Re: PhD Thesis in ConTeXt

[Aditya Mahajan <adityam@umich.edu>]

On Tue, 28 Oct 2008, Mohamed Bana wrote:

> Hi Aditya,
>
> I've tried compiling your thesis. It failed with;

There were a few modules which were missings from the zip file. I have 
created a new zip file with these files. I hope that everything should 
compile now.

http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~adityam/publications/thesis/thesis.tar.gz

> texmfstart texexec "thesis.tex"

> system         : module abr-aditya not found

I have added this

> system         : module ctags not found

This is harmless. A module that I wrote to write tag files for vim, but it 
does not work with MKIV.

> system         : module mathsets not found

I have added this. You can also download it from 
modules.contextgarden.net/mathsets.

Aditya

>
> Aditya Mahajan wrote:
>> On Tue, 21 Oct 2008, Piotr wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I have spent some time with google in order to find an answer to the
>>> following questions. Unfortunatly, I was not satisfied with the
>>> answers, which I now hope to find here.
>>>
>>> It is my plan not to use the MS Office suite for the production of my
>>> PhD thesis (in chemistry). I have used Miktex some years ago during my
>>> studies for some project reports, and I remember beeing quite
>>> satisfied with the results. My Master thesis, on the other hand, I
>>> wrote in word.. and although I remember not having too many
>>> difficulties, there were some nasty obstacles to be overcome.
>>> Obstacles which I simply do not want to risk having repeated a second
>>> time on a much bigger scale.
>>> I this mailing list I read several reports of people who either had
>>> written their thesis in Latex or ConTeXt. There was a mention of Latex
>>> beeing designed for mathematic purposes, while ConTeXt was said to be
>>> better suited for the intergration of graphics or larger/more complex
>>> layout changes.
>>>
>>> 1) Finding the right context
>>> For now I had quite some difficulties to find that proper Latex
>>> distribution - a problem that actually led me to the existence of
>>> ConTeXt. I am wondering which latex distribution I should choose in
>>> order to work with ConTeXt? I am running Windows Vista (64-bit). Or is
>>> there a ConTeXt stand alone package that will absolutely satisfy my me
>>> in my needs? In principle, all I need is
>>>
>>> 2) The right editor
>>> What is the preferred editor for ConTeXt? for such a project? Is there
>>> any loss in functionality when using Texniccenter with ConTeXt than
>>> with MikTex instead?
>>
>> Depends on what functions you need. There are a few editors which have
>> basic support for ConTeXt (compile document, view pdf, jump to error,
>> etc.). Hans uses Scite and includes a context enabled scite in the
>> windows distribution available on prama-ade.com. Irdis has written support
>> for Notepad++. Vim and emacs have some basic support. I do not know what
>> features texniccenter and winedit provide for context.
>>
>>> 3) I have seen some thesis templates/examples in this mailinglist. Can
>>> anyone point me to additional sources regarding the creation of a PhD
>>> Thesis with ConTeXt?
>>
>> Each institute has different requirements for phd thesis, so one template
>> is not going to fit the bill. I did my thesis in context, and you can have
>> a look at the sources and the output:
>>
>> http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~adityam/publications/thesis/thesis.pdf
>> http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~adityam/publications/thesis/thesis.tar.gz
>>
>> The easier way to go about this will be to look at the formatting
>> specifications of the thesis, and try to understand how to implement them
>> in context one by one.
>>
>>> What is the advantage over Latex, what are the
>>> disadvantages? Is there a win-win distribution somewhere on the table?
>>
>> Advantage: In most cases, others have written a style for what you want,
>> so you don't have to create a style on your own.
>>
>> Disadvantage: When you do have to create a style on your own, it can be
>> difficult, even in packages which are supposed to be easy to configure
>>
>>> 4) Has anyone used a typesetting suite like ContTeXt with CVS?
>>
>> As others have said, the source files are simply text files. So you can
>> use any version control that you want.
>>
>>> 5) Is the ConTeXt reference system compatible with Endnote?
>>
>> I have no experience with endnote. I have seen endnote to bibtex
>> converters. If you can convert to bibtex, then using the references with
>> context is relatively easy.
>>
>>> Is there any point to have latex installed, when context can do the
>>> trick?
>>
>> As Mojca said, you may want to submit something to a journal which accepts
>> latex files.
>>
>>> Or lets ask the devils advocate the other way around: What is
>>> the point of installing context, when latex could do the trick?
>>
>> Again I agree with what Mojca said. If latex can do the job, use it. If
>> you are happy with one of the defaul latex styles, do not use too many
>> figures in your document, do not want text wrapping around figures, use
>> latex.
>>
>>> Apart
>>> that I have to re-learn latex anyway.. what is better with Context?
>>
>> Context has a more consistent interface to all the commands. This makes it
>> easier to remember how to configure things.
>>
>> Aditya
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>
> ___________________________________________________________________________________
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>
> maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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> ___________________________________________________________________________________
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maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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