[XeTeX] XeTeX in lshort

[Alain Delmotte]

Hi!

Le 28/09/2010 7:42, Michiel Kamermans a écrit :
> On 9/27/2010 8:53 PM, Khaled Hosny wrote:
>>
>> You know, because Windows has the most consistent user
>> interface an OS
>> ever had.
>>
>> (From some one who is yet to see two "native" Windows
>> applications that
>> behave the same)
> Yeah, yeah, look, my name isn't "Gates", but in windows the
> idea is, and virtually every applicaiton sticks to this, "if
> there's multiple windows, you get them INSIDE a master
> frame". I'm not going to argue that every single app
> developer went "yes windows design style guide, I will
> unquestioningly do what you say" but the vast majority of
> important applications obeys this simple unwritten rule.
>
> I never said TeXWork was a bad program - it's great. But i
> annoys the hell out of me that it launches two applications
> when it says it's one. You close the right application, the
> left application doesn't close. Wtf? I thought I was running
> one program? So it's two applications... you close the left
> applicaiton, the right one does close. Again, wtf? So it IS
> one program? This is not good design for a windows
> application. It doesn't matter that some other people write
> good programs with bad UIs on windows, too. A worthwhile
> program uses the visual semantics that come with the OS it's
> made for. Stick both the windows side by side in a master
> frame when the code detects it's being compiled for Windows,
> make them visible and invisible via checkboxes in
> view/window->source and view/window->final or something, and
> presto, the entire gripe's gone. Now it's a cross platform
> editor that respects the user expectation of the vast
> majority of people who are going to be new to TeX.

Have you used Microsoft Office lately?
When you open a Word document and a second or create a 
second, it creates a second separate windows!! At least by 
default. (Could be an option to have only one main windows)

Nowadays, there are almost more programs creating several 
windows than programs working in one main windows with 
sub-windows.

> Some people love TeXWork because it's a better alternative
> to everything they tried before, but that's because *they've
> tried everything else and didn't like it*. It's almost
> impossible to miss that means you're hardly new at TeX, but
> that you're a long time user who's sampled everything there
> is to sample over an extensive period of time and settled on
> TeXWorks because it lets you get the job done. That's great,
> if TeXWorks is where you ended up, awesome, it's a really
> good program, even on windows. It also breaks the idea of a
> single application that people that are new to TeX, and use
> windows, will be used to. When you're new to something, you
> don't want a program that behaves completely different from
> all the other big programs you use. You want to give someone
> new to TeX a familiar base first, so they don't tune out
> going "this is so radically different that I cannot get
> comfortable with it". Then, once you're familiar enough with
> it to realise that even a plain text editor on a command
> prompt works just fine (even if it's more work), looking at
> better editors that take away the UI familiarity is no
> longer objectionable. It's basically common sense.
> Familiarity + a little bit of new, then shift focus until
> the new is familiar, then drop the original hook you needed
> to convince people it was worth getting familiar with the new.

Under Windows I do not think there is a TeX program working 
only with one window for editing and viewing.
Saying that viewing with Adobe Reader, from let say 
notepad2, is not breaking the rule, is correct only because 
there are really two programs, but for the new user to TeX 
it is much more difficult than using TeXworks which manages 
everything. You do not have to create or parameter builds 
(in TeXnicCenter) or something else. (and having the system 
close the first Reader window before (re-)compiling!!! like 
it is now)

In a new edition of a French book to come out soon, they 
recommend TeXmaker (and still perhaps TeXnicCenter) because 
there are tools bars with button for the common (La)TeX 
commands, this doesn't exist, intentionally, in TeXworks.

Alain
>
> - Mike "Pomax" Kamermans
> nihongoresources.com
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> Subscriptions, Archive, and List information, etc.:
> http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/xetex
>