[AUCTeX-devel] Requirements for tool chains

[Ralf Angeli]

Currently I am in the process of gathering requirements from a user's
point of view for tool chains.  This is what I already got:

R1: Provide preconfigured list of tools, a tool being a combination
of a command, a process filter, a sentinel etc.

R2: Provide a possibility for the user to define own tools.

R3: The definition of user-defined tools shall not prevent the
preconfigured list of tools from being updated when a new version of
the software is installed.

R4: Support creation of tool chains by concatenating tools.

R5: Support automatic execution of tool chain both until file in final
output format is produced and until display (view or print) is done.

R6: Support manual step-by-step execution.

R7: Automatic execution of the tool chain shall be aborted when an
error occurs during execution of a tool.

R8: Steps already executed and not necessary to be executed again
shall not be repeated if execution of the tool chain was interrupted
and started again.

R9: Allow for tools to be executed independently.  This is necessary
for tools not actually fitting into a sequential tool chain, like
spell or syntax checkers.

R10: Provide possibility to define expanders returning strings to be
inserted in the command call.  It shall be possible to use arbitrary
Emacs Lisp expressions for the logic behind the expanders.

R11: Provide the possibility to switch between tool chains.

R12: Provide the possibility to save a reference to the tool chain per
document and switch to the tool chain once the document is opened.
Tool chain settings of other documents shall be unaffected.  (Note
that just referencing a tool chain influences interchangeability of
the document between different Emacs/AUCTeX installation negatively.)

R13: Provide to specify a way to update the viewer if the tool chain
is run through to the viewer part and the viewer is already running.


Does anybody see problems with these requirements or has additions?

A note: If we implement tool chains as sketched above at least the PDF
and Omega minor modes can go.  I am not sure about source specials
mode yet.

-- 
Ralf