Introduction. concerns : P126/2000/results date : May 29, 2000 mark : P126/HH

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1 concerns : P126/2000/results date : May 29, 2000 mark : P126/HH Introduction Here I reflect on the documents made in the course on electronic document design I gave in March 2000 at the faculty of informatics at Masaryk university in BRNO. During the laboratory session I was quite impressed by the fact that most attendants were able to produce a first version of a document within a few hours of ConTEXt-ing. Here I reflect on the (more or less finished) products. Some remarks can be applied to all documents, but end up at a particular place, where it first catched my attention. Most comment is meant in a positive sense, in the hope that the reader will benefit from it in future attempts. Many documents have their own face, which is good, since that is what I have in mind with ConTEXt. I will start with some more general remarks. in ConTEXt, most options can be set up with so called setup commands. In this situation, the spaces before a key are ignored, but spaces after an assignment are honoured, so \setup[key=value,anotherkey=anothervalue ] does not have the desired effect, while the next one does: \setup[key=value, anotherkey=anothervalue] When setting up a style or coding a document, always try to use a source that is as clean as possible. Don t be afraid to be spacy, forget about those % s and keep in mind that if something looks ugly as source, there often is a better way of coding the input. Although TEX is rather tolerant, and ConTEXt is set up to be tolerant as well, garbage--in in many cases seldom leads to garbage--out. But, one can never be sure. One of the styles used an at that moment non existing key in \setuplayout: textwidth=fit instead of width. In the latest version, there is indeed such a key, used for very special purposes, but it does not accept fit. This gave me the uncomfortable feeling that even if successive versions of ConTEXt are upward compatible, one can run into surprises. In case of doubt: consult the ConTEXt mailing list, since there are experiences users around there. Some documents showed an inconsistency in spacing (a less than 1 point displacement) due to some interference in the core of ConTEXt. I ll try to do my homework! In order to prevent conflicts with built in commands, users should use (or at least start) their own commands with a capital.

2 2 David Šafránek: VRML This document is well layed out. Typeface and color are used consistently and with purpose. The navigation is straightforward. There is a menu on the right side of the screen which provides access to the structural elements, of which the index is the most prominent. This makes sense since the document is organized alphabetically. By clicking on the text background, one goes to the introduction page. Using this document in practice will show if an alternative destination is more useful (like going to the next page). From the typographic point of view, one can consider to slightly enlarge the four frames around the arrow buttons, in order to center the symbols in their frame, for instance by setting their width to fit. Using a similar frame for the footer as for the buttons could improve the consistency, but this is a matter of taste. In the source, there are quite some font and color commands. It makes sense to isolate these local environments by using a specific structural command, like \definestartstop[oeps][style=bold,color=red] some \oeps{very special} test Although using \tt is correct, one should keep in mind that this invokes a chain of related font switches. If one knows for sure that a simple mono spaced font is needed, \tttf (here tf means typeface, the normal face) is much faster. Just give it a try. Although typesetting the syntax tables is already generalized, one can go a step further and define something SyntaxLine. The less TEX commands are used, the better. A nice example of an own command in this document is \sbl, which is defined as \blank[small]. Just as easy would have been to use \blank with the setting: \setupblank[small] As said, this document looks pretty good. A next stage in designing a document like this, apart from generalizing the low level coding, is in improving small details, for instance like raising the copyright symbol. But that kind of fine tuning is definitely beyond this course. Martin Suchánek: Studijní a zkušební řád bakalářského a magisterského studia This document has a clear face, due to the prominent green buttons on a yellow background. Most interaction is concentrated in the top and right area. There are a few hyperlinks in the text, which are colored red. Personally I think a green color similar to the button frame color would suit better. A title page is lacking and the table of content is positioned at the end of the document. This table is the weak spot of this document, since, by disabling some numbers, it is less clear what the structure is.

3 3 It is my impression that much attention went into an attractive and distinctive interface, which is okay for the sake of this course. For practical use, this document would benefit much from adding the title page, improving the table of columns, and checking the spacing. Depending on the amount of content, one could consider to slightly enlarge the text area. But, finding the right dimensions without violating the prominent look and feel of such a document is always a process of much trial and error. Since the document source is imported from an existing document coded in LATEX, some commands in the source were mapped onto ConTEXt equivalents. In such situations it is not unfamiliar to see redundant % s appear. In many cases ConTEXt is far more tolerant to formatting the source. An example is that passing an argument to title without using braces is indeed permitted, but not advertised and not even officially documented. As long as used consistently, it is ok, but in this case, a setting is passed too, and that one probably got lost without notice. Something that should never be part of a document source, is hard coded spacing, like \vskip 2em. The ConTEXt sectioning commands can be set up to deal with spacing and consistent spacing cannot be guaranteed when spacing commands are present in the text. The less commands, the better. Petr Klika: Magisterský studijní program informatiky This is one of the documents providing the faculty rules. The layout has a prominent left orange bar, which resembles the web--pages of the faculty. The same color is used in the framed header line. Unfortunately the (default) green color used for hyperlinks does not match this color; since in the menu red is used as the contrast color, this color is also a good candidate for the main hyperlink color and the color in the index. When clicking on a menu item, we see that the button is not centered in the left edge area. This is due to the fact that a background offset is used. When using a background offset, one should often enlarge the backspace too, in this case by 5 points. A table of content is not included, which makes sense since the menu provides fast access. However, a title page would have been nice. Since the source is derived from a LATEX one, some environments are mapped onto ConTEXt equivalents. This mapping is done well, since spacing is not affected in a negative way. Apart from adding a title page, one can consider to add a menu entry in the top of the left edge (header area), since it would give a more consistent look and feel to the menu. Jan Holeček: Fyzikálný praktikum This document is actually a sort of summary and reference. Making a content like this into an attractive interactive document is not easy. For convenient use, as explained by the author in his comment,

4 4 a lot of navigational tools are needed. At the same time, one has to deal with the abundant white space that naturally comes with tables, formulas and and itemized lists. The most logical candidates for structure are tables of contents (on many levels), registers and menus, all of which show up in this document. The author remarks that it was not easy to find a way through the options available in ConTEXt, especially when automatic mechanisms come into action. His pending idea to use more than one register makes much sense. Given the purpose of the document, the right menu area is comfortably large. Apart from menu entries, there are two nice big buttons for going from page to page, as well as a status bar at the top. The tables of contents are colored in a green that matches the blue of the menu area. These tables are generated with a command that combines a chapter command and a list placement command surrounded by \vfill s. In ConTEXt, it is always best to let the sectioning commands take care of going to a new page: [page=yes]. Using fill s in this way can be very effective, but at the same time, when skipping from table to table, can be confusing. This is typically an area for fine tuning. The design of this document will benefit from more content, which given the structuring is no problem. Given the remarks of the author that he has some ideas on how to go on, I m sure that this document will evolve in a positive way. In this process it is important to realize that thinking in terms of LATEX commands (i.e. using \mbox{}\blank can be dangerous). Don t hesitate to consult the ConTEXt mailing list! Miroslav Umlauf: Evropska Unie The first thing that strikes me when seeing this document are the two independent menu areas. Leaving the right bottom corner empty, given the blue background of the menu areas, gives this document a distinctive look. In general the use of color is pretty consistent. The right bottom area is a nice place for a surprise button. Two of the right menu buttons don t work, which suggests that some data is still missing. The four small navigation buttons should be a bit wider to accommodate their centered content. The list of institutions, if my interpretation of czech is right, is more than a simple table of contents and serves as a summary, which is a good idea. A more consistent hanging indentation of the summaries can be achieved by using list environments. Since no inter paragraph white space is used, less white space can be used around the titles, but this is a matter of taste. One can also consider to let the table of content at the end of the document align with the left margin. In general, this is a nice looking document and a few hours of fine tuning can make it even nicer. How about not indenting the text fragments with the grey background; they stand out in themselves. Coloring the bullets blue is also an option. As in other documents, there are some (probably LATEX) constructs used, like \mbox{}, which purpose is not clear to me. Since it indicates a demand for a feature, I will look into it.

5 5 Zuzana Popelková: The Safran Book This document presents the courses of the faculty of informatics. Due to the character of the document it has a database look. Since many descriptions span multiple screens, the title is repeated in the footer. At the right part of the screen there is a menu with at the top the faculty logo. The menu items are surrounded by a fancy shape. Since the shape suggests the size of a button, in such a situation it makes sense to set the width of the button to the width of the right edge. Although fine tuning is beyond the scope of this course, I ll mention a few points. In a document like this, it makes sense to set the vertical spacing to a fixed value. This prevents small jumps in the alignment of the start of the paragraphs when quickly browsing pages. As with other documents that use offsets in the background, one should adapt the used areas as well. If this is not done, and unfortunately this involves some manual calculations, as in this document, the logo is not centered. In a similar way, the offset makes the background move into the text area, which results (optically) in text running in the footer. A way out is to increase the distance between the footer and/or bottom and the text. The choice for symbols (characters) instead of page numbers for index entries is a right one. An alternative is to use a linked index, since it permits the reader to quickly follow all references to a registers entry. This feature was not introduced at the course and therefore unknown. There are some (in terms of TEX funny) spaces showing up in unwanted places, like the title of the index. This is partly due to the way commands are used (\title without {}) or the mapping from the LATEX source to the ConTEXt style. This clearly demonstrates the benefits of neutral coding. The documents starts with an explanation of how to read the document and symbols used. A title page is a logical addition. The document as presented is a good starting point for fine tuning. Martin Hanzálek: Dolomity & Alpy 1997 This documents is a report on hiking the mountains. The navigation is simple and functional. The colors used match the subject: green valleys and blue skies, which makes this a nice looking document. The document source (the input) is pretty well structured. The document has a title page and a table of contents. The nature of the document permits using a big picture on the title page, but this is a matter of taste. The names of the authors are missing. Disabling the numbering of sections and subsections is the right choice. In such a case one should also make sure that the tables of content don t take up space for the numbers. The trick used in the source to prevent numbers showing up can be avoided by using one of the list alternatives e and upwards. This document has pictures included and therefore demonstrates that in situations where the amount of space is limited, figures have a big chance of ending up on an empty page. One way out is to let the text flow around a figure.

6 6 If this document is part of a range (or maybe a style) one may consider replacing the footer line by a time line, but this involves quite some experimentation in order to make it attractive. The current approach is okay. Setting up a title page can be done more convenient than done here by using: \startstandardmakeup \setupalign[middle] \vfill \color[tmavemodrabarva] {\ss\bfd Dolomity \& Alpy 1997} \vfill \color[svetlemodrabarva]{\ss\bfc ervenec 1997} \vfill\vfill\vfill \stopstandardmakeup As soon as one gets the impression that something looks complicated, one can be sure that there is (or should!) be a cleaner way. For instance, this command (by default) creates a separate page and disables headers and footers. Martin Povolný: Projekt Laboratoře Although not every document presented on the screen needs to be designed as such, it makes sense, even in such a minimalistic design, to provide some quick ways to go to the places of interest. This document uses most of the screen for presenting text. There are a few hyperlinks in the header that brings the reader to the table of contents and the index. There is no title page. Although in an interactive document the location of a table of content is less important, in a minimal design, it makes sense to place it where the reader expects it: at the beginning. One can save some space by packing itemized lists. Also, in situations like this it makes sense to decrease the spacing around section headers. This document has a few URL s. Although it was not explicitly mentioned in the course, such an URL can best be typeset using the URL definition (\useurl) and recall mechanism (\url), since it takes care of breaking them across lines. In the source, the author defines accent commands. In ConTEXt, one can use \quote and \quotation, which both adapt themselves to the current main language. Like in the other documents, the indentation in the table of contents that results from the suppressed number, can be avoided by choosing another alternative representation.

Styles, Style Sheets, the Box Model and Liquid Layout

Styles, Style Sheets, the Box Model and Liquid Layout This session will guide you through examples of how styles and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) may be used in your Web pages to simplify maintenance of