%%% ====================================================================== %%% @LaTeX-file{ %%% filename = "vol-task.tex", %%% version = "6.2a", %%% date = "30 April 1993", %%% time = "13:42:19.55 CDT", %%% list-manager = "George D. Greenwade", %%% address = "Department of Economics and Business Analysis %%% College of Business Administration %%% P. O. Box 2118 %%% Sam Houston State University %%% Huntsville, Texas, USA 77341-2118", %%% email = "bed_gdg@SHSU.edu (Internet) %%% BED_GDG@SHSU (BITNET) %%% SHSU::BED_GDG (THENET)", %%% telephone = "(409) 294-1266", %%% FAX = "(409) 294-3712", %%% supported = "yes", %%% archived = "*Niord.SHSU.edu:[FILESERV.VOL-TASK], %%% pip.SHSU.edu:/vol-task.tex", %%% keywords = "LaTeX3, LaTeX, volunteer task list", %%% codetable = "ISO/ASCII", %%% checksum = "17979 993 4639 38497", %%% docstring = "This is general volunteer task list in the %%% development of LaTeX3. There are many tasks %%% needing to be done in support of the LaTeX3 %%% project which can be worked on concurrently with %%% the development of the LaTeX3 kernel. %%% Furthermore, some tasks require special expertise %%% not found among the core programming team. %%% Initial research, analysis, and work on these %%% tasks by volunteers can greatly speed up the %%% process of integrating a number of desirable %%% features into LaTeX3. %%% %%% If you are interested in working on a particular %%% task, the first step is to contact the volunteer %%% list manager, noted above,for details. He will %%% either immediately designate you as the `task %%% coordinator' for that task, and assist you in %%% getting answers to any initial questions you may %%% have, or if someone else is already serving as the %%% task coordinator for that task, you will be put in %%% touch with that person, who will discuss with you %%% the current status of the work and ways in which %%% you might contribute. %%% %%% The checksum field above contains a CRC-16 %%% checksum as the first value, followed by the %%% equivalent of the standard UNIX wc (word %%% count) utility output of lines, words, and %%% characters. This is produced by Robert %%% Solovay's checksum utility." %%% } %%% ====================================================================== % This document can be run with ordinary LaTeX 2.09. \documentstyle[twocolumn]{article} %%%+%+%+%+% The innovative code delimited by ``%%%+%+%+%+%'' was provided by %%%+%+%+%+% David Carlisle. It's function is to use the information from the %%%+%+%+%+% file header directly in the processing of the document. \makeatletter {\obeylines% \long\gdef\FHfield#1 #2 = "#3"#4,{% \global\@namedef{FH#2}{#3}% \def\temp{#2}\ifx\temp\chksum\else\expandafter\FHfield\fi}% \gdef\FHuse#1{\gdef^^M{\\}\csname FH#1\endcsname}}% \def\chksum{checksum} \@namedef{LaTeX-file}{\catcode`\@=12 \FHparse} \long\def\FHparse#1{\FHfield#1\endinput} \begingroup \catcode`\%=9 \catcode`\-=11 \catcode`\@=0 \setbox0=\hbox{\obeylines\input\jobname.tex } \endgroup %%%+%+%+%+% Thanks, David!! \title{Volunteer work for the \protect\LaTeX3 project\thanks{Keywords: \protect\FHuse{keywords}}\\} %% extract keywords from header \author{\protect\LaTeX3 project \protect\\[5pt] Frank Mittelbach\protect\\ Chris Rowley\protect\\ Michael Downes} \date{\FHuse{date}\\ %% extract date from header Version: \FHuse{version}} %% extract version from header %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Adjustments for printing two columns with more text per page. \oddsidemargin -0.65in \evensidemargin -0.65in \topmargin -0.75in % Select paper size. \def\firstletter#1#2\end{#1} \typein[\papersize]{Intended paper size?^^J% Choices: US letter size or A4; enter u or a, please:}% \edef\setpapersize{\lowercase{\edef\noexpand\papersize{% \noexpand\firstletter\papersize u\noexpand\end}}} \setpapersize \if a\papersize\relax \typeout{% OK, adjusting textwidth and textheight for A4 paper size} % A4 paper size, 21cm x 29.7cm \textwidth 19cm \textheight 26cm \else \typeout{% Adjusting textwidth and textheight for US letter paper size} % US letter-size paper, 8.5 x 11 in: \textwidth 7.7in \textheight 9.7in \fi % \tolerance 5000 \pretolerance 1000 \ifx\undefined \emergencystretch\else \emergencystretch 2pc \fi \hfuzz=\columnsep % Reduce type sizes \makeatletter \let\Huge\huge \let\huge\LARGE \let\LARGE\Large \let\Large\large \let\large\@normalsize \let\@normalsize\small \let\small\footnotesize \let\footnotesize\scriptsize \makeatother %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% \newcommand{\vollistmanager}{George Greenwade} \begingroup \catcode`\%=12 \catcode`\_=12 \catcode`\@=12 \gdef\vollistmgraddress{\relax Internet: bed_gdg@SHSU.edu\\ Bitnet: BED_GDG@SHSU\\ THEnet: SHSU::BED_GDG\\ Voice: (409) 294-1266\\ FAX: (409) 294-3612\relax } \endgroup % Listing of the volunteer(s) for a given task can be done using % the \coordinator, \email, and \volunteer commands: % % \coordinator{DATE}{NAME}\email{name@xyz.abc.volunteer} % \othervolunteers % \volunteer{NAME}\email{name@xyz.abc.de} % \volunteer{NAME}\email{name@xyz.abc.de} % . . . % % Percent sign can be used inside the argument of \email without a % preceding backslash, provided that \email is not itself used % inside the argument of some other command. \newcommand{\coordinator}[1]{\par\smallskip \noindent{\it Coordinator\/} [#1]:\volunteer} \newcommand{\othervolunteers}{\par\noindent{\it Other volunteers:}} \newcommand{\volunteer}[1]{\par#1\quad \ignorespaces} \newcommand{\email}{\begingroup \catcode`\%=12 \xemail} % Auxiliary function for \email. It applies \meaning to the % argument to make all the characters category 12. \newcommand{\xemail}[1]{\def\temp{#1}\tt \expandafter\xmeaning\meaning\temp\xmeaning\endgroup} % Auxiliary function for \xemail. \newcommand cannot be used here. \def\xmeaning#1->#2\xmeaning{#2} \newcommand{\ftpaddress}[1]{{\tt#1}} \newcommand{\dirname}[1]{{\tt#1}} \newcommand{\timeestimate}[1]{\par \smallskip\noindent {\it Estimated time required:} #1.\par} \newenvironment{tasklist}[1]{\section{#1}}{} \newcommand{\task}{\subsection} \newcommand{\AmSTeX}{AMS-\TeX\@} \newcommand{\BibTeX}{{\sc Bib}\TeX\@} \newcommand{\eg}{e.g., \ignorespaces} % \cs{xxx} is a robust command to print a control sequence name. \chardef\bslash=`\\ \newcommand{\cs}[1]{{\tt\bslash#1}} \edef\doublehat{{\noexpand\tt\string^\string^}} \begin{document} \maketitle \section{Introduction} This is a call for volunteers to help in the development of \LaTeX3. There are many tasks needing to be done in support of the \LaTeX3 project which can be worked on concurrently with the development of the \LaTeX3 kernel. Furthermore, some tasks require special expertise not found among the core programming team. Initial research, analysis, and work on these tasks by volunteers can greatly speed up the process of integrating a number of desirable features into \LaTeX3. Many of these features can be extensively developed and tested under \LaTeX2.09 even before the \LaTeX3 kernel is available. Therefore we are publishing a list of tasks to the \LaTeX{} user community through various channels and we ask readers to consider contributing some time and effort (particularly, but not exclusively, readers with expertise in the various areas touched on). The task list is distributed in the form of a \LaTeX{} article; it is fairly readable in electronic form, and it can be printed on paper if desired. If you are interested in working on a particular task, see Appendix~\ref{vlminfo} for details on how to volunteer. The task list will be updated in regular intervals. Time estimates are measured in man-days or man-weeks, the values are guesses according to our experiences. \begin{tasklist}{General tasks} \task{Volunteer list management} Organization, publication and maintenance of the general volunteer task list. \timeestimate{?} \smallskip {\it Undertaken:} 22 July 1992 by \vollistmanager. \task{Validating \protect\LaTeX 2.09} Writing test files for regression testing: checking bug fixes and improvements to verify that they don't have undesirable side effects; making sure that bug fixes really correct the problem they were intended to correct; testing interaction with various document styles, style options, and environments. We would like three kinds of validation files: \begin{enumerate} \item General documents. \item Exhaustive tests of special environments/modules such as tables, displayed equations, theorems, floating figures, pictures, etc. \item Bug files containing tests of all bugs that are supposed to be fixed (as well as those that are not fixed, with comments about their status). \end{enumerate} A procedure for processing validation files has been devised; details will be furnished to anyone interested in this task. \timeestimate{2 to 3 weeks, could be divided up} \coordinator{25 August 1992}{Daniel Flipo} \email{flipo@citil.citilille.fr} \othervolunteers \volunteer{Chris Martin} \email{cs1cwm@sunc.sheffield.ac.uk} \end{tasklist} \begin{tasklist}{Syntax questions} \task{.sty metacomments for smart editors} Develop conventions for documentation of styles which could be picked up by editor packages to provide editing help. The idea is to place metacomments in .sty files which smart text editors (in particular) can use to get information about the `exported' (user interface) macros for that particular style. The information would be useful for word completion and spelling checking, at least. (The auc-tex package for GNU Emacs currently has such information hard-wired for a number of common styles.) If the editor has access to the \cs{documentstyle} line or suitable alternative instructions it can poke about in the appropriate style files rather than using its own database. Such information could be written out by a run with {\tt doc.sty} on the basis of \verb=\Describe{Macro,Env}= commands in the {\tt.doc} file and subsequently included in the {\tt docstrip}'ped {\tt.sty} file. That's easy enough, but if it's to be generally useful the result ought to be somewhat standardized and in a form suitable for use by as many editors or other tools as possible. Would conventions for supplying other information this way be useful (along the lines of the PostScript structuring conventions)? \timeestimate{probably 2-5 days over a longer period of time} \coordinator{25 August 1992}{David Love}\email{JANET: d.love@uk.ac.dl},\\ \rule{23.5mm}{0pt}\email{BIT/INTERNET: d.love@dl.ac.uk} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Syntax proposal for bibliographical commands} Extensions of current \LaTeX{} syntax for \cs{cite} commands and bibliography commands. A number of specialties have conventions for citations and bibliographies that \LaTeX{} 2.09 is ill equipped to handle. David Rhead published several papers concerning the handling of bibliographies and citations \cite{texline:DRh90,texline:DRh91,unp:DRh92a,unp:DRh92b}. Some of them have been distributed via the {\tt latex-l} mail list. Counter-proposals or further argumentation for David Rhead's ideas would be useful. \timeestimate{1--2 days} \coordinator{30 April 1993}{Pedro Jose Aphalo} \email{Pedro.Aphalo@metla.fi} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Research on syntax for tables} What features are important (and not covered)? Logical representation of tabular material versus visual representation. Syntax proposal and report. About tabular material presentation many interesting papers are published. For example, general articles \cite{Nottingham:RBe86}, \cite{XEROX:RBe85}, \LaTeX{} related \cite{unp:DCa90}, \cite{unp:DCa91} \cite{unp:DRh91b}, logical table representation \cite{Lausanne:CVa92}. Important work was done by Michael Spivak in \cite{TpC:MSp89} and of course in his ``Tables to die for'' (T2D4). Standard books on typesetting like \cite{CUP:JBu81}, \cite{TH:RMcL80}, \cite{UCP:CMoS82}, \cite{W-G:JWh88} to name only a few, also usually contain important information about tabular typesetting. What is necessary, is a survey of the requirements for tabular material in printing, a proposal for an extended standard syntax, and perhaps proposal for syntax of extra features that could be provided through a separate `super tables' module that is not loaded until the user requests it. \timeestimate{2--6 weeks (could be shared by several volunteers)} \coordinator{20 September 1992}{Ed Sznyter}\email{ews@babel.com} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Research on syntax for chemistry} The typography of chemical texts is rather different from, say, mathematics. We need a taxonomist to classify the primary elements of an article or book on chemistry and suggest syntax for user commands to handle each element. What proportion of chemical diagrams can be constructed with primitive line graphics such as given by the \LaTeX{} picture environment (with suitable extensions)? Or should diagrams be simply always done in some other graphics language and imported via \cs{special}? \timeestimate{?} \coordinator{10 September 1992}{Chris Carruthers}\email{cjc@acadvm1.uottawa.ca} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Research on syntax for commutative diagrams} Commutative diagrams occur often enough in mathematical literature that even the first version of \AmSTeX{} back in 1983 or so included a rudimentary facility for constructing rectangular commutative diagrams. Since then several people have produced various alternatives, most involving special fonts with line segments slanted at various angles, and arrow heads. The commutative diagram macros of L\AmSTeX{} have arrow directions specified as vectors with the units being rows and columns rather than distances, \eg \verb'\arrow(1,2)' means a diagonal arrow from the current element to the element one row over and two columns down. There is a {\tt catmac.sty} by Michael Barr that uses the line fonts of \LaTeX{} for drawing slanted arrows. The {\tt XY-pic} package by Kristoffer Rose is reportedly usable with \LaTeX{} and comes with its own line and arrowhead fonts. For \LaTeX3 we would like to see an analysis of the logical structure of commutative diagrams and recommendations on user syntax. \timeestimate{2--4 days} \coordinator{8 October 1992}{Paul Taylor} \email{pt@doc.ic.ac.uk} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \volunteer{Michael Barr}\email{barr@triples.Math.McGill.CA} \volunteer{Kristoffer Rose}\email{kris@diku.dk} \end{tasklist} \begin{tasklist}{Research tasks} \task{Experimenting with \cs{emergencystretch}} Testing the new features of \TeX3 where no experience is available so far. Writing up a report. Research on \cs{emergencystretch}, in particular, is an important area where the \TeX{} community doesn't have enough experience so far, \eg what are good values in what situations, why? What happens if\ldots\ and so on. This would also make a good article for {\em TUGboat} if the report were given some finishing touches afterwards. \timeestimate{$\approx$ 4 days plus 2 days for publication} \coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Research on indexing commands} What kinds of indexes are needed for various fields? What kinds of indexes are needed for various specialties? What kind of \cs{index} commands/syntax need to be provided for marking entries? What kind of commands need to be provided for printing indexes after they have been processed by a program like Makeindex? \timeestimate{$\approx$ 1-2 weeks} \coordinator{11 February 1993}{Dave Love}\email{dcl@ncsc5.att.com} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Research footnote/endnotes conventions} What conventions are used for various specialties? What user commands and syntax would be recommended? Report about the results. \timeestimate{$\approx$ 1-2 weeks perhaps divided into disciplines} \coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%% Modified into two tasks per MJD, 17-SEP-1992 13:53 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% \task{Syntax diagrams} Designing a command syntax (and implementation in \LaTeX2.09) for syntax diagrams used to illustrate programming language syntax. Reference: \begin{verbatim} @article(tub:MPl81, AUTHOR = {Michael F. Plass}, TITLE = {Charting your Grammar with {\TeX}}, JOURNAL = tub, YEAR = 1981, VOLUME = 2, NUMBER = 3, PAGES = {39-56}, keywords = {TeX, Macros, Syntax diagrams} ) \end{verbatim} The described syntax is probably not appropriate for \LaTeX{} and the implementation needs refinement since it was done for \TeX79 but it is a good starting point. \timeestimate{1-2 days for syntax} \timeestimate{4-8 days for prototype implementation} \coordinator{23 September 1992}{David Morgan}\email{morgan@socs.uts.edu.au} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{BNF notation} Designing command syntax and prototype \LaTeX2.09 implementation for BNF (Backus-Naur) notation used to describe syntax of programming languages. \timeestimate{1-2 days for syntax} \timeestimate{3-5 days for prototype implementation} \coordinator{28 September 1992}{Mike Piff}\email{M.Piff@sheffield.ac.uk} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%% End Modifications of 17-SEP-1992 13:53 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% \end{tasklist} \begin{tasklist}{Research tasks (cont.)} \task{Research on use of shorthand forms} In SGML there is a concept called `short ref' which means for example that the double quote character \verb="= can be defined to produce directional quotes, blank line can be interpreted as end of paragraph, and so forth. What kind of similar shorthand forms in ASCII files may be desirable for \LaTeX{} users, \eg \verb|=>| to be converted to $\Rightarrow$, \verb|/=| or \verb|<>| to be converted to $\neq$, \verb|'?| to be converted to upside-down Spanish question mark, \verb|"u| to be converted to umlaut \"u, and so forth. What conventions are currently in use for various kinds of documents? Something along these lines is currently done in \AmSTeX{} with the \verb'@' character: \verb'@-' is a shorthand meaning `nonbreaking hyphen', \verb'@,' is a shorthand meaning one-tenth of a thinspace, \verb'@>' is a shorthand for an extensible right arrow, and so forth. It is envisioned that in \LaTeX3 the user will be allowed to designate certain characters to be shorthand initiator characters. For efficiency reasons, the set of allowed initial characters will probably be restricted to nonalphanumeric only. \timeestimate{?} \coordinator{23 September 1992}{Julio Sanchez}\email{jsanchez@gmv.es} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Research on figures and captions} What rules are in common use for placement and formatting of floating figures and their associated captions? Propose syntax for user commands. Write report. Placement rules for floats and their captions are so far very limited in batch formatters like \TeX{}. We are interested in rules for such placement which are used in practice, algorithms, and possible user syntax. What could be a good user syntax for putting captions above, below, on the side, centered or top or bottom or left or right? Do we need to allow different action for different classes of floats? What do we need for multi-figure groups and their captions? \timeestimate{2-4 weeks (could be divided in sub-tasks)} \coordinator{21 September 1992}{Sebastian Rahtz}\email{spqr@minster.york.ac.uk} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \volunteer{Claus Langhans}\email{Claus_Langhans@wildcat.fido.de} \task{Research on the use of {\protect\doublehat} % that is, ^^? or ^^xx conventions} Check the actual use of the {\doublehat} convention for special characters in the \LaTeX{} community by polling as many users, organizations, mail-lists, usenet groups, etc.\ as possible. Write report. In \TeX{} the \verb=^^= notation is sometimes used for access to unusual characters ($< 32$ or $> 126$). It would be useful to separate this function from the superscript function by assigning it to some character other than \verb|^|, if that would not be too large an inconvenience for users. One application, for example, would be to change \verb|^| and \verb|_| to be active characters so that they can always keep track of current math style, which would allow a better definition for \cs{mathchoice} and simplify many things having to do with math fonts. It seems that the \verb=^^= notation is indispensable only when the character is used in a control sequence name or as a macro argument delimiter (or in hyphenation patterns?). Note: document styles are less concern since they will have to be mostly rewritten for \LaTeX3 anyway. \timeestimate{$\approx$ 3-5 days} \coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Research on typographical conventions and requirements in multilingual environments} Typographic conventions differ from one language/country to another. Collect information about such conventions and try to identify the basic data-types and operations required in \LaTeX3, so that most or, ideally, all features necessary for the support of many languages can be implemented in the \LaTeX3 programming language. It would be helpful also to include anything whose provision is already supported by the babel system and/or other systems: eg hyphenation. \timeestimate{$\approx$ 2-3 weeks (could be divided in sub-tasks)} \coordinator{9 December 1992}{Bernard Gaulle (interim)} \email{gaulle@circe.fr} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%% Next task added 9-FEB-1993 15:17:30, per FMi %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% \task{Research on the most commonly used \LaTeX{} styles} Even though \LaTeX3 will internally not be fully code-compatible with \LaTeX{} 2.09, it is highly desirable that a well-written \LaTeX{} 2.09-compatible document can be formatted with \LaTeX3 with little or no rewriting. To achieve this, the currently most popular \LaTeX{} macros will be rewritten for \LaTeX3. But which are the most popular \LaTeX{} macros? A questionnaire has been pre-tested and completed. Plans are to distribute this to $\approx$ 10 sites throughout the world, a fair amount to each. This will, hopefully, come close to a real stratified sample survey. Volunteers are needed to hand out the form to an unsuspecting group of \LaTeX{} users, punch the data (fairly easy - we only keep a frequency count), and mail the frequencies to Rolf Lindgren. He wants the filled-in forms as well, to be available to others who might want to do research on \LaTeX{} use. \timeestimate{1 hour to administer the form, 2-3 hours to process the competed forms, 1 hour to translate the form if necessary} \coordinator{28 January 1993}{Rolf Lindgren}\email{rolf.lindgren@usit.uio.no} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%% End Modifications of 9-FEB-1993 15:17:30 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% \end{tasklist} \begin{tasklist}{Misc items} \task{Math font handling} Test math font handling in the latest release of NFSS and write up detailed comments. Last year there was some discussion among the \LaTeX3 programmers and others on how to handle math fonts under an enhanced release of NFSS for \LaTeX3. The discussion finally drifted off into areas that are far beyond the scope of the \LaTeX3 project but the actual questions that were raised have not yet been answered. The only contribution that came close was the detailed suggestion and experience report by Sebastian Rahtz about the alpha release for an extended text font handling which was sent around via the {\tt latex-l} list. \timeestimate{1--2 days} Thinking about a proper math font handling taking into account the papers already sent around. \timeestimate{2--4 days} \coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Converting numbers to textual form} Currently counter values can be displayed in certain styles, \eg as roman numerals. But it may be interesting to extend the available commands by cardinal and ordinal representations, \eg 5 $\longrightarrow$ `five' or `fifth' (for example, if you wanted to refer to `the fifth item' in a list using something like \LaTeX{}'s \cs{ref}.) Spivak's L\AmSTeX{} has \verb=\cardinal= and \verb=\ordinal= macros to do this, for handling cross-references such as `the fifth item in the list' where `fifth' is supposed to be generated by a \verb=\ref= command. The main question: How much do we need this capability? Should it be standard, or merely a nice option for those who want it? Can it be easily extended to support various language conventions? Are there other significant uses besides the cross-reference idea? \timeestimate{1 day} \coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \end{tasklist} \begin{tasklist}{Misc items (cont.)} \task{Rewrite of MakeIndex in WEB} Convert/rewrite the C source code of MakeIndex. For consistency it would seem desirable to have all auxiliary programs designed for use with \LaTeX3 to be compilable in the same way as \TeX{}. Currently this means use of the WEB language, with or without the CWEB intermediate step. Furthermore, the MakeIndex program could use some work to deal with a few shortcomings that have become evident with the passing of time and extended usage. \timeestimate{?} \coordinator{6 February 1993}{Dave Love}\email{dcl@ncsc5.att.com} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Write other auxiliary programs} Create programs for support tasks related to \LaTeX{} documents but not part of the primary typesetting functions. Question: what other auxiliary programs do we need? Conjectures: Compiled version of {\tt docstrip}? Programs to help designers in creating document styles? Program for dealing with graphics files in various formats (\eg read Bounding Box comments from a PostScript file and compute scaling and translation numbers for passing to a \LaTeX{} \cs{special} command?) Checksum utility by R.~Solovay for updating Nelson Beebe's standardized file headers. Auxiliary program to help in constructing complicated tables (decimal point alignment, row spanning, other fancy effects that are hard to do in \TeX{} currently)? Auxiliary program similar to Type \& Set to do interactive page-breaking/float placement? \timeestimate{Arbitrarily long} \coordinator{\FHuse{date}}{None yet}\email{} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Bibliography style programming} Write bibliography styles for \BibTeX1. The current version of \BibTeX{} is 0.99. A reimplementation of \BibTeX{} for \LaTeX3 is under way, by Oren Patashnik. When this is finished, or perhaps even before, suitable standard bibliography styles for \LaTeX3 need to be written. \centerline{*** Pending because of status of \BibTeX1 ***} \timeestimate{1-3 days per style} \coordinator{23 September 1992}{Not applicable at present}\email{} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Bibliography style requirements} Collect available \BibTeX.99 styles and if possible further journal and publisher requirements regarding bibiographies and analyze them. Summarize the functionality of each style, whether or not it is easily programmable with the current \BibTeX{}, what special functions would be helpful, etc. \timeestimate{1-3 weeks for collecting information} \timeestimate{1-3 hours for each style} \coordinator{18 September 1992}{Robert Tolksdorf} \email{tolk@cs.tu-berlin.de} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Survey of existing \LaTeX{} style options} Using David Jones' TeX-Index (and any other useful sources), evaluate the status of the many \LaTeX2.09 options currently available, \eg whether they are up-to-date, whether the authors still support them, or if unsupported, whether they are interesting enough to make it worth while to seek a new maintainer for them. Write a report indicating the status of each style option, a short description of its features and, if it is not maintained, if you think it is worth upgrading or maintaining it. TeX-Index is an index of TeX macros. From its documentation: \begin{quotation} The most recent version is always available by anonymous FTP from \ftpaddress{theory.lcs.mit.edu} in the directory \dirname{pub/tex/TeX-index}. Copies can also be obtained from the following locations: \begin{description} \item[archive.cs.ruu.nl] \dirname{TEX/\linebreak[0]DOC/\linebreak[0]TeX-index.\linebreak[0]Z} \item[ftp.th-darmstadt.de] \dirname{pub/\linebreak[0]tex/\linebreak[0]documentation/% \linebreak[0]styles-and-macros.\linebreak[0]Index.\linebreak[0]Z} \item[ftp.math.utah.edu] \dirname{pub/\linebreak[0]tex/\linebreak[0]tex-index} \item[ftp.uni-stuttgart.de] \dirname{/soft/\linebreak[0]tex/\linebreak[0]documentation/% \linebreak[0]TeX-index} \item[ftp.diku.dk] \dirname{pub/\linebreak[0]TeX/\linebreak[0]misc/% \linebreak[0]TeX-Index.\linebreak[0]Z} \item[Niord.SHSU.edu] \dirname{[fileserv.\linebreak[0]tex-index]\linebreak[0]tex.% \linebreak[0]index} \item[TeX.ac.uk] \dirname{[tex-archive\linebreak[0].doc]\linebreak[0]TeX-index.% \linebreak[0]txt} \item[ymir.claremont.edu] \dirname{[anonymous.\linebreak[0]tex.\linebreak[0]documentation]% \linebreak[0]tex-index.\linebreak[0]txt} \end{description} \end{quotation} The file is available for retrieval via electronic mail by including: \begin{verbatim} SENDME TEX-INDEX \end{verbatim} in the body of a mail message to \email{FILESERV@SHSU.BITNET} (\email{FILESERV@SHSU.edu}). To facilitate mailing across networks, the file is distributed in 8 parts. \timeestimate{1/2-1 day per style} \coordinator{15 October 1992}{David M. Jones} \email{dmjones@theory.lcs.mit.edu} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \task{Timing tests} Run tests to compare speed of various possibilities. To make the \LaTeX3 kernel sufficiently fast it is necessary to write efficient code. This means testing several variants against each other to see which one is fastest. One example is the case of global versus local assignments for temporary registers. In the recent issue of TUGboat \cite{tub:LSi92} speed issues for token registers have been discussed. \timeestimate{2--3 days} \coordinator{20 September 1992}{Jonathan Fine}\email{J.Fine@pmms.cam.ac.uk} \othervolunteers %\volunteer{NAME}\email{} \volunteer{Phillip E. Parker}\email{PPARKER@TWSUVM.UC.TWSU.EDU} \end{tasklist} \begin{thebibliography}{Rhe92b} \bibitem[Bea85]{XEROX:RBe85} Richard~J. Beach. \newblock Setting tables and illustrations with style. \newblock Technical Report CSL-85-3, Xerox Corporation, Research Center, Palo Alto, Califonia 94304, May 1985. \bibitem[Bea86]{Nottingham:RBe86} R.~J. Beach. \newblock Tabular typography. \newblock In J.~C. van Vliet, editor, {\em Text processing and document manipulation}, British Computer Society Workshop Series, pages 18--33, Cambridge, April 1986. Cambridge University Press. \bibitem[But81]{CUP:JBu81} Judith Butcher. \newblock {\em Copy editing: the Cambridge handbook}. \newblock Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, second edition, 1981. \bibitem[Car90]{unp:DCa90} David Carlisle. \newblock Some notes on the longtable environment. \newblock Available from \TeX{} servers, December 1990. \bibitem[Car91]{unp:DCa91} David Carlisle. \newblock narray.sty. \newblock Available from \TeX{} servers, July 1991. \bibitem[Chi82]{UCP:CMoS82} {\em The Chicago Manual of Style}. \newblock University of Chicago Press, Chicago, London, 13th edition, 1982. \bibitem[Fin91]{unp:JFi91} Jonathan Fine. \newblock Some basic control macros for {\TeX}. \newblock Presented at a \LaTeX3 workshop 1991 in London, February 1991. \bibitem[Fin92]{tub:JFi92} Jonathan Fine. \newblock Some basic control macros for {\TeX}. \newblock {\em {TUG}boat}, 13(1):75--83, April 1992. \bibitem[McL80]{TH:RMcL80} Ruari McLean. \newblock {\em The Thames and Hudson Manual of Typography}. \newblock Thames and Hudson, London, 1980. \bibitem[Rhe90]{texline:DRh90} *David Rhead. \newblock Towards {\BibTeX} style-files that implement principal standards. \newblock {\em {\TeX}line}, (10):2--8, May 1990. \bibitem[Rhe91a]{texline:DRh91} *David Rhead. \newblock How might {\LaTeX3} deal with citations and reference lists? \newblock {\em {\TeX}line}, (13):13--20, September 1991. \newblock Suggestions for \LaTeX3. \bibitem[Rhe91b]{unp:DRh91b} David Rhead. \newblock Some ideas for improving {\LaTeX}. \newblock Suggestion for \LaTeX3, July 1991. \bibitem[Rhe92a]{unp:DRh92a} David Rhead. \newblock Short form citations: how a manual might describe the suggested user interface. \newblock University of Nottingham {\tt JANET: David\_Rhead@uk.\linebreak[0]nottingham.\linebreak[0]ccc.\linebreak[0]vme}, May 1992. \bibitem[Rhe92b]{unp:DRh92b} David Rhead. \newblock Short form citations: some examples. \newblock University of Nottingham {\tt JANET: David\_Rhead@uk.\linebreak[0]nottingham.\linebreak[0]ccc.\linebreak[0]vme}, May 1992. \bibitem[Sie92]{tub:LSi92} L.~Siebenmann. \newblock Elementary text processing and parsing in {\TeX} --- the appreciation of tokens ---. \newblock {\em {TUG}boat}, 13(1):62--73, April 1992. \bibitem[Spi89]{TpC:MSp89} Michael~D. Spivak. \newblock {\em {L\AmSTeX} The Synthesis}. \newblock The \TeX plorators Corporation, Houston, 1989. \bibitem[Van92]{Lausanne:CVa92} Christine Vanoirbeek. \newblock Formatting structured tables. \newblock In C.~Vanoirbeek and G.~Coray, editors, {\em Electronic Publishing '92}, pages 291--309, Cambridge, April 1992. Cambridge University Press. \bibitem[Whi88]{W-G:JWh88} Jan White. \newblock {\em Graphic Design for the Electronic Age}. \newblock Watson-Guptill, Xerox Press, New York, 1988. \end{thebibliography} \noindent {\bf NOTE:} References denoted by ``*" are available electronically. For retrieval via electronic mail, include: \begin{verbatim} SENDME LATEX3.key_from_reference* \end{verbatim} in a mail message to \email{FILESERV@SHSU.BITNET} (\email{FILESERV@SHSU.edu}). For example, David Rhead's 1990 reference above, Rhe90, is {\tt LATEX3.Rhe90*}. These files are also available for anonymous ftp retrieval from \ftpaddress{Niord.SHSU.edu} in the directory \dirname{[FILESERV.LATEX3]}. The file {\tt LATEX3.00INDEX} in that directory has a brief description of the files included in this collection (and may be retrieved via electronic mail by including {\tt SENDME LATEX3.00INDEX} in the body of a message to {\tt FILESERV}). \newpage \appendix \section{Volunteer list manager name and address} \label{vlminfo} The manager of the volunteer list is: \begin{center} \begin{minipage}{13.5pc} \vollistmanager\\ \tt\vollistmgraddress \end{minipage} \end{center} If you are interested in volunteering for one of the listed tasks, please start by contacting the coordinator for the task in which you are interested, if a coordinator name is given. Otherwise contact the volunteer list manager. The proposed organization of volunteers is as follows: \begin{itemize} \item The first person to volunteer for each task will automatically be accepted and designated `task coordinator', without regard to their expertise. Responsibilities: keep in contact with any other volunteers that later volunteer for the same task; avoid duplication of effort; collect and organize the results of volunteer work on that task. \item The first job of a task coordinator is to gather together information relevant to the task (such as previous discussions on the {\tt LaTeX-L} mail list, articles published or unpublished mentioned in the task list, etc.). For this you may need some assistance. If is not already subscribed to the {\tt LaTeX-L} list, you should subscribe in order to receive announcements about the progress of the \LaTeX3 project. To do this, send mail to \email{listserv@vm.urz.uni-heidelberg.de}, with one line as the body of the message (substituting your own name): \begin{verbatim} subscribe LaTeX-L Your-first-name Your-surname \end{verbatim} \item The second job of a task coordinator is to write a `task specification' containing more details than were in the volunteer task list. It should describe the goals and any restrictions that apply. This task specification will need to be reviewed by someone on the \LaTeX3 kernel team, and afterwards it can be sent out to any additional volunteers for the same task, as a guide for the work. \item If other persons volunteer later for the same task, the volunteer list manager will put them in contact with the task coordinator. Arrangements for dividing the work and keeping in touch should then be made by the task coordinator; in addition, if a later volunteer has greater expertise or more spare time or other useful qualifications, he/she may become the task coordinator by mutual agreement among the volunteers who are working on that task. \end{itemize} \end{document}