[NTG-context] Re: https://wiki.contextgarden.net/Command/blank

[Jim <zlists+context@jdvb.ca>]

On Tue, Jun  4, 2024 at 20:14 (+0200), Wolfgang Schuster wrote:

> Jim schrieb am 04.06.2024 um 19:48:

>> I did not realize the wiki software did that.  On reflection I suppose that
>> is useful in many (most?) cases.  But I'd argue that it is not always a good
>> thing, such as in this case.  (If nothing else, it might mislead a n00b
>> into thinking that you should get output for text preceding \starttext.)

> The reason why you get no text isn't that you wrote it before \starttext but
> that no font was loaded yet. By default ConTeXt postpones the loading of the
> default fonts until \starttext because when you use a different font on your
> document this is normally before \starttext and with the postponing there is
> no need to load a unused font.

> At the point where you load a font with \setupbodyfont text even if it
> appears before \starttext is shown as expected but this isn't recommended.

>> If you (or some other knowledgeable person reading this) don't (doesn't)
>> mind another question,...
>> Is the bullet symbol not from some font?  If so, why is that font loaded in
>> time to see the bullet?

> When no font has been loaded yet with \setupbodyfont ConTeXt prints text
> which is put in a \hbox in a monospaced font as shown in the example below.

> %%%% begin example
> This is before \tex{starttext}.

> \hbox{This is also before \tex{starttext}}

> \starttext
> This is after \tex{starttext}.
> \stoptext
> %%%% end example

Thanks again.  Without looking at the code, I (boldly) conclude that the
bullet is in an \hbox.

While I'm curious about why text in an \hbox is printed, I'm thinking that
I may not have need to know.  ;-)

                                Jim
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