%%% ==================================================================== %%% @LaTeX3-article{ LaTeX3-L3-002, %%% filename = "l3d002.tex", %%% archived = "ctan:/tex-archive/info/ltx3pub/", %%% related-files = "l3d002a.tex - l3d002h.tex", %%% author = "David Rhead", %%% doc-group = "Project core team", %%% title = "Some ideas for improving {\LaTeX}", %%% version = "1.1", %%% date = "18-Mar-1993", %%% time = "20:19:36 GMT", %%% status = "public, official", %%% abstract = "Ideas and suggestions from David Rhead for %%% improving various areas in LaTeX", %%% note = "prepared for the workshop at Dedham 91", %%% keywords = "", %%% project-address = "LaTeX3 Project \\ %%% c/o Dr. Chris Rowley \\ %%% The Open University \\ %%% Parsifal College \\ %%% Finchley Road \\ %%% London NW3 7BG, England, UK", %%% project-tel = "+44 171 794 0575", %%% project-FAX = "+44 171 433 6196", %%% project-email = "LTX3-Mgr@SHSU.edu", %%% copyright = "Copyright (C) 1993 LaTeX3 Project %%% All rights reserved. %%% %%% Permission is granted to make and distribute %%% verbatim copies of this publication or of %%% coherent parts from this publication provided %%% this copyright notice and this permission %%% notice are preserved on all copies. %%% %%% Permission is granted to copy and distribute %%% translations of this publication or of %%% individual items from this publication into %%% another language provided that the translation %%% is approved by the original copyright holders. %%% %%% No other permissions to copy or distribute this %%% publication in any form are granted and in %%% particular no permission to copy parts of it %%% in such a way as to materially change its %%% meaning.", %%% generalinfo = "To subscribe to the LaTeX3 discussion list: %%% %%% Send mail to listserv@vm.urz.uni-heidelberg.de %%% with the following line as the body of the %%% message (substituting your own name): %%% %%% subscribe LaTeX-L First-name Surname %%% %%% To find out about volunteer work: %%% %%% look at the document vol-task.tex which can %%% be obtained electronically, see below. %%% %%% To retrieve project publications electronically: %%% %%% Project publications are available for %%% retrieval by anonymous ftp from ctan hosts: %%% ftp.tex.ac.uk %%% ftp.dante.de %%% ftp.shsu.edu %%% in the directory /tex-archive/info/ltx3pub. %%% %%% The file ltx3pub.bib in that directory gives %%% full bibliographical information including %%% abstracts in BibTeX format. A brief history %%% of the project and a description of its aims %%% is contained in l3d001.tex. %%% %%% If you only have access to email, and not ftp %%% You may use the ftpmail service. %%% Send a message just containg the word %%% help %%% to ftpmail@ftp.shsu.edu %%% for more information about this service. %%% %%% For offers of financial contributions or %%% contributions of computing equipment or %%% software, contact the project at the above %%% address, or the TeX Users Group. %%% %%% For offers of technical assistance, contact the %%% project at the above address. %%% %%% For technical enquiries and suggestions, send %%% e-mail to the latex-l list or contact the %%% project at the above address.", %%% checksum = "04798 227 1131 9585", %%% docstring = "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.", %%% } %%% ==================================================================== % LaTeX 2.09 document \documentstyle[11pt,twoside]{report} \newcommand{\AmSTeX} {$\cal A$\kern-.1667em\lower.5ex% \hbox{$\cal M$}\kern-.125em$\cal S$-\TeX} \newcommand{\BibTeX}{{\rm B\kern-.05em{\sc i\kern-.025em b}\kern-.08em T\kern-.1667em\lower.7ex\hbox{E}\kern-.125emX}} % for use in "references" \newcommand{\itlatex} {L\kern-.30em\raise.3ex\hbox{\footnotesize\it A}\kern-.15em T\kern-.1667em\lower.7ex\hbox{E}\kern-.100emX} \chardef\ttbackslash=`\\ \newcounter{exhibit} \hfuzz=1in \newdimen\hfuzz \vfuzz=30pt \newdimen\vfuzz \hbadness=10000 \vbadness=10000 \begin{document} \title{Some ideas for improving \LaTeX} \author{David Rhead\\ University of Nottingham\\ {\tt JANET: d.rhead@uk.ac.nottingham.ccc.vme} } \date{July 1991} \maketitle \cleardoublepage \pagenumbering{roman} \setcounter{page}{3} \tableofcontents %------------------- preface ---------------- \chapter*{Preface} \addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Preface} Frank Mittlebach suggested that I might produce some material for consideration by \LaTeX-people at Dedham. This document is the result. My involvement with \LaTeX\ 3.0 \cite{lamport-86,m+s-89} started early in 1990 when I heard Chris Rowley announce that opinions were invited about the facilities that should be provided in the new \LaTeX. Accordingly, I submitted a \lq\lq wish list'', and have since submitted various additional ideas. The present document is an attempt to put these wishes etc.\ together in one place. It has been put together in a hurry from various sources. Generally the main text is based on older material than the appendices: you may find inconsistencies of detail that I haven't had time to resolve. (Frank only gave me two weeks notice!) I've included some extracts from e-mail in which people were making comments about similar topics. (My \lq\lq extracting algorithm'' has been an uneasy compromise between thinking that I shouldn't confine the document to my own views, and wondering whether people would want remarks they made in one context reproduced in another context. I apologise to anyone whose views I've omitted/included when I should have included/omitted them.) I realize that the result is over-long and repetitive, but I don't have time to think how to cut it down and re-organise it. In my case, most \lq\lq wishes'' are just particular cases of general wish \lq\lq that \LaTeX\ would make it easy to produce documents that conform to the conventions that are usual in traditional publishing'', since most of the end-users who tell me \lq\lq I don't like the way \LaTeX\ does this'' are, I think, really saying \lq\lq I'd just like \LaTeX\ to do things like normal publishers do them'' (either because they want to pass the result on to a publisher, or simply because traditional conventions \lq\lq look right'' to them). I've generally tried to determine \lq\lq traditional publishing practice'' by consulting the manuals to which a publisher's copy-editors, designers, and typesetting staff might refer. I assume that the {\it Chicago Manual of Style} \cite{chicago-82}, Butcher's {\it Copy-editing}, \cite{butcher-81}, McLean's {\it Manual of Typography} \cite{mclean-80}, Williamson's {\it Methods of Book Design} \cite{williamson-83} and Hart's {\it Rules} \cite{hart-83} are representative of such manuals. Since I assume that \LaTeX\ is, and always will be, intended for producing formally structured documents rather than for implementing \lq\lq grid-based designs'', I presume that it is unrealistic to try to support more than a selection of the features described in books (such as \cite{miles-87} and \cite{white-88}) that are aimed at the \lq\lq design for desktop publishing'' market. However, the classes of document that are of interest to the Text Encoding Initiative \cite{tei-90} seem similar to the classes for which \LaTeX\ is intended, so I assume that the Initiative's views on structure are relevant (although their objectives are broader than just typesetting). I'm very aware that it's easier \lq\lq to wish'' than \lq\lq to grant wishes''. %------------------- end preface ------------ \cleardoublepage \pagenumbering{arabic} \include{l3d002a} % {main-text} \appendix \include{l3d002b} % {structure} \include{l3d002c} % {counts} \include{l3d002d} % {widethings} \include{l3d002e} % {citing} \include{l3d002f} % {standard} \include{l3d002g} % {chemistry} \include{l3d002h} % {references} \end{document}