty soon [tested now]; i really want
> users to use the (free) fonts that are around

I am impatient to test these new features !

> mm is no problem [using it now in some projects],

But is it supported directly by ConTeXt, or do we have to hack with
Ghostscript or ATM (a pain when on Unix) as with LaTeX ?

> protruding is supported, and hz will be soon [than is still fixing
> some loose ends]

OK, I look forward testing that too...
-- 
Damien Wyart

Re: French and PS fonts support + migration

[Hans Hagen]

At 06:00 PM 8/22/2001 +0200, Damien WYART wrote:

> > mm is no problem [using it now in some projects],
>
>But is it supported directly by ConTeXt, or do we have to hack with
>Ghostscript or ATM (a pain when on Unix) as with LaTeX ?

hm. i didn't use atm, just the mmutil stuff is enough; the biggest deal is 
the naming

given typeface.tex with lines like:

\starttypescript [sans] [myriad] [name]

   \definefontsynonym [Sans]            [Myriad]
   \definefontsynonym [SansBold]        [MyriadBold]
   \definefontsynonym [SansItalic]      [MyriadItalic]
   \definefontsynonym [SansBoldItalic]  [MyriadBoldItalic]
   \definefontsynonym [SansSlanted]     [MyriadItalic]
   \definefontsynonym [SansBoldSlanted] [MyriadBoldItalic]
   \definefontsynonym [SansCaps]        [Myriad]

\stoptypescript

\starttypescript [sans] [myriad] [texnansi]

   \definefontsynonym [Myriad]           [myriad-400-600]        [encoding=ec]
   \definefontsynonym [MyriadBold]       [myriad-700-600]        [encoding=ec]
   \definefontsynonym [MyriadItalic]     [myriad-italic-400-600] [encoding=ec]
   \definefontsynonym [MyriadBoldItalic] [myriad-italic-700-600] [encoding=ec]

\stoptypescript

and a document style with:

\usetypescriptfile[typeface]

\definetypeface [mainface] [ss] [sans]  [myriad] [default] [encoding=ec]

should give you

\mainface\ss Multi Mastered Text

Hans
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE | pragma@wxs.nl
                       Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands
  tel: +31 (0)38 477 53 69 | fax: +31 (0)38 477 53 74 | www.pragma-ade.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Re: French and PS fonts support + migration

[Denis B. Roegel]

> I will wait until Denis Roegel is back from USA to talk about all this.
> I know he has made some code pieces.

Now, everybody will know where I hide... :-)

Actually, I only wrote the rough version of il1 that I submitted
to Hans. I have really not done anything yet for French.

Denis

Re: French and PS fonts support + migration

[Damien WYART]

* "Denis B. Roegel" <Denis.Roegel@loria.fr> [010822 19:08]:

> > I will wait until Denis Roegel is back from USA to talk about all
> > this. I know he has made some code pieces.

> Now, everybody will know where I hide... :-)

Oops ! ;-)

> Actually, I only wrote the rough version of il1 that I submitted to
> Hans. I have really not done anything yet for French.

We'll rediscuss this when you return... I really want to switch to
ConTeXt as soon as possible.
-- 
Damien

Re: French and PS fonts support + migration

[Damien WYART]

* "Denis B. Roegel" <Denis.Roegel@loria.fr> [010822 19:08]:

> > I will wait until Denis Roegel is back from USA to talk about all
> > this. I know he has made some code pieces.

> Now, everybody will know where I hide... :-)

Oops ! ;-)

> Actually, I only wrote the rough version of il1 that I submitted to
> Hans. I have really not done anything yet for French.

We'll rediscuss this when you return... I really want to switch to
ConTeXt as soon as possible.
-- 
Damien