How does it compare to reStructuredText?
http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html
Yura.
-----Original Message-----
From: why the lucky stiff [mailto:ruby-talk@whytheluckystiff.net]RedCloth is a module for using Textile in Ruby. Textile is a text
format. A very simple text format. Another stab at making readable
text that can be converted to HTML.
Yura Kloubakov wrote:
From: why the lucky stiff [mailto:ruby-talk@whytheluckystiff.net]
RedCloth is a module for using Textile in Ruby. Textile is a text
format. A very simple text format. Another stab at making readable
text that can be converted to HTML.How does it compare to reStructuredText?
reStructuredTextYura.
I’m not terribly familiar with reStructuredText, so another might be
better suited. reST is a more expansive (markup for definitions, field
lists) and makes use of footnotes for linking. reST is also bit more
focused on making the text look like it’s just formatted text. You
still often have to use
in Textile.However, Textile is geared more toward HTML generation, so there are
hooks into using style sheets. Also, tables are simpler. The HTML
generator does smart quotes, title/alt tags, citations, acronyms. I
think there are ways of doing this in reST.reST is probably a better overall design, especially if you want PDF
output for your text. Textile is great for HTML stuffs._why
···
-----Original Message-----
I’m not terribly familiar with reStructuredText, so another might be
better suited. reST is a more expansive (markup for definitions, field
lists) and makes use of footnotes for linking. reST is also bit more
focused on making the text look like it’s just formatted text. You
still often have to usein Textile.
good summary I’d say.
However, Textile is geared more toward HTML generation, so there are
hooks into using style sheets. Also, tables are simpler. The HTML
generator does smart quotes, title/alt tags, citations, acronyms. I
think there are ways of doing this in reST.
i quite like the balance between not too much markup while still
allowing for flexibility. the problem with reST in my opinion (why I
can’t use it for my thesis anymore) is that it is too limiting, you
can’t add new stuff yourself easily.
reST is probably a better overall design, especially if you want PDF
output for your text. Textile is great for HTML stuffs.
Rant
mm…I’m getting the “Donald Knuth Complex” here, while writing my
masters’ thesis…I still need to write all the code for my project, yet
i’m still contemplating writing my own documentation format as none of
the one i’ve ever used satisfy me. DocBook is great, if it weren’t for
its verbosity and shoddy design (honestly, it’s too limiting). relax ng
and docbook 5 will hopefully aleviate this somewhat…and, i’m sorry,
but MathML2 is great, if you’re a markup processor. if you’re a
documentor, it’s truly far too verbose, even with content markup…and
the fact that the DocBook MathML Module requires you to use the mml:
namespace you don’t really gain much by having short element names such
as mml:cn1</mml:cn>…I’m thinking of doing some xslt preprocessing of
my DocBook files to make this a bit simpler, but in the end it’s still a
bit too verbose…and the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a good way
to have more than one DocBook Module in a document really blows.
My vision is to have something much like reST without all the html
related shortcuts (the multitude of ways to link stuff really annoys me)
and also not be so limiting in always maintaining WYSIWYG because it
makes parsing hell and it’s not always necessary to be this way to be
appreciable text-wise. Anyway, math and graphics would be drawn by
eqn(1) and pic(1) from [gt]roff, which are very textual in their
functionality, which would keep to the reST spirit. Anyway, I dunno…I
really just need to start focusing on the stuff I really need to get
done…sigh…
What I would like to see in a good documentation format is:
PS/PDF output backends
Math support done in an intuitive way
Graphics support done in an intuitive way
Markup that doesn’t chop the input into bits while still allowing you
to markup easily and with meaning (such as adding emphasis and so on)
nikolai
P.S.
TeX produces wonderful output, but is crap when it comes to actually
writing documents with it, I’m sorry to say. And its graphics packages
are rather retarded as well.
Lout is stupid…end of story
roff is ugly and unreadable, breaks up input too much…xml is easier to
follow…
hm, that’s about the end of my list of formats I’ve ooked at
D.S.
–
::: name: Nikolai Weibull :: aliases: pcp / lone-star / aka :::
::: born: Chicago, IL USA :: loc atm: Gothenburg, Sweden :::
::: page: www.pcppopper.org :: fun atm: gf,lps,ruby,lisp,war3 :::
main(){printf(&linux[“\021%six\012\0”],(linux)[“have”]+“fun”-97);}
I fully agree. I wonder if some input format could exist that
translated to (La)?TeX to get the output, but still be a “document
preparation system” instead of a “typesetting computer language”.
Everything in this field seems to suck. It’s probably provable that
this will always be the case 
Gavin
On Saturday, February 7, 2004, 10:03:25 AM, Nikolai wrote:
P.S.
TeX produces wonderful output, but is crap when it comes to actually
writing documents with it, I’m sorry to say. And its graphics packages
are rather retarded as well.
Have you tried with ConTeXt?
Sincerely,
Gour
Nikolai Weibull (ruby-talk@pcppopper.org) wrote:
P.S.
TeX produces wonderful output, but is crap when it comes to actually
writing documents with it, I’m sorry to say. And its graphics packages
are rather retarded as well.Lout is stupid…end of story
roff is ugly and unreadable, breaks up input too much…xml is easier to
follow…hm, that’s about the end of my list of formats I’ve ooked at
–
Gour
gour@mail.inet.hr
Registered Linux User #278493
Quoteing ruby-talk@pcppopper.org, on Sat, Feb 07, 2004 at 08:03:25AM +0900:
What I would like to see in a good documentation format is:
* PS/PDF output backends
* Math support done in an intuitive way
* Graphics support done in an intuitive way
* Markup that doesn't chop the input into bits while still allowing you
to markup easily and with meaning (such as adding emphasis and so on)P.S.
TeX produces wonderful output, but is crap when it comes to actually
writing documents with it, I'm sorry to say. And its graphics packages
are rather retarded as well.
LaTeX does everything you mention, doesn't it?
What is the problem with how it does graphics? You make a eps picture,
it puts it in the document... its been a while, but I don't remember it
being too much worse than this!
As for markup, I don't really care if I type
{\em important}
<em>important</em>
_important_
.....
What I don't like about TeX, is if you are doing a large document,
eventally you will decide you want some particular kind of
layout/presentation, and getting TeX to do something different can be
painful, for me anyhow. In a way its good, its so hard I don't even wast
time trying, I just take the default layout, and get on with my work.
Out of curiosity, why don't you think it fits the bill?
I don't have great things to say about writing in docbook, other than emacs makes
it a bunch easier (the only thing I use emacs for... its vim for
everything else). On the other hand, the variety of output formats is
amazing. My last company produced its docs as 1-manual per product, plus
super-manuals for all the products, in html, pdf, QNX html-similar help
files... all from one src base. Doing that with commercial tools would
have cost multiple thousands of dollars!
Personally, when I just want to type some text, but I want to make it
to look a little "pretty" (html or pdf, say, so it looks more
professional to marketing folks), I use .pod. Dirt simple, but not what
you want for a large document.
Cheers,
Sam
Have you tried with ConTeXt?
hm, no…but i’m looking at it now…i’m getting the feeling that it’s a
lot about layout, not a lot about making TeX easier to deal with?
There’s XML related stuff there though, so may be of interest, thanks.
Btw, do you have any example files one could look at?
nikolai
–
::: name: Nikolai Weibull :: aliases: pcp / lone-star / aka :::
::: born: Chicago, IL USA :: loc atm: Gothenburg, Sweden :::
::: page: www.pcppopper.org :: fun atm: gf,lps,ruby,lisp,war3 :::
main(){printf(&linux[“\021%six\012\0”],(linux)[“have”]+“fun”-97);}