Re: [NTG-context] learning LuaTeX (was: Hans' presentation: using plain TEX (from TUG 2009) [apologies if OT])
Hello Patrick who said... >>Besides the gdb part, this is pretty much how I "learned" LuaTeX >>(still on my path). I suggest you stay with plain, then add features >>as you go along: > * write your own font handler (see the bluewiki page) - LuaTeX >supports many different kinds of fonts >* write your own kpathsea module (and thus replace kpathsea) >* do a nodelist traversal and find out about the different node types >* create a nodelist and write it out to TeX (node.write(...)) >* use tex.linebreak() for creating a paragraph. ... Good to know that I'm not the only one going down the "simple" path. My plans are indeed along the lines you indicate. I have the utmost admiration and respect for the work that has gone into ConTeXt, a great piece of work. For now, I just need to get back to the "very basics" and a minimal installation of LuaTeX with plain seems to do that nicely, for now. >> If you understand german or use google translate, have a look at >> http://www.luatex.de Sadly, I do not read German, a real pity as there are some interesting bits of code on there. Google Translate, here I come :-) Warm regards and thanks again for your time to reply. Cheers! Graham ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
[NTG-context] learning LuaTeX (was: Hans' presentation: using plain TEX (from TUG 2009) [apologies if OT])
Hello Graham, > Thank you for your commnts. Oh, for sure, tinkering with > plain is just an interim step along the (long...) road. A very minimal > "harness setup" to write minimal code --- to play with the various LuaTeX API > functions via GNU's gdb debugger. By building a small test > environment/playground from scratch, including compiling LuaTeX, and > hacking together a basic TDS, gives me a way to learn about stuff like > kpathsea etc. Besides the gdb part, this is pretty much how I "learned" LuaTeX (still on my path). I suggest you stay with plain, then add features as you go along: * write your own font handler (see the bluewiki page) - LuaTeX supports many different kinds of fonts * write your own kpathsea module (and thus replace kpathsea) * do a nodelist traversal and find out about the different node types * create a nodelist and write it out to TeX (node.write(...)) * use tex.linebreak() for creating a paragraph. ... Hans' font stuff is rather advanced and therefore complex (IIRC > 1 lines of code), so don't try to understand it as your first exercise. There is no need to use ConTeXt if all you want is knowledge of the LuaTeX API. If you understand german or use google translate, have a look at http://www.luatex.de Patrick ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
