metafun 2

[Hans Hagen <j.hagen@xs4all.nl>]

Hi,

In the process of providing an additional (more abstract) interface to 
some of the old and also new MetaFun code we wonder what kind of 
features users would like to see.

http://www.pragma-ade.com/general/magazines/mag-1104-mkiv.pdf

As a teaser I uploaded a MyWay document that shows some of what is 
coming. All is experimental but it shows the direction. We're talking 
ConTeXt LMTX here. For instance,

     draw lmt_outline [
         content       = "hello",
         kind          = "reverse",
         fillcolor     = "darkred",
         drawcolor     = "darkblue",
         rulethickness = 1/2,
     ] ysized h shifted (3.75h,-1.25h) ;

Wraps all the outline drawing in one macro with a set of options (there 
will be xml interface definitions for that). Or take:

     draw lmt_followtext [
         content = "How well does it work {\bf 1}! ",
         path    = (fullcircle scaled 4cm),
         trace   = true,
         spread  = true,
     ] ysized 5cm ;

which is an easier interface to text along a curve. Arrows can be drawn 
with

     draw lmt_arrow [
         kind        = "draw",
         location    = "middle",
         alternative = "curved",
         path        = fullcircle
             scaled  3cm
             shifted (3.5cm,0cm),
     ] withcolor "darkblue" ;

but of course the low level interface with its many variables for 
tweaking stays around. Other examples are shown in the mentioned document.

So the question is: What do you miss in metapost support? Of course it 
should fit within the concept, so 'artistic freehand drawings' is not 
something that is likely to get interfaced. We are particularly 
interested in educational applications, if only because ConTeXt started 
out that way.

Hans



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                                           Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE
               Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands
        tel: 038 477 53 69 | www.pragma-ade.nl | www.pragma-pod.nl
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