Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Werners-Lucchini]

On 18 Apr 2008 at 12:00, ntg-context-request@ntg.nl wrote:

Hallo Wolfgang,

> I still wait for comments about the user interface to set the
> values before I will release my module to the public although my last
> stable version is only available.

I still use the LaTeX class scrlttr2 for my letters.
I use adress files bundled with that class. Adresses are macros and 
selected by a string-key.

Maybe it would be nice, if there could be a interface to such a key 
and a lua-function (which defaults to return) taking this key as 
argument. So everybody can write his own adress-import function.

Just an idea.

Grusz, Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 8:40 PM, Wolfgang Werners-Lucchini
<wwl@musensturm.de> wrote:
> On 18 Apr 2008 at 12:00, ntg-context-request@ntg.nl wrote:
>
> Hallo Wolfgang,
>
> > I still wait for comments about the user interface to set the
> > values before I will release my module to the public although my last
> > stable version is only available.
>
> I still use the LaTeX class scrlttr2 for my letters.
> I use adress files bundled with that class. Adresses are macros and
> selected by a string-key.

I know the \adrentry for scrlltr and could add this function but not
at the moment and only as letter extension.

> Maybe it would be nice, if there could be a interface to such a key
> and a lua-function (which defaults to return) taking this key as
> argument. So everybody can write his own adress-import function.

You should also take a look into Hans correspondence [1] manual,
I prefer to make something based on a xml database on it is possible
to write serial letters as told in the manual bot not to use some
information for just one letter.

I will add it on my todo list.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Antoine Junod]

"Wolfgang Schuster" <schuster.wolfgang@googlemail.com> writes:

> On Sat, Apr 19, 2008 at 1:49 PM, Antoine Junod <toto@tots-ns.net> wrote:
>> "Wolfgang Schuster" <schuster.wolfgang@googlemail.com> writes:
>>
>> >> >  > The discussion
>> >> >  >
>> >> >  > Before I start to give you information about my module and
>> >> >  > give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
>> >> >  > about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
>> >> >  > write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).
>> >>
>> >> [...]
>> >>
>> >> But with a « great letter module » (with french positions, of course :))…
>> >
>> > Show me a few example or give me values for the positions (address block,
>> > opening, line distance etc.)
>>
>> I use myself the lettre (and not letter :) package [1] for LaTeX. It
>> is easy to use, clean but maybe a bit old in the way to do things
>> (mainly because of the 'Concerne' stuff). But it gives a good example
>> of how have to be letters in Suisse Romande and France.
>>
>> [1] http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/entries/lettre.html
>
> Hi Antoine,
>
> I will made a still based on the examples in the manual.

Thanks you chief :)

A+
-AJ
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Sat, Apr 19, 2008 at 1:49 PM, Antoine Junod <toto@tots-ns.net> wrote:
> "Wolfgang Schuster" <schuster.wolfgang@googlemail.com> writes:
>
> >> >  > The discussion
> >> >  >
> >> >  > Before I start to give you information about my module and
> >> >  > give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
> >> >  > about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
> >> >  > write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).
> >>
> >> [...]
> >>
> >> But with a « great letter module » (with french positions, of course :))…
> >
> > Show me a few example or give me values for the positions (address block,
> > opening, line distance etc.)
>
> I use myself the lettre (and not letter :) package [1] for LaTeX. It
> is easy to use, clean but maybe a bit old in the way to do things
> (mainly because of the 'Concerne' stuff). But it gives a good example
> of how have to be letters in Suisse Romande and France.
>
> [1] http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/entries/lettre.html

Hi Antoine,

I will made a still based on the examples in the manual.

I have to add also french labels for the reference line.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Sat, Apr 19, 2008 at 6:35 PM, Wolfgang Werners-Lucchini
<wwl@musensturm.de> wrote:
> On 19 Apr 2008 at 14:41, ntg-context-request@ntg.nl wrote:
>
> > > I still use the LaTeX class scrlttr2 for my letters.
> > > I use adress files bundled with that class. Adresses are macros
> > > and selected by a string-key.
> >
> > I know the \adrentry for scrlltr and could add this function but
> > not at the moment and only as letter extension.
> >
> > > Maybe it would be nice, if there could be a interface to such a key
> > > and a lua-function (which defaults to return) taking this key as
> > > argument. So everybody can write his own adress-import function.
> >
> > You should also take a look into Hans correspondence [1] manual,
> > I prefer to make something based on a xml database on it is possible
> > to write serial letters as told in the manual bot not to use some
> > information for just one letter.
> >
> > I will add it on my todo list.
>
> The idea was NOT to use THIS or THAT adress format.
> Instead implementing something like a generic import interface.

Hi Wolfgang,

I took a look into the default definition for \adrentry and it simple
to add it to the module, a interface for different formats would be
indeed the optimum but I should first finish the interface.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Werners-Lucchini]

On 19 Apr 2008 at 14:41, ntg-context-request@ntg.nl wrote:

> > I still use the LaTeX class scrlttr2 for my letters.
> > I use adress files bundled with that class. Adresses are macros
> > and selected by a string-key.
> 
> I know the \adrentry for scrlltr and could add this function but
> not at the moment and only as letter extension.
> 
> > Maybe it would be nice, if there could be a interface to such a
> key
> > and a lua-function (which defaults to return) taking this key as
> > argument. So everybody can write his own adress-import function.
> 
> You should also take a look into Hans correspondence [1] manual,
> I prefer to make something based on a xml database on it is
> possible
> to write serial letters as told in the manual bot not to use some
> information for just one letter.
> 
> I will add it on my todo list.

The idea was NOT to use THIS or THAT adress format.
Instead implementing something like a generic import interface.

Gruß, Wolfgang

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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Antoine Junod]

"Wolfgang Schuster" <schuster.wolfgang@googlemail.com> writes:

>> >  > The discussion
>> >  >
>> >  > Before I start to give you information about my module and
>> >  > give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
>> >  > about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
>> >  > write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).
>>
>> [...]
>>
>> But with a « great letter module » (with french positions, of course :))…
>
> Show me a few example or give me values for the positions (address block,
> opening, line distance etc.)

I use myself the lettre (and not letter :) package [1] for LaTeX. It
is easy to use, clean but maybe a bit old in the way to do things
(mainly because of the 'Concerne' stuff). But it gives a good example
of how have to be letters in Suisse Romande and France.

My 2 cents worth,
A+
-AJ

[1] http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/entries/lettre.html
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

Hi Willi,

> I will try to provide you with something. The difficulty is, that I
> do not have LaTeX running. So please some patience.

You could also draw something by hand and add values for
the distance from the top or left margin and the height and
width for the fields.

Take a look at the following examples:

http://www.din-5008-richtlinien.de/musterbriefboegen.php

Link: "englische Version" on page 180
http://www.komascript.de/scrdoc/

You could use both examples as template and I dont need
so many values.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Willi Egger]

Hi Wolfgang,

I will try to provide you with something. The difficulty is, that I  
do not have LaTeX running. So please some patience.

Kind regards

Willi


On Apr 18, 2008, at 10:13 AM, Wolfgang Schuster wrote:

> Can you show me a few example letters with values for all fields,
> I saw a few in Hans letter documentation [1]

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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 9:50 AM, Willi Egger <w.egger@boede.nl> wrote:
> Hi Wolfgang,
>
> First of all thanks for this initiative! - Until now I composed a
> letter based on a "template" I build one day. Nothing special though.

I started also with mayn hard coded values and only a few parameters
and replaced part by part.

> - Still a module which would allow for writing letters and quotes
> consistently  would make live easier.
> As I am living in the Netherlands, we use commonly block-style
> letters. Will your module provide the possibility to use a header on
> the first page and e.g. a smaller something in the margin on the
> second and following pages? Will your module provide page-numbering
> switched on beginning at the second page if the document is longer
> than 1 page? - This last point is in my environment always a struggle...

Very easy to do with ConTeXt because you could define different
layouts for every page and what I do is to set the headerheight for the
first page to 0pt and set it to another value like 1cm on the second
page. You could now write the pagenumber as headertext because there
is no header on the first page and the pagenumber will start on the
second page.

> The Dutch TeX users group has released on CTAN a ntgclass.zip
> (LaTeX). There are three articles which might help to "enlighten"
> you. Unfortunately two of the three articles are written in Dutch
> (briefdoc.pdf, brief.pdf). In case you intend to include ideas
> contained in this NEN-1026 style letter I am happy to help you
> translating the important parts of those articles.

Can you show me a few example letters with values for all fields,
I saw a few in Hans letter documentation [1] and the works depends
on one point, is the height and position for the reference and address
block fixed or did it depend on the content.

If the fields have a fixed height it is easy to write a style file but if the
height depends on the content a need a little bit more time and I will
implement it in a proper way, I have this problem also with american
block style and a solution should be integrated in a consistent way
with the rest of the module.

> I am looking forward to your module

I still wait for comments about the user interface to set the values
before I will release my module to the public although my last stable
version is only available.

Greetings
Wolfgang

[1] http://www.pragma-ade.com/show-man-29.htm
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Peter Münster]

On Fri, Apr 18 2008, Wolfgang Schuster wrote:

> > I don't know, if lettre.lco is readable for you, so here the idea in
> > clear-text:
> 
> I will try it later today on my system, can you send me a example letter
> before I had to take a look into scrguide.pdf.

I'm sorry, it would be too much work for me, to find the right version of
scrlttr2.cls, that works with my lettre.lco. The file is 5 years old, and I
know that it's no more working for quite some time now.

Nevertheless, here an example, that should work with some old KOMA-version:

\documentclass[lettre]{scrlttr2}
\begin{document}
\begin{letter}{Madame Bla\\Bla bla\\160 rue bla\\72031 Le Mans Cedex 9}
\opening{Madame Bla,}%
\input tufte
\closing{Cordialement,}
\end{letter}
\end{document}

Cheers, Peter

-- 
http://pmrb.free.fr/contact/

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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Willi Egger]

Hi Wolfgang,

First of all thanks for this initiative! - Until now I composed a  
letter based on a "template" I build one day. Nothing special though.  
- Still a module which would allow for writing letters and quotes  
consistently  would make live easier.
As I am living in the Netherlands, we use commonly block-style  
letters. Will your module provide the possibility to use a header on  
the first page and e.g. a smaller something in the margin on the  
second and following pages? Will your module provide page-numbering  
switched on beginning at the second page if the document is longer  
than 1 page? - This last point is in my environment always a struggle...

The Dutch TeX users group has released on CTAN a ntgclass.zip  
(LaTeX). There are three articles which might help to "enlighten"  
you. Unfortunately two of the three articles are written in Dutch  
(briefdoc.pdf, brief.pdf). In case you intend to include ideas  
contained in this NEN-1026 style letter I am happy to help you  
translating the important parts of those articles.

I am looking forward to your module

Kind regards

Willi

On Apr 17, 2008, at 10:13 AM, Wolfgang Schuster wrote:

> Hi all,
>
>
> Preface
>
>
> most of the discussions in the last weeks on the list
> concerned LuaTeX and MkIV with the topic fonts, xml and bugs,
> currently not implemented functions and bug and in the last
> few days also mplib. I will try start with this mail a
> hopefully interesting discuassions wuth many people about the
> current state to use ConTeXt for correspondence in personal
> and business live.
>
>
>
> Introduction
>
>
> Although ConTeXt has many features and can be used for nearly
> every type of document with many features to adapt the layout
> to ones personal requirements we have still a few places where
> something is missing or force us to use another tool. I will
> focus myself for the moment on the missing support for a real
> module to write letter and other correspondence.
>
>
>
> The Past and the present
>
>
> A few modules had been written in the past to write letter but
> wether they are not available like Hans own module or it is to
> complicated to use.
>
> Hans own module m-letter.tex was never included in the main
> distribution and the documentation [1] was never finished but
> it is now possible to find a older version in the list
> archives. The strong point on the module are the possibility
> to change the size and position of the address and reference
> fields but it was nearly impossible to add extra information
> like values for sender or to make big changes in the layout.
>
> The second option to write a letter was and is Holger Schöners
> letterstyle environment [2], he provided a layout for german
> letters with a DIN style and macros to store address and
> sender information. What looked like a good solution to me at
> first glance had also many disadvatages, the names for the
> fields in the refrence line used hard to memorize name like
> \lettersenderkey... and no high level interface to set them.
> Another point to me which prevented me from using the style
> was the hard way to change the layout, the environment
> provided commands to change the values but all was done with
> simple definition and no setup command.
>
> A few user write their own simple setups and environemnts to
> write letter [2,3] but none of them was really confugrable or
> provided a real interface.
>
>
>
> The future
>
>
> The lack of any good soution for this topic forced me to write
> my own letter module for ConTeXt. I started myself with Hans
> letter module and added a extra field to add my own address
> but this was at a time where I was still new to ConTeXt and
> most of the content in m-letter.tex where confusing to me and
> I had problem to adapt the layout to my own requirements.
> After I gained a little bit more knowledge in TeX and ConTeXt
> is started to write a new module from scratch with the option
> to load style files and set the information for the address
> and all other information with a better interface.
>
> After nearly one and a helf years and 2 major revisions I have
> nearly finished my module and would will make it now available
> also to other users. But before I make my last stable version
> online I want to discuss a few points with interested users.
>
>
>
> The discussion
>
>
> Before I start to give you information about my module and
> give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
> about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
> write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).
>
> After this interesting question for me I will now make a few
> information about my module available.
>
> The module use by default the definition for german business
> letters as layout where the position for the address block and
> the reference line are defined. To change the layout for your
> own letter I provide the option to change the default settings
> with the one for all command \setupletterstyle, you could use
> it to set the page layout, the position for the different
> blocks for address and sender information and also for the
> bodyfontsize and parskip and parindent. To use once defined
> for many letter you could save them in so called letterstyle
> files which can be loaded either with the module
> \usemodule[letter][style=...] or within the letter with the
> command \useletterstyle[...].
>
> The lettertext is written between the \startletter ...
> \stopletter environment and it is possible to write in
> adcouemnt as many letters as you want, you could write serial
> letters and use the correspodence modul to save the address
> information in a XMl file.
>
> The values for letter are set with the \setupletter command
> but this is one of the still open points, the current
> implemtation requires sometimes to many lines for just a few
> information and I plan to replace it with a simpler system.
>
> Take the following minimal example
>
> \usemodule[letter]
>
> \setupletter
>   [sender]
>   [name={Mike Meiers},
>    address={Mustergasse 12\\25694 Musterstadt}]
>
> \setupletter
>   [address]
>   [name={Hans Hansen},
>    address={Zielweg 34\\78561 Tiny Town}]
>
> \starttext
>
> \startletter
>   [opening={Dear Hans,}]
>
> letter text
>
> \stopletter
>
> \stoptext
>
> As you can see the opening for the letter is set as optional
> argument for \startletter because it is also possible to write
> it in the long form \setupletter[data][opening=...] but a
> simpler system could be usefull especially if you want to set
> only text for address and something like
> \setupletter[fromname=...,address=...] or
> \setlettervalue[address]{...} are options to replace the
> current solution.
>
> Before I release I first public bety version of the modul I
> want to hear which interface to set the letter information do
> you prefer and do you have things do want in the module. I
> could provide more ready to use layout for the module (like
> block style for americal letter) but I need information about
> the layout and the position for the fields.
>
>
> Wolfgang Schuster
>
> [1] http://www.pragma-ade.com/show-man-29.htm
> [2] http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Letter_style
> [3] http://www.tug.org/pracjourn/2006-3/hogg/
> ______________________________________________________________________ 
> _____________
> If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an  
> entry to the Wiki!
>
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> ______________________________________________________________________ 
> _____________

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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 5:32 PM, Henning Hraban Ramm <hraban@fiee.net> wrote:
> Am 2008-04-17 um 16:32 schrieb Wolfgang Schuster:
> >> I normally use InDesign for my business letters and invoices.
> > Dou you use a template for your letters.
>
> Not an InDesign template file (.idt), but a single document (with
> master pages) for every purpose (German/Swiss/English, letter/
> invoice, private/business) that I overwrite every time. (I save a
> copy if the matter is important.)
>
> > LaTeX has two packages to create invoices and we could also
> > have one for ConTeXt but it makes only sense to use it with LuaTeX,
> > TeX's arithmetic to limited for longer calculations.
>
> For other purposes I simply write my TeX code with a script, mostly
> only one file that contains the "dynamical" data and gets included.
>
> E.g.
> - cover for backup CD/DVDs (that script even has a GUI - it reads a
> disk; shows the directory tree, so you can select which parts you'd
> like to be visible; writes a TeX file; calls ConTeXt and opens the PDF)
>
> - my address book (pulls and formats data from a MySQL database)
>
> - business cards for one big company (I receive an Excel file with
> personnel data, save it as CSV and "convert" that to ConTeXt, PDF
> with one page per person gets imposed and printed on cardboard with
> pre-printed logo)
>
> >> Another problem were different letter heads for first, odd and even
> >> pages.
> >
> > Different header for the first and another one for the following
> > headers
> > is simple and possible with my module. The option to change the layout
> > for odd and even pages is currently not supported but should be
> > possible but it has to be integrated in the normal interface.
>
> My sheets have a pre-printed logo, I use the same for all pages of a
> letter.
>
> On the first page I need address and bank data.

Easy to do with layers,option state=start.

> On even pages (back side) there's no logo, so I don't need the big
> top border.

Harder to implement because I hide the layers from the user and
I don't know hoe I could support the doublesided option but it is
possible to one special layers (lefthead/righthead) for just this feature.

> Normally I leave out the first even page, e.g. my job application
> starts with an one-side letter, the following data (CV, references
> etc.) uses front and back page.

Different layouts for left and right pages are not supported because
letters are normally printed singlesided or the header has only on
the first page a different layout but this could be related to the
restrictions in Word why I newver saw this.

CV's are another topic and it makes sense to use a seperate
environment for them, this is what I did for myself.

> The application had the additional difficulty that there's the photo
> on the CV page, and I wanted the title in white *on* the photo...

I don't get what you mean, can you give me a example.

> At least in the "online" PDF - I used modes to produce both printed
> version (without logo, because that's pre-printed on my sheets) and
> email version (with logo)

\startmode[print]

\setupletterstyle[header=no]

\stopmode

> >> (It would have been *much* easier to use InDesign for that stuff,
> >> like for most other designs that I do...)
> >
> > This is also possible with ConTeXt because you could setup layers
> > to place content dependent on left and right pages and the page layout
> > could also change for left and right pages as long as you don't change
> > the text width.
>
> I used layers and setups, but I had difficulties switching them on
> and off. And what not - can't remember everything.

A few things are easy and I can do basic things without any manuals but
advanced layouts are only possible with the source and trial and error.

It is even harder to place layers if you want to fix them on lines in grid mode
in the text with frames a content for the layer.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 8:51 AM, Peter Münster <pmlists@free.fr> wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 18 2008, Wolfgang Schuster wrote:
>
> > > Then, for some reason that I forgot, I switched to scrlttr2.cls. And I
> > > patched it to get the same minimum-50%-feature. Unfortunately, this patch is
> > > no more working with recent versions of scrlttr2...
> > > (-> http://pmrb.free.fr/work/OS/LaTeX/lettre.lco )
> > >
> > > I would welcome such a feature in your module!
> >
> > I dont't have such a feature in the module I find it interesting.
> >
> > Page breaks before the signature can still happen at the moment
> > because I hadn't done anything against this problem but it is on
> > my Todo list.
>
> I don't know, if lettre.lco is readable for you, so here the idea in
> clear-text:

I will try it later today on my system, can you send me a example letter
before I had to take a look into scrguide.pdf.

> - some vertical spaces (for example around the opening, between paragraphs,
>  around the subject line, etc) can be decreased or increased by a global
>  stretch-value (called "tension" in my file)
> - at the first texexec run, this value has to be reset to 0
> - if the last page gets filled to <50%, then trigger a next texexec-run,
>  with a decremented stretch-value for a filling <25% and an incremented
>  value for a filling >25%, until the last page is filled to >50%.

Sounds interesting.

> I think, there is already a command like \savetwopassdata or similar, so it
> should be easy with ConTeXt. If you want, I can try to integrate this
> feature after your public release.

Hans posted at the end of 2007 (or begin 2008) a example to optimize the
output and will try to integrate it.

The feature can be enable with \setupletterstyle[optimize=yes] or a similar
key name.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Peter Münster]

On Fri, Apr 18 2008, Wolfgang Schuster wrote:

> > Then, for some reason that I forgot, I switched to scrlttr2.cls. And I
> > patched it to get the same minimum-50%-feature. Unfortunately, this patch is
> > no more working with recent versions of scrlttr2...
> > (-> http://pmrb.free.fr/work/OS/LaTeX/lettre.lco )
> >
> > I would welcome such a feature in your module!
> 
> I dont't have such a feature in the module I find it interesting.
> 
> Page breaks before the signature can still happen at the moment
> because I hadn't done anything against this problem but it is on
> my Todo list.

I don't know, if lettre.lco is readable for you, so here the idea in
clear-text:
- some vertical spaces (for example around the opening, between paragraphs,
  around the subject line, etc) can be decreased or increased by a global
  stretch-value (called "tension" in my file)
- at the first texexec run, this value has to be reset to 0
- if the last page gets filled to <50%, then trigger a next texexec-run,
  with a decremented stretch-value for a filling <25% and an incremented
  value for a filling >25%, until the last page is filled to >50%.

I think, there is already a command like \savetwopassdata or similar, so it
should be easy with ConTeXt. If you want, I can try to integrate this
feature after your public release.

Cheers, Peter

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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 10:48 PM, Peter Münster <pmlists@free.fr> wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 17 2008, Wolfgang Schuster wrote:
>
> > After nearly one and a helf years and 2 major revisions I have
> > nearly finished my module and would will make it now available
> > also to other users. But before I make my last stable version
> > online I want to discuss a few points with interested users.
>
> Hello Wolfgang,
>
> Already in advance: thank you very much!  With such a module, I can finally
> forget really all about LaTeX. Sometimes I still use scrlttr2.cls and at
> these moments I swear to write a letter module one day. Now I know, that I
> won't need to do this difficult (for me) task.

You're free to your own interface for the module, i.e. it is possible
to change the way to change the user interface. I provide besides
my default interface also one to use the one from Donald Knuth in
the TeXBook and also the interface from Hans Hagens m-letter.

> > Before I start to give you information about my module and
> > give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
> > about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
> > write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).
>
> First, I used lettre.cls (LaTeX class). It has one really great feature:
> the vertical spaces are recalculated at every pass, in order to get a last
> page filled at least to 50%. Without this, you can easily get a second page
> with only the closing and the signature.
>
> Then, for some reason that I forgot, I switched to scrlttr2.cls. And I
> patched it to get the same minimum-50%-feature. Unfortunately, this patch is
> no more working with recent versions of scrlttr2...
> (-> http://pmrb.free.fr/work/OS/LaTeX/lettre.lco )
>
> I would welcome such a feature in your module!

I dont't have such a feature in the module I find it interesting.

Page breaks before the signature can still happen at the moment
because I hadn't done anything against this problem but it is on
my Todo list.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 5:34 PM, Henning Hraban Ramm <hraban@fiee.net> wrote:
> Am 2008-04-17 um 17:08 schrieb Wolfgang Schuster:
> >> You need a closing ("Sincerely,") and signature, and don't forget
> >> enough
> >> topspace to accommodate a company logo/letterhead :-)
> >
> > You set closing and signature also with the optional argument for
> > \startletter
> >
> > \startletter
> >   [opening=Dear Idris\textcomma,
> >    closing=Sincerely\textcomma,
> >    signature=Wolfgang Schuster]
>
> Would you support an externalfigure for the signature?
>
> e.g.
>
> Yours,
> [my fancy signature graphics]
> Henning Hraban Ramm

You could write

\setupletter
  [data]
  [signature={\externalfigure[my_fancy_signature][height=2\lineheight]}]

Greetings
Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Peter Münster]

On Thu, Apr 17 2008, Taco Hoekwater wrote:

>    * Quite a bit of correspondence is invoices and quotes,
>      with automatic calculations in them (VAT etc).

Hello Taco,

Quite funny: Just 3 days ago, I wrote t-invoice.tex for my personal needs,
just 1 command and very very simple:
\startInvoice
\invoiceItem[description=Ballon eau chaude, price={5063,4 + 1115,87}]
\invoiceItem[description=Vase d'expansion, price={386,25}]
\invoiceItem[description=Plan d'implantation du bâtiment, price={257,14}]
\invoiceItem[description=Branchement d'eau, price={2891,62}]
\stopInvoice

\stopInvoice prints the total.



Here the definitions (can be enhanced and/or wikified):

\startluacode
-- namespace
thirddata = thirddata or { }
thirddata.invoices = {}
thirddata.invoices.total = 0
thirddata.invoices.pos = 1

-- get price with right format
-- p: the price
-- return price with right format
function thirddata.invoices.format(p)
	local s = string.format("%.2f", p)
	s = s:gsub("%.", ",")
	return s
end

-- print new item
-- d: the description
-- p: the price
function thirddata.invoices.new_item(d, p)
	thirddata.invoices.total = thirddata.invoices.total + p
	tex.print("\\bTR\\bTD" .. string.format("%03d", thirddata.invoices.pos) ..
		  "\\eTD\\bTD " .. d .. "\\eTD\\bTD " ..
		  thirddata.invoices.format(p) .. "\\eTD\\eTR")
	thirddata.invoices.pos = thirddata.invoices.pos + 1
end
\stopluacode

\def\invoiceItem{\dosingleargument\doinvoiceItem}
\def\doinvoiceItem[#1]{\getparameters[IV][#1]
  \ctxlua{thirddata.invoices.new_item("\IVdescription",
    \ctxlua{local s = string.gsub("\IVprice", ",", "."); tex.print(s)})}}

\def\invoiceTotal{%
  \ctxlua{tex.print(thirddata.invoices.format(thirddata.invoices.total))}}

\def\startInvoice{\start
  \setupTABLE[frame=off,textwidth=\textwidth,option=stretch]
  \setupTABLE[r][first][bottomframe=on]
  \setupTABLE[r][2,last][top=\blank]
  \setupTABLE[c][first,2][align=flushleft]
  \setupTABLE[c][last][align={flushright,lohi}]
  \bTABLE\bTR\bTH Position \eTH\bTH Description \eTH\bTH Prix \eTH\eTR}

\def\stopInvoice{\bTR\bTD[nc=2,align=flushright]Total:\eTD
  \bTD \invoiceTotal\eTD\eTR\eTABLE\stop}


Cheers, Peter

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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Peter Münster]

On Thu, Apr 17 2008, Wolfgang Schuster wrote:

> After nearly one and a helf years and 2 major revisions I have
> nearly finished my module and would will make it now available
> also to other users. But before I make my last stable version
> online I want to discuss a few points with interested users.

Hello Wolfgang,

Already in advance: thank you very much!  With such a module, I can finally
forget really all about LaTeX. Sometimes I still use scrlttr2.cls and at
these moments I swear to write a letter module one day. Now I know, that I
won't need to do this difficult (for me) task.


> Before I start to give you information about my module and
> give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
> about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
> write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).

First, I used lettre.cls (LaTeX class). It has one really great feature:
the vertical spaces are recalculated at every pass, in order to get a last
page filled at least to 50%. Without this, you can easily get a second page
with only the closing and the signature.

Then, for some reason that I forgot, I switched to scrlttr2.cls. And I
patched it to get the same minimum-50%-feature. Unfortunately, this patch is
no more working with recent versions of scrlttr2...
(-> http://pmrb.free.fr/work/OS/LaTeX/lettre.lco )

I would welcome such a feature in your module!

Cheers, Peter

-- 
http://pmrb.free.fr/contact/

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___________________________________________________________________________________

Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Gour]

[-- Attachment #1.1: Type: text/plain, Size: 517 bytes --]

>>>>> "Wolfgang" == <schuster.wolfgang@googlemail.com> writes:

Wolfgang> LaTeX has two packages to create invoices and we could also
Wolfgang> have one for ConTeXt but it makes only sense to use it with
Wolfgang> LuaTeX, TeX's arithmetic to limited for longer calculations.

Let me just say that I'd found a use for invoices and letters in ConTeXt
with LuaTeX...


Sincerely,
Gour


-- 

Gour  | Zagreb, Croatia  | GPG key: C6E7162D
----------------------------------------------------------------

[-- Attachment #1.2: Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 196 bytes --]

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/plain, Size: 487 bytes --]

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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Henning Hraban Ramm]

Am 2008-04-17 um 17:08 schrieb Wolfgang Schuster:
>> You need a closing ("Sincerely,") and signature, and don't forget  
>> enough
>> topspace to accommodate a company logo/letterhead :-)
>
> You set closing and signature also with the optional argument for  
> \startletter
>
> \startletter
>   [opening=Dear Idris\textcomma,
>    closing=Sincerely\textcomma,
>    signature=Wolfgang Schuster]

Would you support an externalfigure for the signature?

e.g.

Yours,
[my fancy signature graphics]
Henning Hraban Ramm


Greetlings from Lake Constance!
Hraban
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Henning Hraban Ramm]

Am 2008-04-17 um 16:32 schrieb Wolfgang Schuster:
>> I normally use InDesign for my business letters and invoices.
> Dou you use a template for your letters.

Not an InDesign template file (.idt), but a single document (with  
master pages) for every purpose (German/Swiss/English, letter/ 
invoice, private/business) that I overwrite every time. (I save a  
copy if the matter is important.)

> LaTeX has two packages to create invoices and we could also
> have one for ConTeXt but it makes only sense to use it with LuaTeX,
> TeX's arithmetic to limited for longer calculations.

For other purposes I simply write my TeX code with a script, mostly  
only one file that contains the "dynamical" data and gets included.

E.g.
- cover for backup CD/DVDs (that script even has a GUI - it reads a  
disk; shows the directory tree, so you can select which parts you'd  
like to be visible; writes a TeX file; calls ConTeXt and opens the PDF)

- my address book (pulls and formats data from a MySQL database)

- business cards for one big company (I receive an Excel file with  
personnel data, save it as CSV and "convert" that to ConTeXt, PDF  
with one page per person gets imposed and printed on cardboard with  
pre-printed logo)

>> Another problem were different letter heads for first, odd and even
>> pages.
>
> Different header for the first and another one for the following  
> headers
> is simple and possible with my module. The option to change the layout
> for odd and even pages is currently not supported but should be
> possible but it has to be integrated in the normal interface.

My sheets have a pre-printed logo, I use the same for all pages of a  
letter.

On the first page I need address and bank data.

On even pages (back side) there's no logo, so I don't need the big  
top border.

Normally I leave out the first even page, e.g. my job application  
starts with an one-side letter, the following data (CV, references  
etc.) uses front and back page.

The application had the additional difficulty that there's the photo  
on the CV page, and I wanted the title in white *on* the photo...

At least in the "online" PDF - I used modes to produce both printed  
version (without logo, because that's pre-printed on my sheets) and  
email version (with logo)

>> (It would have been *much* easier to use InDesign for that stuff,
>> like for most other designs that I do...)
>
> This is also possible with ConTeXt because you could setup layers
> to place content dependent on left and right pages and the page layout
> could also change for left and right pages as long as you don't change
> the text width.

I used layers and setups, but I had difficulties switching them on  
and off. And what not - can't remember everything.




Greetlings from Lake Constance!
Hraban
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 4:12 PM, Idris Samawi Hamid
<ishamid@colostate.edu> wrote:
> Hi Wolfgang,
>
> On Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:13:54 -0600, Wolfgang Schuster
> <schuster.wolfgang@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> > Take the following minimal example
> >
> > \usemodule[letter]
> >
> > \setupletter
> >   [sender]
> >   [name={Mike Meiers},
> >    address={Mustergasse 12\\25694 Musterstadt}]
> >
> > \setupletter
> >   [address]
> >   [name={Hans Hansen},
> >    address={Zielweg 34\\78561 Tiny Town}]
> >
> > \starttext
> >
> > \startletter
> >   [opening={Dear Hans,}]
> >
> > letter text
> >
> > \stopletter
> >
> > \stoptext
>
> You need a closing ("Sincerely,") and signature, and don't forget enough
> topspace to accommodate a company logo/letterhead :-)

You set closing and signature also with the optional argument for \startletter

\startletter
  [opening=Dear Idris\textcomma,
   closing=Sincerely\textcomma,
   signature=Wolfgang Schuster]

You could define your own letterhead but by default I use just
name and address from the sender.

> FWIW: Here is the basic structure of my setup (based on someone else's
> work, I forget his name):
> =================
> \protect
>
> %\setuppapersize[A4][A4]
> \setuppapersize[letter][letter]
>
> \setuplayout[header=.5in,
>              topspace=1.37in,
>              backspace=1.5in,
>              footer=0mm,
>              %header=0in,
>              %,width=middle,
>              width=middle,
>                         lines=60,
>              height=middle] % margins etc.
>
> \setupbodyfontenvironment[default][em=italic]
> \setuppagenumbering[state=stop]
>
> \long\def\addresser#1{\leavevmode\blank[1*line]
>                                           \lbox{#1}}
>
> % Defines field for receiver's address and places it at right position.
> \long\def\addressee#1{\rbox{#1}}
>
> % Subject line, in bold face.
> \long\def\lettersubject#1{\blank[2*line]{\BF %Re:
>                                         #1}}
>
> \long\def\letteropening#1{\blank[line]#1} % opening...
>
> \definestartstop
>   [letter]
>   [before={\blank[line]\setupwhitespace[medium]},
>     after={}]
>
> \long\def\letterclosing#1#2{\vbox{\blank[line]#1\blank[3*line]#2}} % and
> the closing formula
>
> \unprotect

Simple but working solution but a formal german requires a little
bit more work because most of the field use fixed positions whereas
blocks styles are written from top to bottom and each field use only
as much space as the text needs.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 4:17 PM, Henning Hraban Ramm <hraban@fiee.net> wrote:
> Am 2008-04-17 um 10:13 schrieb Wolfgang Schuster:
> > Before I start to give you information about my module and
> > give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
> > about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
> > write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).
>
> I normally use InDesign for my business letters and invoices.

Dou you use a template for your letters.

LaTeX has two packages to create invoices and we could also
have one for ConTeXt but it makes only sense to use it with LuaTeX,
TeX's arithmetic to limited for longer calculations.

> But I coded my last job applications completely in ConTeXt and
> adapted Holger Schöner's environment for my needs.
>
> I remember it was not that easy to get my address and logo exactly in
> the same places as in my InDesign template - I use sheets with some
> pre-printed elements.
>
> Another problem were different letter heads for first, odd and even
> pages.

Different header for the first and another one for the following headers
is simple and possible with my module. The option to change the layout
for odd and even pages is currently not supported but should be
possible but it has to be integrated in the normal interface.

> (It would have been *much* easier to use InDesign for that stuff,
> like for most other designs that I do...)

This is also possible with ConTeXt because you could setup layers
to place content dependent on left and right pages and the page layout
could also change for left and right pages as long as you don't change
the text width.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 4:07 PM, Olivier Guéry <nemolivier@gmail.com> wrote:
> >  > Happy to read that I'm not the only one !
> >  > But with a « great letter module » (with french positions, of course :))…
> >
> >  Show me a few example or give me values for the positions (address block,
> >  opening, line distance etc.)
> >
> >  I can only provide solutions if you give me information.
>
> Of course. I must find them… maybe the french association of TeX user.
>
> What do you think about a wiki page about this in order to put all the
> specifications ?

I don't care, you could also send me a picture with boxes and the values
but I created now a page on the wiki http://wiki.contextgarden.net/letter
where you can collcet your information.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Henning Hraban Ramm]

Am 2008-04-17 um 10:13 schrieb Wolfgang Schuster:
> Before I start to give you information about my module and
> give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
> about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
> write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).

I normally use InDesign for my business letters and invoices.

But I coded my last job applications completely in ConTeXt and  
adapted Holger Schöner's environment for my needs.

I remember it was not that easy to get my address and logo exactly in  
the same places as in my InDesign template - I use sheets with some  
pre-printed elements.

Another problem were different letter heads for first, odd and even  
pages.

(It would have been *much* easier to use InDesign for that stuff,  
like for most other designs that I do...)


Greetlings from Lake Constance!
Hraban
---
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https://www.cacert.org (I'm an assurer)

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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Idris Samawi Hamid]

Hi Wolfgang,

On Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:13:54 -0600, Wolfgang Schuster  
<schuster.wolfgang@googlemail.com> wrote:

> Take the following minimal example
>
> \usemodule[letter]
>
> \setupletter
>   [sender]
>   [name={Mike Meiers},
>    address={Mustergasse 12\\25694 Musterstadt}]
>
> \setupletter
>   [address]
>   [name={Hans Hansen},
>    address={Zielweg 34\\78561 Tiny Town}]
>
> \starttext
>
> \startletter
>   [opening={Dear Hans,}]
>
> letter text
>
> \stopletter
>
> \stoptext

You need a closing ("Sincerely,") and signature, and don't forget enough  
topspace to accommodate a company logo/letterhead :-)

FWIW: Here is the basic structure of my setup (based on someone else's  
work, I forget his name):
=================
\protect

%\setuppapersize[A4][A4]
\setuppapersize[letter][letter]

\setuplayout[header=.5in,
              topspace=1.37in,
              backspace=1.5in,
              footer=0mm,
              %header=0in,
              %,width=middle,
              width=middle,
			 lines=60,
              height=middle] % margins etc.
			
\setupbodyfontenvironment[default][em=italic]
\setuppagenumbering[state=stop]

\long\def\addresser#1{\leavevmode\blank[1*line]
					   \lbox{#1}}

% Defines field for receiver's address and places it at right position.
\long\def\addressee#1{\rbox{#1}}

% Subject line, in bold face.
\long\def\lettersubject#1{\blank[2*line]{\BF %Re:
                                         #1}}

\long\def\letteropening#1{\blank[line]#1} % opening...

\definestartstop
   [letter]
   [before={\blank[line]\setupwhitespace[medium]},
     after={}]

\long\def\letterclosing#1#2{\vbox{\blank[line]#1\blank[3*line]#2}} % and  
the closing formula

\unprotect

=================

Best wishes
Idris


-- 
Professor Idris Samawi Hamid, Editor-in-Chief
International Journal of Shi`i Studies
Department of Philosophy
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523

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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Olivier Guéry]

>  > Happy to read that I'm not the only one !
>  > But with a « great letter module » (with french positions, of course :))…
>
>  Show me a few example or give me values for the positions (address block,
>  opening, line distance etc.)
>
>  I can only provide solutions if you give me information.

Of course. I must find them… maybe the french association of TeX user.

What do you think about a wiki page about this in order to put all the
specifications ?

Cheers,
Olivier.

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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

> >  > The discussion
> >  >
> >  > Before I start to give you information about my module and
> >  > give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
> >  > about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
> >  > write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).
> >
> >  This may be a surprise, but I use only oowriter/oocalc
> >  currently. Why?
> >
> >    * I have many different envelopes to cater for, with and
> >      without address windows.
> >
> >    * I sometimes need DIN letters, but sometimes just an
> >      informal note to accompany an item
> >
> >    * Quite a bit of correspondence is invoices and quotes,
> >      with automatic calculations in them (VAT etc).
> >
> >  Most of this can be done in tex/luatex of course, but it
> >  is a lot of effort compared to hitting <enter> a few extra
> >  times in oowriter.  Now, if there was a great letter module
> >  for context .... ;-)
>
> Happy to read that I'm not the only one !
> But with a « great letter module » (with french positions, of course :))…

Show me a few example or give me values for the positions (address block,
opening, line distance etc.)

I can only provide solutions if you give me information.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 2:40 PM, Taco Hoekwater <taco@elvenkind.com> wrote:
>
>
> Wolfgang Schuster wrote:
> >
> > The discussion
> >
> > Before I start to give you information about my module and
> > give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
> > about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
> > write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).
>
> This may be a surprise, but I use only oowriter/oocalc
> currently. Why?
>
>   * I have many different envelopes to cater for, with and
>     without address windows.

This is why I seperate content and layout, the input for the data
and text is always the same but layout and fields/information
depend on the output.

>   * I sometimes need DIN letters, but sometimes just an
>     informal note to accompany an item

Nothing can be more formal than a german letter in DIN style,
lots of rules with fixed values from the typewriter and many
exceptions.

>   * Quite a bit of correspondence is invoices and quotes,
>     with automatic calculations in them (VAT etc).

I already played with a few basic styles but this should go into
a seperate module and should be a MkIV only thing to get
correct values in the output, although MkII is possible but
I won't trust the results.

> Most of this can be done in tex/luatex of course, but it
> is a lot of effort compared to hitting <enter> a few extra
> times in oowriter.  Now, if there was a great letter module
> for context .... ;-)

Hans provides a Example interface for his own interface
but I never got it working for myself but a simple user interface
would be nice.

Ideas for the input are welcome, it is completely independant
from the backend and I could also offer the original interface
from Donal Knuth.

> > Before I release I first public bety version of the modul I
> > want to hear which interface to set the letter information do
> > you prefer and do you have things do want in the module.
>
> I definately would like an easy way to switch envelope
> formats, and automatic page 1 of ... would be nice too.

As I told, saw what you want and I could write a letter style.

The total number of page can be set with subpagenumber and
I tried hard to get it working with MkII and MKIV and spend a few
hours to find the last remaining bugs.

Wolfgang
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Olivier Guéry]

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 2:40 PM, Taco Hoekwater <taco@elvenkind.com> wrote:
>
>
>  Wolfgang Schuster wrote:
>  >
>  > The discussion
>  >
>  > Before I start to give you information about my module and
>  > give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
>  > about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
>  > write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).
>
>  This may be a surprise, but I use only oowriter/oocalc
>  currently. Why?
>
>    * I have many different envelopes to cater for, with and
>      without address windows.
>
>    * I sometimes need DIN letters, but sometimes just an
>      informal note to accompany an item
>
>    * Quite a bit of correspondence is invoices and quotes,
>      with automatic calculations in them (VAT etc).
>
>  Most of this can be done in tex/luatex of course, but it
>  is a lot of effort compared to hitting <enter> a few extra
>  times in oowriter.  Now, if there was a great letter module
>  for context .... ;-)

Happy to read that I'm not the only one !
But with a « great letter module » (with french positions, of course :))…

Olivier.

-- 
[Message tapé sur un clavier Bépo : http://www.clavier-dvorak.org ]
Olivier nemolivier@gmail.com http://nemolivier.blogspot.com
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Arthur Reutenauer]

> This may be a surprise, but I use only oowriter/oocalc
> currently. Why?

 Traitor ;-)
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Re: Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Taco Hoekwater]

Wolfgang Schuster wrote:
> 
> The discussion
> 
> Before I start to give you information about my module and
> give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
> about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
> write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).

This may be a surprise, but I use only oowriter/oocalc
currently. Why?

   * I have many different envelopes to cater for, with and
     without address windows.

   * I sometimes need DIN letters, but sometimes just an
     informal note to accompany an item

   * Quite a bit of correspondence is invoices and quotes,
     with automatic calculations in them (VAT etc).

Most of this can be done in tex/luatex of course, but it
is a lot of effort compared to hitting <enter> a few extra
times in oowriter.  Now, if there was a great letter module
for context .... ;-)


> Before I release I first public bety version of the modul I
> want to hear which interface to set the letter information do
> you prefer and do you have things do want in the module. 

I definately would like an easy way to switch envelope
formats, and automatic page 1 of ... would be nice too.

Best wishes,
Taco

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Discussion: correspondence with ConTeXt

[Wolfgang Schuster]

Hi all,


Preface


most of the discussions in the last weeks on the list
concerned LuaTeX and MkIV with the topic fonts, xml and bugs,
currently not implemented functions and bug and in the last
few days also mplib. I will try start with this mail a
hopefully interesting discuassions wuth many people about the
current state to use ConTeXt for correspondence in personal
and business live.



Introduction


Although ConTeXt has many features and can be used for nearly
every type of document with many features to adapt the layout
to ones personal requirements we have still a few places where
something is missing or force us to use another tool. I will
focus myself for the moment on the missing support for a real
module to write letter and other correspondence.



The Past and the present


A few modules had been written in the past to write letter but
wether they are not available like Hans own module or it is to
complicated to use.

Hans own module m-letter.tex was never included in the main
distribution and the documentation [1] was never finished but
it is now possible to find a older version in the list
archives. The strong point on the module are the possibility
to change the size and position of the address and reference
fields but it was nearly impossible to add extra information
like values for sender or to make big changes in the layout.

The second option to write a letter was and is Holger Schöners
letterstyle environment [2], he provided a layout for german
letters with a DIN style and macros to store address and
sender information. What looked like a good solution to me at
first glance had also many disadvatages, the names for the
fields in the refrence line used hard to memorize name like
\lettersenderkey... and no high level interface to set them.
Another point to me which prevented me from using the style
was the hard way to change the layout, the environment
provided commands to change the values but all was done with
simple definition and no setup command.

A few user write their own simple setups and environemnts to
write letter [2,3] but none of them was really confugrable or
provided a real interface.



The future


The lack of any good soution for this topic forced me to write
my own letter module for ConTeXt. I started myself with Hans
letter module and added a extra field to add my own address
but this was at a time where I was still new to ConTeXt and
most of the content in m-letter.tex where confusing to me and
I had problem to adapt the layout to my own requirements.
After I gained a little bit more knowledge in TeX and ConTeXt
is started to write a new module from scratch with the option
to load style files and set the information for the address
and all other information with a better interface.

After nearly one and a helf years and 2 major revisions I have
nearly finished my module and would will make it now available
also to other users. But before I make my last stable version
online I want to discuss a few points with interested users.



The discussion


Before I start to give you information about my module and
give you the chance to mention your own wishes or thoughts
about the inteface I'm interested what do you use currently to
write you own correspondence (letter, invoices etc.).

After this interesting question for me I will now make a few
information about my module available.

The module use by default the definition for german business
letters as layout where the position for the address block and
the reference line are defined. To change the layout for your
own letter I provide the option to change the default settings
with the one for all command \setupletterstyle, you could use
it to set the page layout, the position for the different
blocks for address and sender information and also for the
bodyfontsize and parskip and parindent. To use once defined
for many letter you could save them in so called letterstyle
files which can be loaded either with the module
\usemodule[letter][style=...] or within the letter with the
command \useletterstyle[...].

The lettertext is written between the \startletter ...
\stopletter environment and it is possible to write in
adcouemnt as many letters as you want, you could write serial
letters and use the correspodence modul to save the address
information in a XMl file.

The values for letter are set with the \setupletter command
but this is one of the still open points, the current
implemtation requires sometimes to many lines for just a few
information and I plan to replace it with a simpler system.

Take the following minimal example

\usemodule[letter]

\setupletter
  [sender]
  [name={Mike Meiers},
   address={Mustergasse 12\\25694 Musterstadt}]

\setupletter
  [address]
  [name={Hans Hansen},
   address={Zielweg 34\\78561 Tiny Town}]

\starttext

\startletter
  [opening={Dear Hans,}]

letter text

\stopletter

\stoptext

As you can see the opening for the letter is set as optional
argument for \startletter because it is also possible to write
it in the long form \setupletter[data][opening=...] but a
simpler system could be usefull especially if you want to set
only text for address and something like
\setupletter[fromname=...,address=...] or
\setlettervalue[address]{...} are options to replace the
current solution.

Before I release I first public bety version of the modul I
want to hear which interface to set the letter information do
you prefer and do you have things do want in the module. I
could provide more ready to use layout for the module (like
block style for americal letter) but I need information about
the layout and the position for the fields.


Wolfgang Schuster

[1] http://www.pragma-ade.com/show-man-29.htm
[2] http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Letter_style
[3] http://www.tug.org/pracjourn/2006-3/hogg/
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