bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu (David E. Bernholdt) (04/07/90)
In article <1990Apr2.220415.1972@ee.rochester.edu> davis@ee.rochester.edu (Al Davis) writes: >[[ numerous complaints about Publisher ]] >Disclaimer: it has been about a year since I last tried to use it, other >than a few patches to a someone else's document. They may have fixed some >of these problems since then. A lot can change in a year. We've had the product since it was introduced, and its gone through a lot of changes. Many of Al's complaints have been addressed by subsequent revisions. But more important, I think are the remarks below... Part of the problem with using an unfamiliar GUI is that it takes the user a while to understand how it is designed -- because odds are, the user doesn't think the same way as the designer. Many of my initial letters to Arbortext telling them what I thought about their product had a much harsher tone then Al's remarks here. Arobor text has been very responsive to user criticisms of the package, and seems committed to constant improvements. On the other hand, the user interface (in the graphical and more general sense) has changed very little. It is really the structured philosophy of SGML rather than the unstructured-ness of LaTeX or TeX. It definitely takes some getting used to -- I've seen our entire site (60 people) go through the learning curve. I will readily admit that there are people who before or after using Publisher may prefer straight LaTeX instead -- my earlier remarks were merely observations of the users at our site. The intent of the Publisher (by my understanding) is primarily to use SGML for document description and TeX as a formatting engine. They store files in their own format. Their "translators" produce TeX as an intermediate, prepratory to making a DVI and then (typically) as PS file. We take advantage of its ability to take straight TeX or LaTeX as input occasionally, but we purchased it mainly as a functional desktop publishing package, which it is. I offered the info about Publisher because it seemd to qualify as a GUI which produced TeX. I don't want to get into a flame-fest about this or other packages. This is about to stray from the group's charter, so If anyone wants to hear more about Publisher, or about what the current version can do, please respond by email. I'm still interested to hear if there are other packages which use the TeX formatting engine? And in case a further disclaimer is necessary, I'm just a Publisher user too. -- David Bernholdt bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu Quantum Theory Project bernhold@ufpine.bitnet University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 904/392 6365
thomas@gmdzi.UUCP (Thomas Gordon) (04/09/90)
From article <975@red.qtp.ufl.edu>, by bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu (David E. Bernholdt): > In article <1990Apr2.220415.1972@ee.rochester.edu> davis@ee.rochester.edu (Al Davis) writes: >>[[ numerous complaints about Publisher ]] > A lot can change in a year. We've had the product since it was > introduced, and its gone through a lot of changes. Many of Al's > complaints have been addressed by subsequent revisions. But more > important, I think are the remarks below... > The intent of the Publisher (by my understanding) is primarily to use > SGML for document description and TeX as a formatting engine. They > store files in their own format. Their "translators" produce TeX > as an intermediate, prepratory to making a DVI and then (typically) as > PS file. > We use SGML pure, without a nice GUI, and translate into TeX (actually LaTeX) using an SGML parser from the University of Amesterdam. Now, some of us might be interested in a system like Publisher, but we need to use our own SGML document types. Is this possible with Publisher? Thanks, Thomas F. Gordon email: thomas@gmdzi.uucp GMD / F3 phone: (+49 2241) 14-2665 Schloss Birlinghoven D-5205 Sankt Augustin 1, FRG -- Thomas F. Gordon email: thomas@gmdzi.uucp GMD / F3 phone: (+49 2241) 14-2665 Schloss Birlinghoven D-5205 Sankt Augustin 1, FRG
jos@cs.vu.nl (Jos Warmer) (04/09/90)
thomas@gmdzi.UUCP (Thomas Gordon) writes: >(actually LaTeX) using an SGML parser from the University of >Amesterdam. This might be confusing, because there exist two universities in Amsterdam. These are the "Universiteit van Amsterdam" (UvA) and the "Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam" (VU). The SGML Parser that thomas is using is from the latter (VU). Jos Warmer jos@cs.vu.nl
pollara@unipas.fmi.uni-passau.de (Victor Pollara) (06/05/91)
I've heard rumors that there is a "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) system built on top of LaTeX and called "Publisher". Can anyone verify this? Whether or not Publisher is WYSIWYG, what can anyone tell me about it? Are there any good WYSIWYG interfaces for LaTeX if this one is not? Thanks!! Victor