Re: is (La)TeX and open format?
- From: "jlrivera" <jlrn77@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 24 Oct 2005 16:26:30 -0700
jlrn77@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm *not* trolling. I'd like to discuss whether TeX is a true open
> format, somewhat like SGML or XML. Perhaps it's even worth including
> something about it in TeX's FAQ.
>
Having passed more than a week, and to satisfy my own sense of
completion, I'd like to add something.
>>From this discussion I collect that, although there is some agreement
about the `openness' of TeX--program and language--, there is no
agreement at all about what is an `open format'.
After re-reading this thread, now it seems to me that LaTeX is much
closer to an `open format' than TeX, if we compare the latter to
sgml/xml/html.
A document format specifies what sort of document is stored, and how.
If this is true, then a `LaTeX class' or a `Document Type Definition'
is perhaps closer to a `document format' than a TeX program. Indeed,
with a HTML DTD you define explicitly what is a valid document, and
perhaps even specify the data stored in the file; similarly, a LaTeX
class tells you, right at the top, what is the document to be
typeset--an article, a book, a report, a slide show--, and from that
fact you constrain your choice of formatting commands.
Moreover, LaTeX documents are defined by a more `open' audience than
other formats, since each class or package writer defines what can be
typeset and how, within certain boundaries; thus, it seems to be
sligthly `more open' than consortium sponsored formats, like OASIS
OpenDocument or W3C XHTML.
TeX, the typesetting engine, is a completely different animal; indeed,
it is irrelevant to the specification of a LaTeX document, since, given
the sufficient description of a LaTeX class/package, you can write any
utility to transform/print/view it, without using TeX at all...
Moreover, thanks to the programming machinery embedded in TeX, you can
use TeX to typeset documents written in many different document
formats.
I think my mind is clear... for now.
Luis.
.
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