[Axiom-developer] Re: hyperdoc

[root]

Martin,

re: numlock. glad you found it. i'll make it a FAQ item.

re: hypertex -> texinfo

I'm in the process of re-implementing hypertex in common lisp.
This will make it portable across platforms and solve the various
port problems we're wasting our time on.

I realize that texinfo is a well-known (at least by those who
know it, which I don't) text style. However the machinery is
already in place to interpret hypertex pages. The main advantage
of the hypertex page format is that it is "nearly tex" so it
might be possible to extend hypertex to work directly from the
pamphlet file format axiom uses.

The easiest conversion would be hypertex pages -> lisp forms
which would allow users to define their own pages to do virtually
anything. But lisp syntax is about as widely known as texinfo :-)
It does, however, make the page-parser trivial, speeds reading,
and makes auxillary code like htadd pointless.

But in the longer the whole hypertex browser needs redesign.
It was written before browsers existed and is showing its age.
My short term goal is to just get it working everywhere, not to
change it as that way lies endless work. 

The longer term goal is either to merge it with the mathaction wiki
code (assuming we can make that run on a users machine), merge it
into TeXmacs or expand it to become more of the "crystal" idea.
But much design discussion has to occur before we trek off into
new areas and we're not ready yet.

t