Re: [Texmacs-dev] modularity of math editor

[Gubinelli Massimiliano]

TeXmacs is a structured editor. As such there is not a specific portion which 
deals with math (which is only a particular markup with some special rendering 
rules). The current codebase is quite modular but each subsystem is not 
designed to work independently of the others so take out a specific portion 
would involve quite a lot of work. There is a Qt backend but which works at a 
very low level (drawing primitives) and all the translation from the document 
tree to the graphics primitives (for displaying) and form user input to 
document tree modifications is made in the texmacs source without relying on 
the Qt framework. The document is stored as a tree. The typesetter uses style 
information to convert the tree into a series of typographical boxes which are 
renderer via translation into graphics primitives. This is the big picture, of 
course the devil is in the details.... (macros, variables, conversion of the 
tree into a linear structure for editing and navigation purposes). 

Maybe Joris would like to add some more accurate info. In any case there are 
some info for developers in the documentation which comes with the program.

best
massimiliano




On 21 févr. 2011, at 19:16, Lukasz Stafiniak wrote:

> On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 6:52 PM, Carter, Nathan <address@hidden> wrote:
>> 
>>> Yes, it is very modular. You take TeXmacs, and you have the editor,
>>> without additional dependencies.
>>> 
>>> I'm sorry for this joke ;-)
>> 
>> Hehe.  Maybe this means I need to clarify my original question.
>> 
>> By "math editor" I mean *not* the document editor, but specifically that 
>> portion of it that edits mathematical formulas.  Or perhaps it's all the 
>> same widget?  If I'm not asking the right questions, feel free to correct me.
>> 
> 
> I think a meaningful separation would be a major effort, but I'm not a
> developer so we better wait for their answer.
> It is still valuable to consider this although (or even if) a modular
> design would be worse than an integrated design.
> 
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