Re: [Texmacs-dev] Multiple column support

[Nix N. Nix]

No.

Having TeXmacs calculate the width of the figure is a bad idea, because
LaTeX might not calculate the same width.  After all, LaTeX typesets
things differently than TeXmacs, right ?

I don't understand why floating figures and tables are so generic as to
allow the user to type text into a place within the figure other than
the caption. A figure should only allow the linking or embedding of a,
well, figure, like EPS, etc., and a table should come pre-configured
with a tabular and a caption, /and that's it/, no room for
extra-caption, intra-figure text.

This way, we don't have to worry about eccentric figures containing the
memoirs of some guy or an entire Shakespearian play, and it doesn't take
away from what I think is the original intention behind floating figures
and tables, namely to have floating figures and tables.

I don't think we should change the way figures and tables are
represented in the tree, but we should guarantee that the contents of a
figure is always a graphic, and only a graphic, with a possibly empty,
but always present caption, and the contents of a floating table is
always a single tabular environment, again, with a caption as qualified
above.

This, I think could be safely run through (tmtex ...) twice - even a
large table.  Unfortunately, the LaTeX would look very ugly so, if you
can think of a LaTeX way to designate a part of a document by a single,
unique ID, and have it referenceed later by that ID, that would be
great.  Here's what I mean:

\begin{table-contents}[1009291]
  \begin{tabular}[llll]
    a && b && c && d \\
    e && f && g && h
  \end{tabular}
\end{table-contents}
\begin{minipage}[h]{\widthof{\display{table-contents}[1009291]}}
  \begin{center}
    \display{table-contents}[1009291]
    \captionof{table}{The first 8 letters of the alphabet}
  \end{center}
\end{minipage}

Do you know of a LaTeX construct that does that ?  I will look through
"The LaTeX companion".  This is almost like "include", but not from a
file.