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diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/plain/newsletr/newssamp.tex b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/plain/newsletr/newssamp.tex new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..006946ed2d9 --- /dev/null +++ b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/plain/newsletr/newssamp.tex @@ -0,0 +1,267 @@ +% Save file as: NEWSSAMP.TEX Source: FILESERV@SHSU.BITNET +% +% File: NEWSLETTER_SAMPLE.TEX +% +% Functional description: +% +% This file is a sample TeX file to demonstrate the functionality of the +% NEWSLETTER_FORMAT macros. +% +% It depends on the file NEWSLETTER_FORMAT.TEX. +% +% Author: Hunter Goatley +% +% Date: August 15, 1991 +% +\ifx\undefined\eoa\input newsletr \fi % Include macro definitions +\say{Producing sample newsletter} +% +% Define the page headers and footers. Different for even/odd pages. +% +\pageheaderlinetrue \pagefooterlinetrue +\evenpageheader{}{Goat Droppings!}{} +\oddpageheader{}{My Newsletter}{} +\evenpagefooter{August\ 1991}{}{Page\ \folio} +\oddpagefooter{Page \folio}{}{Vol.\ 1\ \ No.\ 1} + +\begindoublequotes % Handle double quotes + +\ignoreunderfill % Ignore undervfill errors +\parskip=0pt % Don't skip between paragraphs +\parindent=18pt % Indent paragraphs 18pt +\rm % Use tenpoint roman + +% +% Define a few commands to make typing easier. +% +\def\RRM{Robert~R. McCammon} +\edef\TeX{\TeX\null} +\def\LaTeX{{\rm L\kern-.36em\raise.3ex\hbox{\quoteefont a}\kern-.15em + T\kern-.1667em\lower.7ex\hbox{E}\kern-.125emX}} +% +% Now define a short verbatim, which can be used for short strings: +% +\def\cmd#1{{\tt\string#1}} + +% +% Setup for newsletter page (a little taller and wider, with increased +% \tolerance, etc.) +% +\newspage + +%\nullpage % Null page w/ head/foot + +% +% Now start the first article. Do the article in double-column format. +% +% The title and by-line are written in a double-box. +% +\articletitle{Using \TeX\ to Do A Newsletter}{By Hunter Goatley} + +\begincolumns{2} % Begin double-columns + +% +% Reserve boxes for up to 3 pages of figures. +% +\definefigs{3} + +% +% Define a quote as a figure in the middle of column 2 on page 1 of this +% article. +% +\definefig{1}{2}{middle}{\Quote{% + Nothing beats \TeX\null. Nothing.}{Hunter Goatley}} +% +% Now do one that extends across the whole page. +% +\definefig{2}{0}{top}{\hsize=\normalhsize% +\vbox{\centerline{\shadowbox{% + \hsize=5in + \vsize=.5in + \vbox to\vsize{ + \vfill + \centerline{This is inside a \cmd{\shadowbox}.} + \vfill + } %End vbox + } %End shadowbox + }} %End vbox + \vskip12pt + \centerline{This is a figure across the whole page.} + } %End definefig + +\handlefigures % Necessary, but shouldn't be. +\noindent +This document attempts to describe how my plain \TeX\ newsletter format works. +The documentation is sparse, but I hope to let it speak for itself through +the use of examples. Will they be meaningful examples? Probably not. But, +hey, I'll give it a shot. + +I started producing {\it Lights Out!---The \RRM\ Newsletter\/} +in June 1989. For those who don't know, \RRM\ is a very popular author whose +books have primarily been categorized in the horror genr\'e. His latest, +\book{Boy's Life}, was published in hardcover by Pocket Books in August 1991. +\book{Boy's Life} is {\sl not\/} horror---it's a wonderful tale of how 1964 +looked to a 12-year-old boy. There's a mystery, but the book is primarily +about remembering life when you were young. I urge you to find the book and +give it a try. Here are quotes from a couple of reviews of McCammon's previous +novel, \book{Mine}: + +% +% A sample \dotitem'ed list. +% +\bgroup % Start a new group to keep \listindent local +\listindent{10pt}\beginlist +\dotitem "\book{Mine} grips you tightly by the throat, right at the + start, and squeezes\edots" \farright{---\book{The New York Daily + News}} +\dotitem "McCammon at his very best\ \dots\ and then some." + \farright{---\book{The Birmingham News}}% +\endlist +\egroup + +\noindent % Don't indent the paragraph after the quotes. +Well, enough about \RRM. Even if you don't like horror, I think you'll like +McCammon's work. Other titles include \book{Swan Song}, \book{Blue World}, +and \book{Mystery Walk}. + +I'll now break and we'll start a new sub-article under this main +article. I used this approach in a regular column entitled "Things Unearthed," +which consisted of various news items about new book releases and other +news items. + +% +% Begin a new sub-article. \coltitle draws a box around the title. This +% one has two centered lines, with a box around it. +% +\articlesep +%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% +\coltitle{\centerline{Why I Chose \TeX\ Over}\break + \centerline{Ventura and PageMaker}} + +When I decided I was going to start producing a newsletter, I started looking +at the options I had available to me. Because I'm a VAX systems programmer, +I preferred to use something on the VAX. I had had some exposure to \TeX\ and +knew that it would do the job, but I thought I'd look at PC-based choices. + +I played around with PageMaker some, and read about Ventura---and decided that +they were way too clumsy to do what I wanted. I liked the fact that \TeX\ used +regular text files with embedded commands---I could use the editor I was +accustomed to, \TeX\ was available for a variety of platforms, and \TeX\ was +incredibly flexible. + +So I decided on \TeX, I had to decide if I was going to use \TeX\ or \LaTeX. +But that's another sub-article. + +\articlesep % Line to separate arts +%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% +\coltitle{\centerline{Why I Chose Plain \TeX}\break % Column title box + \centerline{Instead of \LaTeX}} + +I had originally intended to use \LaTeX, because that's what the technical +writing group of my employer-at-the-time was using to produce their manuals. +I knew that I wanted multiple columns and to be able to switch back and forth +between single- and double-columns on the same page at will. After trying +many variations of the \LaTeX\ double-column style, I finally decided I +couldn't easily do it. (This was before Frank Mittelbach's \LaTeX\ macros +appeared in {\it The TUGboat\/}.) + +So, once I decided on \TeX, I decided I better learn about \TeX\ so I could +write my own macros. Two years later, I still modify the file some, but it +has been lots of fun and I learned a whole lot about \TeX. + +I've since learned that, apparently, not many people use plain \TeX. +Personally, I don't know why everybody flocks to \LaTeX---plain \TeX\ is +so much more flexible. It is true that you need a default set of macros +to get you going, but once they're there, I believe \TeX\ is actually +easier to use than \LaTeX. + +An aside here: if you haven't seen \book{\TeX\ for the Impatient}, by Paul~W. +Abrahams, I strongly recommend a copy. It's a great reference book for +plain \TeX, and his {\tt eplain.tex} (Extended Plain \TeX) provides some +very useful macros. It was published last year by Addison-Wesley. + +\articlesep +%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% +\coltitle{\centerline{Some of the Highlights}\break + \centerline{of the Newsletter Format}} + +There are variety of commands provided by my newsletter format. Because +{\it Lights Out!\/} covered a horror author, some of the commands are +specifically designed to handle books and interviews. While I was developing +the format, I tried to make sure that I kept things as generic as possible +so that it could be used to generate other newsletters. It remains to be +seen if whether or not I was successful. + +%The next page features a list of some of the commands that are available +%and how they're used. + +I've included the commands \cmd{\twelvepoint}, \cmd{\elevenpoint}, +\dots, \cmd{\eightpoint} to change font sizes. I didn't do these +the "official" \TeX\ way (font families) out of laziness. To get the +eight-point font {\tt cmss8} you simply type: \cmd{\eightpoint\string\ss}, +probably within a group. + +My multiple columns command supports up to 6 columns on a page. When you +increase the number of columns on a page, you usually need to change +the font size (for three columns, I switched to the {\tt cmss8} font---it +seemed to work out OK because the sans serif font helped differentiate +between the "Letters" column and the rest of the newsletter). + +One of the things that seems to be hardest in \TeX---especially when multiple +columns are involved---is the insertion of figures. I like things to be +very structured---the mathematical side of me, I guess---so when I added +figure support to my macros, I did it by setting up my multiple column +output routine to place figures in certain locations on a page. You can +specify that a figure is inserted across the entire page at the top and +bottom of the page, or at the top, middle, or bottom of each column. +Here comes the really kludgy part of my format. + +The macro \cmd{\definefigs} must be executed to tell \TeX\ how many pages +are following that may contain figures. What happens is that a large block +of boxes is allocated. I tried various combinations to make it more dynamic, +but had little luck. Because of time constraints, I went with the way that +worked. This shouldn't really cause a problem, because you define figures +within an article, and most articles aren't so long that you exceed the number +of boxes \TeX\ has. The command to define a figure is: +\vskip\baselineskip +\centerline{\cmd{\definefig\string{Page\string}\string{Column\string}% + \string{Position\string}\string{Box\string}}} +\vskip\baselineskip +where \cmd{Box} is a \cmd{\vbox} containing your figure. This can be an empty +\cmd{\vbox} \cmd{\vfill}'ed to the correct size for later pasting. The quote +on the previous page was inserted with a \cmd{\Quote} as the argument to +the \cmd{\definefig} command. + +That's all I'm going to say about the commands for now. Notice that when +you end the double columns, they are automatically balanced.\eoa + +\endcolumns % End of double columns + + +\articlesep % Separate the articles w/ rule + +% +% Now do another article in single column format. +% +\articletitle{This Is Another Article}{By Me, Of Course} + +\begincolumns{3} + +This is more just to show that you can also do three-columns on the same page +with single- and double-column formats without \TeX\ complaining about it. +I hope this example has been of some use to you. + +Note that balancing these columns still has a few glitches---but nothing adding +or subtracting a few words won't fix. I've been using this format to generate +five newsletters so far. + +\endcolumns + +\articlesep + +This is more just to show that you can keep both single-, double-, and +triple-column formats on the same page. \TeX\ won't complain about it +at all (usually).\eoa + + +\bye |