[texworks] Beginners' needs (was: Lua scripting)

Manuel Pégourié-Gonnard mpg at elzevir.fr
Thu Jun 18 13:53:02 CEST 2009


Bruno Voisin a écrit :
> I don't remember exactly the source or wording, but I read recently some
> discussion of GUI on the web, saying in essence that a user must never
> ever be asked to pick up a setting (for example at installation or first
> launch) before she has had the opportunity to use the software and then
> experiment with the effects of the various available choices for this
> setting, to see first hand what the setting actually implies.
> 
So, isn't it a problem that the user must select the typesetting mode before he
can actually use TeXworks?

I suggest one of the following solutions:

1. Implement an 'auto' mode that tries to guess. Guessing between plain, latex
and context should be relatively easy, between pfdlatex and xelatex may be less
easy (but looking for keywords such as fontspec and xltxtra in the preambule
should get it right most of the time) and I have no idea about context vs
xecontext of pdftex vs xetex.

2. Make pdflatex the default. I'm afraid many won't agree, but here is the
argument: people who come to TeX without knowing the about the various engine
and formats generally want to use LaTeX. People who come to TeX for XeTeX
generally *know* what XeTeX is and why they want it, and I guess the same is
true for context users.

Of course those solutions are not exclusive.

Manuel.


More information about the texworks mailing list