bug#70399: ConTeXT options need updating

[Jim]

Hi Ikuma,

On Sat, Apr 20, 2024 at 17:44 (+0900), Ikumi Keita wrote:

> Hi Jim,

>>>>>> Jim <zlists+context@jdvb.ca> writes:
>>> It is easy to remove "--texutil", but I'd like to ask whether it is safe
>>> for older (before 2023) TeX distribution to do so. What was this option
>>> "--texutil" for? Unfortunately, "context --help" of TeX Live 2024
>>> doesn't give me useful information.

>> I am a relatively recent ConTeXt convert, so I have never used it.
>> However, the documentation I can find indicates that texutil was used for
>> ConTeXt Mk II, which has (long since) been deprecated (as I understand it).

>> I guess since it doesn't hurt anything, it could stay, but I think that it
>> has no use in ConTeXt Mk IV.

> I see, thanks. I guess this option is necessary for only rather old
> context binaries and expect it can be removed safely for now.

I expect so as well.  ConTeXt is a bit of a moving target, and (like many
other software tools) if someone is having any issues with it, I feel
confident in saying the developers and the rest of the community will tell
people to upgrade to the latest and greatest before any help can be
provided.

>>>> (b) but if context is called with "--nonstopmode" (or "--nonstop")
>>>> the "--synctex=..." request to create a synctex file is over-ridden.
>>>> It is easy for a user who knows what is going on to use
>>>> (setq ConTeXt-texexec-option-nonstop "")

> Do you think AUCTeX should do smart action to avoid "--nonstopmode" when
> "--synctex" is requested by the user, so that
> (setq ConTeXt-texexec-option-nonstop "")
> isn't necessary on the user side?  It isn't difficult to have
> "--nonstopmode" only when `TeX-source-correlate-mode' and
> `TeX-interactive-mode' are nil.

I think that would be an even nicer solution!  I will point out that the
Head Honcho of ConTeXT said (on the ConTeXT users mailing list)
        - running context in nonstop mode makes little sense

He did not elaborate on that comment.  However, I note that when context
finds an error in an input file, even without -nonstopmode, the process
terminates (in a few tests I did) , unlike (e.g.,) pdftex, which as you
know waits for user input.

I spent a few minutes trying various command line options and commands
inside the source file, and I can't get context to stop on error and wait
for input.  This doesn't mean that there is no way to do it, and poking
through the code I see a lot of code related to 'nonstopmode' and
'errorstopmode', but I don't know how to make context stop on an error and
wait for input.

I could ask for clarification about this on the context users' list if you
would like to hear a more authoritative opinion before making changes.  Let
me know.

Cheers.

                                Jim