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author | Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> | 2009-04-20 22:50:28 +0000 |
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committer | Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> | 2009-04-20 22:50:28 +0000 |
commit | ee53eac199e12fb91859fd18a43dd506ff75e3a9 (patch) | |
tree | ebe1417122388e1022b9ab77f0af3e687a7c061f /Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/nicetext/README.txt | |
parent | ed190dcc699e8dbd39a0f38c26e80270b7e4df92 (diff) |
nicetext update (20apr09)
git-svn-id: svn://tug.org/texlive/trunk@12766 c570f23f-e606-0410-a88d-b1316a301751
Diffstat (limited to 'Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/nicetext/README.txt')
-rw-r--r-- | Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/nicetext/README.txt | 90 |
1 files changed, 90 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/nicetext/README.txt b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/nicetext/README.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..b2b7811b975 --- /dev/null +++ b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/nicetext/README.txt @@ -0,0 +1,90 @@ + The NICETEXT bundle + + (c) 2009 Uwe Lueck http://contact-ednotes.sty.de.vu + + + == General Idea == + +The NICETEXT bundle supports ``minimal'' markup syntax for rather +simple kinds of text. The code you type should show little more +characters than are printed, though you get LaTeX quality. We try +to do away with backslashes, technical terms, and curly braces +(which also are so clumsy to type on PC keyboards). + +Main focus is easy documentation of LaTeX packages. Preprocessing +by Perl or so is replaced by TeX macros (reviving/generalizing the +'docstrip' idea), including expandable, safe, correct string +substitution and typographical enhancements of plain text for +LaTeX input. + + + == Packages == + +'wiki.sty' addresses general kinds of texts. 'niceverb.sty' is +made for documenting LaTeX packages. 'niceverb.sty' especially +offers [almost-]WYSIWIG for meta-variables (macro arguments) and +for referring to commands (and their syntax) in footnotes, +section titles etc. E.g., to get the syntax description + + \foo[<opt-arg>]{<mand-arg>} +you just type + \foo[<opt-arg>]{<mand-arg>} +!-) + +'fifinddo.sty' provides basic setup for text filtering, especially +string substitution. 'makedoc.sty' extends it to provide a simple +script language for transforming plain text package files into LaTeX +input files [manual!?]. One LaTeX run can perform preprocessing and +typesetting. + + + == Comparisons == + +One source of inspiration is the markup syntax of editing Wikipedia +pages. 'wiki.sty' of the bundle offers something similar as a LaTeX +front-end for italics, boldface, sectioning, and certain list-like +environments. This is also similar to 'easylatex', + + http.//www.ctan.org/pkg/easylatex + +which is more powerful and uses Perl. NICETEXT, by contrast, consists +just of LaTeX packages, working on any TeX installation [!? note +restrictions in 'fifinddo.pdf']. Cf. also preprocessor packages +'txt2tex' and 'txt2latex'. + +Concerning ``self-documentation,'' there is a difference to current +`\DocInput', similar ideas are in 'gmdoc' and 'lineno.sty', +see 'niceverb.pdf' and 'makedoc.pdf'. Standard 'doc.sty' and +'contrib' extensions of it are rather avoided. + +There are several *LaTeX macro* packages for processing text or +databases or for editing TeX's input stream while typesetting +-- see 'fifinddo.pdf'. What seems to be new here is +*expandable string substitution* and safe, correct detection of +substrings -- discussed in 'fifinddo.pdf'. + + + == Documentation == + +'fifinddo.pdf' describes 'fifinddo.sty', typeset from 'fifinddo.tex'. +'makedoc.pdf' describes 'makedoc.sty', typeset from 'makedoc.tex'. +'niceverb.pdf' describes 'niceverb.sty', typeset from 'niceverb.tex'. + +Typesetting them anew (for customizing printout) requires +'makedoc.cfg', 'mdcorr.cfg', 'mkfddoc.tex' and the *.sty files +in the working directory (no special guarantee that your hacks will +work!) Cf. provided *.log files for what was input for *.pdf. + +'wikicheat.pdf' is a one-page manual of 'wiki.sty'. The file +'wiki.sty' contains additional documentation as plain text. +Note that certain features must be activated by commands in the +document environment. + + + == What is missing == + +A lot, see niceverb.pdf and fifinddo.pdf. + + + ________________________________ + [This file 2009/04/15 Uwe Lueck] |