"Kris Hermans" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Hi,
> After experimenting for a few weeks now zith ConTeXt, I really would like to > gain a deeper understanding of the source code. Therefore my question, > because I'm a TeX novice: > > What are good documents to study, before actually diving into ConTeXt > source? 1) a dutch dictionary ;) 2) the source. Well, this is hard to say. I'd suggest that you generate the 'nice' variants of the source code by (iirc) texexec --module supp-mis.tex (and all the other source files you'd like to read; you need the nl format for this and copy the file to a seperate dir). This gives you a pdf version with nicely printed comments and examples. If you have texexec built in your head (and a TeX-interpreter), you can read the source directly. I am not really into the source but I suggest to start syst-gen.tex. There are a lot of the macros defined that are needed throughout the other files. But beware. You need a deep understanding the way TeX works (the word \expandafter should not scare you, and a catcode has nothing to do with the small furry creatures :) Don't let the \dododododdodosomething irritate you. They are just Hans' way of keeping the source obscure. Just seen something like this: \def\dodogetargument#1################################1#2% got it? This is why I think that reading any not trivial TeX code is rather difficult. (Well, Forth is even worse :) Then it might be helpful to have a look at the multilingual interface (mult-ini.tex) After that, just go to some of the core* and supp* files and see what is in there. The xtag* files are not suited for first time reading. If you are really brave (and have *lots* of disk space) you can put a \tracingall=1\starttext Hello World \stoptext in your tex file and read the logfile :) > I'm already reading "a gentle introduction to TeX" (Michael Doob). > Is this enough or is there better material around? I like 'the advanced TeX book' (David Salomon) really much. It is a companion to the TeX book, but 'normal people' can understand that one. It might help if you have programmed some little recursion stuff yourself. > What I don't find in the ConTeXt manuals, is documentation on how to make > interactive, screen based documents and what are good strategies for > producing different versions (screen/print/questions/answers/...) from the > same base document. Any links to docs are also more than welcome! If I remember correctly, the pdftex faq is available in different formats. The source code is available. Go for that one. And follow Hennings advice to get his material. I haven't had a look into it yet but I am sure it is very nice to study. Patrick -- I'll fade into the darkness
