ConTeXt
| ConTeXt | |
|---|---|
| The Unofficial ConTeXt logo (contextgarden.net logo) | |
| Original authors | Mainly Hans Hagen and Pragma ADE |
| Developers | Mainly Hans Hagen, Taco Hoekwater,[1] Aditya Mahajan, Mojca Miklavec, Wolfgang Schuster |
| Stable release | |
| Repository |
|
| Engine | |
| Operating system | Multiplatform (TeX) |
| Type | Document processor, document markup language |
| License | Program code under GPLv2 and Documentation under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0[5] |
| Website | contextgarden |
ConTeXt, stylised as ConTeXt, is a general-purpose document processor. Like LaTeX, it is derived from the TeX typesetting system. ConTeXt is especially suited for structured documents, automated document production, very fine typography, and multilingual typesetting. It is based in part on TeX, and uses a document markup language for manuscript preparation. The typographical and automated capabilities of ConTeXt are extensive, including interfaces for handling microtypography, multiple footnotes and footnote classes, and manipulating OpenType fonts and features. Moreover, ConTeXt offers extensive support for colors, backgrounds, hyperlinks, presentations, figure-text integration, and conditional compilation. It gives the user extensive control over formatting, while making it easy to create new layouts and styles without learning the low-level TeX macro language.
While comparisons can be made between ConTeXt and LaTeX, the primary objectives of the two systems are distinct. From the outset, ConTeXt has been a typography and typesetting system designed to give users straightforward and consistent access to advanced typographical control, which is crucial for general-purpose typesetting. LaTeX's original vision, on the other hand, was to insulate the user from typographical decisions—an approach particularly useful for tasks such as submitting articles to a scientific journal. Although LaTeX has evolved from this original vision, ConTeXt's unified design prevents the package clashes which are often experienced with LaTeX.[6][7]
ConTeXt provides a multilingual user interface with support for markup in English, Dutch, German, French, and Italian, and support for output in many scripts including western European, eastern European, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. It also allows the user to use different TeX engines, like LuaTeX (MkIV) and LuaMetaTeX (LMTX). Older versions (MkII) worked with pdfTeX or XeTeX.[7]
As its native drawing engine, ConTeXt integrates a superset of MetaPost called MetaFun,[7] which allows users to draw page backgrounds and ornaments with MetaPost. MetaFun can also be used directly with MetaPost. ConTeXt also supports the use of other external drawing engines, like PGF/TikZ[8] and PSTricks.[9]
ConTeXt also provides a macro package for typesetting chemical structure diagrams with TeX, called PPCHTeX,[10] as well as many other modules.[9][11][12] This package can also be used with plain TeX and LaTeX.
Originally titled pragmatex, ConTeXt was given its name around 1996[13] by Hans Hagen from PRAGMA Advanced Document Engineering (Pragma ADE), a Netherlands-based company.
License
[edit | edit source]ConTeXt is free software; the program code (i.e. anything not under the /doc subtree) is distributed under the GNU GPL, and the documentation is provided under Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike license.[14]
The ConTeXt official manual(2001) and ConTeXt official mini tutorial (1999) are documents copyrighted by Pragma, but there is a repository for the future manual[15] released under the GNU Free Documentation License.[16][17] As of April 2009, there is an up-to-date version of the fonts and typography chapters.[18]
Versions
[edit | edit source]The current version of ConTeXt is LMTX, introduced in April 2019 as the successor to Mark IV (MkIV).[19] Previous versions—Mark II (MkII) and Mark I—are no longer maintained.
According to the developers, the principal difference between LMTX and its predecessors is that the newest version "uses a compilation and scripting engine that is specifically developed with ConTeXt in mind: LuaMetaTeX ... [which] has been optimised heavily for ConTeXt use." Previously, MkIV used LuaTeX and MkII used pdfTeX.
History
[edit | edit source]ConTeXt was created by Hans Hagen[20] and Ton Otten of Pragma ADE in the Netherlands,[21] around 1991,[22][23] due to the need for educational typesetting material.
Around 1996, Hans Hagen coined the name ConTeXt, meaning "text with tex" (con-tex-t; "con" is a Latin preposition meaning "together with").[20] Before 1996, ConTeXt was used only within Pragma ADE, but in 1996 it began to be adopted by a wider audience.
In July 2004, the contextgarden.net wiki page was created.[22][24]
ConTeXt low-level code was originally written in Dutch. Around 2005, the ConTeXt developers began translating this to English, resulting in the version known as MKII, which is now stable and frozen.[citation needed]
In August 2007, Hans Hagen presented the MKIV version;[23][25] the first public beta was released later that year.[26]
During the ConTeXt User Meeting 2008, Mojca Miklavec presented[27] ConTeXt Minimals, a distribution of ConTeXt containing the latest binaries and intended to have a small memory footprint, thus demanding less bandwidth for updates.[28] In August 2008, this distribution was registered as a project on the Canonical Launchpad website.[29]
In June 2008, Patrick Gundlach wrote the first post[30] in ConTeXt blog.
In July 2009, ConTeXt started a git repository.[31]
In November 2010, the ConTeXt Group was created.[32]
In April 2019, LMTX (ConTeXt LuaMetaTeX) was announced.[33]
Example of code
[edit | edit source]Making ConTeXt documents is simple: make a plain text file, and compile it with the context script.[34] The result of this process is a PDF file (ConTeXt also can generate a DVI file). An example is shown below.
ConTeXt documents come with the file extension .tex, or an extension demarking the version required: .mkii, .mkiv, or .mkxl for regular TeX, .mkvi or .mklx for a dialect that supports named macro parameters in addition to TeX’s numeric ones.[35]
% This line is a comment because % precedes it.
% It specifies the format of head named 'title'
% Specifically the style of the font: sans serif
% + bold + big font.
\setuphead[title][style={\ss\bfd},
before={\begingroup},
after={John Doe, the author\smallskip%
\currentdate\bigskip\endgroup}]
\starttext
\title{\CONTEXT}
\section{Text}
\CONTEXT\ is a document preparation system for the
\TEX\ typesetting program. It offers programmable
desktop publishing features and extensive
facilities for automating most aspects of
typesetting and desktop publishing, including
numbering and cross-referencing (for example to
equation \in[eqn:famous-emc]), tables and figures,
page layout, bibliographies, and much more.
It was originally written around 1990 by Hans
Hagen. It could be an alternative or complement
to \LATEX.
\section{Maths}
With \CONTEXT\ we could write maths. Equations
can be automatically numbered.
\placeformula[eqn:famous-emc]
\startformula
E = mc^2
\stopformula
with
\placeformula[eqn:def-m]
\startformula
m = \frac{m_0}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}}
\stopformula
\stoptext
|
See also
[edit | edit source]Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 392: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Dave Walden interview with Taco Hoekwater. TeX User Group 2006.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Read Me (license of ConTeXt code and documentation)
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c "What is ConTeXt" page at contextgarden
- ^ PGF/TikZ official manual. Version 2.0 Archived January 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Section 9.1.3 "Using the ConTeXt Format". p. 88
- ^ a b List of ConTeXt modules at contextgarden
- ^ PPCHTeX Module for ConTeXt reference page at contextgarden
- ^ List of ConTeXt modules (static page)
- ^ List of ConTeXt modules in web server for downloading
- ^ Hans Hagen Interview, 2006
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Repository of new reference manual Archived February 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ License notice of new official manual Archived February 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Part of thread about context manual where Taco Hoekwater recognises that new manual is licensed under the GFDL and he should put license note on the current directory of manual
- ^ Up-to-date chapters of manual: Fonts and Typography. April 2009.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Dave Walden interview Hans Hagen. TeX User Group 2006.
- ^ "Ask Nelly ..." PracTeX Journal. TeX User Group. 2005. Includes an example of ConTeXt document with source code.
- ^ a b Taco Hoekwater "A short History of $2^4$ parts". ConTeXt User Meeting 2007 (march 24)
- ^ a b Programme of the ConTeXt User Meeting 2007
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Hans Hagen The Road to MKIV. ConTeXt User Meeting 2007.
- ^ MKIV at contextgarden
- ^ ConTeXt User Meeting 2008 web page
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ ConTeXt at Launchpad.net
- ^ First ConTeXt blog post
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Official announcement of ConTeXt Group registration
- ^ Announcement of lmtx
- ^ "TeXEXEC explained" manual. Pragma ADE.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
