On Tuesday 18 July 2006 16:49, Helge Hafting wrote: > Perhaps xfig itself could be better, but I fail to see how using an > external application is a problem. > Slower? Not really, why should using two apps that do one thing be > slower than one app that does two things? The two-app approach > gives security, a crash in xfig does not bring down lyx. A crash > in the word drawing program brings down word though.
I agree, but ideally applications do not crash ;-) Ok, the world is not ideal. I have not an experience of big projects, perhaps stability is a major issue, so important that it is the main reason for the two-app approach. > Lyx has nice support for starting xfig when needed, so you > have "integration" even though it is two apps. And this > approach is easily extendible to any other drawing program, > should you find something better than xfig for your figures. Inkscape seems a very active project, but I think it is more suitable for artists than scientists/engineers: - no equations; - no CAD functions like the possibility to stop a stroke exactly on a circle. Moreover, it seems to me than Qt is quicker than GTK: Qcad is really a quick tool. But Qcad do not allow equations, and is a bit too technical (I think). > Sizing and positioning graphichs in lyx is easy enough. The drawing > program being external does not change this, or could you explain? I spoke about the positioning and sizing of the equations in XFIG when exporting "PS/LATEX BOTH PARTS". Sometimes, it is necessary to adjust the positioning in XFIG of the equations, because when compiled by LaTeX, the equation is for example a bit too wide, and overlaps into another object of the drawing. > Good vector drawing software is nice to have. The problem with stuffing > everything inside lyx is that you get something like word - mediocre > vector drawing, mediocre bitmap drawing and so on. It is better to > interface to a well-maintained _good_ drawing program. Lyx do that with > xfig, and I am sure a similiar interface can be made for qcad too. If > we were to implement a drawing program inside lyx, there would never be > time for matching the quality of these existing programs - why reinvent > the wheel? Ok. So I must find an external to improve, particularly the support of equations: Inkscape or Qcad? Another? > > Other subject: can I find a document that depicts the data structures > > employed in LyX, and the structure of the code of LyX? I have searched on > > the developer's site, but can't find anything. > > The lyx sources aren't documented except for preferred coding style. > If you want to contribute, feel free to ask tons of questions and they > will be answered. :-) It is a big work. I have experienced code deciphering with SNNS (Stuttgart Neural Net Simulator). And other projects as Easy Timeline. But it was C, or Perl, not C++. I have not experienced a lot of C++, just a bit of STL and boost::spirit. For the time being, could you suggest an external vector drawing application to improve? The functions that you dream about? Have you ever tried to read code of Xfig? Qcad? Inkscape? What project is more suitable for the integration of equations? The equations of LyX are displayed in real-time. What is the part of the code or library that performs this? Could it be possible to re-use this library in the code of other application as Inkscape or Qcad for example? Is there a massive use of Qt, such that it is mandatory to use a Qt application? Give me your ideas, please. Qcad? Julien
