Re: ConTeXt + asymptote

[Hans Hagen <pragma@wxs.nl>]

John Bowman wrote:
> In regard to adding support for ConTeXt or plain TeX to Asymptote, it
> should be no problem to do this, but perhaps someone on this list can help
> provide some preliminary information, particularly regarding item 1 below
> on how best to rotate text at an arbitrary angle. Also, since I am not sure
> what the precise planned use of a plain tex/ConTeXt engine here is, it isn't
> clear to me whether the miniltx solution below would be an acceptable solution.
>   
i cannot answer for other users but i guess that they want a more 
integrated approach, i.e. include a code in the doc source, write style 
info at runtime, etc

latex and context differ too much

from what users wrote to this list, i understood that much tex related 
stuff in asymptote is hard coded, so it's probably enough when all the 
strings (in the c source) that now contain latex code can be configured;

there is no need for you to look into context, when things can be 
configured, the users will do that for you
> Perhaps someone can also explain why so many context users are interested in
> this feature? Why exactly can't they let Asymptote do its typesetting with
> latex behind the scenes and then import the resulting ps or pdf files in
> context? Is the issue just that latex might not be installed? If so, the
>   
indeed, esp when they use the so called minimal distributions;
> miniltx style file (which appears to be part of plain tex) seems like a
> viable and simple solution.
>
> In regard to the remark I saw posted about "monster eps" files, use the 
> -aZ option and you will see that Asymptote output files are as compact as
> those of MetaPost. If you want tex labels, you have to process MetaPost output
> through dvips, etc. Asymptote simply does this automatically, perhaps giving
> some users the illusion that Asymptote files are bigger. In other words, you
> should compare the final postscript files that MetaPost produces, not the
> intermediate ones (I recall that there is a MetaPost command for running
> MetaPost output through dvips too).
>   
in context dvips is not used for mp graphics; context comes with an 
integrated mp output parser; this means that integration is also 
efficient (handy when you have a couple of hundred mp graphics) esp with 
regards to resources

i suppose that others can comment on the rest of your mail

Hans

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