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author | Norbert Preining <norbert@preining.info> | 2019-09-02 13:46:59 +0900 |
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committer | Norbert Preining <norbert@preining.info> | 2019-09-02 13:46:59 +0900 |
commit | e0c6872cf40896c7be36b11dcc744620f10adf1d (patch) | |
tree | 60335e10d2f4354b0674ec22d7b53f0f8abee672 /info/digests/tex-mag/v1.n5 |
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diff --git a/info/digests/tex-mag/v1.n5 b/info/digests/tex-mag/v1.n5 new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..d4f0373cdb --- /dev/null +++ b/info/digests/tex-mag/v1.n5 @@ -0,0 +1,418 @@ +******************************************************************************* +* * +* TTTTTTT X X M M GGGGGG A Mostly Unofficial * +* T X X MM MM G Publication for Users * +* T EEEEEEE XXX M M M M A G GG Of the TeX Computer * +* T E X X M M M A A G G Typesetting System. * +* T EEEE X X M M M AAAAA GGGGGG * +* E A A Volume 1, Number 5 * +* EEEEEEE A A Distribution: 365 or so... * +* * +******************************************************************************* + + June 25, 1987 + + Contents: + footnote............................................................1 + Letters to the Editor................................................2 + How to write an article for TeXMaG...................................3 + Call for standardization of DVI specials............................4 + The Toolbox..........................................................5 + + + + + +__1 + footnote{One embarrassing moment later} + + As most of you probably already realize, I just had the joy of re- + mailing the entire past of TeXMaG when I discovered much to my chagrin + that the previous issues of TeXMaG where not being sent to the + non-BITNET subscribers, due to a bug (feature?) of LISTSERV. Now + that I have solved that problem, I have suddenly received vast amounts + of feedback from all of the non-BITNET people. (It's kind of nice to + suddenly have half your readership get something to read). The few + comments I had about the old formatting of TeXMaG were joined by a + resounding chorus of agreement; I guess there are a lot of people who + appreciate shorter lines and larger margins. + + TeXMaG will continue to be sent out as a mail file from now on since + that seems to be the only way to reach most of the subscribers. Also, + the poor soul whose system couldn't decode NETDATA files will get + readable copies now. + + This issue is a bit low in content, I realize (that's what I get for + getting a job where you actually have to *do* thins periodically), but + hopefully between the plea for articles and any inspiration that I may + get in the next month or so, I should have a good V1N6. + + Enjoy! + + -Don Hosek <DHOSEK@HMCVAX.BITNET> (or <U12921@UICVM.BITNET> for the + summer) + + + + + +__2 + **Letters** + + From: Carol Weintraub <MAWEINTR@WEIZMANN> + Subject: Tex on the MacIntosh + To: dhosek@hmcvax.bitnet + + Dear Editor, + + I would like to know if there is anybody out there using TeX on the + MacIntosh?? I have seen a *preliminary* version of TeXtures run on a + MacPlus, but I would like to know if there is a *full* version of TeX + (V.2 with *all* the CM fonts) running somewhere, preferably on a + MacIntosh II. We are contemplating purchasing either the MacIntosh II + or we have just heard of a new system ``The Publisher'' from ArborTex + which interacts with TeX on a Sun Workstation. + + If anybody could advise us on either of these two systems/machines + please write to: + + Carol Weintraub, + Technical Secretary, + Dept. of Applied Math. & Computer Science + The Weizmann Institute of Science + Rehovot, 76100 Israel + + Bitnet: maweintr@weizmann + + Thank you very much! + Carol + ====================================================================== + Date: Thu, 14-MAY-1987 09:18 EDT + From: Richard S. Holmes <RICH@SUHEP> + Subject: improved \split + To: u12921@uicvm + + I tried out Eric Skinner's \split macro and, lazy bum that I am, + rather than typing in two paragraphs for it to split, I typed in one + and duplicated it. Lo, I got an overfull \vbox. Apparently this is + the consequence of trying to \split two paragraphs of the same size. + Anyway, a simple modification of the conditional in \xsplit cured it. + + Rich Holmes + rich@suhep.bitnet + +%%%------------------------rrrrrrrrrrrrrrip!-------------------------- +% Macro: \xsplit +% By: Eric Skinner <ERS2F@UOTTAWA> +% Function: Takes two pieces of text, and boxes them side by side. +% Column widths and inter-column gap are set by user. +% Parameters: +% #1: Width of first column, including unit specification +% #2: Width of space between columns, including units +% #3: Width of second column, including units +% ** Warning: Don't exceed page dimensions! +% #4: First column text. +% #5: Second column text. +% Registers: \box1,\box2 +\def\xsplit#1#2#3#4#5{{ + \setbox1=\vbox{\hsize= #1 #4} % First column + \setbox2=\vbox{\hsize= #3 #5} % Second column + % If the boxes are output side by side at this point, they + % will be aligned at the bottom instead of the top. + \ifdim\ht2>\ht1 % Column two is longer than column one + % Fill bottom of column one with glue + \setbox1=\vbox to \ht2{\hsize= #1 #4 \vfill} + \else + \ifdim\ht1>\ht2 % Column one is longer than column two + % Fill bottom of column two with glue + \setbox2=\vbox to \ht1{\hsize= #3 #5 \vfill} + \fi + \fi + \hbox{\box1\hskip#2\box2}}} +%%%------Cut some more------------------------------------------------ +% Macro: \split +% By: Eric Skinner <ERS2F@UOTTAWA> +% Function: Takes two pieces of text, and boxes them side by side. +% Column widths are set by user. Inter-column gap is +% automatically adjusted to make the first column flush +% with the left margin, and the second flush with the right. +% Parameters: +% #1: Width of first column, including unit specification +% #2: Width of second column, including units +% ** Sum of #1 and #2 should not exceed current \hsize! +% #3: First column text. Don't do anything REALLY weird. +% #4: Second column text. +% Registers: \dimen1 +\def\split#1#2#3#4{ + \dimen1=\hsize + \advance\dimen1 by -#1 + \advance\dimen1 by -#2 + \xsplit{#1}{\dimen1}{#2}{#3}{#4}} +%%%------------Tear---------------------------------------------------- + When submitting a letter, please indicate somewhere in the note + that it is for the letters column. + + + + + +__3 + *How to write an article for TeXMaG* + By Don Hosek + + At the risk of harping on the same old chord over and over again, I + decided that I would write a TeXMaG article outlining what it takes + to write an article for TeXMaG. (not much) + + The first, and most obvious requirement is to have an idea. (Many + articles reach publication without containing a single idea, but I + like to think I have standards.) Your idea doesn't need to be the + greatest idea known to mankind (look what I've been filling TeXMaG + with so far!). Perhaps you wrote an interesting macro, or finally + feel you understand how to use an intriguing feature of TeX; both of + these would make great articles for TeXMaG. + + Another idea would be to write about any interesting applications of + TeX that you may have; while TeX was originally designed for type- + setting technical papers, it is being used widely for many non-tech- + nical uses (nearly half of the papers typed in TeX at Harvey Mudd are + papers for humanities classes; the Harvey Mudd newspaper is typeset + with TeX). If you use TeX for something other than technical papers, + what sort of problems did you encounter? How did you deal with them? + Were there any problems that left you clueless? + + Do you know anything about Metafont? Few people do, although many + would like to learn more. Why not write an article about some aspect + of Metafont? It doesn't have to cover the entire depth of The Meta- + fontBook; perhaps you could explain how you avoided the strange + that cropped up when you tried to generate cmr8 at 100dpi. + + What about your device driver? Is it developed locally? Does it work? + Is there something that you're sure your printer can do but your + device driver can't? Why not write a review of the capabilities of + your driver, or a wish list of what you'd like to be able to do on + your Acme 2000 using TeX. + + Are you running TeX on an unusual installation? (A Cray or Apple II, + for example) Did somebody else port it or was it done locally. Why + not share your views on using TeX on an odd machine. What limitations + do you encounter? + + Is your operating system conducive to TeX? How does EBCDIC affect your + TeXing? (EBCDIC makes TeX on our 3081 a bit imperfect, to say the + least) + + I suppose this is enough diatribe for one issue. If you have an idea + for an article, feel free to write it; if you aren't sure if its + suitable for publication, I'll do my best to convince you. :-) + + + + + +__4 + Call for standardization of DVI specials + By Don Hosek + + As TeX develops into its maturity, the need for standardization in + other aspects of TeXware is becoming apparent. Perhaps the most + important goal for standardization lies in DVI-driver \special's. + + I have discussed this matter with Thomas Reid (TeXrox), and a few + preliminary ideas were given. However, to propose a standard to be + submitted to the TeX community at large implies that input from + the TeX community was solicited. It is to this end that I am writing + this article. There are many aspects of the grammar of \special's + that need to be solidified. Some of these are: + + o Device Dependancy. + ArborText has apparently done some work on this to date (my + conjecture on this is based on information from the DVIXER User + Manual); their suggestion is to begin a device dependant \special + with a three letter tag concluded with a colon to indicate that the + \special command is for that particular output device only. For + example, a \special that is Xerox 9700-specific would begin with XER:. + If this convention is to be adopted, then codes will need to be + designated for each TeX output device. However, care should be taken + to make \special's device-dependant only when necessary. DVI-drivers + should be written to ignore unknown \special commands. + + o \special Naming. + This is perhaps the central problem of \special standardization. What + should the command to print sideways on the page be called? DVIQMS + from Texas A&M uses the command landscape(); Thomas Reid suggests + ROTATE=90; I, personally, prefer landscape (without the ()'s). Is it + better to have \special's that are easily interpretted by the driver + or by the user? + + There are numerous other commands that also need to be specified: + printing on both sides of the output sheet (duplex printing); print + color selection; graphics inclusion, &c. This is not an exhaustive + list, of course, and I would appreciate receiving suggestions for + standard \special commands that do not appear above. + + o Graphics. + The primary use of \special's in current device drivers is graphics + file inclusion. Graphics files included should be processed + intelligently (for example, extraneous PostScript material in a + MacDraw document should be removed), and perhaps, following on the + model of DVIQMS, options should be permitted on the graphics include + facility to add or remove commands from the graphics file. + + DVIIMP (which is present in most TeX distributions in WEB source + format contains another idea for graphics inclusion: it provides + graphics ``primitives'' to draw points, lines, circles, and ellipses. + Standardized graphics \special's such as these could be used to + enhance LaTeX's picture mode, or be used in new macros to provide + convenient device-independant graphics. + + o \special Scope. + It was pointed out in TUGboat v. 7, no. 3. that the random paging of a + DVI file implicitly prohibits \special's that are global in nature. + DVIXER deals with this problem by permiting a sequentialreading + command line option to insure that global \special's are read, + DVIQMS makes no such provision, but does contain global \special's. + Since it is fairly easy to modify output routines to emit a \special + command on each page, it should not be too difficult to make + \special's local to the page on which they appear. + + The suggestions listed here are by no means intended to be all- + inclusive there are many aspects of the problem that were not covered + in this article. I would like to have a preliminary document outlining + the proposed standard for DVI files available for publication in + TUGboat for issue 3 of this year, and a final draft for the beginning + of 1988. I encourage contributions from the TeX community at large for + this project. My E-mail address is: BITNET: DHOSEK@HMCVAX, or ARPA: + DHOSEK%HMCVAX.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU; my postal address is: + Don Hosek + Platt Campus Center + Harvey Mudd College + Claremont, CA 91711 + + This article will also be printed in TUGboat and in TeXMaG (BITNET + electronic ``magazine''). + + + + + +__5 + **The Toolbox** + + From Charles Karney <Karney%PPC.MFENET@ANLVMS.BITNET>, we have a macro + that returns the current day of the week from TeX internal counters. +%%%------------Start Cutting------------------------------------------ +% \dowcomp returns integer day of week in \dow with Sunday=0. +% \downame returns the name of the day of the week. +% E.g., if \year=1963 \month=11 \day=22, +% then \dowcomp ==> \dow=5 and \downame ==> Friday which happened +% to be the day President John F. Kennedy was assasinated. + +% Converted from the lisp function DOW by Jon L. White given in +% the file LIBDOC DOW JONL3 on MIT-MC (which follows). + +%(defun dow (year month day) +% (and (and (fixp year) (fixp month) (fixp day)) +% ((lambda (a) +% (declare (fixnum a)) +% (\ (+ (// (1- (* 13. (+ month 10. +% (* (// (+ month 10.) -13.) 12.)))) +% 5.) +% day +% 77. +% (// (* 5. (- a (* (// a 100.) 100.))) 4.) +% (// a -2000.) +% (// a 400.) +% (* (// a -100.) 2.)) +% 7.)) +% (+ year (// (+ month -14.) 12.))))) + +\newcount\dow +\def\dowcomp{{\count3 \month \advance\count3 -14 \divide\count3 12 + \advance\count3 \year \count4 \month \advance\count4 10 + \divide\count4 -13 \multiply\count4 12 \advance\count4 10 + \advance\count4 \month \multiply\count4 13 \advance\count4 -1 + \divide\count4 5 \advance\count4 \day \advance\count4 77 + \count2 \count3 \divide\count2 100 \multiply\count2 -100 + \advance\count2 \count3 \multiply\count2 5 \divide\count2 4 + \advance\count4 \count2 \count2 \count3 \divide\count2 -2000 + \advance\count4 \count2 \count2 \count3 \divide\count2 400 + \advance\count4 \count2 \count2 \count3 \divide\count2 -100 + \multiply\count2 2 \advance\count4 \count2 \count2 \count4 + \divide\count2 7 \multiply\count2 -7 \advance\count4 \count2 + \global\dow \count4}} + +\def\dayname{\dowcomp \ifcase\dow Sunday\or Monday\or Tuesday\or + Wednesday\or Thursday\or Friday\else Saturday\fi} +%%%--------------Stop cutting----------------------------------------- + My own contribution for the month is a macro to permit multiple-line + page headers. It works by putting an alignment inside of vtop inside + of headline. This approach makes it compatible with most other macros + that may change the makeheadline macro (e.g. The Toolbox, TeXMaG + V1N2). +%%%--------------Cut along perforation-------------------------------- +% Macro for multiple line header. +% By Don Hosek <DHOSEK@HMCVAX.BITNET> +% To use: +% \multihead{...} +% If the header has more than one line, separate the lines with \\ +\newtoks\multihead +\headline{\vtop{\let\\=\cr\halign{\line{#}\cr + \the\multihead\crcr}}} +\multihead{\hss} +%%%--------------Tear neatly------------------------------------------ + + + + + +__6 + TeXMaG is an electronic magazine published by the Harvey Mudd College + Mathematics Department available free of charge to all interested + parties reachable by electronic mail. It is published monthly, on the + last weekend of each month, except when conditions prevent + publication. Subscription requests should be sent to Don Hosek + <DHOSEK@HMCVAX.BITNET> or send the following message to + LISTSERV@BYUADMIN: SUBS TEXMAG-L Your_Full_Name. European subscribers + may send the SUBS command to LISTSERV@DEARN, subscribers on CDNnet + should send subscription requests to <list-request@ubc.csnet>, and + JANET subscribers should send requests to be added to the list to + Peter Abbott, <ABBOTTP@UK.AC.ASTON.MAIL>. Back issues are available + from Don Hosek <DHOSEK@HMCVAX.BITNET>. Article submissions, + contributions for the Toolbox, and letters to the editor are always + welcome and should be sent to <DHOSEK@HMCVAX.BITNET>. + + Other publications of interest to TeX users are: + + TeXHAX. Arpanet mailing list for persons with questions, suggestions, + etc.. about TeX, LaTeX, metafont and related programs. Submissions for + this list should be sent to <TeXHAX@SU-SCORE.ARPA>. BITNET users may + subscribe by sending the following command (as an interactive message + or as the first line of a mail message) to LISTSERV@TAMVM1: + SUBS TEX-L your_full_name. The list is peer-linked to other listserves + in the United States and Europe. Internet subscribers may subscribe by + sending a request to <TeXHAX-REQUEST@SU-SCORE.ARPA>. The TeX-L mailing + list is a ``hybrid;'' i.e., it is both an ARPAnet redistribution, and + a BITNET discussion list. Submissions for TeX-L (only --- they will + _not_ be forwarded to TeXHAX) may be sent to TeX-L@TAMVM1. + LISTSERV@TAMVM1 also has file archives that may be of interest to TeX + users on BITNET, including the files in the SU-SCORE FTP directories + and back issues of TeXHAX. For a list of files available, send the + following command to LISTSERV@TAMVM1: GET TeX FILELIST. + + Unix-TeX. Arpanet mailing list specifically for users of TeX under the + Unix operating system. Submissions for this list should be sent to + <Unix-TeX@WASHINGTON.ARPA>. Requests to be added or deleted from the + mailing list should be sent to <Unix-TeX-Request@WASHINGTON.ARPA>. + + TUGBoat. A publication by the TeX Users Group. An excellant reference + for TeX users. For more information about joining TUG and subscribing + to TUGBoat send (real) mail to: + TeX Users Group + c/o American Mathematical Society + P. O. Box 9506 + Providence, RI 02940-9506, USA + + Specials thanks to Peter Abbott for setting up the JANET redist- + ribution. Also thanks to the University of Illinois for giving me a + summer job. |