2011/9/21 Suresh Avvarulakshmi, Integra-PDY, IN <suresh.avvarulaks...@integra.co.in>: > Hi All, > > > > Are they any comparisons documents, which shows the difference between > XeLaTeX and LaTeX typesettings? > I do not know but it can be said quite simply. In any case, it is Lamport's LaTeX with extensions. The macrolanguage is the same. The differences stem from the differences in extensions:
1. Output driver, XeLaTeX cannot create dvi, thus dvips and similar programs cannot be used. It is important to know when including graphics. 2. XeLaTeX cannot use microtypographical extensions but it may change in the future. Currently pdflatex or lualatex is needed. 3. Classical LaTeX cannot work in UTF-8, only 8bit encodings are supported. Although the inputenc package offers input in Unicode by means of active characters, the character is composed from a series of bytes during macro expansion. This may break certain macros. XeLaTeX work in UTF-8 where a character is a character. 4. Classical LaTeX has no direct support for non-latin scripts. Preprocessors are usually needed. I am aware of a preprocessor for Velthuis encoding for Davanagari, Gurmukhi and Bengali. I am not aware of any support for Dravidian scripts. On the contrary, XeLaTeX works with these scripts directly. 5. Classical LaTeX can only work with TeX fonts. If you buy a font, you have to create TFM and FD, you have to select an encoding known by LateX. If it is an OpenType font, you have to convert it to (possibly a searies of) type1 fonts, OpenType features will be unavailable. With XeLaTeX or lualatex you just install the font in your OS and it can be used as such, Opentype features can be utiized. 6. Since non-TeX fonts can be used and vendors do not care on portability, it no longer holds that the same source document will be typeset exactly the same way anywhere in the world or at any time. It can be a problem if you have to share and store documents (unless you are sure that exactly the same version of fonts is used) but you need not care if you just want to produce PDF once and it will never change in the future. (This is the philosophy of the Prague Bulletin of Mathematical Linguistics, per definition the right PDF is that typeset by the editors, they after reviews and proofs create a PDF, have it printed, put it to the web and this is the final version that will never change). Most packages deal with macros, not with the particular engine/output driver. You can use them no matter whether you use pdflatex, lualatex, classical LaTeX with dvips or XeLaTeX. Other packages are able to detect the engine/driver and adapt itself. Thus the only difference from the user's point of view is the font/script issue. Hope this helps. > > > Thanks, > > Suresh > > This email and any accompanying attachments is for the sole use of the > intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged > information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, distribution, or > copying is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of > this communication or received the email by mistake, please notify the > sender and destroy all copies. Integra Software Services Pvt Ltd. reserves > the right, subject to applicable local law, to monitor and review the > content of any electronic message or information sent to or from its company > allotted employee email address/ID without informing the sender or recipient > of the message. > > > -------------------------------------------------- > Subscriptions, Archive, and List information, etc.: > http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/xetex > > -- Zdeněk Wagner http://hroch486.icpf.cas.cz/wagner/ http://icebearsoft.euweb.cz -------------------------------------------------- Subscriptions, Archive, and List information, etc.: http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/xetex
