TeXLive.net for TopTeX examples - TeX

TopAnswers TeX

Top Answer

Community

Yes

Answer #2

Community

Don't care

Answer #3

Community

No

comments

transcript

joulev replying to samcarter

I meant “everyone *here*”, and as I remember, snail hasn’t sent a representative to TopTeX yet :)

samcarter replying to joulev

*Everyone* but snails?

joulev replying to samcarter

*Everyone is* always happy for duck questions ;)

samcarter replying to ps drake

I'm always happy for duck questions :)

ps drake replying to samcarter

If need be, I would ask another Q. I need your blessing, elder sister.

samcarter

A message from  @David Carlisle 
  
> Joulev asks about asy that could be added just as makeindex/biber/bibtex are (it is already installed on the server, which has a full texlive 2021) running examples with local files is possible (eg there is a picture of shakespere and some tex4ht configurations)...
... but we (I) don't have the bandwith to handle and vet uploads so any files need to be submitted with the form or already in texlive. The mult-file support is easy enough if you have full control over the html or markdown as at learnlatex, less so in forum sites where the end user only controls individual divs, but interface suggestions welcome. (issue at github.com/davidcarlisle/latexcgi/issues is best)

samcarter replying to ps drake

If adding this means we don't get any duck questions from you anymore, then I would need to change my vote from "don't care" to "no" :)

ps drake

Had you posted it before I would not have asked [this](https://topanswers.xyz/tex?q=1666). So this is yes from me. Thanks

joulev replying to user 3.14159

As I am not (yet) someone whose work requires a lot of complex 3d figures, I don't think I am suitable to give such suggestions (for now). Maybe Anonymous 1123 will have some ideas.

user 3.14159 replying to joulev

Well, if you have some concrete suggestions of what should be in the package, please let me know. Then I'd at least have an idea of how to set it up to make these things at least not impossible. The original idea of the package was only to allow for vector manipulations. The rest got more or less added because it was asked for by Anonymous 1123, whom I thank for that. But I am sure there are more applications that are still doable with Ti*k*Z.

joulev

However I’m still looking forward to the publication of the package, be it a new strategy or even a completely rewritten code. It will take time, but I hope it won’t take ∞ :)

joulev replying to user 3.14159

Yeah, this doesn’t sound good. There is a way around it: \usepackage[ver=x]{somepkg}, but I’m not a fan of it.

user 3.14159 replying to joulev

For instance, just now in the arc discussion it became clear that it could be a good idea to also support spherical coordinates. It turns out that the current approach is not suited to support various coordinate systems. That is, a different strategy will likely be superior and more flexible on the long run. Now I still have the possibility to switch gears, and change strategy. Maybe I should. However, more likely than not this will break existing examples. Had I uploaded a package, this would be *really* bad, i.e. there is no way one could even consider doing that. Now I could (if I ever have the time and passion) consider writing a more powerful package.

joulev replying to user 3.14159

I don’t regard them as “valid” reasons not to publish the package. Because (1) all packages can have 0.x versions where they are marked as “under construction” and (2) incompatibility is not rare - it happens all the time and it’s the maintainer’s job to make necessary changes should there be any problems.

user 3.14159

Maybe we could add an option "Yes, if there is a sandbox feature.". I'd vote for this option.

user 3.14159 replying to samcarter

Thanks, but I would have to do that for every data file, right? IMHO having something like this tool is great, but it would be *really* great if they had a "sandbox" features in which package authors could upload their packages to allow others to try them out before they submit them to CTAN. That way a lot of unnecessary pain could be avoided.  
  
My two main rationales for not uploading `3dtools` is that it is very much under construction, and that the Ti*k*Z maintainers could just "pull the plug" by removing   
```  
\expandafter\xdef\csname tikz@dcl@coord@\tikz@fig@name\endcsname{%
      \csname tikz@scan@point@coordinate\endcsname}%  
```  
from   
```  
\tikz@@fig@main  
```  
(Remember that I have been accused of having changed the license of `bbox`, which I never did. So I do not trust them, to say the least.)

samcarter replying to user 3.14159

You could upload them as hidden files: https://davidcarlisle.github.io/latexcgi/test-multifile

joulev

texlive.net cannot yet deal with many other stuff either, especially those that require additional programs like asy. So it still has a lot of drawbacks for a Q&A site like TopTeX.

joulev

Well, if filecontents is the only way around this, I think texlive.net won’t be helpful for your answers... after all, the library code is too long for a filecontents environment to be suitable. However, once again, I request you publish the package :)

joulev replying to user 3.14159

Yes, it only has the stuff in a TL distribution (afaik), so if you have custom packages, I think [`filecontents` will be necessary](https://texlive.net/run?%5Cbegin%7Bfilecontents%7D%7Bmypkg.sty%7D%0A%5Cdef%5Chello%7BHello%7D%0A%5Cend%7Bfilecontents%7D%0A%5Cdocumentclass%7Barticle%7D%0A%5Cusepackage%7Bmypkg%7D%0A%5Cbegin%7Bdocument%7D%0A%5Chello%0A%5Cend%7Bdocument%7D) ~~(haven’t tested as I am using my phone right now, but I think that will work)~~. But that is also a reminder for you to publish your 3d package, as a standalone package if you don’t want to have it bundled with Ti*k*Z. I’m sure many people will find that package helpful!

user 3.14159

@joulev, re: [your question](#question), this seems to exclude to involve packages that are either not on CTAN or not long enough on CTAN to be part of the TeX distribution they are using. Is that correct?

Jairo A. del Rio

Interestingly, support for other TeX formats is also considered. The magic comment `%!TEX context` compiles with ConTeXt :)

joulev replying to samcarter

Thanks!

justonly

No.

samcarter

(I added a couple of "polling answers", so that in addition to posting discussion/opinion answers users can also just vote)

3 Answers