> > 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.
This is what I am thinking as well. > 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.) A warning is given after a local layout file is selected, saying that the document should be saved in the same directory. I think this is all we can do now, unless we change lyx file format and allows specification of a path name to layout file. > 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? The advantages of local layout files are that 1. Do not have to reconfigure .lyx to open a .lyx file with local layout file. 2. Makes it easy to modify and version-control customized layout files. When I write an article, I usually need to create a .layout file which will be maintained together with my article. It is troublesome to copy this file to .lyx/layouts whenever I modify it. 3. I hate to reconfigure (and restart). This is not particularly difficult for experienced users, but how would you expect a new lyx user to know where to put the .layout file, reconfigure and restart? Cheers, Bo
