Frame suitable as substitute for LaTeX?
Kiyan Azarbar
considering using it (and learning it)extensively, for the preparation
of papers and a thesis (largely academic work).
I have been using LaTeX but I'm fed up with having to hunt down packages
and learn new syntax. I'm also not adept enough to make my own style
templates in LaTex.... Basically, I'm tired of "coding" my papers.
I remember frame from a work term at a big high-tech company. It seemed
like it provided the same kind of things LaTeX does, but with a more
WYSIWIG-ish philosophy, and a more intuitive interface to things. I have
looked into it cursorily and found that some things about LaTeX I prefer
better, but in general FM is quite solid. The things I'm wondering are:
1) Is there a similar type of thing to BibTeX in frame? Can I make
bibliographical databases and then cite things by using a key from the
database, and also customize output style?
2) Is there anyway of customizing "text environments" so that I can
get, say, a gloss style (one line of text, followed by another line
underneath with words left-aligned with the words of the upper line)?
E.g.: (will only display with fixedwidth fonts):
This is a sample glossed sentence.
thi-WH be-3 X samp-LE glOssyfic sent-3PSG. (13)
3) Is there a way to "mark up" tables, so that I can write a perl program
to automatically generate frame tables?
4) Is there a way to get frame to anti-alias screen fonts, or at least
to get the screen fonts to look more like postscript fonts. It's a
notoriously bad characteristic of WYSIWIG wordprocessors and page layout
software that screen fonts don't represent what you see on paper. I realize
it's a technology thing w.r.t. OSes and display devices, but is there kind
of like a "View Printout" option that views each page as a rasterized graphic
with high-resolution?
5) If I use the linux FM beta, and print to a PS file, and use ps2pdf, can
I use any fonts arbitrarily? I.e. can I download or buy/purchase Type 1
or TTF fonts, and use them in Frame, and expect that they will appear in
the PDF without ugly bitmapping effects?
I have many more questions but these seeem the most pressing. If I can't
do many of them, I guess I'll stick with latex much as I hate to.
thanks,
a newbie.
--
Kiyan Azarbar
M.A. Program in Linguistics, University of Ottawa, Canada
ki...@kublai.com (PGPkey ID 0x9A9EC5EA)
Marc Battier
I generate PDF files from FM 5.5.6.
The hypertext commands (like gotopage or previouspage) work OK once in PDF, but
(here is the problem):
They are in Highlight mode Invert, when I *want* them as None (i.e. no
Highlight).
I have 640 pages with 4 hypertext navigation commands per page, so resetting
manually in Acrobat the commands is out of question.
Any idea on specifying within FM 5.5.6. how to set the hypertext commands so
that they will be set as Highlight None in Acrobat?
Thanks
Marc Battier
Ircam, Paris
b...@ircam.fr
Marc Battier
A. Chris Long Jr.
In a lot of ways, Frame is to LaTeX as the Mac is to Unix.
>>>>> "Kiyan" == Kiyan Azarbar <ki...@palantir.kublai.com> writes:
Kiyan> I have downloaded the 5.5.6 version of FM, for Linux (beta). I am
Kiyan> considering using it (and learning it)extensively, for the preparation
Kiyan> of papers and a thesis (largely academic work).
I have used Frame extensively and LaTeX some. I've written my last
two conference papers in Frame and I'm writing my dissertation in
Frame. I wrote a conference paper in Word a few years ago (because
many of my coworkers use it) and it was endless frustration.
Kiyan> I have been using LaTeX but I'm fed up with having to hunt
Kiyan> down packages and learn new syntax. I'm also not adept enough
Kiyan> to make my own style templates in LaTex.... Basically, I'm
Kiyan> tired of "coding" my papers.
Your last sentence is my big problem with LaTeX. There are many
things I like about it, but I don't like coding my documents, and I
really hate debugging them. Maybe if LaBlech had better error
messages or a debugger, it would be better.
Kiyan> I remember frame from a work term at a big high-tech
Kiyan> company. It seemed like it provided the same kind of things
Kiyan> LaTeX does, but with a more WYSIWIG-ish philosophy, and a more
Kiyan> intuitive interface to things. I have looked into it cursorily
Kiyan> and found that some things about LaTeX I prefer better, but in
Kiyan> general FM is quite solid. The things I'm wondering are:
In many ways, Frame is to LaTeX as the Mac is to Unix. It's easier to
figure out because you use direct manipulation for everything so you
see what you're doing as you do it. There is no edit-compile-preview
cycle. On the downside, you have to directly manipulate everything.
There are no macros and no programmability. (There is an API for
extending FM, but it's not really the same as being able to define
macros in your document.) I do miss macros, but cut and paste gets me
pretty far.
Kiyan> 1) Is there a similar type of thing to BibTeX in frame? Can I make
Kiyan> bibliographical databases and then cite things by using a key from the
Kiyan> database, and also customize output style?
Yes, in face people have made BibTeX work with FM. For unix, there's
bibframe, and for Windows there's CiteMaker. (I don't have URLs
handy, but CiteMaker is from the CS dept. at the University of Virginia.)
Kiyan> 2) Is there anyway of customizing "text environments" so that I can
Kiyan> get, say, a gloss style (one line of text, followed by another line
Kiyan> underneath with words left-aligned with the words of the upper line)?
Kiyan> E.g.: (will only display with fixedwidth fonts):
Kiyan> This is a sample glossed sentence.
Kiyan> thi-WH be-3 X samp-LE glOssyfic sent-3PSG. (13)
If I understand you, the answer is yes. All paragraphs in Frame have
a "style", which defines stuff like margins, tab stops, and default
font. So you could have a paragraph style that used a fixed-width
font and/or had suitable tab stops.
Kiyan> 3) Is there a way to "mark up" tables, so that I can write a perl program
Kiyan> to automatically generate frame tables?
You can save frame documents in a text format (MIF: Maker Interchange
Format) that other programs can munge. (bibframe works that way.)
Kiyan> 4) Is there a way to get frame to anti-alias screen fonts, or at least
Kiyan> to get the screen fonts to look more like postscript fonts. It's a
Kiyan> notoriously bad characteristic of WYSIWIG wordprocessors and page layout
Kiyan> software that screen fonts don't represent what you see on paper. I realize
Kiyan> it's a technology thing w.r.t. OSes and display devices, but is there kind
Kiyan> of like a "View Printout" option that views each page as a rasterized graphic
Kiyan> with high-resolution?
I don't think so. I have been pretty happy with the WYSIWYGness, but
I'm not all that picky.
Kiyan> 5) If I use the linux FM beta, and print to a PS file, and use ps2pdf, can
Kiyan> I use any fonts arbitrarily? I.e. can I download or buy/purchase Type 1
Kiyan> or TTF fonts, and use them in Frame, and expect that they will appear in
Kiyan> the PDF without ugly bitmapping effects?
Don't know.
Kiyan> I have many more questions but these seeem the most
Kiyan> pressing. If I can't do many of them, I guess I'll stick with
Kiyan> latex much as I hate to.
Here's some other opinions that may help to decide whether or not to
use FM.
Some things I don't like about frame:
- Can't edit anywhere, as you can with LaTeX.
- Can't edit in emacs, as you can with LaTeX (altho the Unix version
has many emacs keybindings).
- Paragraph styles are not hierarchical.
- No support for collaboration (which Word has).
Some other things I like about Frame:
- Easy to lay out figures/images. I can put them where I want and
they are laid out sanely (unlike Word).
- Easy to create figures and annotate images. Actually, I like
Frame's figure editor better than just about anything. It works a
lot like MacDraw, which is exactly what I want for the kinds of
technical diagrams I draw. (I hate idraw and xfig is only slightly
better.)
- Handles big documents well, by splitting them into separate files
with a master "book" file. (But then LaTeX handles big things well,
too).
- Easy to number figures and tables separately, if desired.
- Automatically generated Table of Contents.
Well, hope that helps.
- Chris
Chris Long <*> all...@cs.berkeley.edu <*> http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~allanl
PGP key info: 1024/46BE8F69 4C ED AE 00 02 91 ED 52 02 EB BB DA 1F 69 57 ED
"Hey ho ho ha guard turn parry dodge spin ha thrust [sproing]!"
- Robin Hood (aka Daffy Duck)
Louis Demers
all...@linus.cs.Berkeley.EDU (A. Chris Long Jr.) wrote:
...
> Kiyan> 3) Is there a way to "mark up" tables, so that I can write a perl program
> Kiyan> to automatically generate frame tables?
>
> You can save frame documents in a text format (MIF: Maker Interchange
> Format) that other programs can munge. (bibframe works that way.)
I thought he meant the other way, ie from "perl to Frame". I frequently write
C programs to generate MIF (Maker Interchange format) files (especially for
special graphics) and import them into Frame very efficiently and precisely.
You could also generate MIF to specify tables, equations, anything really since
everything in Frame can be represented by MIF code.
>
> Kiyan> 4) Is there a way to get frame to anti-alias screen fonts, or at least
> Kiyan> to get the screen fonts to look more like postscript fonts. It's a
> Kiyan> notoriously bad characteristic of WYSIWIG wordprocessors and page layout
> Kiyan> software that screen fonts don't represent what you see on paper. I realize
> Kiyan> it's a technology thing w.r.t. OSes and display devices, but is there kind
> Kiyan> of like a "View Printout" option that views each page as a rasterized graphic
> Kiyan> with high-resolution?
Adobe Type Manager (not Frame) will generate antialiased fonts.
No there is no Print Preview. But I usually find that the WYSIWIG view is
very clsoed tothe paper.
Torsten
>
> I remember frame from a work term at a big high-tech company. It seemed
> like it provided the same kind of things LaTeX does, but with a more
> WYSIWIG-ish philosophy, and a more intuitive interface to things. I have
> looked into it cursorily and found that some things about LaTeX I prefer
> better, but in general FM is quite solid. The things I'm wondering are:
maybe another free program called LYX could be an alternative to you:
www.lyx.org ?
Torsten