Re: More MetaPost text positioning....

["Rob McDonald" <robm asdl gatech edu>]

> As I see it, we can either want to have full LaTeX rendering in Dia
> (i.e. call out to LaTeX to get a rendering) or have the LaTeX output be
> as close to what's in the diagram as possible.  That would give the
> least surprises.  A nice thing would be to be able to toggle if a given
> text should be tex-interpreted or not, but since right now we have no
> call-out to LaTeX, we're going to exact rendering as best we can.
>
> For an actual LaTeX rendering, we'd want to be able to give some
> context, of course, but if we can get a bitmap from the dvi output
> (which is possible), we can kinda treat that as an image in Dia.  Trying
> to actually understand and calculate what LaTeX does to our text would
> IMHO just create more headaches than solutions.

I completly agree that Dia shouldn't try to do what LaTeX does.

> > An example of this kind of functionality is the TeXPoint PowerPoint
plugin.
> > A guy has developed an open-source powerpoint plugin that lets you use
LaTeX
> > as an equation writer (bitmap image generator) for PowerPoint.  Double
click
> > on the image, and a LaTeX text editor opens up.  Change the equation,
click
> > OK, and it seamlessly compiles the LaTeX to a specified resolution
bitmap,
> > and imports it into PowerPoint.  It is pretty slick...  He did it with
his
> > own home-brew LaTeX distribution.  Making a similar technology
> > cross-platform would be a nightmare.
>
> Exactly what I'm hoping for.  I would be happy to include something like
> that (though probably not for homebrew LaTeX only).

As I suggested, I would lean towards a slightly less user friendly option in
the interim until the full LaTeX rendering is possible.

I think most LaTeX users are sophisticated enough to be able to work around
the limitations when they're stretching beyond Dia's native capabilities.
So, in that case, you should do nothing (including no automatic escape
sequences).  However, it sounds like you're intent on being nice to your
users (: and for that I commend you.  I just wouldn't want to maintain it.

I'll ask on the TeX newsgroup if there is a LaTeX distribution that is
cross-platform & appropriate for embedded applications like this.

Another option would be to try to include a MathML renderer into Dia, and
then use a MathML to LaTeX translator when a LaTeX export type is selected.
It might be easier to include a MathML renderer than a LaTeX one...

Thanks,

             Rob