Hi,
On Sat, Sep 6, 2025 at 7:39 PM Jim <zlists+cont...@jdvb.ca> wrote:
>
> On Sat, Sep 6, 2025 at 15:38 (+0200), Henning Hraban Ramm wrote:
>
> > Ahoi,
>
> Ahoi (Ahoy?)? Are you getting ready for International Talk Like A Pirate
> Day? :-)
>
> > I’m working on the Math chapter of my ConTeXt book. As you know, this is not
> > my area of expertise, that’s why I try to keep it short and mostly refer to
> > the math manual.
>
> > What subjects do you think I should include for beginners or readers
> > switching from PlainTeX/LaTeX?
> > Probably \alignhere and \breakhere? What else is new & different?
>
> I think you should mention that math isn't going to look the same.
>
> For example, attached are two PDFs
> -> plain tex: $3\over 4$
> -> context: \im{\frac{3}{4}}
Try
\startTEXpage[offset=1TS]
\dm {\frac {3}{4}}
\setupmathfractions
[strut=no]
\dm {\frac {3}{4}}
\stopTEXpage
>
> As can be seen, in ConTeXt there is a much bigger space between the '3' and
> the horizontal line. (I *really* don't want to step on toes or sound like
> a complete ingrate, especially in light of the large amount of effort
> (AIUI) which has gone into math typesetting, but I strongly prefer the
> plain TeX version.)
>
> To help plain TeX (and maybe LaTeX) refugees understand that things which
> look different may not be due to them doing something wrong, pointing out
> some examples where there are some typesetting differences (I assume by
> design) may make the adoption of ConTeXt more expeditious for some people.
I might have misunderstood the purpose of the book. I thought it was a
"ConTeXt book", where one explains and discusses ConTeXt. If it is
more of a "How to move from X to ConTeXt" book, then one could
probably add a few things:
* Use \im inline math.
* Use \startformula \stopformula for all displayed math. Show a few
examples with \alignhere, \breakhere and \numberhere. (The usual ones
are done in the displayed math chapter.)
* Explain that manual spaces inserted by \, and \! and so on are not
meant to be needed. For example, one often sees \,dx for
differentials, in ConTeXt, use \dd x.
* (Almost) everything is possible to set up. The keywords are
explained in the math manual. (The example above with fractions is one
example)
Also, not everything is perfect, so if there is a problem somewhere,
please tell. If the math manual is difficult to read, please point to
specific places where it is difficult. The idea is that the default
setup should be usable for most people, but it is possible to setup
things if needed. I'm happy to clarify if I can.
/Mikael
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