[Qgis-community-team] macros, example dataset

[Tara Athan]

These macros from Gary are a good headstart. If we discover other 
categories, we can use these as a template.
A question for you latex gurus - Is it possible to include icons, such 
as the icons for GRASS modules, in a macro for an inline style, or would 
these need to be specified manually? The idea would be if the writer 
refers to a tool having an icon, this icon is automatically included.

Now let me bring up a more challenging issue- a dataset for examples.
I would like to see a complete dataset with data in many formats, all in 
the same location.
All examples in the manual would then use the same dataset.

I have no preference to the location - we could build from the Alaska 
dataset by adding files in different formats (GRASS, etc), or if someone 
has a better idea, I am willing to consider it.

Tara

Gary Sherman wrote:
> On May 6, 2008, at 7:44 PM, Tara Athan wrote:
>> OK, I was able to download the latex version of the manual and take a 
>> quick look through the various sections.
>> What I see is a lot of inconsistency in format between sections.
>> This is to be expected, I guess, if the sections are written by 
>> different authors and there is no agreement beforehand as to format.
>
> The manual has evolved over time with a number of authors working at 
> different times so just like any "code base" you'll find these types 
> of things.
>
>> But I think we need to aim for greater consistency for the 1.0 manual 
>> release.
>> For a start, I would like to have macros for inline styles to 
>> distinguish command line inputs, file names, buttons and so on.
>> I see this done frequently in software manuals-  there is a different 
>> style of type for each category, and these are clearly spelled out in 
>> the introduction.
>>
>> At present there is a wide variety of formats being used.  \textsl is 
>> used for a lot of different things, so it is not obvious when you see 
>> text formated as \textsl what it corresponds to. And the same type of 
>> item, such as an input field selection, is sometimes \textsl, 
>> sometimes in quotes, sometimes \textbf, ...
>>
> Rather than choosing a specific markup such as \textsl for an item, I 
> would suggest using new commands to provide a layer of abstraction. 
> This way you can simply modify the command definition to change all 
> occurences of, for example, a tool button.
>
> Here are the commands I used in the FOSS4G2007 QGIS workshop document:
>
> %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
> % my commands
> %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
> \newcommand{\button}[1]{\cornersize{0.1}\ovalbox{\textsf{\scriptsize#1}}}
> \newcommand{\classname}[1]{\textsf{\textbf{#1}}}
> \newcommand{\fieldname}[1]{\textsl{#1}}
> \renewcommand{\filename}[1]{\texttt{#1}}
> \newcommand{\keystroke}[1]{\fbox{\textsf{\scriptsize#1}}}
> \newcommand{\menuopt}[1]{\textsf{#1}}
> \newcommand{\method}[1]{\textsf{\textit{#1}}}
> \newcommand{\server}[1]{\textit{#1}}
> \newcommand{\sqltable}[1]{\textsf{\textbf{#1}}}
> \newcommand{\toolbtn}[1]{\cornersize{7mm}\Ovalbox{\textsf{\scriptsize#1}}} 
>
> \newcommand{\usertext}[1]{\texttt{#1}}
>
> So you would markup a tool button like this: \toolbtn{Add Vector Layer}
>
> This in turn is converted according to the command definition, 
> resulting in an oval outline of the text in sans-serif scriptsize font.
>
> Of course you can tweak the commands as the team sees fit. The obvious 
> advantage is you can consistently apply the same markup to the same 
> items and easily change the style at any time by editing the commands 
> in the preamble of the document.
>
> -gary
>
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> Gary Sherman
> Chair, QGIS Project Steering Committee
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>


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Thank you.

Tara Athan
Principal, Alternatives to Invasive Species
tara_athan [AT] alt2is.com
707-485-1198
PO Box 415
Redwood Valley, CA 95470