path: root/info/ltx3pub/vol-task.tex

%%% ======================================================================
%%%  @LaTeX-file{
%%%     filename        = "vol-task.tex",
%%%     version         = "6.2a",
%%%     date            = "30 April 1993",
%%%     time            = "13:42:19.55 CDT",
%%%     list-manager    = "George D. Greenwade",
%%%     address         = "Department of Economics and Business Analysis
%%%                        College of Business Administration
%%%                        P. O. Box 2118
%%%                        Sam Houston State University
%%%                        Huntsville, Texas, USA 77341-2118",
%%%     email           = "bed_gdg@SHSU.edu (Internet)
%%%                        BED_GDG@SHSU     (BITNET)
%%%                        SHSU::BED_GDG    (THENET)",
%%%     telephone       = "(409) 294-1266",
%%%     FAX             = "(409) 294-3712",
%%%     supported       = "yes",
%%%     archived        = "*Niord.SHSU.edu:[FILESERV.VOL-TASK],
%%%                        pip.SHSU.edu:/vol-task.tex",
%%%     keywords        = "LaTeX3, LaTeX, volunteer task list",
%%%     codetable       = "ISO/ASCII",
%%%     checksum        = "17979 993 4639 38497",
%%%     docstring       = "This is general volunteer task list in the
%%%                        development of LaTeX3.  There are many tasks
%%%                        needing to be done in support of the LaTeX3
%%%                        project which can be worked on concurrently with
%%%                        the development of the LaTeX3 kernel.
%%%                        Furthermore, some tasks require special expertise
%%%                        not found among the core programming team.
%%%                        Initial research, analysis, and work on these
%%%                        tasks by volunteers can greatly speed up the
%%%                        process of integrating a number of desirable
%%%                        features into LaTeX3.
%%%
%%%                        If you are interested in working on a particular
%%%                        task, the first step is to contact the volunteer
%%%                        list manager, noted above,for details.  He will
%%%                        either immediately designate you as the `task
%%%                        coordinator' for that task, and assist you in
%%%                        getting answers to any initial questions you may
%%%                        have, or if someone else is already serving as the
%%%                        task coordinator for that task, you will be put in
%%%                        touch with that person, who will discuss with you
%%%                        the current status of the work and ways in which
%%%                        you might contribute.
%%%
%%%                        The checksum field above contains a CRC-16
%%%                        checksum as the first value, followed by the
%%%                        equivalent of the standard UNIX wc (word
%%%                        count) utility output of lines, words, and
%%%                        characters.  This is produced by Robert
%%%                        Solovay's checksum utility."
%%% }
%%% ======================================================================
%  This document can be run with ordinary LaTeX 2.09.
\documentstyle[twocolumn]{article}
%%%+%+%+%+% The innovative code delimited by ``%%%+%+%+%+%'' was provided by
%%%+%+%+%+% David Carlisle.  It's function is to use the information from the
%%%+%+%+%+% file header directly in the processing of the document.
\makeatletter
{\obeylines%
\long\gdef\FHfield#1
 #2 = "#3"#4,{%
  \global\@namedef{FH#2}{#3}%
  \def\temp{#2}\ifx\temp\chksum\else\expandafter\FHfield\fi}%
\gdef\FHuse#1{\gdef^^M{\\}\csname FH#1\endcsname}}%

\def\chksum{checksum}

\@namedef{LaTeX-file}{\catcode`\@=12 \FHparse}
\long\def\FHparse#1{\FHfield#1\endinput}

\begingroup
\catcode`\%=9
\catcode`\-=11
\catcode`\@=0
\setbox0=\hbox{\obeylines\input\jobname.tex }
\endgroup
%%%+%+%+%+% Thanks, David!!

\title{Volunteer work for the \protect\LaTeX3 project\thanks{Keywords:
\protect\FHuse{keywords}}\\}   %% extract keywords from header
\author{\protect\LaTeX3 project \protect\\[5pt]
Frank Mittelbach\protect\\
Chris Rowley\protect\\
Michael Downes}

\date{\FHuse{date}\\           %% extract date from header
Version: \FHuse{version}}      %% extract version from header

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%    Adjustments for printing two columns with more text per page.
\oddsidemargin -0.65in \evensidemargin -0.65in \topmargin -0.75in
%    Select paper size.
\def\firstletter#1#2\end{#1}
\typein[\papersize]{Intended paper size?^^J%
Choices: US letter size or A4; enter u or a, please:}%
\edef\setpapersize{\lowercase{\edef\noexpand\papersize{%
  \noexpand\firstletter\papersize u\noexpand\end}}}
\setpapersize
\if a\papersize\relax
  \typeout{%
OK, adjusting textwidth and textheight for A4 paper size}
%    A4 paper size, 21cm x 29.7cm
  \textwidth 19cm \textheight 26cm
\else
  \typeout{%
Adjusting textwidth and textheight for US letter paper size}
%    US letter-size paper, 8.5 x 11 in:
  \textwidth 7.7in \textheight 9.7in
\fi
%
\tolerance 5000 \pretolerance 1000
\ifx\undefined \emergencystretch\else \emergencystretch 2pc \fi
\hfuzz=\columnsep
%    Reduce type sizes
\makeatletter
\let\Huge\huge \let\huge\LARGE \let\LARGE\Large \let\Large\large
\let\large\@normalsize \let\@normalsize\small \let\small\footnotesize
\let\footnotesize\scriptsize
\makeatother
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

\newcommand{\vollistmanager}{George Greenwade}
\begingroup \catcode`\%=12 \catcode`\_=12 \catcode`\@=12
\gdef\vollistmgraddress{\relax
  Internet: bed_gdg@SHSU.edu\\
  Bitnet: BED_GDG@SHSU\\
  THEnet: SHSU::BED_GDG\\
  Voice: (409) 294-1266\\
  FAX: (409) 294-3612\relax
}
\endgroup

%    Listing of the volunteer(s) for a given task can be done using
%    the \coordinator, \email, and \volunteer commands:
%
%    \coordinator{DATE}{NAME}\email{name@xyz.abc.volunteer}
%    \othervolunteers
%    \volunteer{NAME}\email{name@xyz.abc.de}
%    \volunteer{NAME}\email{name@xyz.abc.de}
%    . . .
%
%    Percent sign can be used inside the argument of \email without a
%    preceding backslash, provided that \email is not itself used
%    inside the argument of some other command.

\newcommand{\coordinator}[1]{\par\smallskip
  \noindent{\it Coordinator\/} [#1]:\volunteer}

\newcommand{\othervolunteers}{\par\noindent{\it Other volunteers:}}
\newcommand{\volunteer}[1]{\par#1\quad \ignorespaces}

\newcommand{\email}{\begingroup \catcode`\%=12 \xemail}
%    Auxiliary function for \email. It applies \meaning to the
%    argument to make all the characters category 12.
\newcommand{\xemail}[1]{\def\temp{#1}\tt
  \expandafter\xmeaning\meaning\temp\xmeaning\endgroup}
%    Auxiliary function for \xemail. \newcommand cannot be used here.
\def\xmeaning#1->#2\xmeaning{#2}

\newcommand{\ftpaddress}[1]{{\tt#1}}
\newcommand{\dirname}[1]{{\tt#1}}

\newcommand{\timeestimate}[1]{\par \smallskip\noindent
  {\it Estimated time required:}
  #1.\par}

\newenvironment{tasklist}[1]{\section{#1}}{}
\newcommand{\task}{\subsection}

\newcommand{\AmSTeX}{AMS-\TeX\@}
\newcommand{\BibTeX}{{\sc Bib}\TeX\@}
\newcommand{\eg}{e.g., \ignorespaces}

%    \cs{xxx} is a robust command to print a control sequence name.
\chardef\bslash=`\\
\newcommand{\cs}[1]{{\tt\bslash#1}}

\edef\doublehat{{\noexpand\tt\string^\string^}}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

\section{Introduction}

This is a call for volunteers to help in the development of \LaTeX3.
There are many tasks needing to be done in support of the \LaTeX3
project which can be worked on concurrently with the development of
the \LaTeX3 kernel. Furthermore, some tasks require special expertise
not found among the core programming team. Initial research,
analysis, and work on these tasks by volunteers can greatly speed up
the process of integrating a number of desirable features into
\LaTeX3. Many of these features can be extensively developed and
tested under \LaTeX2.09 even before the \LaTeX3 kernel is available.

Therefore we are publishing a list of tasks to the \LaTeX{} user
community through various channels and we ask readers to consider
contributing some time and effort (particularly, but not exclusively,
readers with expertise in the various areas touched on). The task
list is distributed in the form of a \LaTeX{} article; it is fairly
readable in electronic form, and it can be printed on paper if
desired.

If you are interested in working on a particular task, see
Appendix~\ref{vlminfo} for details on how to volunteer.

The task list will be updated in regular intervals. Time estimates are
measured in man-days or man-weeks, the values are guesses according to
our experiences.

\begin{tasklist}{General tasks}

\task{Volunteer list management}
Organization, publication and maintenance of the general volunteer
task list.

\timeestimate{?}

\smallskip
{\it Undertaken:} 22 July 1992 by \vollistmanager.

\task{Validating \protect\LaTeX 2.09}
Writing test files for regression testing: checking bug fixes and
improvements to verify that they don't have undesirable
side effects; making sure that bug fixes really correct the problem
they were intended to correct; testing interaction with
various document styles, style options, and environments.

We would like three kinds of validation files:
\begin{enumerate}
\item General documents.
\item Exhaustive tests of special environments/modules such as tables,
displayed equations, theorems, floating figures, pictures, etc.
\item Bug files containing tests of all bugs that are supposed to be
fixed (as well as those that are not fixed, with comments about their
status).
\end{enumerate}

A procedure for processing validation files has been devised; details
will be furnished to anyone interested in this task.

\timeestimate{2 to 3 weeks, could be divided up}

\coordinator{25 August 1992}{Daniel Flipo}
                         \email{flipo@citil.citilille.fr}
\othervolunteers
\volunteer{Chris Martin} \email{cs1cwm@sunc.sheffield.ac.uk}

\end{tasklist}


\begin{tasklist}{Syntax questions}

\task{.sty metacomments for smart editors}
Develop conventions for documentation of styles which could be picked
up by editor packages to provide editing help.

The idea is to place metacomments in .sty files which smart text
editors (in particular) can use to get information about the
`exported' (user interface) macros for that particular style.  The
information would be useful for word completion and spelling checking,
at least.  (The auc-tex package for GNU Emacs currently has such
information hard-wired for a number of common styles.)  If the editor
has access to the \cs{documentstyle} line or suitable alternative
instructions it can poke about in the appropriate style files rather
than using its own database.

Such information could be written out by a run with {\tt doc.sty} on
the basis of \verb=\Describe{Macro,Env}= commands in the {\tt.doc}
file and subsequently included in the {\tt docstrip}'ped {\tt.sty}
file. That's easy enough, but if it's to be generally useful the
result ought to be somewhat standardized and in a form suitable for
use by as many editors or other tools as possible.

Would conventions for supplying other information this way be useful
(along the lines of the PostScript structuring conventions)?

\timeestimate{probably 2-5 days over a longer period of time}

\coordinator{25 August 1992}{David Love}\email{JANET: d.love@uk.ac.dl},\\
\rule{23.5mm}{0pt}\email{BIT/INTERNET: d.love@dl.ac.uk}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Syntax proposal for bibliographical commands}
Extensions of current \LaTeX{} syntax for \cs{cite} commands and
bibliography commands. A number of specialties have conventions for
citations and bibliographies that \LaTeX{} 2.09 is ill equipped to
handle.

David Rhead published several papers concerning the handling of
bibliographies and citations
\cite{texline:DRh90,texline:DRh91,unp:DRh92a,unp:DRh92b}.
Some of them have been distributed via the {\tt latex-l} mail list.
Counter-proposals or further argumentation for David Rhead's ideas
would be useful.

\timeestimate{1--2 days}

\coordinator{30 April 1993}{Pedro Jose Aphalo}
\email{Pedro.Aphalo@metla.fi}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Research  on syntax for tables}
What features are important (and not covered)?  Logical representation
of tabular material versus visual representation. Syntax proposal and
report.

About tabular material presentation many interesting papers are
published. For example,  general articles \cite{Nottingham:RBe86},
\cite{XEROX:RBe85}, \LaTeX{} related \cite{unp:DCa90}, \cite{unp:DCa91}
\cite{unp:DRh91b}, logical table representation \cite{Lausanne:CVa92}.
Important work was done by Michael Spivak in \cite{TpC:MSp89} and of
course in his ``Tables to die for'' (T2D4). Standard books on
typesetting like \cite{CUP:JBu81}, \cite{TH:RMcL80},
\cite{UCP:CMoS82}, \cite{W-G:JWh88} to name only a few, also usually
contain important information about tabular typesetting. What is
necessary, is a survey of the requirements for tabular material in
printing, a proposal for an extended standard syntax, and perhaps
proposal for syntax of extra features that could be provided
through a separate `super tables' module that is not loaded until the
user requests it.

\timeestimate{2--6 weeks (could be shared by several volunteers)}

\coordinator{20 September 1992}{Ed Sznyter}\email{ews@babel.com}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Research on syntax for chemistry}
The typography of chemical texts is rather different from, say,
mathematics.  We need a taxonomist to classify the primary elements of
an article or book on chemistry and suggest syntax for user commands
to handle each element.  What proportion of chemical diagrams can be
constructed with primitive line graphics such as given by the \LaTeX{}
picture environment (with suitable extensions)?  Or should diagrams be
simply always done in some other graphics language and imported via
\cs{special}?

\timeestimate{?}

\coordinator{10 September 1992}{Chris Carruthers}\email{cjc@acadvm1.uottawa.ca}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Research on syntax for commutative diagrams}
Commutative diagrams occur often enough in mathematical literature
that even the first version of \AmSTeX{} back in 1983 or so included a
rudimentary facility for constructing rectangular commutative
diagrams. Since then several people have produced various
alternatives, most involving special fonts with line segments slanted
at various angles, and arrow heads. The commutative diagram macros of
L\AmSTeX{} have arrow directions specified as vectors with the units
being rows and columns rather than distances, \eg \verb'\arrow(1,2)'
means a diagonal arrow from the current element to the element one row
over and two columns down.

There is a {\tt catmac.sty} by Michael Barr that uses the line fonts
of \LaTeX{} for drawing slanted arrows. The {\tt XY-pic} package by
Kristoffer Rose is reportedly usable with \LaTeX{} and comes with its
own line and arrowhead fonts.

For \LaTeX3 we would like to see an analysis of the logical structure
of commutative diagrams and recommendations on user syntax.

\timeestimate{2--4 days}

\coordinator{8 October 1992}{Paul Taylor}
\email{pt@doc.ic.ac.uk}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}
\volunteer{Michael Barr}\email{barr@triples.Math.McGill.CA}
\volunteer{Kristoffer Rose}\email{kris@diku.dk}
\end{tasklist}


\begin{tasklist}{Research tasks}

\task{Experimenting with \cs{emergencystretch}}
Testing the new features of \TeX3 where no experience is available so
far. Writing up a report.

Research on \cs{emergencystretch}, in particular, is an important
area where the \TeX{} community doesn't have enough experience so
far, \eg what are good values in what situations, why? What happens
if\ldots\ and so on. This would also make a good article for {\em
TUGboat} if the report were given some finishing touches afterwards.

\timeestimate{$\approx$ 4 days plus 2 days for publication}

\coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Research on indexing commands}
What kinds of indexes are needed for various fields?  What kinds of
indexes are needed for various specialties? What kind of \cs{index}
commands/syntax need to be provided for marking entries? What kind of
commands need to be provided for printing indexes after they have been
processed by a program like Makeindex?

\timeestimate{$\approx$ 1-2 weeks}

\coordinator{11 February 1993}{Dave Love}\email{dcl@ncsc5.att.com}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}



\task{Research footnote/endnotes conventions}
What conventions are used for various specialties? What user commands
and syntax would be recommended? Report about the results.

\timeestimate{$\approx$ 1-2 weeks perhaps divided into disciplines}

\coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%% Modified into two tasks per MJD, 17-SEP-1992 13:53
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\task{Syntax diagrams}
Designing a command syntax (and implementation in \LaTeX2.09) for
syntax diagrams used to illustrate programming language syntax.

Reference:
\begin{verbatim}
@article(tub:MPl81,
   AUTHOR = {Michael F. Plass},
   TITLE = {Charting your Grammar with {\TeX}},
   JOURNAL = tub,
   YEAR = 1981,
   VOLUME = 2,
   NUMBER = 3,
   PAGES = {39-56},
   keywords = {TeX, Macros, Syntax diagrams}
)
\end{verbatim}

The described syntax is probably not appropriate for \LaTeX{} and the
implementation needs refinement since it was done for \TeX79 but it is
a good starting point.

\timeestimate{1-2 days for syntax}
\timeestimate{4-8 days for prototype implementation}

\coordinator{23 September 1992}{David Morgan}\email{morgan@socs.uts.edu.au}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{BNF notation}
Designing command syntax and prototype \LaTeX2.09 implementation for BNF
(Backus-Naur) notation used to describe syntax of programming languages.

\timeestimate{1-2 days for syntax}
\timeestimate{3-5 days for prototype implementation}

\coordinator{28 September 1992}{Mike Piff}\email{M.Piff@sheffield.ac.uk}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%% End Modifications of 17-SEP-1992 13:53
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

\end{tasklist}


\begin{tasklist}{Research tasks (cont.)}

\task{Research on use of shorthand forms}
In SGML there is a concept called `short ref' which means for example
that the double quote character \verb="= can be defined to produce
directional quotes, blank line can be interpreted as end of
paragraph, and so forth.

What kind of similar shorthand forms in ASCII files may be desirable
for \LaTeX{} users, \eg \verb|=>| to be converted to $\Rightarrow$,
\verb|/=| or \verb|<>| to be converted to $\neq$, \verb|'?| to be
converted to upside-down Spanish question mark, \verb|"u| to be
converted to umlaut \"u, and so forth. What conventions are currently
in use for various kinds of documents?

Something along these lines is currently done in \AmSTeX{} with
the \verb'@' character: \verb'@-' is a shorthand meaning `nonbreaking
hyphen', \verb'@,' is a shorthand meaning one-tenth of a thinspace,
\verb'@>' is a shorthand for an extensible right arrow, and so forth.

It is envisioned that in \LaTeX3 the user will be allowed to designate
certain characters to be shorthand initiator characters. For
efficiency reasons, the set of allowed initial characters will
probably be restricted to nonalphanumeric only.

\timeestimate{?}

\coordinator{23 September 1992}{Julio Sanchez}\email{jsanchez@gmv.es}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Research on figures and captions}
What rules are in common use for placement and formatting of floating
figures and their associated captions? Propose syntax for user
commands. Write report.

Placement rules for floats and their captions are so far very limited
in batch formatters like \TeX{}. We are interested in rules for such
placement which are used in practice, algorithms, and possible user
syntax.  What could be a good user syntax for putting captions above,
below, on the side, centered or top or bottom or left or right? Do we
need to allow different action for different classes of floats?  What
do we need for multi-figure groups and their captions?

\timeestimate{2-4 weeks (could be divided in sub-tasks)}

\coordinator{21 September 1992}{Sebastian Rahtz}\email{spqr@minster.york.ac.uk}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}
\volunteer{Claus Langhans}\email{Claus_Langhans@wildcat.fido.de}

\task{Research  on the use of {\protect\doublehat} % that is, ^^? or ^^xx
conventions}
Check the actual use of the {\doublehat} convention for special
characters in the \LaTeX{} community by polling as many users,
organizations, mail-lists, usenet groups, etc.\ as possible.
Write report.

In \TeX{} the \verb=^^= notation is sometimes used for access to
unusual characters ($< 32$ or $> 126$).  It would be useful to
separate this function from the superscript function by assigning it
to some character other than \verb|^|, if that would not be too large
an inconvenience for users. One application, for example, would be to
change \verb|^| and \verb|_| to be active characters so that they can
always keep track of current math style, which would allow a better
definition for \cs{mathchoice} and simplify many things having to do
with math fonts. It seems that the \verb=^^= notation is indispensable
only when the character is used in a control sequence name or as a
macro argument delimiter (or in hyphenation patterns?).  Note:
document styles are less concern since they will have to be mostly
rewritten for \LaTeX3 anyway.

\timeestimate{$\approx$ 3-5 days}

\coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Research on typographical conventions and requirements in
 multilingual environments}

Typographic conventions differ from one language/country to another.
Collect information about such conventions and try to identify the
basic data-types and operations required in \LaTeX3, so that most or,
ideally, all features necessary for the support of many languages can
be implemented in the \LaTeX3 programming language.

It would be helpful also to include anything whose provision is
already supported by the babel system and/or other systems: eg
hyphenation.

\timeestimate{$\approx$ 2-3 weeks (could be divided in sub-tasks)}

\coordinator{9 December 1992}{Bernard Gaulle (interim)}
 \email{gaulle@circe.fr}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%% Next task added  9-FEB-1993 15:17:30, per FMi
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

\task{Research on the most commonly used \LaTeX{} styles}

Even though \LaTeX3 will internally not be fully code-compatible with
\LaTeX{} 2.09, it is highly desirable that a well-written \LaTeX{}
2.09-compatible document can be formatted with \LaTeX3 with little or
no rewriting.  To achieve this, the currently most popular \LaTeX{}
macros will be rewritten for \LaTeX3. But which are the most popular
\LaTeX{} macros?

A questionnaire has been pre-tested and completed. Plans are to
distribute this to $\approx$ 10 sites throughout the world, a fair
amount to each.  This will, hopefully, come close to a real stratified
sample survey.

Volunteers are needed to hand out the form to an unsuspecting group of
\LaTeX{} users, punch the data (fairly easy - we only keep a frequency
count), and mail the frequencies to Rolf Lindgren. He wants the
filled-in forms as well, to be available to others who might want to
do research on \LaTeX{} use.

\timeestimate{1 hour to administer the form, 2-3 hours to process the
competed forms, 1 hour to translate the form if necessary}

\coordinator{28 January 1993}{Rolf Lindgren}\email{rolf.lindgren@usit.uio.no}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%% End Modifications of 9-FEB-1993 15:17:30
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

\end{tasklist}


\begin{tasklist}{Misc items}

\task{Math font handling}
Test math font handling in the latest release of NFSS and write up
detailed comments.

Last year there was some discussion among the \LaTeX3 programmers and
others on how to handle math fonts under an enhanced release of NFSS
for \LaTeX3. The discussion finally drifted off into areas that are
far beyond the scope of the \LaTeX3 project but the actual questions
that were raised have not yet been answered. The only contribution
that came close was the detailed suggestion and experience report by
Sebastian Rahtz about the alpha release for an extended text font
handling which was sent around via the {\tt latex-l} list.

\timeestimate{1--2 days}

Thinking about a proper math font handling taking into account the
papers already sent around.

\timeestimate{2--4 days}

\coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Converting numbers to textual form}

Currently counter values can be displayed in certain styles, \eg as
roman numerals. But it may be interesting to extend the available
commands by cardinal and ordinal representations, \eg 5
$\longrightarrow$ `five' or `fifth' (for example, if you wanted to
refer to `the fifth item' in a list using something like \LaTeX{}'s
\cs{ref}.) Spivak's L\AmSTeX{} has \verb=\cardinal= and \verb=\ordinal=
macros to do this, for handling cross-references such as `the fifth
item in the list' where `fifth' is supposed to be generated by a
\verb=\ref= command. The main question: How much do we need this
capability?  Should it be standard, or merely a nice option for those
who want it?  Can it be easily extended to support various language
conventions? Are there other significant uses besides the
cross-reference idea?

\timeestimate{1 day}

\coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\end{tasklist}


\begin{tasklist}{Misc items (cont.)}

\task{Rewrite of MakeIndex in WEB}
Convert/rewrite the C source code of MakeIndex.
For consistency it would seem desirable to have all auxiliary programs
designed for use with \LaTeX3 to be compilable in the same way
as \TeX{}. Currently this means use of the WEB language, with or
without the CWEB intermediate step.

Furthermore, the MakeIndex program could use some work to deal with
a few shortcomings that have become evident with the passing of time
and extended usage.

\timeestimate{?}

\coordinator{6 February 1993}{Dave Love}\email{dcl@ncsc5.att.com}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Write other auxiliary programs}
Create programs for support tasks related to \LaTeX{} documents but
not part of the primary typesetting functions.

Question: what other auxiliary programs do we need?  Conjectures:
Compiled version of {\tt docstrip}? Programs to help designers in
creating document styles?  Program for dealing with graphics files in
various formats (\eg read Bounding Box comments from a PostScript file
and compute scaling and translation numbers for passing to a \LaTeX{}
\cs{special} command?) Checksum utility by R.~Solovay for updating
Nelson Beebe's standardized file headers.  Auxiliary program to help
in constructing complicated tables (decimal point alignment, row
spanning, other fancy effects that are hard to do in \TeX{}
currently)?  Auxiliary program similar to Type \& Set to do
interactive page-breaking/float placement?

\timeestimate{Arbitrarily long}

\coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Bibliography style programming}
Write bibliography styles for \BibTeX1.  The current version of
\BibTeX{} is 0.99.  A reimplementation of \BibTeX{} for \LaTeX3 is
under way, by Oren Patashnik. When this is finished, or perhaps even
before, suitable standard bibliography styles for \LaTeX3 need to be
written.

\centerline{*** Pending because of status of \BibTeX1 ***}

\timeestimate{1-3 days per style}

\coordinator{23 September 1992}{Not applicable at present}\email{}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}

\task{Bibliography style requirements}

Collect available \BibTeX.99 styles and if possible further journal
and publisher requirements regarding bibiographies and analyze them.
Summarize the functionality of each style, whether or not it is easily
programmable with the current \BibTeX{}, what special functions would
be helpful, etc.

\timeestimate{1-3 weeks for collecting information}

\timeestimate{1-3 hours for each style}

\coordinator{18 September 1992}{Robert Tolksdorf}
\email{tolk@cs.tu-berlin.de}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}


\task{Survey of existing \LaTeX{} style options}
Using David Jones' TeX-Index (and any other useful sources), evaluate
the status of the many \LaTeX2.09 options currently available, \eg
whether they are up-to-date, whether the authors still support them,
or if unsupported, whether they are interesting enough to make it
worth while to seek a new maintainer for them.

Write a report indicating the status of each style option, a short
description of its features and, if it is not maintained, if you think
it is worth upgrading or maintaining it.

TeX-Index is an index of TeX macros. From its documentation:
\begin{quotation}
The most recent
version is always available by anonymous FTP
from \ftpaddress{theory.lcs.mit.edu} in
the directory \dirname{pub/tex/TeX-index}.

Copies can also be obtained from the following
locations:
\begin{description}
\item[archive.cs.ruu.nl] 
 \dirname{TEX/\linebreak[0]DOC/\linebreak[0]TeX-index.\linebreak[0]Z}
\item[ftp.th-darmstadt.de]
 \dirname{pub/\linebreak[0]tex/\linebreak[0]documentation/%
\linebreak[0]styles-and-macros.\linebreak[0]Index.\linebreak[0]Z}
\item[ftp.math.utah.edu]
 \dirname{pub/\linebreak[0]tex/\linebreak[0]tex-index}
\item[ftp.uni-stuttgart.de]
 \dirname{/soft/\linebreak[0]tex/\linebreak[0]documentation/%
\linebreak[0]TeX-index}
\item[ftp.diku.dk]
 \dirname{pub/\linebreak[0]TeX/\linebreak[0]misc/%
\linebreak[0]TeX-Index.\linebreak[0]Z}
\item[Niord.SHSU.edu]
 \dirname{[fileserv.\linebreak[0]tex-index]\linebreak[0]tex.%
\linebreak[0]index}
\item[TeX.ac.uk]
 \dirname{[tex-archive\linebreak[0].doc]\linebreak[0]TeX-index.%
\linebreak[0]txt}
\item[ymir.claremont.edu]
 \dirname{[anonymous.\linebreak[0]tex.\linebreak[0]documentation]%
\linebreak[0]tex-index.\linebreak[0]txt}
\end{description}
\end{quotation}

The file is available for retrieval via electronic mail by including:
\begin{verbatim}
  SENDME TEX-INDEX
\end{verbatim}
in the body of a mail message to \email{FILESERV@SHSU.BITNET}
(\email{FILESERV@SHSU.edu}).  To facilitate mailing across networks, the
file is distributed in 8 parts.

\timeestimate{1/2-1 day per style}

\coordinator{15 October 1992}{David M. Jones}
\email{dmjones@theory.lcs.mit.edu}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}


\task{Timing tests}
Run tests to compare speed of various possibilities.

To make the \LaTeX3 kernel sufficiently fast it is necessary to
write efficient code. This means testing several variants against each
other to see which one is fastest. One example is the case of global
versus local assignments for temporary registers. In the recent issue of
TUGboat \cite{tub:LSi92} speed issues for token registers have been
discussed.

\timeestimate{2--3 days}

\coordinator{20 September 1992}{Jonathan Fine}\email{J.Fine@pmms.cam.ac.uk}
\othervolunteers
%\volunteer{NAME}\email{}
\volunteer{Phillip E. Parker}\email{PPARKER@TWSUVM.UC.TWSU.EDU}

\end{tasklist}

\begin{thebibliography}{Rhe92b}

\bibitem[Bea85]{XEROX:RBe85}
Richard~J. Beach.
\newblock Setting tables and illustrations with style.
\newblock Technical Report CSL-85-3, Xerox Corporation, Research
Center, Palo Alto, Califonia 94304, May 1985.

\bibitem[Bea86]{Nottingham:RBe86}
R.~J. Beach.
\newblock Tabular typography.
\newblock In J.~C. van Vliet, editor, {\em Text processing and document
  manipulation}, British Computer Society Workshop Series, pages 18--33,
  Cambridge, April 1986. Cambridge University Press.

\bibitem[But81]{CUP:JBu81}
Judith Butcher.
\newblock {\em Copy editing: the Cambridge handbook}.
\newblock Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, second edition, 1981.

\bibitem[Car90]{unp:DCa90}
David Carlisle.
\newblock Some notes on the longtable environment.
\newblock Available from \TeX{} servers, December 1990.

\bibitem[Car91]{unp:DCa91}
David Carlisle.
\newblock narray.sty.
\newblock Available from \TeX{} servers, July 1991.

\bibitem[Chi82]{UCP:CMoS82}
{\em The Chicago Manual of Style}.
\newblock University of Chicago Press, Chicago, London, 13th edition,
1982.

\bibitem[Fin91]{unp:JFi91}
Jonathan Fine.
\newblock Some basic control macros for {\TeX}.
\newblock Presented at a \LaTeX3 workshop 1991 in London, February 1991.

\bibitem[Fin92]{tub:JFi92}
Jonathan Fine.
\newblock Some basic control macros for {\TeX}.
\newblock {\em {TUG}boat}, 13(1):75--83, April 1992.

\bibitem[McL80]{TH:RMcL80}
Ruari McLean.
\newblock {\em The Thames and Hudson Manual of Typography}.
\newblock Thames and Hudson, London, 1980.

\bibitem[Rhe90]{texline:DRh90}
*David Rhead.
\newblock Towards {\BibTeX} style-files that implement principal
standards.
\newblock {\em {\TeX}line}, (10):2--8, May 1990.

\bibitem[Rhe91a]{texline:DRh91}
*David Rhead.
\newblock How might {\LaTeX3} deal with citations and reference lists?
\newblock {\em {\TeX}line}, (13):13--20, September 1991.
\newblock Suggestions for \LaTeX3.

\bibitem[Rhe91b]{unp:DRh91b}
David Rhead.
\newblock Some ideas for improving {\LaTeX}.
\newblock Suggestion for \LaTeX3, July 1991.

\bibitem[Rhe92a]{unp:DRh92a}
David Rhead.
\newblock Short form citations: how a manual might describe the
suggested user interface.
\newblock University of Nottingham {\tt JANET:
  David\_Rhead@uk.\linebreak[0]nottingham.\linebreak[0]ccc.\linebreak[0]vme},
 May 1992.

\bibitem[Rhe92b]{unp:DRh92b}
David Rhead.
\newblock Short form citations: some examples.
\newblock University of Nottingham {\tt JANET:
  David\_Rhead@uk.\linebreak[0]nottingham.\linebreak[0]ccc.\linebreak[0]vme},
 May 1992.

\bibitem[Sie92]{tub:LSi92}
L.~Siebenmann.
\newblock Elementary text processing and parsing in {\TeX} ---
the appreciation of tokens ---.
\newblock {\em {TUG}boat}, 13(1):62--73, April 1992.

\bibitem[Spi89]{TpC:MSp89}
Michael~D. Spivak.
\newblock {\em {L\AmSTeX} The Synthesis}.
\newblock The \TeX plorators Corporation, Houston, 1989.

\bibitem[Van92]{Lausanne:CVa92}
Christine Vanoirbeek.
\newblock Formatting structured tables.
\newblock In C.~Vanoirbeek and G.~Coray, editors, {\em Electronic
Publishing '92}, pages 291--309, Cambridge, April 1992. Cambridge
University Press.

\bibitem[Whi88]{W-G:JWh88}
Jan White.
\newblock {\em Graphic Design for the Electronic Age}.
\newblock Watson-Guptill, Xerox Press, New York, 1988.

\end{thebibliography}

\noindent {\bf NOTE:} References denoted by ``*" are available
electronically.  For retrieval via electronic mail, include:
\begin{verbatim}
  SENDME LATEX3.key_from_reference*
\end{verbatim}
in a mail message to \email{FILESERV@SHSU.BITNET}
(\email{FILESERV@SHSU.edu}).  For example, David Rhead's 1990 reference
above, Rhe90, is {\tt LATEX3.Rhe90*}.

These files are also available for anonymous ftp retrieval from
\ftpaddress{Niord.SHSU.edu} in the directory \dirname{[FILESERV.LATEX3]}.
The file {\tt LATEX3.00INDEX} in that directory has a brief description
of the files included in this collection (and may be retrieved via
electronic mail by including {\tt SENDME LATEX3.00INDEX} in the body of
a message to {\tt FILESERV}).


\newpage

\appendix
\section{Volunteer list manager name and address}
\label{vlminfo}
The manager of the volunteer list is:
\begin{center}
\begin{minipage}{13.5pc}
\vollistmanager\\
\tt\vollistmgraddress
\end{minipage}
\end{center}

If you are interested in volunteering for one of the listed tasks,
please start by contacting the coordinator for the task in which you
are interested, if a coordinator name is given.  Otherwise contact the
volunteer list manager. The proposed organization of volunteers is
as follows:
\begin{itemize}
\item The first person to volunteer for each task will automatically be
accepted and designated `task coordinator', without regard to their
expertise. Responsibilities: keep in contact with any other volunteers
that later volunteer for the same task; avoid duplication of effort;
collect and organize the results of volunteer work on that task.

\item The first job of a task coordinator is to gather together
information relevant to the task (such as previous discussions on the
{\tt LaTeX-L} mail list, articles published or unpublished mentioned
in the task list, etc.). For this you may need some assistance.  If is
not already subscribed to the {\tt LaTeX-L} list, you should subscribe
in order to receive announcements about the progress of the \LaTeX3
project. To do this, send mail to
\email{listserv@vm.urz.uni-heidelberg.de}, with one line as the body
of the message (substituting your own name):
\begin{verbatim}
  subscribe LaTeX-L Your-first-name Your-surname
\end{verbatim}

\item The second job of a task coordinator is to write a `task
specification' containing more details than were in the volunteer
task list. It should describe the goals and any restrictions that
apply. This task specification will need to be reviewed by someone on
the \LaTeX3 kernel team, and afterwards it can be sent out to any
additional volunteers for the same task, as a guide for the work.

\item If other persons volunteer later for the same task, the volunteer
list manager will put them in contact with the task coordinator.
Arrangements for dividing the work and keeping in touch should then
be made by the task coordinator; in addition, if a later volunteer
has greater expertise or more spare time or other useful
qualifications, he/she may become the task coordinator by mutual
agreement among the volunteers who are working on that task.
\end{itemize}

\end{document}