[texworks] Lua scripting

[Reinhard Kotucha]

On 16 June 2009 Jérome Laurens wrote:

 > 
 > Le 15 juin 09 à 22:39, Reinhard Kotucha a écrit :
 > 
 > > On 15 June 2009 Jérome Laurens wrote:
 > >
 > >>
 > >> Le 14 juin 09 à 23:45, Reinhard Kotucha a écrit :
 > >>
 > >>> On 14 June 2009 Jérome Laurens wrote:
 > >>>
 > >>>> Things are not that simple.
 > >>>>
 > >>>> TeXWorks natural audience is the beginner in TeX, and most probably
 > >>>> in
 > >>>> scripting too. [...]
 > >>>
 > >>> I never had in mind that users should be bothered with scripting at
 > >>> all.  They should neither be forced nor encouraged to write their  
 > >>> own
 > >>> scripts or to install arbitrary scripts they find in the internet.
 > >>
 > >> [...]
 > >>
 > >> This point of view is definitely valuable, and one can add that the
 > >> users should not be bothered with the underlying xetex, luatex,
 > >> pdftex, latex, context neither.
 > >>
 > >> In fact, there are 2 different approaches
 > >>
 > >> 1) TeXWorks lowers the barrier to entry and nothing else
 > >> 2) TeXWorks also adapts to the user need
 > >>
 > >> This discussion about scripting (and indirectly plugins) is related  
 > >> to
 > >> point 2.
 > >> If we restrict ourselves to point 1, then there is nothing to add.
 > >>
 > >> My opinion is that we should have (in a longer term) TeXWorks for
 > >> point 1 and TeXWorks pro for point 2.
 > >> Both should have exactly the same underlying code (with very few
 > >> branching points), but the first one would have a very simple user
 > >> interface (no scripting for example).  When people feel limited
 > >> with TeXWorks, they just "switch" to TeXWorks pro.
 > >
 > > Hmm, I suggested Lua because a lot of features needed by beginners
 > > could better be written in Lua.  What I have in mind is a
 > > log-analyzer, interfaces to texdoc and to Robin's FAQ, for example.
 > >
 > > With a Lua engine and a reasonable interface things could be done
 > > easier and faster.  It's easier to contribute code because you don't
 > > have to compile the binary if you add a new feature.  You also don't
 > > have to worry so much about platform dependencies if you provide Lua
 > > code.  And it's less dangerous because if your script doesn't work, it
 > > can simply be removed, without changing the binary.
 > >
 > > The idea is to have a program which can be extended easily without
 > > changing the program itself.  For instance, a C compiler provides only
 > > the absolutely necessary functionality, everything else comes from
 > > external libraries.  TeX, the program, only provides the primitives
 > > which are absolutely necessary, everything else comes from macro
 > > packages.  There are many other examples.  It's easier and much safer
 > > if you don't have to change the binary in order to add new features.
 > >
 > > But why do you think that the presence of a scripting language makes
 > > TeXworks more difficult to use?  As I said, I regard this as something
 > > internal, not as something the user should be aware of.
 > >
 > >
 > > So, I don't think that it's very useful to have two versions.  If the
 > > version for beginners doesn't contain a Lua engine, then all the
 > > functions a beginner needs have to be written in C.  And exactly this
 > > is what I'd like to avoid in order to make things easier for  
 > > volunteers.
 > 
 > To understand things, take a TeXWorks Pro, then remove from the user  
 > interface all the menu items, panels and widgets that are over  
 > complicated for a beginner,
 > then you obtain TeXWorks. Same C code, same Lua scripts and so on.  
 > Only the user interface changes.
 > 
 > No need to have some kind of TeXWorks Pro by now, just a neat lua  
 > scripting implementation that will not require a lot of rework when  
 > scripting will be open to the user.
 > But such a neat implementation must anticipate further enhancements,  
 > this is where the security problem pops up.


I hope that advanced features will not clutter the GUI but are bound
to keys instead.

Seems that we have to wait and see how things evolve.  I hope that
many people interested in TeXworks will come to EuroTeX-2009.  And I
really hope to meet Stefan there.

Regards,
  Reinhard

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