On Fri, 21 Jun 2002, robin wrote:
> John Levon wrote:
> >JMarc suggested I ask here about this terminology. My question is, what
> >is our justificatino for exposing the user to the unusual formulation
> >"Tabular Material", or the even worse "Tabular" ?
> >
> Beats me.
This is another of those things that was argued about back when the Earth
was young and dinosaurs roamed the land. The issue was how to make a
distinction between LaTeX's tabular - the actual table material - and a
table, which is the floating thing you put a tabular into. A similar
problem was posed by "figure", but at least there we could call the actual
picture a graphic. In tabular form :-) we have
Content Float
----------------------
graphic ---> Figure
??? ---> Table
So, the problem is how to properly label the ???. We compromised on
"tabular material" so we could go back to arguing about more important
things.
> >What are the problems with using "Table" everywhere throughout the GUI
> >and the documentation (except where specifically related to the LaTeX
> >construct) ?
> >
> None, as far as I can see. Maybe it's a LaTeX thang. In general I'm in
> favour of making the GUI and the documentation as close as possible to
> conventional word-processors, HTML editors etc.
Now that floating figures and tables have been moved off into their own
submenu (Insert->Floats->Table), this isn't so big a deal anymore, but
then people will ask "What's the difference between Insert->Table and
Insert->Floats->Table?". LaTeX chose to solve it by using the names
Tabular and Table. Just because everyone else chose the wrong thing :-)
doesn't mean we need to change. On the other hand, I've never particularly
liked "tabular material". Kinda sounds like the corroding metal encrusting
the garbage disposal in my kitchen sink ("Honey, what's this tabular
material growing out of the disposal?").
So, I'm in favor of renaming it if a consistent, non-ambiguous solution
can be found. Keep in mind the fact that if one inserts a
Insert->Floats->Table, one then needs to insert a Insert->Table into it.
That's a bit too ambiguous for my taste.
Mike
--
Mike Ressler
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
OK, I'm lame: I don't have my own website ...
