[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference vaxuum::document_ft

Title:DOCUMENT T1.0
Notice:**New notesfile (DOCUMENT.NOTE) now available (see note 897)**
Moderator:CLOSET::ADLER
Created:Mon Feb 09 1987
Last Modified:Thu Oct 31 1991
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:897
Total number of notes:4397

408.0. "Help needed on Compound Documents?...need <SET_STYLE> tag" by COOKIE::WITHERS (Le plus ca change...) Thu May 21 1987 15:08

I have a peculiar document generation problem I'd like to discuss.  It
involves compound documents and (to summarize) I'd like to ask for the
ability to generate multiple document STYLES at one time or switch
between styles within a document.  As far as I can tell, neither of
these is possible today.

Here's the scenario...I'm about to generate a document outlining a
product requirement.  Along with this document, I'd like to generate a
cover memo.  The document and its cover memo are a matched pair so that
when you print GAZARTENFARKLE.LN3, you get both the memo and the document
- always (as in you can't get the document WITHOUT the memo).  For this
reason, I'd like to maintain the sources for the memo and its document as
one plaintext file.  (Yes, I know I can run document twice - once for the
memo and once for the document - append the two output files together and
print together with double-loaded fonts, etc.)

So to my question: Is there a way to specify a compound document so that
I can have a memo first and a different style second and issue one
DOCUMENT command to do both?

Alternately, would DOCUMENT engineering consider implementing a
<SET_STYLE>(TYPE) tag to switch styles from within the context of
processing the plaintext file.  In such a case, the command line might
look like $ DOCUMENT GAZARTENFARKLE AUTOMATIC LN03 or something.  (This
is actually what I'd prefer to be able to do.)

Thoughts?  Questions?  Answers?  Am I out of my mind?

Thanks,
BobW
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
408.1good ideaCASV07::DAVIESThu May 21 1987 16:066
    You are not out of your mind 
    
    or if you are   you have a lot of company!
    
    I like your idea.
408.2try this?CLOSET::ANKLAMThu May 21 1987 18:4627
    
    We can think about doing that in the future; meanwhile I've had
    it on my list to revisit some queries about mixing things like
    memos with slides, memos with short reports, etc. Here is an
    alternative which you are welcome to try (this should work in
    BL8, but since it is not documented, I don't promise it's perfect.)
    
    I created a tag called <memo_file> which works the same way that
    <contents_file> and <index_file> do, almost. If you have a file
    MYMEMO.SDML and a file MYREPORT.SDML, you can put the following
    in MYREPORT.SDML:
    
    <MEMO_FILE>(MYMEMO)
    
    Then process MYMEMO using /NODEVICE before processing MYREPORT.
    You should end up with one output file. 
    
    I did this intending to spend more time on it, but didn't get to
    it. Obviously, the file you include with <MEMO_FILE> doesn't have
    to be a memo...I think that the SDML U.G. part 2 included sample
    output pages using this tag.
    
    Any way, this is just an alternative I am proposing for support
    in the next version of DOCUMENT.
    
    patti anklam
408.3try .2 with conditionals.UBEAUT::MANDERSONthe wind don&#039;t blow..... it suxThu May 21 1987 20:5612
    I would also like to be able to run several doctypes in the same
    document. I like Patti's .2 reply for a way of doing it although
    it makes the formatting a bit long winded.
    
    As a usable workaround for .0 how about Patti's method and using
    two conditionals. The first pass to create the /nodev file and the
    second pass not formatting that part of the file but including the
    output. (I am going to try it for a few of my ones)

    
    regards
    Kevin
408.4I'll give it a shot - Thanks!COOKIE::WITHERSLe plus ca change...Fri May 22 1987 11:019
re: < Note 408.2 by CLOSET::ANKLAM >
                                 -< try this? >-

I'll give it a shot.  This seems to have most of the effect I need -
imbedding a memo in an output document.  'Guess its time to cobble up
a COM file.

Thanks!
BobW
408.5Maybe when you put in landscape supportATLAST::BOUKNIGHTEverything has an outlineSat May 23 1987 14:395
    I would almost guess that when Patti, et al, put in support for
    landscape embedded in portrait and vice versa that they will probably
    find  neat way to switch styles in mid stream too.
    
    jack