Re: ConTeXt on the Mac (TexShop). Problem of a newbie

[Hans Hagen <pragma@wxs.nl>]

On 1/11/2013 12:32 PM, Meigen, Thomas wrote:

> But... do I really have to have a knowledge of proper TeX and Lua before
> I can use ConTeXt? For me, the charme of ConTeXt had always been that
> those nice documents had been prepared with rather smart code.
> I dont want to write my own modules (in which case I definitely would
> need to know proper TeX and Lua). I just want to use ConTeXt and
> focus on the content, not on the technical background.

For most layouts no \def or whatever is needed, just some 
\setupthisorthat commands. The whole idea of context is that one uses a 
high level of abstraction while coding (although I quite often see 
violations of that). For instance, normally you will see / use no 
spacing commands in a document source but set them up in the preamble.

> Sure, I am using MacTeX and TeXLive now for many years.
>
> What attracted me to ConTeXt was the project-product-component
> structure to use and re-use components. Other aspects are
>
> - different modes (presentation, handout, manuscript)

'modes' have always been around

> - poster production

A1 papersizes are supported as are layers (the way to make posters).

> - nice graphics/animation via pstricks or metapost

mp is rather tightly integrated

> - export to other formats (when writing articles many journals in my
> field do not accept .tex-files)

depends on the format .. there is an xml export (still experimental but 
on the average good enough)

> - export to epub/mobi format. I enjoy reading mobile versions of
> my own texts and of the texts my students give me for review.

idem

> - import from Scrivener... When writing difficult texts I noticed that
> LaTeX-typesetting is often an interruption of the writing flow. After writing
> some sentences I am curious to see how the text might look like, so
> I typeset the text and sooner or later I am fiddling with some LaTeX
> details instead of focussing on the writing process. One help had been
> to use Scrivener during the writing process and using the LaTeX
> typesetting for the final steps only (as a reward... ;-) ).

I have no clue what Scrivener is.

> How much of this list can be accomplished with LuaTex and ConTeXt...?

Hans


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