Jade and notations

[David Megginson <dmeggins@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul Prescod writes:

 > David Megginson wrote:

 > > It will always be dangerous to include raw TeX code inside generated
 > > TeX code -- the only safe thing would be to convert it to another
 > > format (ie. Postscript).  I cannot imagine how to protect against
 > > mismatched braces, etc.
 > 
 > That's really tragic. I had thought that that would have been one of the
 > best features of the TeX back end. 

It _is_ one of the best features, if you can guarantee that the TeX
fragment is sound before you include it, and if it does not mess up
the environment by defining or altering any macros or quantities.  The
problem is that an error will show up only during TeX processing, and
typical users will not likely be able to determine the cause.

 > But this brings up a related DSSSL implementation question: is
 > there a plan for some form of "notation handler" in the various
 > implementations (esp. Jade, since it is the one I currently use) to
 > allow us to convert from notations (.tex, .ps, .bmp) to "standard
 > formats" (.gif, .jpg, .bmp) as part of the style application
 > process? I would expect converters to be either linkable modules
 > like "back ends" or external programs that are run with the
 > external data on stdin (or perhaps command line for external
 > entities).

Perhaps a hook for running external filters would be the best.


David

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David Megginson                 ak117@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Microstar Software Ltd.         dmeggins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
University of Ottawa            dmeggins@xxxxxxxxxx
        http://www.uottawa.ca/~dmeggins