On 2020-10-13 00:24, Richard Kimberly Heck wrote:
On 10/12/20 4:58 AM, Daniel wrote:
I have just played a bit with Edit > Manage Counter Values. It's a
nice feature to have available. However, it was not what I expected at
first. It seems to be "just" a counter inset which sets the counter at
the place where it is inserted (which becomes clear when looking at
the code). I think it would be better placed in the Insert menu under
"Counter Manager" or so.
It was originally there. Various people thought it should go on the Edit
menu, so it got moved.
I see. Maybe the suggestion by others was at a time when the functioning
and limitations were not clear? I am wondering what would happen if the
feature that I suggest below gets implemented. Maybe the counter inset
would be moved back to the Insert menu then.
The inset is nothing that directly "Edit"s the current layout but
"Insert"s something in addition to it. The UserGuide actually states
that this is an "inset" and that it is located in the "Insert" menu
(which seems the right place IMO).
I've fixed the docs.
Thanks.
Maybe the limitation and functioning could be explained a bit more in
that section and an example for it's standard usage be provided?
It says what five things it does. An example would be a bit more
complicated.
I think it's nice to have the inset available but its use is limited
for me. In particular, it seems not a feature to "directly" change the
counter of numbered elements. Here is what I mean: Say, I want to
change the counter of a Numbered list (enumerate). In the attached
document I try to reset a Numbered list counter with the inset but it
doesn't work. This is because `\setcounter` comes either too early
(outside of the enumerate environment) or too late (after `\item`). I
think to work, `\setcounter` should be added '''at the beginning or
the line''' where the counter inset is added as in the attached tex
document.
Scott pointed out the same issue. To make it work, you have to Insert>
List Preamble (an optional argument), and then you also have to modify
the layout for that argument to remove PassThru. (This is on the list a
couple weeks back.) Otherwise, you can't insert insets but only bare
text. It's not ideal but it's also not clear what else to do. Generally
removing PassThru seems wrong, since that's what one will ordinarily
want, I think.
Somehow I could not get it to work by removing PassThru. But I suspect
that the following two problems will remain:
1. The counter *in the Workarea* is not properly modified since the
counter inset still comes after the list started.
2. Changing the first element in a list works different from changing
other elements in a list. Which is quite counter-intuitive.
Also, it would be nice to set the counter of a numbered element more
directly in another sense: setting it to a certain value via the
context menu of a numbered element sets it to that value (not that
value plus one as is currently the case with the "Counter Manager"
because the value is increased by one when it is used e.g. in \section).
Am I right to assume that the inset is *not* suppose to deliver this
feature?
I thought about that, but suppose you set it and then tried to display
it or otherwise use it? You'd get a surprising result. So, yes, it's a
bit counter-intuitive. I've added a note about that to the docs, as
well. (Here, as in some other cases, you need a bit of LaTeX knowledge
to make the most of LyX.)
Yes, that's also why I thought the inset was not meant to be there for
that task. I think it's a basic feature that is still missing in LyX then.
The idea of using the context menu, etc, is a good one, but it would
involve more work.
I guess you mean "more work" as in more work than for the counter inset.
My hopes are not high that I will be able to do it. I'll still try it at
some point little bit. I hope I can learn a lot from the counter inset code.
I am also thinking of being able to set not only the value but the
format, e.g. "(\roman{enumi})", of the counter, ideally via a nice UI
with a couple of preset values.
Here, I think it might be worth just having a module that made other
formats available. I have one for local use.
It strikes me as a pretty basic feature that should be available
module-less some day.
Daniel
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