Re: Notes and questions on 432 page book.

Re: Notes and questions on 432 page book.

[Hans Hagen]

At 18:40 05/05/2004, you wrote:

>using the Eplain macros. If there is a way to single space
>the TOC using the regular Context macros I will be happy to
>eliminate the Eplain, which may solve some of the other
>problems.

what is single spacing a toc?

with regards to including eplain text, why not typesetting it as a separate 
document, and then do something

\externalfigure[eplaintoc.pdf][width=\textwidth,height=\textheight]

Hans  

Re: Notes and questions on 432 page book.

[Hans Hagen]

At 22:00 05/05/2004, you wrote:
>On Wednesday 05 May 2004 02:07 am, Hans Hagen wrote:
> > At 18:40 05/05/2004, you wrote:
> > >using the Eplain macros. If there is a way to single
> > > space the TOC using the regular Context macros I will
> > > be happy to eliminate the Eplain, which may solve some
> > > of the other problems.
> >
> > what is single spacing a toc?
> >
> > with regards to including eplain text, why not
> > typesetting it as a separate document, and then do
> > something
> >
> > \externalfigure[eplaintoc.pdf][width=\textwidth,height=\t
> >extheight]
> >
> > Hans
> >
>Thanks for the reply. When I run the regular Context TOC
>macros I get a wide space, equivalent to a blank line,
>between chapters.  It is of course entirely possible that I
>have done something wrong in setting the TOC up. Here are
>some pertinent extracts from my main file:

\setuplist[chapter,section][before=,after=] 

Notes and questions on 432 page book.

[John Culleton]

My latest project is almost finished. I have a few comments 
and questions. 

The book consists of one part with five unnumbered chapters 
followed by a second part of 101 numbered chapters, and 
some endmatter.  I was unable to make the Context version 
of the TOC to single space these 110 or so chapter entries 
which made the whole TOC longer (more pages) than desired. 
So I threw Eplain into the mix and typeset the TOC only 
using the Eplain macros. If there is a way to single space 
the TOC using the regular Context macros I will be happy to 
eliminate the Eplain, which may solve some of the other 
problems.

The last six pages consist of an order form, a page of text, 
and another order form, all backed up by blank pages for 
six pages total. The order form is created with some 
\framedtext and \starttable trickery. It compiles fine by 
itself but gives errors in the \starttable etc. when 
combined with the main body of the book.  It will also 
coexist with the front matter, so eplain is probably not 
the culprit.  In any case at the  moment I have two correct 
pdfs which I will try to knit together with psmerge or 
something similar.

I used a conventional construction of the job, with a main 
file which calls subordinate files. In this mode I ended up 
with two unwanted blank pages after the index.  If however 
I put the \stoptext statement at the end of the main 
subordinate file the unwanted blank pages disappear.  Here 
is the construction of the main file:
------------------------------
\input fonts.tex
\input macros.tex
\input part.tex
\starttext
\startfrontmatter
\input half.tex
\input title.tex
{\tfx
\input copy.tex
}
\noheaderandfooterlines
\leftline{\tfb\bf\ss Table of Contents}
\blank[big]
\readtocfile\rm
\page[yes]
\noheaderandfooterlines
\stopfrontmatter
\startbodymatter
\setupwhitespace[medium]
\noheaderandfooterlines
\input body.tex
%\input order.tex       %the last six pages start here
%\input flyer.tex
%\input order.tex
\stopbodymatter
\stoptext
-----------------------------
If I insert a \stoptext statement at the end of the  
body.tex file then I lose the unwanted blank pages. Are 
they a byproduct of  the \stopbodymatter statement?
-- 
John Culleton
Able Typesetters and Indexers
http://wexfordpress.com

Re: Notes and questions on 432 page book.

[John Culleton]

On Wednesday 05 May 2004 02:07 am, Hans Hagen wrote:
> At 18:40 05/05/2004, you wrote:
> >using the Eplain macros. If there is a way to single
> > space the TOC using the regular Context macros I will
> > be happy to eliminate the Eplain, which may solve some
> > of the other problems.
>
> what is single spacing a toc?
>
> with regards to including eplain text, why not
> typesetting it as a separate document, and then do
> something
>
> \externalfigure[eplaintoc.pdf][width=\textwidth,height=\t
>extheight]
>
> Hans
>
Thanks for the reply. When I run the regular Context TOC 
macros I get a wide space, equivalent to a blank line, 
between chapters.  It is of course entirely possible that I 
have done something wrong in setting the TOC up. Here are 
some pertinent extracts from my main file:
----------------------------------

-- 
John Culleton
Able Typesetters and Indexers
http://wexfordpress.com

Re: Notes and questions on 432 page book.

[Matthew Huggett]

John Culleton wrote:

>...
>
>I use a master file and call components into it with \input 
>statements....
>

Is there any advantage to using a master file with \input statements 
compared to using ConTeXt project and component files?  Or are these 
totally different things?

Matt

Re: Notes and questions on 432 page book.

[John Culleton]

On Wednesday 05 May 2004 02:07 am, Hans Hagen wrote:
> At 18:40 05/05/2004, you wrote:
> >using the Eplain macros. If there is a way to single
> > space the TOC using the regular Context macros I will
> > be happy to eliminate the Eplain, which may solve some
> > of the other problems.
>
> what is single spacing a toc?
>
> with regards to including eplain text, why not
> typesetting it as a separate document, and then do
> something
>
> \externalfigure[eplaintoc.pdf][width=\textwidth,height=\t
>extheight]
>
> Hans
>
This answer put me on the path to a solution of another 
problem. I had an order form made up of two text blocks 
with a table in the middle. It compiled fine so long as I 
left the main body of my document out. When I brought 
body.tex in to the run then the table portion started 
giving errors. So I set up a special run which generated 
just that page in a pdf file. However I didn't want to 
shrink it as Hans suggested,  and Context doesn't usually 
cater to a full-page graphic nor does it let one pick an 
origin point as such. 

 I finally found a way to move the origin point and then 
brought the pdf into the page. I fooled with \inmargin, 
\rput (pstricks), \kern,\leftskip and about half the 
commands in the plain tex vocabulary. Here is a solution 
that works, bringing in a page size graphic and placing it 
properly on my page: 

\startstandardmakeup[doublesided=yes]
\vglue -1in
\hglue -.65in\externalfigure[order.pdf]
\stopstandardmakeup

This has broader potential for assembling multiple pdf pages 
into a single document.  The glue sizes are of course 
document dependent. 


-- 
John Culleton
Able Typesetters and Indexers
http://wexfordpress.com

Re: Notes and questions on 432 page book.

[John Culleton]

All of my problems of this moment are solved. there is an 
oddity however that can be noted.

I use a master file and call components into it with \input 
statements. If I put the \stoptext statement at the end of 
the main file I get an extra page or sometimes two pages at 
the end of the run.  If however I demote the \stoptext 
statement to the end of the last file included the spurious 
page disappears. 
-- 
John Culleton
Able Typesetters and Indexers
http://wexfordpress.com

Re: Notes and questions on 432 page book.

[Hans Hagen]

At 23:34 06/05/2004, you wrote:

>I have a single document, a book, and I find it convenient
>to subdivide it into files. For example I carry the same
>macro set from job to job, modifying it with each
>successive use. It saves a lot of typing. And as recently
>illustrated if an error crops up I can turn off segments of
>the document for debugging purposes.

\component and \environment also work outside the structure

there's also \readfile{filename}{}{}

all these commands, except \input, obey path and subpath rules

- search test.tex on ./test.tex ../test.tex ../../test.tex
- search on (predefined) <pathlist>/<subpathlist>/test.tex

>Finally, I think Hans assumed too much of his readers (or at
>least this reader) when he wrote the passage on project
>etc. control. I read it but still ask myself "what is the
>cost vs. benefit" and "how does it work in the day to day
>world"? But that would take a book by itself, and there are
>more important topics to be addressed in Context
>documentation.

it depends, for big manuals i always use'm

an advantage is that one can for instance process components without the 
need to include all environments explicitly since they are taken from th 
eproduct / project files

Hans  

Re: Notes and questions on 432 page book.

[John Culleton]

On Wednesday 05 May 2004 07:12 pm, Matthew Huggett wrote:
> John Culleton wrote:
> >...
> >
> >I use a master file and call components into it with
> > \input statements....
>
> Is there any advantage to using a master file with \input
> statements compared to using ConTeXt project and
> component files?  Or are these totally different things?
>
> Matt
> __

They are mostly different in usage.

I have a single document, a book, and I find it convenient 
to subdivide it into files. For example I carry the same 
macro set from job to job, modifying it with each 
successive use. It saves a lot of typing. And as recently 
illustrated if an error crops up I can turn off segments of 
the document for debugging purposes.  

In an authoring situation I may further subdivide the body 
component into chapters. This allows me to write the book 
in non-consecutive pieces and even rearrange it for 
different markets etc.  for example I have a file 
http://wexfordpress/tex/shortlist.pdf 
that is really a chapter to  a never-completed book.  

I have never explored the project/component structure of 
Context.  My one-person shop does not need sophisticated 
project management. I am not authoring works but 
typesetting the work of others. In a shop concerned with 
document creation, and perhaps multiple authors, the 
Context project management features would be worth another 
look.  For me they are more bother than they are worth. I 
collect all the files for a job in one directory (folder)  
and that is it.  Each job is different, so commonality is 
served by copying over the master or "book" file as well as 
some useful files like fonts.tex and macros.tex to the new 
job folder. The surname of thecustomer is the folder name.  
After many years as a management analyst, systems analyst 
and so on I have decided that simpler is better. One should 
have enough controls, enough structure, but no more than 
enough.

Also, and this is an important point, I work in pdftex and 
even plain TeX as well as Context.  My master file 
technique is generic to all these.  

Finally, I think Hans assumed too much of his readers (or at 
least this reader) when he wrote the passage on project 
etc. control. I read it but still ask myself "what is the 
cost vs. benefit" and "how does it work in the day to day 
world"? But that would take a book by itself, and there are 
more important topics to be addressed in Context 
documentation.  

-- 
John Culleton
Able Typesetters and Indexers
http://wexfordpress.com