RE: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
This mini-survey is an excellent idea! What I do with ConTeXt: 1. Produce sales and marketing reports for my customers (we are a marketing and data mining consultancy). We have a very simple templating language written in Python that connects to an SQL database, generates the ConTeXt file, launchs ConTeXt and launchs Acrobat Reader to see the PDF file. 2. Produce totally personalized mailings for customers of companies we work for. Eveything is personalized: text, background, photos, etc. We produce it with the same templating solution (see previous point). We think ConTeXt is the perfect solution with regard to our needs (reporting and mailing). From our point of view, it has only two drawbacks: - The integration of new True Type fonts is a difficult and error prone process. One need to choose the appropriate encoding, create a .tfm file and write a map file. In order to simplify this, a future version of ConTeXt could natively use Unicode (no more need to choose an encoding) and could automatically create .tfm file on demand. - Absolute positionning is difficult. There is too many way to achieve the same result, difficult to understand, and the resulting code is very verbose. But I'm a beginner with ConTeXt! ;-) Thanks for your beautiful work on ConTeXt! Regards, Nicolas ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
RE: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
I totally agree with the comparison you made of ConTeXt and LaTeX: With
ConTeXt, you can produce something unique. With LaTeX, your document will
look like a traditional research paper!
-Message d'origine-
De : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] De la
part de Nikolai Weibull
Envoyé : vendredi 4 novembre 2005 17:32
À : ntg-context@ntg.nl
Objet : Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Taco Hoekwater wrote:
What do you do with ConTeXT?
I use ConTeXt for any document that I figure someone will want to print out
on paper some day. This includes resumes, letters, and articles. I even
considered typesetting software documentation with ConTeXt, but havent yet
decided if PDFs are the right medium for that kind of text.
I also typeset my masters thesis using ConTeXt and probably spent as much
time hacking ConTeXt as I did on doing actual work for the content. Not
because ConTeXt couldnt do what I wanted, but because ConTeXt allowed me to
do anything I wanted. Having a lot of options can be time-consuming, as you
want to try them all before deciding on the one that works best. This is
both the good and the bad thing about ConTeXt. You can tweak and tweak and
tweak, whereas with something like LaTeX you have a few boring designs and
you just choose the one that suits the type of document your writing. And
your document will look like five million other research papers outh there.
I wanted something unique and ConTeXt was just the right tool for it.
nikolai
--
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Born in Chicago, IL USA; currently residing in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
What do you do with ConTeXT? As the editor of the 70+ page annual report of an ornithological society, I learned to hate word. When I was approached by a publisher with the offer of writing a textbook of biochemistry, I decided to try something more suitable and chose -- just why is hard to say, I didn't know anything about any of the possibilities -- ConTEXt. It was very hard simply to find out what it was and then how to install it and after that how to get some presentable result. But it's great -- thanks to everybody. It is always claimed that writing in a text editor and leaving the layout/typesetting part for later is better because you concentrate on writing. This is not true, at least not when working with ConTEXt. It is much more fun to tex what you have, to try out this and that, than to think about the next sentence. I now write with a Parker Duofold (bought years ago while on a bicycle tour in the Netherlands!) in a notebook before I go to the computer. One last thing: TEX-users seem to be very modest. They always claim to be just beginners. An example: The title of a recent TUGboat article (2003) was Writing a book -- A first experience with LaTEX. The introduction defined the contribution as a paper by non-experts for non-experts. Just what I need, I thought. It wasn't, and the explanation could be found at the end: The author had a thirty-plus year career in high tech computer RD ... Cheers, Jörg. Prof. Dr.med. Jörg Hagmann-Zanolari Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics DKBW, University of Basel Mattenstrasse 28 CH-4058 Basel Switzerland Phone +41 (0)61 6953049___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
RE: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Hi All, I'm currently working in a team which is building a system for the automatic production of office stationery (business cards, letterheads and compliment slips) with ConTeXt at its heart. The system provides a web-application front end for selected users to create stationery orders. These orders are then processed to produce .tex files, which are processed by ConTeXt to produce press-ready PDFs. The PDFs are sent with order details straight to our in-house printing department. I was tasked with creating the PDF engine and chose ConTeXt because (a) I have a lot of experience with LaTeX and hence a great deal of respect for TeX's capabilities but (b) knew that controlling the layouts in LaTeX would be a pain. The following features of ConTeXt are used in this project: * Native support for OpenType fonts * Support for creation of high quality press-ready PDFs * Fine control over document layout, page design etc. * Support for embedding JPG, TIFF, PNG amd PDF images * Support for the use of named (PANTONE) spot colours The choice of ConTeXt was not an easy one having never used it before but my gut feeling was that it is a very powerful and flexible piece of software. It has met all my requirements so far but not without a fight, as the documentation can be very sparse! I will certainly contribute what documentation I can when I have more time. Mark ** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, and may be subject to legal privilege, and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error or think you may have done so, you may not peruse, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message. Please notify the sender immediately and delete the original e-mail from your system. Computer viruses can be transmitted by e-mail. Recipients should check this e-mail for the presence of viruses. The Capita Group and its subsidiaries accept no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail. *** ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Thomas A. Schmitz wrote: around, but if you just want a job done, ConTeXt can be a bit daunting. The wiki is just beginning to take off, and when Hans and/or Taco are away or are too busy to answer questions on the list, it becomes a bit discouraging because there are so many questions with just very few answers being posted. just repost; mails shift out of my mail windows -) - I sometimes wonder where we will be in ten years: will we all stll be using this wonderful tool? Will Hans continue to have time and energy to develop it? How can we convince more TeX users to come over to ConTeXt and help? don't worry, new things will keep coming -) Hans ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Taco Hoekwater wrote: Hi all, For the next issue of the ntg's Maps journal, Hans and I believe it would be nice to publish the collected responses to this simple question: What do you do with ConTeXT? - proceedings from individual PDFs, - presentations, - posters, - logos, visiting cards, - manual (HTML and PDF form from XML source), - personal electronic travel-journal (http://typokvitek.com/nzs you can see evolution of my ConTeXt skills) - booklet with very complex layout (sometimes seems to me over my ConTeXt skills) with two-column, margin, many, many floats, balancing, sorting, in Czech, ... I will write some experience with this -- if I will finnish it and survive two times postponned deadline... As a 'clever plain' with METAPOST, layers, and overlayes the ConTeXt it is excelent! As a 'all-in-one key-val LaTeX' it is nice and uniform. And as a tool to solve 'so far TeX dreams' it is problematic: without deadlines it is a funny game, with them a pain. In every point, thanks to authors for Him. vit ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Taco Hoekwater schrieb: Hi all, For the next issue of the ntg's Maps journal, Hans and I believe it would be nice to publish the collected responses to this simple question: What do you do with ConTeXT? We think it would be nice to see all the various ways in which people experience ConTeXt. We are not looking for articles, in fact we really want just a small amount of text per user, nothing longer then you would normally type in an email message. I - write all my personal documents with ConTeXt - prepared some complicated fillable Forms including calculations by Javascript and sending the data to a webserver - convert some Manuals to ConTeXt (step by step) - query an Oracle database with perl and write the results to ConTeXt files - all my presentations i create with ConTeXt - typeset chinese texts Thanks for ConTeXt! Greetings Lutz ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Am Freitag, den 04.11.2005, 15:49 +0100 schrieb Taco Hoekwater: What do you do with ConTeXT? Two years ago -- I switched from LaTeX to ConTeXt. I typeset examinations and test for my wife's students at school. For that task I wrote based on exam.cls (LaTeX) a ConTexT-modul. All private und business letters are typeset with my special DIN-Brief-Modul, based on akletter.cls (LaTeX) and DIN-letter (ConTeXt) from Holger Schöner. I typeset different articles for my father. I typeset a book (350 page) with lots of tables, german and many czech words my next project is a book about my family from 1600 to now. Bernd - Bernd Militzer Dipl. oec. Dipl.-Hdl. OStR a.D. Hubertusstr. 34 47906 Kempen ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
After using LaTeX I use ConTeXt in my work environment (MS office based) for: - Letters, Quotes and Faxes - Reports (with floats and references) - Pricelists using perl based conversion of a database export But I must admit that I now increasingly use Apple Pages to write letters, faxes and the like as it just works faster (copy/paste graphic for example). For large documents ConTeXt stays the preferred option. What I miss is: - A layer on top of ConTeXt for common documents like Letters, Invoices, etc.. I had to build my own templates, which are not nearly as robust as the LaTeX classes I used before. - An IDE like LyX as it is easy to forget the macro's and getting in to a compile/error/correct cycle. Especially as the TeX error messages are not very clear to me. - A large user base. Regards, Frank On 04 Nov 2005, at 15:49, Taco Hoekwater wrote: Hi all, For the next issue of the ntg's Maps journal, Hans and I believe it would be nice to publish the collected responses to this simple question: What do you do with ConTeXT? We think it would be nice to see all the various ways in which people experience ConTeXt. We are not looking for articles, in fact we really want just a small amount of text per user, nothing longer then you would normally type in an email message. One, perhaps two paragraphs that simply tell about your personal experience using (or playing with) (or fighting with) (or yelling at) (or staring at in bewilderment) (or revelling in) (or running away from) ConTeXt. If you like this idea, just reply to this message. I will then collect and merge the responses, and finally put a pdf on-line somewhere. Don't be shy! Taco ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
A las 15:49 del vie 04 nov, Taco Hoekwater tuvo a bien escribir: What do you do with ConTeXT? Hi all, I started some years ago to study ConTeXT out of my interest for typesetting. I just choose it over LaTeX for his integrated model seemed better to me, and never regretted. It have been a rough step learning curve, though. Til now I used to typeset/illustrate books with DSP tools and my aim is use ConTeXT/MetaFun to do it. Right now I'm converting html based documentation through the xml toolchain (texml), but most of the time I fight with some obscure parameter trying to put things where I want. Integrating MetaPost is definitely a plus for a designer. Thanks for the tools - (and the mental gym :) Jose -- José Antonio Rodríguez [EMAIL PROTECTED] 'El Fuego vive en los corazones de quienes aman el futuro' (Agni Yoga) ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Op vrijdag 4 november 2005 15:49, schreef Taco Hoekwater: What do you do with ConTeXT? I use Context for making the church-magazine of the parish of which I am the minister. With Metafun I constructed headers, page-numbers and all sorts of symbols - forming a style that connects all sorts of input from members and bodies within the community. It's great fun to see each monthly edition grow, from (sometimes) scraps of paper into an well-organized and good looking magazine, complete with photos and other illustrations. I learned using Context while writing papers for my training as a contextual therapist. And since I started a practice as contextual therapist I use it for flyers, correspondence, bills. There is still a lot to learn. I haven't studied yet the project management facilities which might be helpful for my monthly editors job. I would like to explore the chart flow module to see if it would be useful in creating genograms which are used in contextual therapy. I am very interested in using Context for texts with mixed left to right and right to left texts (i.e. dutch (or english) and hebrew). With so much still to explore in this great project, I am far from being able to contribute to it. I owe so much to Hans and all the others who really build this wonderful 'thing'. May be some day tom --- Tom Fossen e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
I use ConTeXt for the presentations in my lectures on Cryptography at the University of Amsterdam. I am considering changing my lecture notes (some 300 pages) from LaTeX into ConTeXt, especially because the ease of incorporating MetaFont pictures into the text. Also for small documents as for example cd-covers. Hans van der Meer ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Taco Hoekwater wrote: What do you do with ConTeXT? Dear Taco,I use ConTeXt for a) my class guides (incorporating genealogical tables and other graphics) and book-lists in both paper and screen versionsb) for typesetting the Newsletter of the Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlementc) my daughter used ConteXt (with my help) to typeset her thesisd) I have given three classes in the use of ConTeXt to my postgraduate students urging them to use ConTeXt to typeset their theses.Together with Omnigraffle and Bibdesk ConTeXt is ideal for students writing theses. I have been using XeTeX more and more for the ease of getting diacritical marks (when transliterating Sanskrit for example) or medieval characters using the SIL font Gentium.The use of fonts in ConTeXt is the main problem that I have. I have not come to terms with that area yet.Finally it is a joy to use ConTeXt. A very big thanks to Hans.Charlie Doherty ***Charles Doherty,Early Irish History,Room K113,School of History,John Henry Newman Building,University College Dublin,Belfield,Dublin 4Tel: +353 1 716 8381 ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
My first experience with ConTeXt was typesetting my brother's PhD thesis in chemistry. Used features: modes (A5 and A4), project-structure, a lot of floats, bibliography. ConTeXt at work: - technical specifications for electronic devices (used features: modules, project-structure, tables generated by scripts) - presentations - documentation - reports My problem at work: besides me, everyone is speaking M$-Office. I send my documents to my colleagues always in PDF. Just until today no problem, but there is some risk, that someone will ask for a Word/Powerpoint version one day... Unfortunately, our business is developing electronic devices, but not sophisticated typesetting, so I cannot spend much more time with ConTeXt, than I already do. ConTeXt at home: - construction plans (one page per figure with well defined scale) - letters - finding solutions for problems with ConTeXt at work (with the help of the mailing-list) Future projects: - typesetting the thesis of my sister-in-law (2 columns with a lot of floats) - writing a letter-module - teaching ConTeXt to my wife (perhaps impossible) - just doing more things with ConTeXt Most important request: a *complete* reference manual, with description of not only all commands, but also all parameters. Something like texshow is already fine, but still very far from complete. Very much appreciated: - all the nice features of ConTeXt - the great support by the developers: thank you! Cheers, Peter -- http://pmrb.free.fr/contact/ ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Taco, Hans— One of the key features of ConTeXt for me is its ability to create platform independent output that combines the ancient languages and mathematics in ways typical of publications in the humanities. So, first, my heartiest thanks to you both and also to Thomas Schmitz for his Greek module. I currently use ConTeXt to publish the Institute’s review/journal (which is available online, in print, and on CD), as well as its brochures and announcements. I will also be using it to produce its books too. I have designed a book publication series for my brother using ConTeXt; and I use it to write my own papers, reviews, and books. The main problem that I have is not really with ConTeXt itself. Since few of the history of science journals that I send papers to use ConTeXt, I am often required to I submit an .rtf file along with the .pdf file produced with ConTeXt. So, what I am still contemplating is an efficient, “mechanical” way around this problem. Best, Alan On Nov 4, 2005, at 9:49 AM, Taco Hoekwater wrote: Hi all, For the next issue of the ntg's Maps journal, Hans and I believe it would be nice to publish the collected responses to this simple question: What do you do with ConTeXT? We think it would be nice to see all the various ways in which people experience ConTeXt. We are not looking for articles, in fact we really want just a small amount of text per user, nothing longer then you would normally type in an email message. One, perhaps two paragraphs that simply tell about your personal experience using (or playing with) (or fighting with) (or yelling at) (or staring at in bewilderment) (or revelling in) (or running away from) ConTeXt. If you like this idea, just reply to this message. I will then collect and merge the responses, and finally put a pdf on-line somewhere. Don't be shy! Taco ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
I wrote my novel using ConTeXt. Inside figures with metapost, the cover layout with Scribus. See http://www.TheGuitarMakerExploration.com Ciro ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
RE: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
= Original Message From [EMAIL PROTECTED], mailing list for ConTeXt users ntg-context@ntg.nl = I wrote my novel using ConTeXt. Inside figures with metapost, the cover layout with Scribus. I downloaded the first chapter; it is beautiful-) Best Idris Professor Idris Samawi Hamid Department of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
What do you do with ConTeXT? I started informatic at 33 when coming back to studies : 2 years later i've done my thesis with latex (took me 2.5 years!). Now i try to teach buiding technics and design, with the help of paper and electronic courses made with Context. Hopefully, my boss doesn't know that it took me sometimes 2 days for writing a one morning course! I must recognise that sometimes I think of having a good dtp software, but after some test, I come back to Context. In the next decades, I'll try to succeed in quizz making and/or nice looking book. I wish to meet people using Context one day. Thanks Hans and all others on the list . -- Olivier TURLIER ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Am 04.11.2005 um 15:49 schrieb Taco Hoekwater:
What do you do with ConTeXT?
We are using ConTeXt for typesetting wonderful books (werksatz),
mostly in the fields of arts and humanities.
This kind of books often show an advanced use of footnotes, languages
and alphabets.
What could be improved in ConTeXt for this specific use is a better
integration of figures:
Images placed at a certain fixed position surrounded by text.
Hans allready knows my
\placefigure{top, left}
or
\placefigure{bottom, outer}
request for years now ...
Yours
Steffen
---
Esther Knoblich Steffen Wolfrum | werksatz Berlin
contact : Anklamer Straße 39 : D-10115 Berlin : +49-30-47374736
mobile : www.werksatz.com : [EMAIL PROTECTED] : +49-163-4028151
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RE: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
What do you do with ConTeXT? We may divide this into present activities, planned activities, useful, and needed features: Present activities: I use ConTeXt to a) typeset an academic journal b) typeset my own books Planned or in-progress activities: I am striving for a) advanced critical edition support b) advanced Arabic-script support, including complicated scripts like Nastaliq: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00xcallig/coloniallate/nastaliq/nastaliq.html I already have a working Arabic module; though experimental, it produces some of the best classical Naskh Arabic script one can find in digital typography-) c) related to b) I would like to see an integration of aleph and pdfetex (for full left-to-right and right-to-left typesetting) Useful present or needed features: The best feature over LaTeX is its predictability and integratedness (no 1001 packages to sift through). NEEDED: a) A COMPLETE CONTEXT IDE, maybe even a lyx-like application b) More streamlined way to setup fonts c) Complete independence from the TeX distributions (almost there-)) Best Idris Professor Idris Samawi Hamid Department of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Taco Hoekwater wrote: Hi all, For the next issue of the ntg's Maps journal, Hans and I believe it would be nice to publish the collected responses to this simple question: What do you do with ConTeXT? We think it would be nice to see all the various ways in which people experience ConTeXt. We are not looking for articles, in fact we really want just a small amount of text per user, nothing longer then you would normally type in an email message. One, perhaps two paragraphs that simply tell about your personal experience using (or playing with) (or fighting with) (or yelling at) (or staring at in bewilderment) (or revelling in) (or running away from) ConTeXt. If you like this idea, just reply to this message. I will then collect and merge the responses, and finally put a pdf on-line somewhere. Don't be shy! Taco ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context I use ConTeXt to typeset: 1. slides 2. mathematical formula 3. Chinese It is far more easier to write slides in ConTeXt than in LaTeX. And ConTeXt can produce PDF directly. The math enviroment is not as good as it in LaTeX, but it is enough for me now. The Chinese enviroment is not as good as LaTeX(CJK) either, but it is easier to learn. I hope the Chinese module can be enhanced some day. ConTeXt is a good work, and I like it! I'm going to stick to it. Regards, xiaojf ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Hi all, Taco Hoekwater wrote: What do you do with ConTeXT? As big project I typeset my Diploma (~ Master) thesis with it - and I will do so for my PhD as well. Otherwise I use it for slides and writeups. For papers I so far used LaTeX, but I'm toying with the idea to use it also for a paper; unfortunally APS and arXiv.org don't support ConTeXt. However, if enough authors bug them, they will probably do so at the end. ;-) Tobias ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
[NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Hi all, For the next issue of the ntg's Maps journal, Hans and I believe it would be nice to publish the collected responses to this simple question: What do you do with ConTeXT? We think it would be nice to see all the various ways in which people experience ConTeXt. We are not looking for articles, in fact we really want just a small amount of text per user, nothing longer then you would normally type in an email message. One, perhaps two paragraphs that simply tell about your personal experience using (or playing with) (or fighting with) (or yelling at) (or staring at in bewilderment) (or revelling in) (or running away from) ConTeXt. If you like this idea, just reply to this message. I will then collect and merge the responses, and finally put a pdf on-line somewhere. Don't be shy! Taco ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
What do I do with ConTeXT? 1. price-lists from xml (DB exports) ; 2. labels for shoes and dresses, from xml/csv ; 3. data sheetes (barcodes, code number and so on ), from xml/csv ; luigi ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Taco Hoekwater wrote:
What do you do with ConTeXT?
I use ConTeXt for any document that I figure someone will want to print
out on paper some day. This includes resumes, letters, and articles. I
even considered typesetting software documentation with ConTeXt, but
haven’t yet decided if PDFs are the right medium for that kind of text.
I also typeset my master’s thesis using ConTeXt and probably spent as
much time hacking ConTeXt as I did on doing “actual work” for the
content. Not because ConTeXt couldn’t do what I wanted, but because
ConTeXt allowed me to do anything I wanted. Having a lot of options can
be time-consuming, as you want to try them all before deciding on the
one that works best. This is both the good and the bad thing about
ConTeXt. You can tweak and tweak and tweak, whereas with something like
LaTeX you have a few boring designs and you just choose the one that
suits the type of document your writing. And your document will look
like five million other research papers outh there. I wanted something
unique and ConTeXt was just the right tool for it.
nikolai
--
Nikolai Weibull: now available free of charge at http://bitwi.se/!
Born in Chicago, IL USA; currently residing in Gothenburg, Sweden.
main(){printf(linux[\021%six\012\0],(linux)[have]+fun-97);}
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Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Taco Hoekwater wrote: What do you do with ConTeXT? I first learned ConTeXt because of work: My employer makes measuring instruments for industry and I write and/or compile and layout the end-user manuals for those instruments. Traditionally, those manuals were written and edited in Word, but when the mass of text and the amount of figures grew, it was obvious that I needed a new tool before becoming a total wreck due to corrupted and unruly Word files. A workmate had written his thesis in TeX and started to look for various TeX based solutions, of which I finally chose ConTeXt. I had to stick to Windows because of work. We first tried MikTeX, but that just didn't work out. Then I got TeXLive and it worked - except fonts Hours later and with the help of the email list I finally found the correct combination of magical lines and there it was. And then somebody mentioned that I could get Emacs with Context-mode in Windows and that's it. That's still how I run ConteXt at work, although now there are easier Windows options available (not to talk about the Mac option...). Using Emacs usually gains points from younger nerds we occassionally employ. :-) ConTeXt was the first TeX based system I've ever used, but I was used to using styles and had done HTML (still do it by hand), so I have some idea of what I was getting into. Looking back I realize that I've learned an awful lot of things although I often feel that I don't know any of the things I should. Having to do something new usually results in curses at the beginning, but when it works, it always works. I'll still use Word (and equivalents) for small stuff, but when I need something big and printable, ConTeXt is the tool. My real ConTeXt moment came last summer, when I had to redo the layout on one of our old Word files that had been edited by somebody else in between. It was disgustingly difficult to the degree that I seriously considered cutting and pasting the whole thing into Emacs and ConTeXting it to my liking! Mari ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
What do you do with ConTeXT? I'm using ConTeXt to typeset my Ph.D. dissertation, and have used it over the last few years to typeset seminar papers, outlines, and so on. Recently I've also helped a friend typeset his monograph. He is an architect and painter, so this text is full of diagrams, paintings, fold-out pages, prose, and indexes. ConTeXt made it possible to generate a really beautiful, complex book. I believe that there was nothing he wanted to do that we couldn't work out with ConTeXt. For some reason I've always enjoyed working through the difficulties of using a complex program that I know should work—this reached a high point with plain TeX, then LaTeX, and carried on (due to my always being restless) to my favorite: ConTeXt. Installation of fonts was particularly difficult, though I can't exactly say why—things go much more smoothly now. I spent many hours trying and retrying, reading and rereading, to get OT fonts working with margin kerning. I feel much more connection with the history and practice of typesetting working with ConTeXt than with any WYSIWYG system I've tried. ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
Hi, No there is no reason to be shy! - Context has become THE tool for all typesetting purposes. So in my environment letters, invoices, addres-labels, envelop-printing, greetingcards etc are made up in Context together with functionality provided by Metafun. A favorite issue is making flowcharts for e.g. bookbinding guides, meatprocessing or visualization of the production of a tool. Next to all this I write my own books which are completely made up in Context including imposition of the pages for folding sections in order to end up with sewn books. E.g I prepared a 600 pages book which includes over a 120 drawings and metapost-figures. This book is bound as a girdle-book. - Whenever I am asked to give a presentation there is Context involved. - Why? Just because I know I can achieve what I want! Though there is sometimes a bit of hassle after all the changes in the tex-tree occuring during time, Context is still the best environment I have ever tried. Many thanks Hans for this great environment! Willi Taco Hoekwater wrote: Hi all, For the next issue of the ntg's Maps journal, Hans and I believe it would be nice to publish the collected responses to this simple question: What do you do with ConTeXT? We think it would be nice to see all the various ways in which people experience ConTeXt. We are not looking for articles, in fact we really want just a small amount of text per user, nothing longer then you would normally type in an email message. One, perhaps two paragraphs that simply tell about your personal experience using (or playing with) (or fighting with) (or yelling at) (or staring at in bewilderment) (or revelling in) (or running away from) ConTeXt. If you like this idea, just reply to this message. I will then collect and merge the responses, and finally put a pdf on-line somewhere. Don't be shy! Taco ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
Re: [NTG-context] Mini-survey: What do you do with ConTeXt?
On Nov 4, 2005, at 15:49, Taco Hoekwater wrote: Hi all, For the next issue of the ntg's Maps journal, Hans and I believe it would be nice to publish the collected responses to this simple question: What do you do with ConTeXT? I have decided not too long ago to move my book-project form LaTeX to ConTeXt (it was my second try, the first one I stopped because there were too many problems). Reason: I dislike how LaTeX output generally looks (though I found memoir to be pretty good) and after reading the documentation I liked how ConTeXt looked as an interface. I think those ideas are generally still correct, but using ConTeXt is often a wrestling match for me. The documentation is a disaster if you want to find out how things work other than the few actual examples given. Going to the source to find out what options there are is not optimal. E.g. can somebody tell mem how to prevent \textline to take up so much vertical space (and yes, I tried all the settings)? Secondly, writing is less conceptual than LaTeX and more visually oriented. That is a logical consequence of its philosophy and its layout power, but I really miss a more conceptual approach (as in a LaTeX letter class or book class) on top of ConTeXt. Lately, I have also become disappointed by the non-local nature of things I ran into (e.g. having a float in an endnote and having the float end up in the vincinity of the endnote marker in the main text, not in the endnote chapter), which are things I completely did not expect to happen. I get the feeling that ConTeXt is running into TeX-as-a-programming-environment limitations. I stick to ConTeXt for my book project, but I keep everything else still in LaTeX (e.g. letters). I still think ConTeXt has the potential to outclass LaTeX completely, but it is not there yet. For ordinary non-TeXhackers like me, it is not a smooth ride. G ___ ntg-context mailing list ntg-context@ntg.nl http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
