TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
> I would say LaTeX source files is one of the least 'fossil record of
information'.
All right, gloves off ...
Put at its simplest, TeX is a set of typesetting instructions. It is
strictly procedural and carries virtually no semantic information (the
basic elements of TeX are vertical and horizontal 'boxes').
LaTeX is a simplified markup interface to TeX designed to let "the
user concentrate on the structure of the text" rather than on
typesetting.
The key to LaTeX is a stylesheet that describes the translation between
something the TeX engine understands and something that
is more user-friendly: /section{title) instead of /vbox .....
Put LaTeX (or TeX) at the back end of an SGML system by all means and
use DSSSL or a transform language (even XSLT could do it) to
create LaTeX and then DVI output. However, to write in native LaTeX
would -- I contend -- be almost as useful as writing native
PostScript code (been there, done that, and I can assure you it's not
funny).
Back in 1992 the argument about SGML/LaTeX was already old. As Jacques
Andre said at the time:
"TeX is for putting ink on paper, and SGML is not. SGML is for
defining markup languages and for validating the
structure of electronic information against a formal grammar; TeX
is not. LaTeX (apparently more or less a rip-off
of Scribe, to the extent I have investigated it) is a little
different story: it helps put ink on paper using macros that
can be designed as descriptive markup notations. One could
re-implement something like SGML in LaTeX, but I can't
think of any sane reason to do so."
Yes, you could do your technical pubs in LaTeX. You can also hammer a
nail with a screwdriver ... but given the choice
between descriptive markup in LaTeX and semantic markup in SGML, I know
which one I would chose.
Simon.
Quintiq Application Software BV
's Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT - EDIT AND REVIEW, REDEFINED
Accelerate the document lifecycle with full online discussions and unique feedback-management capabilities. Unlimited, efficient reviews for Word
and FrameMaker authors. Live, online demo: http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
