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Date:         Thu, 17 May 90 10:14:55 -0700
Reply-To: LaTeX-L Mailing list <LATEX-L%DHDURZ1@unido.bitnet>
From: Leslie Lamport <lamport@SRC.DEC.COM>
To: Rainer Schoepf <BK4@DHDURZ1.uucp>
Status: R
X-Status: 
X-Keywords:                  
X-UID: 105

I like Frank's idea for environment parameters as a substitute for a
plethora of optional arguments.  However, we must beware of the danger
in taking it too far and using parameters to introduce typesetting
information into the text.  I think a "compact" parameter is right at
the borderline between logical structure and typesetting directions.
With

   \Start{document|paper=A4|twocolumn}

I think that the border has been crossed.  Certainly, paper=A4 is a
document-style decision and belongs in the \documentstyle command.  The
same applies to twocolumn.  In more practical terms, the user who wants
to change paper style, or from one to two columns, shouldn't have to
search for the \begin{document} command.

Allowing both \begin{itemize|compact} and \begin{itemize|form=compact}
might lead to confusion.  Since there's no way to eliminate the "name="
in "name=Zorn's Lemma", the standard form has to includ the "name=".
One might allow "compact" as an abbreviation for "form=compact", but
I'm not sure there's much point to that.

Finally, is this being proposed for version 2.10?  That would violate
the premise that 2.10 should minimize user-visible changes.

In Frank's other message, he writes

   The question of new float classes is deeply connected with the
   question of front matters.

I fail to see the connection.  The current float mechanism would make
it pretty easy to define a \newfloat command; it just needs arguments
to define the following commands, described in latex.tex: \fps@TYPE,
\ext@TYPE, and \fnum@TYPE.  However, I think I would stick by my
decision to make the definition of new float types part of the
document-style design.  Someone who wants to add "plates" is probably
going to be doing enough specialized designing that he will need to
create a new document style.

I presume that the common problem Frank sees is that in front matter,
as in floats, the text isn't put into the document at the place where
it is typed.  However, the reason is quite different in the two cases,
and I don't think there should be any common mechanism to handle them.

Leslie