Re: Lout for dictionaries

[Mark Summerfield]

Stewart,

I see you are a perl programmer. I've used lout generated by perl to 
produce the CHEST Directory & Handbook (see 
http://www.chest.ac.uk/chestdirectory/handbook.html) which has quite a 
complex layout with around a hundred half page entries then nearly a 
thousand 4 line entries plus a supplier list and two indexes plus adverts. 
Every page was produced by lout, only the cover was done separately. 
(Coincidentally I gave a copy of it to your colleague Alastair Protheroe 
last week.) 

I gave up on using Lout definitions, I couldn't really get to grips with 
the scoping issues - so I did all macro-type pre-processing in perl instead 
which I found easy since I am more comfortable with perl.

As for fonts, Valeriy E. Ushakov sent an email to this list recently that 
explained in clear simple terms how to set up additional fonts for lout - I 
have no knowledge of fonts or postscript but followed the instructions and 
they worked without problem.

Overall I think that lout is an excellent tool, far easier to learn than 
LaTeX or groff. When I occasionally have problems an email to this list 
always produces an answer that works. I expect to do other projects using 
perl + lout because I've found it such a successful combination.

Regards.


BTW In case you didn't know, Lout's home page is at 
http://snark.ptc.spbu.ru/~uwe/lout/


On Tue, 23 Nov 1999 10:35:51 +0000 "Stewart C. Russell" 
<address@hidden> wrote:
> I'm evaluating Lout for typesetting dictionaries; so far, it seems much
> easier to customize than TeX, with none of the associated
> font-installation horror.
> 
> I'm looking for examples of book layout in Lout. Do such things exist?
> What would really make my day would be a Lout equivalent of Arvind
> Borde's "TeX By Example", which gives example layouts with the source on
> the facing page.
> 
> Is the Lout FAQ still maintained? All I can find is the skeleton of a
> document written in 1997.
> 
> -- 
> Stewart C. Russell            Analyst Programmer, Dictionary Division
> address@hidden        HarperCollins Publishers
> use Disclaimer; my $opinion;  Glasgow, Scotland
> 
________________________________________________________________________
Mark Summerfield         CHEST Software Manager         address@hidden
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