Dear Uwe

Thanks for your feedback.

---- "Uwe Stöhr" <[email protected]> wrote: 
> > (In fact, I never use export; I just use 'Save as' in the viewer - would it 
> > be worth adding that as an option?)
> 
> By using Save as, you don't get any output: You only save your LyX document 
> under another name but don't generate a PDF.

I meant 'Save as' using the viewer, not LyX; I use KPDF as my viewer and I did 
a 'Save as' from within KPDF to generate the PDF which is at 
http://bradford.lug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=february_25th_2008 to illustrate 
the power of LyX.


> I just noticed that the LyX term "greyed-out" is UK English, should I change 
> it (in LyX and the documentation) to "grayed-out" to be consistent?
> 

There are a lot of inconsistencies already between US and UK English in the 
documentation; so I don't think it matters either way. In fact, I checked this 
point and found that both 'grey' and 'gray' are recognised as UK English words.

> The shortcut is Alt+M M (note the "+") and work correctly here. Ctrl+M 
> inserts the command \mbox which is not equal to the desired command \textrm. 
> That Ctrl+M does not insert another $$ pair is btw. a bug in LyX and not easy 
> to solve.
> 

I tried this but Alt+M M produces \mbox just the same as Ctl-m

To illustrate this I have added another line using Alt+M M to the handout 
mentioned above and, as you can see from the TEX extract below which I 
exported, in both the line I entered with Alt+M M and the one I entered with 
Ctl-m, the TEX output is the same.

[start of extract]

\subsection{Very basic maths}

You can enter mathematics in-line with Ctl-m or in display mode, normally
used in a separate paragraph, with Ctl-M (Ctl-shift-m). But you can
also use math mode to set out text in certain contexts; for example,
you might want to say that:

\[
\mbox{Speed}=\frac{\mbox{Distance}}{\mbox{Time}}\]


\[
\mbox{Speed}=\frac{\mbox{Distance}}{\mbox{Time}}\]


Here I began with Ctl-M to obtain display mode and then entered Ctl-m
(which also allows you to enter text as text within maths mode) to
enter `Speed.' This text was nested in math mode; so I had to move
the cursor out of the nested text back into math mode to enter the
equals sign and then the fraction ($\frac{a}{b}$ in the basic maths
toolbar). The fraction appeared with two empty containers. I put the
cursor in each of these and entered Ctl-m each time in order to add
the text above and below the line. I then moved the cursor out of
all the containers and pressed Enter in order to start the next paragraph.
Had I not entered Ctl-m in math mode in order to use text mode nested
within math mode, I would have got $Speed$ because \TeX{} would have
assumed I was entering a mathematical expression.

The point of using math mode in a situation like this is that the
result is perfectly typeset in a way which, if not impossible, is
more difficult to achieve in a word-processor. However, most people
will want to use math mode for more formal mathematics.

[end of extract]

Whether this is a bug or not, it produces the desired effect in the PDF.

> You always want to write "requires you to" and "recommend you to". But in 
> these cases the passive was used not the active. So it it not allowed to 
> write "The program requires to start bla...."?

Here 'The program' is the subject and 'requires' is an active verb, not 
passive. If you use the passive, 'The program is required to', you are saying 
that some other program is requiring something. But in help documentation, you 
are emphasising the demands the program makes on the user.

Though the English use the passive more frequently than speakers of other 
languages, good practice, particularly in written English, is to 'prefer the 
active' and in this context using the active forms 'requires you to' and 
'recommend you to' also emphasises that you are saying what the user needs to 
do.

John

Reply via email to