Re: [Texmacs-dev] Multiple column support

[Joris van der Hoeven]

> 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 ?

Absolutely.

> 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.

I don't agree, because the distinction about a figure/table and
plain text is quite hard to formalize. For instance, the graphic
might be a tree instead of a postscript image, or a colored table.

> 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.

So no...

> 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}

If you think that you can solve your problem by doing this,
I am not fundamentally opposed to it. But it does look quite hacky.

> 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.

No, but the export filter may generate such IDs.