Re: [Axiom-developer] Re: Pamphlets and LaTex

[Stephen Wilson]

C Y <address@hidden> writes:
> > In some ways the discussion has strayed from the original question
> > "is latex the best vehicle for describing pamphlets?".  Thanks OK
> > though.
> 
> Well, that discussion is tied up with what we want pamphlets to do ;-).

Not really.  Even if all we want is functionality equivalent to what
noweb provides, my objections to using LaTex are still relevant.  It
just so happens that when considering new functionality, the
difficulties become even more involved.

[...]
> > However, we need tools which would support your particular needs as
> > an author and programmer.
> 
> It's fairly hard to define those tools without understanding the needs,
> which is why I've been trying to wrap my brain around the cases you are
> proposing.

>From the start I suggested we use a simple noweb-like syntax and go
from there, as I feel it is sufficient to build further functionality
on top of in the future.

> > > Is there a particular reason why we can't simply do something like:
> > <snip>
> > 
> > Something along those lines is possible, absolutely.
> 
> If that is acceptable, it is almost certainly possible to have the
> finite state based cl-web support it.  Unless you prefer to remove the
> finite state based code regardless, I can take a stab at adding this
> functionality and doing some basic demos.

I have absolutely no issue with you working on cl-web.  I have issues
with the code.  If the end result is that we have 350 lines of code
which is opaquely indexing raw arrays, and which still needs to be
macro expanded into a state machine (as is the case currently with
cl-web), I will need to object.  As you know, I am working on my own
implementation which handles a more general chunk structure then
cl-web and it does its work in 100 clean lines without copious use of
macros.  Of course, my objection may not count for much in the end.


So basically, if it is something you want to do, go for it :) If
someone tells me they think some work of mine is flawed in some way
that would not necessarily stop me from plugging away at it!


Take care,
Steve