Bo Peng wrote:
But if a layout composer comes later (we hope so) the problem remains. So I
don't see how the situation has changed.
The only feature I want for lyx 1.7.0 is a layout composer, but nobody
has a clear idea on what is actually needed. Will we toss *.layout
altogether and embed .layout to .lyx?
No, that would be silly. How do you get started writing an article,
then? LyX has to get the basic settings from somewhere, and it gets them
from *.layout files. I don't see any alternative to that. Moreover, if I
make some changes to my custom layout file, I want them to apply to all
the documents that use it.
Will we keep .layout and use this interface to modify it?
Yes, I think that is the idea.
In the second case, this feature helps
because we are more likely to derive a local layout from a system one
and modify it.
Exactly. And you can use it to create/modify modules, too.
As far as the original question is concerned---whether to allow
selection of local layout files---it seems to me that there are
potential problems here. Suppose the user creates a new file and selects
a local layout. Then she reopens the file, and LyX complains that the
local layout isn't there. Why? Because she didn't save it in the same
directory. Or she moved it. Or who knows what. So it looks, minimally,
as if local layout files really ought to be part of bundles, if they
exist at all. Otherwise they get lost. (I think this was one of the
concerns that was expressed earlier.) I ran into this problem recently
when working on the layout stuff. If you have a document with a local
layout open, then it will appear on the Document>Settings dropbox where
you can then choose it. But an unsuspecting user could get in trouble
that way, so LyX will warn you, but not stop you, if you try to do that.
And I guess it seems to me that, if you want to create a document using
a local layout you've used before, then what you really ought to do is
put it in .lyx/layouts/. As I see it, local layout files are one-off
entities. Of course, you then have to reconfigure. But I wonder whether
we could find a way to automate that. E.g, check the modification times
of crucial files?
rh
