Greetings! I have been using LyX for many months now, and over time I
have collected a "wish list" of things that I'd like to see in the
program. I thought I would pass these things along. As I do not follow
the Developer's list, please forgive me if these have already been
discussed, and are already on the list to do (or were already shot down as
not possible)...
(1) Window "focus" issues
In the Delimiter menu (off of the Math Panel menu), LyX will insert
the left and right delimiters into the document when either the "Apply"
or the "OK" button is pressed. In the former case, the Delimiter menu
stays open and the "focus" remains on this window; in the latter case,
the Delimiter menu is closed and the "focus" is returned to the document.
I would be interested in combining these two modes, where the Delimiter
menu stays open but that the focus is returned to the document anyway.
That saves the trouble later of having to re-open the Math Panel and the
Delimiter windows. Maybe the action of the "Apply" button could be
decided by the user in the lyxrc file?
Similarly, there might be some room for changes in the "focus" in the
"Insert (Cross) Reference" menu. When I press the button for "Insert
Reference," I would like the window to stay open but for the focus to
return to my document. Or, maybe, if I double-clicked on a reference, it
would be nice if the program would perform some default action (say,
"Insert Reference," and what that default action was could be determined in
the lyxrc file) and, again, have the focus return to the document I was
writing.
(2) Command-line things
Suppose I have files in my directory called "foo.lyx" and "bar.tex"
It would be nice if when I execute the command "lyx foo"
in the same directory as "foo.lyx", the three letter extension would be
added automatically and the file gets loaded correctly.
It would also be nice if when I executed either "lyx bar.tex" or just
simply "lyx bar," the three letter extension could be added
automatically, and then the program would proceed
with its Import -> LaTeX option automatically (perhaps with a pop-up
window asking if I wanted.
If the file neither ends with ".lyx" or ".tex", it would be cool if a
window came up, asking if this is an ASCII file, and if I wanted it
imported as lines or as paragraphs.
(3) Hiding LaTeX commands
Suppose I enter in a series of LaTeX commands (perhaps to give information
to a style file that I am using). I like the way LyX allows me to enter
in the LaTeX commands directly, but I also find myself wanting a way to
"hide" these commands when I am normally editing the document.
I imagine a window where I could enter in all the LaTeX commands (maybe
similar to the way that preamble information can be entered),
and at the top there would be some other like called "Command Label."
If I type in: "Style File Options" and hit "OK", then in my document
will appear a grey box that says "[Style File Options]", but if I click on
that box, I will be sent to the window that lists all of the LaTeX
commands that are being "hidden." Does this make sense? I only suggest
this as a way of making the actual appearance of the LyX documents a
little prettier, when a lot of LaTeX commands are being used.
(4) Equation Labels
If an equation already has a label, and then I select "Insert -> Label,"
it would be nice if the current label would appear in the pop-up menu,
and could then be edited.
(5) \mbox support
It might be nice if there was a more visually appealing way for handling
"mbox" commands (text boxes) in equations. Right now, of course, I can
enter "\mbox{}" in LaTeX mode, and then type in the text I want to appear,
but the text appears in the italic font, and I need to use protected
spaces instead of regular spaces... and I just have the feeling that this
might be worth implementing specifically and directly in LyX.
Thanks for listening! Beyond these minor suggestions, I would like to
give the deepest thanks and the most heart-felt congratulations to the LyX
developers, for an astounding program.
regards,
David Aronstein
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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