On Thu, 29 May 2008 10:27:39 +1000
Sonia Hamilton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a simple text formatting language/package?
>
> To explain a bit more: I want a formatting language that's text based
> (so it's easier to keep track of diffs in source control, and
> editable in vim), for doing stuff you'd usually do in Open Office
> Word Processor
> - bullet points, bold/italic, tables, etc. I'd like output in pdf, so
> it's easily printable cross-platform.
>
> I've briefly thought about things like LaTeX, postscript and Docbook,
> but they all seem overkill for what I want to do, and will take too
> much time to learn.
Hi Sonia,
I do a lot of writing in plain text with very simple markup. I tend to
use Muse, but that is emacs based. Others are:
- AFT (Almost Free Text)
- Muse (for use with Emacs only)
- reStructuredText
- txt2tags
- YODL: a more complex markup language that lets you define your own
"macros" and terms
- "Wiki" languages: there are a number of these available.
None of these provide really good support if you need general indexing,
and the support for cross referencing varies. I personally do not like
reStructuredText because of the strange (to me) markup of sections and
titles.
I don't like the idea of writing in any markup language that is more
complex than LaTeX. LaTeX is simple and unobtrusive for simple writing,
and emacs will hide markers when the writing is more complex - don't
know about vim.
AFT and txt2tags are both simple and produce a variety of outputs. Each
will produce LaTeX output and HTML. AFT will also output RTF if that is
relevant to your needs.
HTH,
Alan
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
> Sonia Hamilton.
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--
Alan L Tyree http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~alan
Tel: 04 2748 6206 Fax: +61 2 4782 7092
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