On Sat, 21 Jul 2001, Dekel Tsur wrote:
> I'm not against the option of generating a latex code that doesn't use fancy
> packages. However, I'm not sure that the best way is to have a dialog in which
> you can disable each package individually.
Why is this not the best way? I suppose it is because you consider it
too cumbersome to check and uncheck each and every package, rather than
a bunch at a time. This is a valid objection.
> One option is to have a --compatibility flag, namely
> lyx --export latex --compatibility strong/medium/weak
> where
> strong - Use only packages in CTAN base/ and required/ directories
> medium - Also use packages in the supported/ directory.
> weak - Use all packages
I think this is too opaque by itself. I don't know what is in base and
what is in supported. Also, I want to be able to selectively decide
which level to use per document, not per running instance.
Also, I might need a finer resolution if I'm an expert user.
> Another option is to create a code that works whether or not the packages is
> installed (this is currently done for url.sty).
> For example:
> \IfFileExists{longtable.sty}{\usepackage{longtable}}
> {\newenvironment}{longtable}{\begin{tabular}}{\end{tabular}}
This is a great solution for many.
Integrating all of this, maybe this hybrid solution would work:
Provide a dialog which lists all the packages that the document
potentially need. For each package, the dialog will say which section
of CTAN the package is in (base, supported, contrib, unknown), preferably
with a full path, and also a short description.
For each package, the user will have the option to choose between
"use package" which will use the package unconditionally,
"use best available" which will use the fallback method as
url.sty, and "do not use package". The default should be the
fallback method, since that's a good choice for most.
Now, to make it easy to adjust to a certain group, the dialog could
provide shortcuts similar to your compatibility options. So, with
one operation, all packages could be restricted to the ones in
base and supported.
Greets,
Asger
