On 27 Jan, 2007, at 5:21 AM, killermike wrote:
I'd have to disagree.Unfortunately LyX is still behind the curve in
the area of big project management (books, manuals, etc). But it is
close to perfect, I think, for any document from 0 pages to
chapter-length as long as complex layouts are not required (i.e.
multicolumnns with pictures and tables, etc.).
I like to use Lyx for nearly everything as it's good 'practice' for
when I need to use it for the more important stuff. For example, I
once wrote a shorter doc in Lyx while trying out an unfamiliar
document class.
I'm at the note taking stage of a book project myself. Care to
elaborate about the features which you think that Lyx is missing for
book-scale projects?
I'll just mention a couple:
1. Framemaker has the concept of a "book": a multifile work to which
you can add chapters (and indexes, etc). Once you have a book set up,
you can find and replace across chapters, change the formatting across
the whole book, etc. This makes it very easy, for instance, to switch
from draft-style to final style when printing out a publication.
LyX/LaTex still does not (and never will, I think) understand a similar
concept. The best approximation I could find is to use a master file
with several include commands and then switch to different
configuration files. It works, but is not as easy and as simple. In my
case, moreover, it's rather error-prone. I am not a very organized
person and tend to forget which config file produces which outputs,
etc. In Framemaker, all it takes is a few clicks. As for multi-file
searches, there is nothing like it in LyX. You have to open the LyX
files in an editor that allows such multi-file operation (i.e. BBedit,
on the Mac), and then go back to LyX for the real editing.
2. Conditional text. In Framemaker you can tag a text as "conditional"
and associate a tag to it. This is similar to the recently introduced
"Branches" in LyX, except the interface is much cleaner in Framemaker.
When I was working on my dissertation, for instance (which I wrote in
Framemaker), I had tags for "Adviser's comment" My Comments" "Still to
Do", etc.. Then you can switch on and off the conditional text both
from view and from print. The former features, for me, is essential: I
do not like a cluttered screen when I am writing, I want to see the
text I am working on and nothing else (which is why I never used LaTeX
until LyX became usable---I can't focus on my writing if I see a
bazillion formatting commands). I made heavy use of conditionals and I
still miss them deeply in LyX. Conditional texts works for headings
too. This helped me greatly in the initial phases of writing (the first
couple of years...), when I had headings I never meant anyone else to
see 6 or 7 levels deep.
3. Cross-references are powerful and easier to manage. You have full
control on which part of the cross-referenced text will appear, etc. I
may not have fully understood how cross-references work in LyX/LaTex,
but it seems to me that the current facilities are rather primitives.
On the other hand, as I mentioned, the typographic quality of the
output is not as good as what you get in LaTex. And the biggest
drawback, for a scholar, is that the program's fate is uncertain. What
do you do when you have years of work accumulated in Framemaker files
and the program disappears? I faced this situation when Adobe
effectively killed it for the Mac and decided not to port it to MacOs
X. Now every time I need a file I wrote in FM I must go through the
painful process of translating it into LaTex, a time consuming effort
I'd rather avoid. And I need to run Classic to do it. As the Classic
environment does not work in the new Intel Macs, that means that when I
upgrade my machine I will have to keep (and maintain) legacy hardware
around just for Framemaker.
Hope it helps.
Cheers,
S
--
http://www.unmusic.co.uk - about me, music, geek sitcom etc.
http://www.unmusic.co.uk/amhs/ - alt.music.home-studio
__________________________________________________
Stefano Franchi
Department of Philosophy Ph: (64) 9 373-7599 x83940
University Of Auckland Fax: (64) 9 373-8768
Private Bag 92019 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Auckland
New Zealand
