-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi all LyXers
I have been a LyX user for some time, and I would have a big wad of money to go back to Word and similar programs. I love the fact that you can consentrate on the writing process and leave the typsetting to consistentent scripting language. But here is also the problem with LyX. What happen when your Editor wants you to change the the citation, headings etc. Usually most of the changes can be solved by going to Herberts help page and offer some text to the preamble and the ERT. But often I seem to have at least one change that I draw a blank on, and I have to go and search LaTeX pages around the world. So what is the answer to changing styles. One answer from the LaTeX crowd is docstrip and packages like custom-bib. Sadly these are difficult to use, and time consuming, since they rely on you answering more or less cryptic questions and forces you to answer all questions again if you make one mistake. LyX answer seem to be to add some options in the style menu, but most of these are vetoed by the LaTeX .sty file and are far from exhaustive. Another problem which I still have problems getting to grips on is the Gordian knot that the different .sty files and layout files constitutes. If you make one change in a .sty file the change you make could be undone or redone by other .sty files that are added later. What I would loved was that some people with LaTeX knowledge, programming skills and stamina got together and wrote a LyX style utility. I envisage this "LyX-styler" as a separate program, and that LyX still comes with a handful of nice usable layouts that would suit most people writing letters, and other none complicated texts. The LyX-styler would be run when people needed a special typesetting. It should write LyX preambles, .layout .bst and .sty-files. It must have a GUI. Is it difficult ? Yes, probably, at least to make a good program. But it shouldn't be impossible. It would be impossible to make a GUI that have all the option TeX and LaTeX has to offer. However, we only need to offer the most common to make it a useful program. In addition it should be built in such a matter that the most used options is included and the ones that are seldom used are removed, in an evolutionary way. Hopeful it will be built in such a manner that it is easy to add and remove options, maybe even on the fly. I put this questions therefore forward to the user-list to open a discussion: Do we need a "LyX-styler"; is there better ways of dealing with layout issues and, perhaps more importantly, is there people interested in working on such a program. Sincerely Ingar Pareliussen -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org iD8DBQE9/fPJhZyBOYwwzUcRArbSAJ0Wc5q2AOJNZtc5Sak/Zjsu44cgVgCfcgr2 wDBpETnHfD9rjoIFrcQiV90= =+Iho -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
