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Reply-To: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
              <LATEX-L@RELAY.URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
Date:         Wed, 10 Sep 1997 17:21:28 +0200
From: Hans Aberg <haberg@MATEMATIK.SU.SE>
Sender: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
              <LATEX-L@RELAY.URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
To: Multiple recipients of list LATEX-L
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Subject:      Re: HyperLaTeX
Status: R

Sebastian Rahtz wrote:
>> How about a more informative comment about XML? :-)
>i'l carry on being unhelpful and say you should have come to TUG 97,
>there was an excellent presentation about XML :-}

  Perhaps you should leave those unhelpful comments out, and give room for
others with some helpful comments. (I am not telling you; this is just a
subtle suggestion.) Perhaps this could help generate some general public
interest in XML, whatever that is. :-)

> >   I figure the idea is that an underpaid Philippino worker is extracting
> > the new hyperlink features from HTML...
> >
>i am slightly lost, to be serious, about what your concern is. what
>are these `new hyperlink features from HTML'?

  I gave a reference to the new HTML 4.0 Working Draft
<http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-html40-970708/> (see, I am very helpful with ref's
:-). It concerns the dynamic behaviour of links, and stuff which I have not
studied yet in detail. (There is also this other movement with cgi-scripts
coming along now, which should perhaps be mentioned.)

>i can see a question may
>arise about how to specify XML extended links in LaTeX source; but to
>be quite honest, why would anyone who believes in XML etc want to
>author new material in LaTeX anyway?

  I figure, then it does not belong in the LaTeX3 group anyway? So if you
would want XML to be promoted, the strategy would perhaps be to sneak in
some quick XML references before you are thrown out by the administrators
of this mailing list. :-)

>.. but seriously, tell me what practical concerns you have about
>the useability of hyperlinks in LaTeX-based systems today.

  This is sort of a very general interesting question, which relates to the
future development of electronic media. Hypermedia is taking off with such
a breakneck speed, that one has to count on that a program like TeX, which
only provides typesetting for paper, really will be of less interest in the
future. On the other hand, if the resolution of graphical displays
increases, TeX still has provided some experiences for how to produce good
typesetting.