Re: [NTG-context] Difficulties with learning about ConTeXt
At 2017-10-23T21:49:26+02:00, Pablo Rodriguez wrote: > It is fine that you ask what the wiki can do for you. But when you find > the solution to your problem, consider what you can do for the wiki. > > Expanding the wiki is the reverse action from replying questions. The > wiki requieres time too. Dear Pablo, Thank you for your thoughtful response. It was useful to read it. As you say, one can contribute to the Wiki, and I will try to do so. > In my experience, what you learnt from LaTeX won’t be helpful to use > with ConTeXt. This is absolutely true, and I don't have any problem about starting from scratch with a new typesetting system. However, the returns seem worth the effort, given the control that ConTeXt provides to the user, the integral feel, and its high level facilities. So, thanks again. Regards, Raghu. -- N. Raghavendra, http://www.retrotexts.net/ Harish-Chandra Research Institute, http://www.hri.res.in/ ___ 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://context.aanhet.net archive : https://bitbucket.org/phg/context-mirror/commits/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] Difficulties with learning about ConTeXt
On 10/23/2017 12:40 PM, N. Raghavendra wrote: > I am a mathematician, and have been using LaTeX on a daily basis since > 1992, when I was a graduate student. I have recently started using > ConTeXt, and am very happy with the facilities it provides, and with its > self-contained system which does not require one to load external > packages with subtle interactions. Hi Raghu, my experience with LaTeX was brief when compared with yours: about seven years. I think I may be using ConTeXt for almost a decade. My background is in humanities. I cannot code, although I may read and understand very basic scripts. I simply don’t do math (it’s all Greek to me). The most useful ConTeXt feature for me is the handling of XML files as source files for text. > One problem that I am facing is that the documentation of ConTeXt is > often not enough for me to figure out what to do when a problem arises. > I understand that documentation is perhaps not a priority for the > project. As Hans Hagen wrote in `? Context', > > "... writing can get a lower priority in a time when quick and dirty >answers can be found on the internet, mailing list or wiki. ... For >what it's worth: whenever I have to solve a problem with a program >(or language implementation) I run into cases where I have to look >long to find (non conflicting) information. It just comes with the >problems one wants to solve and TeX (ConTeXt) is not different." When I started learning ConTeXt, I thought it wasn’t well documented. I changed my mind since that. I understand that writing documentation may not be a priority for Hans, becase: - He is the main developer of ConTeXt and LuaTeX. - He fixes the bugs users or developers report. - He kindly implements reasonable requests for new features. - He checks the mailing list and replies to some of the questions. - He still writes documentation for many of the ConTeXt features (not only literate programming). In my personal case, many bugs and new requests were fixed or implemented in less than a week. (I wish it would be the same at work, where we have paid support.) I’m not the only user that has experienced that. Hans may be not writing documentation, because he focuses on other (more important) aspects of ConTeXt development. I would like to write a manual for ConTeXt. But it will be in Spanish, I may need years, and it will be limited to my own experience. The wiki is an informal invitation to the users to document the issues the were able to solve. Hans explained his take on the documentation some years ago: https://mailman.ntg.nl/pipermail/ntg-context/2010/047500.html. > However, there is not a great deal of information on the Internet about > solving ConTeXt problems. Whenever I ran into a LaTeX problem in the > last several years, I used to find a solution, or a substantial step > towards one, that was already documented on the TeX-LaTeX Stack > Exchange. Unfortunately, it does not contain a similar amount of > information about ConTeXt. In any case, I have started posting ConTeXt > questions there, see https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/397463/146025 and > https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/397607/146025 There is no secret that ConTeXt is way less popular than LaTeX. It is even trickier to search for it (since context is also a rather common word). I don’t know how many ConTeXt users are in the world. Probably the number of LaTeX users is a hundred times the number of ConTeXt users. This explains a lot of things in terms of written explanations. Let me mention a single case. TUGs are TeX Users Groups, but most of its participants are LaTeX users. The TeX Spanish mailing list has almost 400 participants. There may be other ConTeXt users on that list. But LaTeX is by far the most common topic in the vast majority of messages. My impression when I explain there basic ConTeXt features (such as modes) is that I’m describing Martian life to the generation of my grandparents (they have no clue of what I’m speaking about). StackExchange and similar platforms are great, sure. But being responsive to questions for users in the mailing list and in SE may be too much for most of the users. At least, my day has only 24 hours ;-). > As for the mailing list, I posted three requests for help here in the > last one week. When I bumped my first message after more than a day > without any response, Tomas Hala kindly came to my rescue. The other > two messages, posted four and two days ago, have not elicited any > response yet. This contrasts with Aditya Mahajan's experience, which he > describes in his interview at > http://tex-talk.net/2012/08/textalk-an-interview-with-aditya/: > > "Most questions on the context mailing lists are answered within >minutes ... look in the main manual and the wiki to see how to >achieve the particular effects that you wanted, and if you cannot >figure it out, ask on the context mailing list." When the interview took place, the
Re: [NTG-context] Difficulties with learning about ConTeXt
At 2017-10-23T12:59:35+02:00, luigi scarso wrote: > 1) test suite cont-tst.7z > http://www.pragma-ade.nl/download-1.htm Thank you, the test suite is likely to be a useful resource. Regards, Raghu. -- N. Raghavendra, http://www.retrotexts.net/ Harish-Chandra Research Institute, http://www.hri.res.in/ ___ 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://context.aanhet.net archive : https://bitbucket.org/phg/context-mirror/commits/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] Difficulties with learning about ConTeXt
On Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 12:40 PM, N. Raghavendrawrote: > I am a mathematician, and have been using LaTeX on a daily basis since > 1992, when I was a graduate student. I have recently started using > ConTeXt, and am very happy with the facilities it provides, and with its > self-contained system which does not require one to load external > packages with subtle interactions. > > One problem that I am facing is that the documentation of ConTeXt is > often not enough for me to figure out what to do when a problem arises. > I understand that documentation is perhaps not a priority for the > project. As Hans Hagen wrote in `? Context', > > "... writing can get a lower priority in a time when quick and dirty >answers can be found on the internet, mailing list or wiki. ... For >what it's worth: whenever I have to solve a problem with a program >(or language implementation) I run into cases where I have to look >long to find (non conflicting) information. It just comes with the >problems one wants to solve and TeX (ConTeXt) is not different." > > However, there is not a great deal of information on the Internet about > solving ConTeXt problems. Whenever I ran into a LaTeX problem in the > last several years, I used to find a solution, or a substantial step > towards one, that was already documented on the TeX-LaTeX Stack > Exchange. Unfortunately, it does not contain a similar amount of > information about ConTeXt. In any case, I have started posting ConTeXt > questions there, see https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/397463/146025 and > https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/397607/146025 > These are the resources that I have found very useful: 0)interface files tex/texmf-context/tex/context/interface/mkiv 1) test suite cont-tst.7z http://www.pragma-ade.nl/download-1.htm 2) sources of the pdf of the standalone, tex/texmf-context/doc/context/sources/general 3) sources of modules tex/texmf-context/tex/context/modules 4) source code of mkiv tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkiv 5) the archives of emails https://mailman.ntg.nl/pipermail/ntg-context/ The ml is ok of course, but at some point you will develop your own style of doing things, and probably you will encapsulate it into a module. -- luigi ___ 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://context.aanhet.net archive : https://bitbucket.org/phg/context-mirror/commits/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
[NTG-context] Difficulties with learning about ConTeXt
I am a mathematician, and have been using LaTeX on a daily basis since 1992, when I was a graduate student. I have recently started using ConTeXt, and am very happy with the facilities it provides, and with its self-contained system which does not require one to load external packages with subtle interactions. One problem that I am facing is that the documentation of ConTeXt is often not enough for me to figure out what to do when a problem arises. I understand that documentation is perhaps not a priority for the project. As Hans Hagen wrote in `? Context', "... writing can get a lower priority in a time when quick and dirty answers can be found on the internet, mailing list or wiki. ... For what it's worth: whenever I have to solve a problem with a program (or language implementation) I run into cases where I have to look long to find (non conflicting) information. It just comes with the problems one wants to solve and TeX (ConTeXt) is not different." However, there is not a great deal of information on the Internet about solving ConTeXt problems. Whenever I ran into a LaTeX problem in the last several years, I used to find a solution, or a substantial step towards one, that was already documented on the TeX-LaTeX Stack Exchange. Unfortunately, it does not contain a similar amount of information about ConTeXt. In any case, I have started posting ConTeXt questions there, see https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/397463/146025 and https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/397607/146025 As for the mailing list, I posted three requests for help here in the last one week. When I bumped my first message after more than a day without any response, Tomas Hala kindly came to my rescue. The other two messages, posted four and two days ago, have not elicited any response yet. This contrasts with Aditya Mahajan's experience, which he describes in his interview at http://tex-talk.net/2012/08/textalk-an-interview-with-aditya/: "Most questions on the context mailing lists are answered within minutes ... look in the main manual and the wiki to see how to achieve the particular effects that you wanted, and if you cannot figure it out, ask on the context mailing list." I understand that we are all busy, and it is not easy to find time to answer novice queries on the list. Lastly, I found the Wiki useful sometimes for quick and dirty solutions to problems, and sometimes as a source of documentation. Yet there have been several cases where I could not find what I wanted in it. For example, I could not find the answers to my last two queries on this list and to my two questions on SE, in the manual, on the archives of this list, or on the Wiki. These problems mean that I have to spend much more time experimenting and searching before I find a reasonable way to get the things I want with ConTeXt. Given the beauty of the results that ConTeXt returns, I don't mind that. However, I wonder if there are others who have similar problems learning about ConTeXt, and if they have some words of advice for me. I am also interested in ways to help people with similar difficulties. Regards, Raghu. -- N. Raghavendra, http://www.retrotexts.net/ Harish-Chandra Research Institute, http://www.hri.res.in/ ___ 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://context.aanhet.net archive : https://bitbucket.org/phg/context-mirror/commits/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___