Re: [proof of concept] inline language blocks

[Juan Manuel Macías]

Max Nikulin writes:

> Juan Manuel your ":fr{}" and similar objects is a domain-specific
> language that is quite different from a generic element proposed by
> Samuel. Do you think it makes sense to modify your inline special
> block patch to allow creation of concise DSL?
>
> Juan Manuel Macías. [testing patch] inline-special-block with full
> implementation for LaTeX backend. Fri, 23 Feb 2024 23:50:52 +0000.
> 87ttlyloyr.fsf@posteo.net">https://list.orgmode.org/87ttlyloyr.fsf@posteo.net
>
> I mean &fr{bonjour} defined using "#+options:" or some new keyword or
> a special block. A definition of "fr" may be (using a bit different
> names)
>
> :latex_element "foreignlanguage" :latex_prefix "french"
> :html_element "span" :html_attr (:lang "fr")
>
> &fr{} is no heavier than :fr{}. The only drawback is necessity to
> define elements for each language used in the document. I do not
> think, even a dozen of declarations is a significant burden.

Hi, Maxim,

In the end I abandoned the concept of inline language block to the
detriment of the more general concept of inline special block (as,
rightly, proposed Ihor). I feel that at the beginning both concepts
overlapped. The patch you mention deals exclusively with the inline
special block concept, as well as the experimental branch that I hope to
publish shortly.

The syntax of my approach, summarized, would be:

-basic form: &foo[optional attributes]{lorem ipsum dolor}

==> LaTeX \foo{lorem ipsum dolor} ; ==> HTML <span class="foo">lorem
ipsum dolor</span>

- anonymous variant: &_{lorem ipsum dolor}

Common to all backends (so far I have only implemented LaTeX and HTML)
are a series of universal attributes. At the moment I have thought about
the following: :lang, :smallcaps and :color. For example:

&foo[:lang el :color blue :smallcaps t]{contents}

==> LaTeX:

{\scshape\color{blue}\foreignlanguage{greek}{\foo{contents}}}

==> HTML

<span class="foo" lang="el" 
style="color:blue;font-variant:small-caps;">contents</span>

There is also the :html attribute and for LaTeX the :prelatex and
:postlatex attributes. Groups of attributes can also be defined, as if
they were styles, and combined with single attributes:

#+options: inline-special-block-aliases:(("latin" :lang "la" :color blue 
:prelatex "\\itshape " :html "style=\"font-style:italic;\""))

This is an example of Latin text: &_[@latin@]{lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}.

This is an example of Latin text with small caps: &_[@latin@ :smallcaps 
t]{lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}.

==> LaTeX:

This is an example of Latin text: {\color{blue}\foreignlanguage{latin}{\itshape 
lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}}.

This is an example of Latin text with small caps: 
{\scshape{}\color{blue}\foreignlanguage{latin}{\itshape lorem ipsum dolor sit 
amet}}

==> HTML:

This is an example of Latin text: <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic;" 
lang="la">lorem ipsum dolor sit amet</span>.

This is an example of Latin text with small caps: <span 
style="color:blue;font-variant:small-caps;font-style:italic;" lang="la">lorem 
ipsum dolor sit amet</span>.