On Mon, Feb 2, 2026 at 21:45 (+0100), Hans Hagen via ntg-context wrote:
> On 2/2/2026 9:00 PM, Jim wrote:
>> On Mon, Feb 2, 2026 at 20:51 (+0100), Wolfgang Schuster wrote:
>>> Am 02.02.2026 um 20:46 schrieb Jim:
>>> > Wolfgang,
>>> > thanks for your answer, although it doesn't explain (to me, anyway) the
>>> > 12.06137pt number.
>>> The default value for \setupinterlinespace[line=...] is 2.8ex:
>>> \setupbodyfont[10pt]
>>> \starttext
>>> \the\dimexpression{2.8ex}
>>> \stoptext
>> Wolfgang,
>> well, that explains the actual value perfectly, thanks.
> Ok, here's something to make Canadian Jim feel proud and comfortable.
> When we started with tex, we first tried latex and that didn't work out:
> hard coded labels, patterns etc. The need to tweak for new users
> incomprehensable sty files, kind of bad inconstent spacing, etc.
> (Interestingly, when we showed the (math heavy) chapter to the involved
> author / teacher they were offenced that we replaced their labour intense
> ibm typewriter math that the activities were stopped; from then on we never
> mentioned using tex.)
> So, after first starting to write some layer around latex (e.g. key value
> driven itemize) I quickly decided to quit and look further. So we looked at
> lamstex (a more configurable latex), with spiral bounded book, then paid a
> lot of money to get more floppies with some dutch patterns, more fonts and
> ... the canadian inrstex .. which can now (when i searched) seen at ctan:
> https://ftp.snt.utwente.nl/pub/software/tex/obsolete/macros/inrstex/inrstex/linespac.tex
> https://ftp.snt.utwente.nl/pub/software/tex/obsolete/macros/inrstex/inrstex/inrsdef.tex
> So, that's actually how context started. Wrapping some of inrstex (as it was
> multilingual and more configurable) and gradually writing mechanisms from
> scratch (fonts, sectioning, indices, itemize, all kind of educational
> things). The output routine was for a whiel similar to inrstex. For tables
> we used TaBLe (from which we derived / extended the probably seldom used
> \starttable mechanism).
> So there you have it: blame canadians for the 2.8ex and .72 / .28 ratio
> which is a much better choice when accented characters are used (french of
> course but also dutch also has them). You can find these numbers in the
> mentioned files.
Hans,
it has been a day of history reading for me. Earlier today I came across
musings-plain.tex, which was an interesting read.
And now you tell me about some Canadian institution that I wasn't
previously familiar with. Glad to see some Canadians have some something
useful for ConTeXt. Aside from Max C, that is.
In other news...
All who are sitting on the edge of their chair, wondering about the
resolution of the "\testpage peculiarity" thread, read on...
I've reduced my "minimal" example (of \testpage behaviour that I can't
understand) to an even smaller one, now only with about 17 non-empty lines,
all but one of which are very very short.
(Hans sent me some info about trying to track things down off-list, and I
think the example is now small enough to more easily attack.)
But if anyone thinks their brain needs a puzzle showing peculiar (dare I
say "anomalous"?) behaviour involving \testpage and \placefigure (which is
no longer inside a \startitemize ... \stopitemize environment) let me know
and I'll be happy to share.
Jim
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