TeXhax@Score.Stanford.EDU (TeXhax Digest) (10/30/88)
TeXhax Digest Saturday, October 29, 1988 Volume 88 : Issue 98
Moderator: Malcolm Brown
Today's Topics:
Re: Salvaging PXL fonts
where are NEC drivers dvineclq available ?
making all displayed equations numbered in LaTeX
TeX for journals
RE: Journals that accept/request/require TeX input (V88 #93)
TEX
Maple to TeX Conversion, TeXHax 95 note
TeX for journals.
Looking for TeX on Apollo
WEB/Pascal subset
Including MacDraw documents in TeX files
flame on fonts
Numbering in LaTeX
Re: TeXhax Digest V88 #96
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Salvaging PXL fonts
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 88 15:45:37 EDT
From: "Louis A. Mamakos" <louie@trantor.umd.edu>
I have a dvi to postscript converter that is based on the work that Chris
Torak has done with his ctex package. It is based on the Imagen imPress
driver, and can use PXL, PK and GF fonts. It can also use resident
PostScript printer fonts.
If there is any demand for something like this, I can make it available for
anonymous FTP. It has been run on Berkeley UNIX based machines (4.3BSD,
Ultrix, etc) and also on the Commodore-Amiga. Who know, you might be able
to transport it to something else too.
Louis A. Mamakos
University of Maryland
Computer Science Center
------------------------------
Date: 10/27/88 11:41:02 GMT+1
From: X114%DDAGSI3.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU
Subject: where are NEC drivers dvineclq available ?
In one of the last texhax new drivers for the NEC printer with
360 dpi where anounced of Fuyun Ling. From where can I get them ?
Is it possible to store them at a server (e.g. at clarkson.edu) for
access from BITNET ?
Bye Michael Dahlinger
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 88 03:56:54 PDT
From: Jonathan_Thornburg@mtsg.ubc.ca
Subject: making all displayed equations numbered in LaTeX
In some writing styles, *all* displayed equations are numbered. In
this case, it would be nice to have a shorter and more stand-out-on-
-the-terminal-screen-ish version of the LaTeX \begin{equation} ...
\end{equation} and \begin{eqnarray} ... \end{eqnarray} environments.
The following style file redefines things so that \[ ... \] does what
\begin{equation} ... \end{equation} used to do, and \[[ ... \]] does
what \begin{eqnarray} ... \end{eqnarray} used to do.
- Jonathan Thornburg
Dept. of Geophysics & Astronomy thornburg@mtsg.ubc.ca
The University of British Columbia userbkis@ubcmtsg.bitnet
Vancouver BC V6T 1W5 userbkis%ubcmtsg@um.cc.umich.edu
Canada ubc-vision!ubcmtsg.bitnet!thornburg
------------------------------ cut here ------------------------------
% alleqno.sty -- LaTeX style file to make displayed equations numbered
% by default.
%
% This document style option makes all displayed equations numbered by
% default. In particular, it defines things so that \[, \], \[[, and
% \]] may be used as follows:
%
% \[ ... \] ==> \begin{equation} ... \end{equation}
% \[[ ... \]] ==> \begin{eqnarray} ... \end{eqnarray}
%
% These new commands are short, and they stand out clearly from the
% surrounding text on a terminal screen.
%
% Note that \begin{displaymath} ... \end{displaymath} should *not* be
% used with this style file -- use \[ ... \] instead. To override the
% default and get an unnumbered displayed equation, use a one-line
% \begin{eqnarray} ... \end{eqnarray}.
%
% - Jonathan Thornburg, 25/Sept/88
%
% Dept of Geophysics & Astronomy thornburg@mtsg.ubc.ca
% The University of British Columbia userbkis@ubcmtsg.bitnet
% Vancouver BC V6T 1W5 userbkis%ubc@um.cc.umich.edu
% Canada ubc-vision!ubcmtsg.bitnet!thornburg
%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%
% Thanks to Donald Arseneau for help with the following macro.
\def\mygobbletoken{\let\myjunktoken= }%%%
%
\def\[{\futurelet\mydisplayselect\mydisplay}%%%
\def\mydisplay{%%%
\if\mydisplayselect[%%%
\begin{eqnarray}\let\mynextcommand=\mygobbletoken%%%
\else%%%
\begin{equation}\let\mynextcommand=\relax%%%
\fi%%%
\mynextcommand
}%%%
%
\def\]{\futurelet\mydisplayselect\myenddisplay}%%%
\def\myenddisplay{%%%
\if\mydisplayselect]%%%
\end{eqnarray}\let\mynextcommand=\mygobbletoken%%%
\else%%%
\end{equation}\let\mynextcommand=\relax%%%
\fi%%%
\mynextcommand
}%%%
------------------------------ cut here ------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 88 18:59:55 EDT
From: "Doug Arnold" <dna@emmy.umd.edu>
Subject: TeX for journals
I find the discussion of author-typeset journal articles very timely.
My opinion is that this has the potential to be an important advance in
the way that information is communicated in the scientific community,
but like any complex new technology, it has to be used carefully.
The potential benefits of electronic preparation of articles include:
- greater accuracy. Under the present system the journal is presented
with a typescript which must be typeset. Errors invariably creep in
during the typesetting phase, many of which only the author is likely to
be able to catch. The author receives the proof sheets long after the
article was completed, when it is no longer as fresh in his mind, and
is given a very short time to check for errors which he marks in a proof-
readers language in which he is likely unskilled. Errors usually sneak
through.
- faster dissemination. An author-typeset article can appear more
quickly, a very significant advantage for modern science. At present,
many people don't read the typeset version of an article at all, since
they can't wait for the preprint to be set. Moreover, if the author
has his final document in TeX, he can distribute it electronically.
- higher quality prepublication form. The preparation of a high
quality document with TeX requires effort. For many people, that
effort is not justified just to print a preprint which will ultimately
be reset, and consequently preprints are circulated which are typo-
graphically ugly. If the author's effort will also determine the
appearance in the journal, the effort has a much greater payoff.
- lower costs for publishers. Allowing them, one hopes, to lower
costs to readers and/or to produce a better product.
The major worry expressed by Victor Eijkhout is that the quality
of typesetting will be lowered by this development for two main
reasons: the fonts available are inadequate and authors will not always
produce competently typeset documents. These are very real concerns,
but I believe that they can be adequately addressed. The font problem
isn't very important for journals that will set all articles, author
typeset or not, in TeX. Such journals will have a standard set of
fonts, Computer Modern or otherwise, and can convert all received TeX
files to those fonts. For journals that mix traditionally typeset
material with TeX material, I don't see any complete solution, except
the expensive and unlikely one that journals produce the necessary
Metafont code to match their fonts. Fortunately, for many journals
this problem is quite minor. In the journals of the Society for
Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) for example, a discerning eye
can find the article typeset in TeX by the fonts, but to me, at least,
the difference is very small and not distracting. This is a tradeoff,
but one which I think is well worthwhile. Of course journals should
definitely not accept low resolution printer output as camera ready
copy. The author should always send the TeX file, and not the printer
output, which can then be set by the journal on a high resolution
phototypesetter. This is the current policy of SIAM.
The question of the quality of the typesetting can and should be
addressed by the journals. Journals simply should not lower their
standards. It is the responsibility of journal production editors to
require that author-typeset papers match the journal format exactly.
Authors who are not prepared to meet this requirement should have the
paper set by the journal in the traditional way. I think that the way
to go is that a trained copy editor, perhaps with a mild familiarity
with TeX, will mark up the output and return it to the author for
corrections if it is not up to snuff. TeX can produce output of the
highest quality, and that's what we must demand.
Michael Barr raises some practical questions on how this can best
be implemented.
>> Is it necessary or desirable to standardize on one version of TeX
>> (e.g. LaTeX or AMSTeX) or can you handle more than one.
>> How much freedom can you leave to authors to make up their own
macros?
The flavor of TeX is not the issue. The quality of the output
is. The journals should accept any output which matches their style
perfectly. LaTeX and AMSTeX and associated style files exist to make
it (much) easier for authors to do so. Both tools have their own
strengths and weaknesses, and the journal shouldn't try to impose one
or the other. The same point applies to TeX front-ends, preprocessors
(e.g., for bibliographies), and other macros packages (such as for
table making or equation numbering).
>> Has anyone prepared a guide for authors?
Brad Lucier and I developed an AMSTeX style file for SIAM
publications. SIAM provided us with information on the layout which
was very helpful. We provide users of our style files (which we freely
distribute) with ample documentation and examples. I feel that
journals should make a strong effort to produce as many tools as
possible to authors. They should commission and help distribute style
files, sample documents, and typesetting guidelines written with the
layman computer typesetter in mind.
Douglas N. Arnold dna@emmy.umd.edu
Department of Mathematics na.arnold@score.stanford.edu
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 88 17:43 CST
From: <RCD2403%TAMCHEM.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: RE: Journals that accept/request/require TeX input (V88 #93)
Even though I'm an infrequent user of TeX/LaTeX, I can see the advantages of
submitting journal articles in TeX input (via network, of course). There may
even be interest in developing products for specific journals. Here at Texas
A&M we have BibTeX, specifically designed for thesis and dissertation
preparation. Why can't the same be done for the Journal of the American
Chemical Society, Physics Review Letters, etc. It might even take some of the
fear (and time) in learning how to use TeX. This idea should at least have a
chance in the computer science world. But realistically, I can't expect my
part of the academic world to be immediately enthusiastic about the idea. The
problem is how to get chemists (even those who are computer jocks) to get
excited about learning TeX. And to get editors to at least give it a try. I
for one would like to receive comments on my work in weeks instead of months.
Who knows, I might even consider learning TeX to get the ball rolling in this
area!
Ricardo Davis
Department of Chemistry GTE: (409) 845-0612
Texas A & M University Bitnet: RCD2403@TAMCHEM
College Station, TX 77843-3255 THEnet: CHEMVX::RCD2403
Internet: RCD2403@CHEMVX.TAMU.EDU
NGWnet: RCDAVIS@MT.ZION
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 88 09:33:09 EDT
From: Mohr%NBS.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU
Subject: TEX
Dear Malcolm:
I am interested in TEX and heard that you communicate with a
network of users. I would like to get on your mailing list, and
have a (possibly elementary since I started using TEX a few weeks
ago) question to pose. Is there a way to use \topinsert,\endinsert
without being between paragraphs? The goal is to write a macro
analogous to \footnote that allows a segment of floating text
to be generated in the middle of a sentence to appear elsewhere.
I have not been able to prevent a new paragraph being made when the
\topinsert,\endinsert are called.
Any comments would be appreciated.
Sincerely yours, Peter Mohr (National Institute of Standards and
Technology, formerly National Bureau of Standards)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 88 10:02 EST
From: <MCGUINES%FORDMURH.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Maple to TeX Conversion, TeXHax 95 note
In his note under the title above in TexHax 95,
Gerald Edgar says:
> This capability exists in Maple, version 4.2. It is called 'latex'
> but I see nothing that would differentiate the output from plain TeX.
Unfortunately, the Maple function latex() uses LaTeX specific constructions
such as '\frac' that do not make sense in Plain TeX. However, it
is easy to program a tex() function in the Maple language to use
'\over' instead by modifying the latex() source code.
Ois\'{\i}n McGuinness
Math. Dept.
Fordham University Bitnet: mcguiness@fordmurh
Bronx NY 10458 (Note the spelling!)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 88 16:13:46 MET
From: Victor Eijkhout <U641000%HNYKUN11.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: TeX for journals.
Roughly a month ago, I started a discussion on journals that
allow authors to submit TeX code, instead of manuscripts.
Allow me to summarise (and annotate) the discussion so far, and
contribute some new thoughts.
>From: Victor Eijkhout <U641000@HNYKUN11.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
>One. As TeX is still intimately connected to the Computer Modern
>font, journals tend to wind up with two kinds of articles
>Two. It is my fear that (1) journals may view accepting TeX source as
>a way of saving typesetter costs; (2) journals will have to employ
>a TeX hacker (next to their regular typesetting staff)
>From: Ken Yap <ken@cs.rochester.edu>
>I hope there will be more and more drivers that will allow non CM fonts
>to be used. The stumbling block seems to be the math symbol font.
>Your fears are well taken. Any new technology will present problems
>which have to be faced instead of expecting a panacea.
------------ I agree, TeX as it stands is not a panacea. VE
>From: Brad Miller <miller@CS.ROCHESTER.EDU>
>I see, so it's the presentation not the content that concerns you? For
>shame.
>From: William LeFebvre <phil@rice.edu>
>Agreed! Journals should take their time: quality is more important
>than speed for a journal.
>Clearly what must happen, and what may happen in the not-to-distant-
>future, is that the old typesetters (the people, that is) must be
>reeducated in the area of electronic typesetting (or make way for those
>who are).
>Where these journals are going wrong is in the assumption
>that TeX will eliminate the need for a typesetter. It doesn't: it is
>just providing a more powerful tool for the typesetter to use.
--------------- old typesetting does not die: it just
gets more exciting. VE
>From: Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem <JMS@mis.arizona.edu>
>Journals which accept TeX in lieu of sending out to typesetters may,
>in fact, be reducing the quality of their journals.
>However, journals like the ACM SIG newsletters do not have the luxury
>of having outside typesetters. These journals normally accept
>camera-ready copy, and print it as received. In this case, accepting TeX is
>a big win
----------------- ah, always the real world spoiling our
utopian dreams VE
>From: <POPPELIE%HUTRUU51.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU> (Nico Poppelier)
>A very simple answer is (of course): the scientific journals should
> - use LaTeX and _not_ TeX
> - design their own document style, to be used with LaTeX.
>From: J E PITTMAN <JEPTEX@star.tamu.edu>
>My only major criterians are that the output
>should look professional and that I should not have to wait,
>TeX (and LaTeX,
>for people that can't handle TeX) meet these criterian.
---------------- both Poppelier and Pittman seem to believe
in panaceae VE
>From: INHB%MCGILLC.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU
>1. Is it necessary or desirable to standardize on one version of TeX
>2. How much freedom can you leave to authors to make up their own
>macros?
>3. Can you get by with a TeX consultant or is it necessary to have a
>full-time in-house TeXnician?
>4. Has anyone prepared a guide for authors?
>5. Is there any other advice?
Good points. In my opinion:
1. LaTeX is already something of a de facto standard, and considering
the tools it hands to the user (tables, environments, cross referencing
to name but a few) it wouldn't be the worst imaginable.
Proposition: let journals adopt LaTeX (probably augmented with a .STY
file), and customise LATEX.TEX such that it produces a layout
which is entirely their own.
2. This one will be difficult to delineate. One will certainly want
to allow macros that just save repetitious typing, but not those
that alter the structure of the layout, let alone those that
redefine TeX (or LaTeX) commands.
3. First of all: even with a rigorous .STY file authors can mess things
up. Therefore any journal accepting TeX will need at least some
typesetting staff with a working knowledge
of TeX ('where does this extra space come from' and the like).
It might very well be that, after the desing phase, they can get
by without full-time TeXhackers if point 2. has been
satisfactorily solved. However, there is no way they can get by
without {\em any} typesetting staff.
4. Anyone?
5. Advice: get a good graphic artist to design your style, and a
competent hacker to implement it. Both authors and readers will
be satisfied.
Victor Eijkhout u641000@HNYKUN11.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 88 17:33 N
From: <MSCHENK%CLSUNI51.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Looking for TeX on Apollo
I am looking for a version of the TeX software that ...
... would run on some Apollo DN300 (Aegis 9.5.1 & BSD4.2 DOMAIN/IX)
... would be "buildable" with c_compiler, revision 4.65
or with pascal_compiler, revision 7.1452
... would produce its output in POSTSCRIPT for a LaserWriter I
Many thanks in advance,
Marc Schenk
Bitnet: MSCHENK@CLSUNI51
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 1988 11:52:03 PDT
From: Max Hailperin <mxh@ksl.stanford.edu>
Subject: WEB/Pascal subset
As is well known, Knuth restricted himself to a subset of Pascal in writing
TeX. For example, he didn't use pointers, call by reference (except for
files) or nested procedures.
However, as far as I can tell, none of this self-discipline is a part of the
WEB language definition.
My questions:
1) Does any of the TeX-related software not obey these restrictions?
2) If I write a WEB-to-... converter that exploits these conventions,
should it instead be called restricted-WEB-to-... or some such?
In particular, has anyone got a name for this WEB subset?
3) To what extent do other people exploit the restrictions?
Thanks.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 88 15:18 EDT
From: Henning Schulz-Rinne <HGSCHULZ@cs.umass.EDU>
Subject: Including MacDraw documents in TeX files
I would like to include MacDraw documents in a Tex file and then
print the resulting .PS file on a DEC LPS40 printer. I am using
DVIALW to convert .DVI files to .PS files and have been
able to include the sample file given in the DVIALW manual, but
have not had any luck with MacDraw files. I have a suspicion that
a special Apple dictionary is required, but don't know enough about
Postscript etc. to be sure. Any help greatly appreciated.
Henning Schulzrinne
ECE/COINS
U. of Massachusetts, Amherst
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 88 12:51 EDT
From: RICK%ntcws1.hub.hdsm05.hds.sdr.slb.com@RELAY.CS.NET
Subject: flame on fonts
Flame on
Fonts !!! There needs to be a trip like test for cm fonts!
I've just had an interesting experence trying to output a
50 page document in LaTeX. When we took the output to a local
printshop to be printed. They recommended we switch fonts
because the roman fonts we were using had some very thin
areas which would tend to drop out when making the printing
run. They suggested we switch to a sans serif font. After
having much fun getting LaTeX to think that roman fonts were
actually cmss10 type fonts and dealing with missing sans serif
fonts at small sizes (for the fine print part of the document)
we took that output to the printer. He then pointed out that
the 10 point cmss10 font also had problems -- especially the
small "e" character had little or no white space. It would
end up as a black blob on the upper half when duplicated for
printing. After this I decided to take a closer look at the
fonts supplied with the laser printer. Looking in the printer
manufacture's book of TeX fonts at cmss10 sure enought the
e's where black in the upper half of their own manual. All
the sans serif fonts appear to be boldface. The standard
cmss10 sans serif font is as bold if not bolder than the
boldface cmssbx10 font example in Knuth's "Computer Modern
Typefaces" book. Most if not all the fonts are too black.
I don't think it is to unreasonable to expect that if I
print using cm fonts on two different laser printers that
the output should look reasonably alike. I realize at 300
dots/inch and with different technology (write white/
write black etc.) that they will be slightly different
but, any reasonable company supplying TeX fonts should make
some effort to fine tune their mode_defs values to make their
output look like the examples in Knuth's book. Anyone
generating fonts using metafont that they are going to call
cm fonts should have a copy of "Computer Modern Typefaces"
open in front of them (pages 554 thru 570), how else are they
going to know if what they are generating is cm or not?
Now if the manufacture had supplied Metafont and the program
to convert the .pk file to the proper format for downloading
to the printer, I could clean up the fonts. But that is
scheduled for the next release. I have Metafont, but no way
to covert the output .pk files to a format the printer can
use. The result is I'm going to give the printer an inferior
master, and will get an inferior final product as a result.
I realize I should be using a printer who can output from
TeX dvi files, but that is another story.
I'll not name the offending company because I'm sure there
are many other companies with a similar problem, you know
who you are.
flame off
Rick Caldwell
------------------------------
Date: 28 October 1988 14:44:31 CDT
From: "Cynthia E. Quinn " <U27095%UICVM.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Numbering in LaTeX
Does anybody know how to get all numbering done by LaTeX using oldstyle
numbers? This should include page numbers and chapter numbers.
Thanks
Cynthia Quinn
U27095@UICVM.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 88 04:18:25 EDT
From: Chris Torek <chris@mimsy.umd.edu>
Subject: Re: TeXhax Digest V88 #96
I realise the magnitude of this request, as I handle requests for
several mailing lists myself (none digestified or moderated, thank the
Valar), but it would be nice if someone would edit in answers to simple
questions like the one that comes up repeatedly about \if...\fi
expansions after numbers.
This time the question took the form:
\newcount\v
\v=0
\newcommand{\test}{\ifnum\v=0
$A=0$ \else $A=1$\fi}
\newcommand{\testa}{\advance\v by 1%
\test}
\testa
Of course, the problem is that TeX is trying to see what comes after
the `1', in case the macros expand to something like
\advance\v by 1\iffoo 2\else 4\fi
which advances by either 12 or 14.
Ah well, no doubt twenty other people will answer this question....
Chris
------------------------------
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End of TeXhax Digest
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