Experimental LaTeX3 High-Level Concepts ======================================= 2011/08/14 WHERE TO GET IT --------------- The files in this distribution represent a snapshot of selected files from the Subversion (SVN) repository of the LaTeX3 Project. To obtain current versions of the files, visit which contains further instructions. OVERVIEW -------- The l3experimental packages are a collection of experimental implementations for aspects of the LaTeX3 kernel, dealing with higher-level ideas such as the Designer Interface. Some of them work as stand alone packages, providing new functionality, and can be used on top of LaTeX2e with no changes to the existing kernel. Others go further, and redefine LaTeX2e internals to provide better methods for managing certain constructs. The packages in the collection are under active development and the interfaces may change. Currently included in the CTAN release of l3experimental are the following bundles: * l3sort * l3str * xcoffins * xgalley l3sort ------ Ordered variables content (in tl, clist or seq variables) may be sorted in a flexible manner using the l3sort module. The definition of how to sort two items is provided by the programmer at the point at which the sort is carried out. Internally, the sorting algorithm is designed to take advantage of TeX token registers to allow a high performance and scalable sort. l3str ----- A 'string' in TeX terms is a token list in which all of the tokens have category code 12 ('other'), with the exception of spaces which have the category code 10 ('space'). The l3str bundle consists of two parts. The first is l3str itself. This is a collection of functions to act on strings, including for manipulations such as UTF8 mappings in pdfTeX. The second part of the bundle is l3regex, a regular expression search-and-replace implementation written in TeX primitives. The regex module works on a string basis, ignoring category codes. xcoffins -------- A _coffin_ is a 'box with handles': a data structure which comprises both a TeX box and associated information to allow controlled typesetting. The xcoffins package provides a high-level interface for manipulating coffins. This is supported by the lower-level l3coffins package, which provides the data structure. xgalley ------- In LaTeX3 terminology a galley is a rectangular area which receives text and other material filling it from top. The vertically extend of a galley is normally not restricted: instead certain chunks are taken off the top of an already partially filled galley to form columns or similar areas on a page. This process is typically asynchronous but there are ways to control or change its behaviour. The xgalley module provides a mechanism for filling galleys and controlling the spacing, hyphenation and justification within them. DISCUSSION ---------- Discussion concerning the approach, suggestions for improvements, changes, additions, etc. should be addressed to the list LaTeX-L. You can subscribe to this list by sending mail to listserv@urz.uni-heidelberg.de with the body containing subscribe LATEX-L BUGS ---- The issue tracker for LaTeX3 bugs is currently located at https://github.com/latex3/svn-mirror/issues Please report specific issues with LaTeX3 code there. More general discussion should be directed to the LaTeX-L lists. --- Copyright 1998 -- 2011 The LaTeX3 Project. All rights reserved ---