grumbling again, the daemon says: it's amazingly hot, but
> The following information was provided by the package's contributor. > > Name of contribution: siunitx > Author's name: Joseph Wright > Author's email: [email protected] > Location on CTAN: /macros/latex/contrib/siunitx/ > Summary description: A comprehensive (SI) units package > License type: lppl > > Announcement text given by the package's contributor: > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > The siunitx package --- A comprehensive (SI) units package > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > Typesetting values with units requires care to ensure that the > combined mathematical meaning of the value plus unit combination > is clear. In particular, the SI units system lays down a > consistent set of units with rules on how these are to be used. > However, different countries and publishers have differing > conventions on the exact appearance of numbers (and units). > > The siunitx package provides a set of tools for authors to > typeset numbers and units in a consistent way. The package has > an extended set of configuration options which make it possible > to follow varying typographic conventions with the same input > syntax. The package includes automated processing of numbers and > units, and the ability to control tabular alignment of numbers. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Version 2 > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > Over the past two years siunitx has developed to include many > features not originally foreseen when development began. While > it has been possible to add a range of new features, some of the > underlying limitation of the version 1 code have made this > difficult. At the same time, renewed effort by the LaTeX Team on > the development of LaTeX3, and in particular the expl3 > programming system, has offered a more robust method to create > the internal structure of siunitx. As a result, version 2 of > siunitx has been almost completely re-written internally. > > As well as fixing a number of bugs and limitations in the > original release, version 2 is also much better written to work > quickly. As a result, most users should see performance > enhancements with this new release of siunitx. > > As part of the revision of siunitx, the option system and user > macros have been completely re-thought. The options now have > longer, descriptive names and also a much clearer range of input > values. The options which in version 1 took either a key word or > a literal value have been replaced by ones which take literals > only: in some cases this means that advice has been added to the > documentation on how to get particular output effects. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Moving from version 1 to version 2 > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > Depending on how you use siunitx, there may be very little to do > to move to version 2. The new version includes a compatibility > support file, meaning that loading siunitx using: > > \usepackage[load-configurations = version-1]{siunitx} > > should mean that existing documents compile with very few > changes. > > There are some changes to standard settings between version 1 > and version 2, which may lead to some alterations in documents. > At the same time, a small number of the features of siunitx > version 1 which I feel did not work cleanly have been dropped. > At present, some of these are scheduled to be re-examined for > inclusion in later releases of siunitx. > > While there is a back-compatibility layer for users upgrading, > it is strongly recommended that documents are updated to use the > new option names and functions. The new approach has been chosen > as it is an improvement on the previous version, and in the > longer term this layer may be removed. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Installation > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > Most users will obtain siunitx as part of their TeX distribution. > MiKTeX 2.8 should include siunitx version 2 after a short delay (a few > days after CTAN upload); TeX live users won't see the package in their > distribution until after the 2010 release has appeared. Both > distributions also include the necessary support packages, and so > simply updating will in due course lead to a working siunitx version 2 > installation. > > For users who wish to install siunitx themselves, the package is > available as a pre-extracted zip file, siunitx.tds.zip. Simply > unzip this in your local texmf directory and run 'texhash' to > update the database of file locations. Version 2 of siunitx > requires up to date versions of the LaTeX3 packages expl3 and > xpackages. These are also available from CTAN in ready to > install format (as expl3.tds.zip and xpackages.tds.zip), and can > be installed in the same way if necessary. > > If you want to unpack the dtx yourself, running 'tex > siunitx.dtx' will extract the package whereas 'latex > siunitx.dtx' will extract it and also typeset the documentation. > Typesetting the documentation requires a number of packages in > addition to those needed to use siunitx. These should all be > available in a complete TeX Live 2009 or MiKTeX 2.8 > installation. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Development code and bug database > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > In order to help users see what is happening, and also to allow > me to work efficiently, the development code for siunitx is > available on the code hosting site BitBucket: > > http://bitbucket.org/josephwright/siunitx > > You can download the very latest code from there: of course, > this may or may not work properly depending on exactly what I > have added to the code. > > The BitBucket site includes an issue tracker, where you can > report bugs or make feature requests. I also add bugs to the > database from e-mails I get from users. Filling in the bug > database helps to make sure that I do not forget things, and > also helps other users see what issues are known. > > If you want to contribute code to siunitx, you can of course > send patches directly to me. Alternatively, the code is hosted > using the revision control system Mercurial, which was chosen as > it is decentralised and is easy to install on a range of > operating systems (I use MacOS X, Windows XP, Windows 7 and > Ubuntu!). I'm happy to explain to potential contributors how > Mercurial works for developing siunitx. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Roadmap for future releases > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > The bug database already includes a number of feature requests > which are marked to be looked at for version 2.1: see > http://tinyurl.com/2b6flkt. The current intention is that the > next few months will be devoted to bug fixes in this release > (v2.0), with moves to add features for v2.1 beginning in the > late summer. I anticipate that v2.1 will be released toward the > end of 2010. > > It is likely that not all of the features currently marked as to > be looked at for v2.1 will be fully working by the time it is > released. At the same time, there are some longer term areas > which may also need attention. Version 2.2 of siunitx is > therefore planned, but with no current list of features marked > for inclusion. This version is likely to appear in Spring 2011. > > One longer term aim is to include LuaTeX support in siunitx, so > that the entire package can work much more rapidly with LuaTeX > than when using TeX macros alone. This is not likely to happen > until next year (2011), but is in the bug database and is part > of the longer term development plan for siunitx. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > The internals of siunitx > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > Currently, the only documented interface to any of the > functionality of siunitx is via the key--value control system > and functions described in the manual. The internal code of the > package is not documented, and there is therefore no guarantee > of stability of internal functions. While it is common for users > to have to modify the internals of LaTeX2e packages as part of > their documents, this is not good programming practice and is > not encouraged for siunitx, or indeed in general. > > If there is a user function that you require that is not > available using the documented tools, please either e-mail or > report a bug in the database. One of the general aims of siunitx > is to provide a proper documented interface for all of the > functions of the package. I am therefore very happy to add > interfaces to internal processes as necessary. > > Programmers should note that siunitx is coded using the LaTeX3 > 'expl3' programming system. This looks somewhat different to > traditional TeX or LaTeX programming. Details of the programming > environment are documented as part of the expl3 bundle. > Currently, none of the internal functions or interfaces are > documented, and so are not meant for use outside of siunitx. > Other programmers wanting to make use of internal siunitx > functions are encouraged to get in contact with me. This will > enable me to ensure that the parts of siunitx which are needed > by others are documented and are not changed without > consultation. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Joseph Wright <[email protected]> > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------------------------------------------------------- thanks for the upload. i've installed the new version and updated the catalogue repository. > Users may view the package catalogue entry at > http://mirror.ctan.org/help/Catalogue/entries/siunitx.html > or they may browse the package directory at > http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/siunitx/ the catalogue entry won't appear at all until some time tonight. all of the files will be subject to mirroring delays. Robin Fairbairns For the CTAN team _______________________________________________ Ctan-ann mailing list [email protected] https://lists.dante.de/mailman/listinfo/ctan-ann
