Re: bug? gap appears in columnset

[Hans Hagen <pragma@wxs.nl>]

On 9/19/2013 4:25 PM, Lars Huttar wrote:
> Hans wrote,
>> Columnsets are rather special and mostly meant for magazine like
>> documents, where content can span columns, images are explicitly placed
>> on the grid, etc. For that reason columnset soperate on a rather strict
>> grid that gets setup based in the lineheight and although content can be
>> larger, the grid dictates what happens. Balancing is semi automatic and
>> nearly always demands some tweaks.
>
> In our use of columnsets, we do have content that can span columns (but
> we keep it outside of columnsets). We also have images within columns
> that are placed in the flow of text via hangarounds. We manually tweak
> our column lengths on each page (e.g.
> \setupcolumnsetlines[columnset10][1][1][42]), in order to avoid the
> worst of the widows and orphans. As you say, balancing requires manual
> tweaks too, but it's not that big a burden, since we're already doing
> \setupcolumnsetlines for many pages.
>
>> Using columnsets for a large document that has to flow automatically is
>> therefore debatable. Regular multi columns or in mkiv mixed-columns are
>> a better choice then.
>
> We have tried to port our code to mkiv, but have so far found been
> unsuccessful. (But are trying again now, having found new success with
> TL2013 mkii.)
> Also, we've been unable to find any statement that mkiv is out of beta
> status. Moreover, much of the documentation still seems to be oriented
> toward mkii. So it's hard to justify much of a time investment in
> porting production work to mkiv yet. Can you comment on the official
> status of mkiv?

just as we had betas for mkii, we have betas for mkiv .. mkii is already 
frozen for years (apart from very few fixes)

i'm pretty sure that most context users use mkiv and here i only run 
mkii in old workflows that already have been running for years (and will 
continue to do so as long as no fundamental update is needed)

most mkii functionality is present in mkiv (of course some old font 
stuff is obsolete) although there are a few mechanism that due to 
extensions are controlled with different keys (mostly keys like 
'alternative')

unless impossible (or messy) i try to keep mkii command compatibility 
but mkiv has already many more commands and mechanisms than mkii, so 
most in manuals still applies

official status: use mkiv as that's where it all happens

> Regarding mixed-columns: I understand it's a rewrite of the old
> "columns" model. My impression is that "columns" didn't support manual
> tweaking of column lengths (like \setupcolumnsetlines). Does
> mixed-columns support such a thing? That would be a critical question
> for us, as it wouldn't be an option for us to spend time porting to mkiv
> and using mixed-columns, if it doesn't allow us to tweak the height of
> each column on each page.

i can probably add some height-per-column option but it also depends on 
what height is supposed to do but it's unlikely to happen the next few 
weeks

a  mkiv columnsets implementation .. well, it depends on time and 
motivation (most of such mechanisms i don't use myself so i need good 
reasons to spend time on them, unless i'm looking for a challenge on a 
rainy day)

but ... \column works quite ok in mixed columns

> Thanks again for your help and advice.

Hans

-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE
               Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands
     tel: 038 477 53 69 | voip: 087 875 68 74 | www.pragma-ade.com
                                              | www.pragma-pod.nl
-----------------------------------------------------------------
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________