[OS X TeX] Re: Some thoughts about editors

[Herbert Schulz]

On Sep 24, 2007, at 3:28 PM, François Chaplais wrote:

>
> Le 24 sept. 07, à 19:23, Alain Schremmer a écrit :
>
>>
>> On Sep 23, 2007, at 8:11 AM, John Burt wrote:
>>
>>> Alphatk has folding also, and good TeX syntax coloring, and many  
>>> other features.
>>
>> Yes, but can it do my espresso?
>>
>> A bit more seriously: Is there somewhere a detailed comparison of  
>> Alpha with TeXShop?
>>
>> In particular, I would like to know:
>>
>> 	1. How easy it is to install and configure compared with TeXShop  
>> via i-Installer,
>
> It is a standard Mac application, no i-installer is required. Go to
> http://alphatcl.sourceforge.net/wiki/
> download the .dmg file that fits your system, open it to mount the  
> image file, and drag the Alpha folder to the location of your  
> choice. That's it.
>

Howdy,

You don't need i-Installer to install TeXShop. Download the .dmg file  
from <http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop/texshop.html>, open that  
and drag and drop.

Of course, in either case you still need a TeX distribution.

> ...
> The macros are written in Tcl and they can be quite powerful (i.e.  
> they keep your mind focused on the content and not on TeX syntax).
>
> One feature I like is the following: if you invoke the macro for  
> "fraction", what you get is
> \frac{|}{•}•    with the insertion point inside the first pair of  
> braces.
> You type the numerator (dx here), hit the tab key and the insertion  
> point is now at the next bullet character:
> \frac{dx}{|}•
> typing "dt" and hitting tab inserts dt between the braces and  
> brings you to the next "tab stop", i.e. bullet character, and you get
> \frac{dx}{dt}| with the insertion point outside the braces.
> Of course this is recursive, i.e. it handles nested environments.
> Automatic indentation is supported.
> Another feature is filesets: if your source includes several files  
> chapter in a book, for instance), you can define a fileset to do,  
> for instance, a search and replace on all elements of the filesets.  
> This is very handy if you want to change the label of an equation  
> and consequently all the \ref{}. Regular expressions are supported.  
> This also applies to projects in other languages.
> Well, I will stop here.
> Best regards,
> 	Francois
>
> Francois Chaplais
> 35 rue Saint-Honore
> 77305 Fontainebleau Cedex
> France

Using Command Completion in TeXShop is similar: with the Command  
Completion file and macros (get CommandCompletion.zip from <http:// 
homepage.mac.com/herbs2/>) I write

\fr

and then press the Esc key to get

\frac{|}{•}

where | is the insertion point (cursor). Then I use Ctl-Cmd-F and  
jump to the • (called a Mark or Place Holder). I could add another •  
at the end but since that's a single } to jump over it's just as easy  
to use the ->, etc.

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs at wideopenwest.com)



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