Message-Id: <199401261721.AA11003@mail.cs.tu-berlin.de>
Reply-To: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project <LATEX-L@DHDURZ1.BITNET>
In-Reply-To:  <9401261653.AA25904@csi.UOttawa.CA>
Date:         Wed, 26 Jan 1994 12:19:47 -0500
From: Denys Duchier <dduchier@csi.uottawa.ca>
Sender: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project <LATEX-L@DHDURZ1.BITNET>
To: Multiple recipients of list LATEX-L <LATEX-L@DHDURZ1.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: Mapping a structure onto a design
Status: R

Charles Wells writes:
 > David Rhead's suggestion that we separate structure and design
 > and have commands such as
 >
 >       \mapping{structure}{design}
 > [...]
 > in Latex3 strikes me as exactly the right thing to do.  However,
 > one problem that someone else in this discussion mentioned will
 > still occur:  What happens if you fine-tune the article for the
 > A4 style if someone else maps the article structure
 > to the US default in printing out a copy that was emailed or
 > retrieved by FTP.  One kind of fine-tuning is to insert a
 > pagebreak at a certain spot.  That could cause a page with only
 > a few lines in another design.

A long time ago, Frank suggested something along the lines of
"explicitly labeled visual formatting commands". E.g.:

        \VisualFormattingCommand [a4] {\pagebreak}

Such a command would only take effect when its label (here a4) has
been included in a list of active labels.  Thus, it would be possible
to fine-tune the same document for a variety of situations, and only
activate those labels that are relevant to your specific requirements.

I don't know if Frank continues to stand by that proposal, but it
still makes (practical) sense to me.

--Denys