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Subject:
From:
"Michael J. Downes" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 26 Jan 2000 17:05:35 -0500
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Frank Mittelbach <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>  > publications: if a figure caption is less than one line in length,
>  > center it, otherwise use block justification:
...
>  > This is hard to handle by only declarative parameter settings. At some
>  > level it is necessary to program a test for the length of the text.
>
> yes, but why is this difficult for a declarative interface? you are right that
> at run time the template needs to do tests to decide what to do but then it
> receives the caption text as argument (or so we hope:-) an so can make test on
> it.

Sorry, I guess I didn't explain very well. It was only intended to be an
off-hand remark, not anything profound or unexpected to readers of this
list. I only meant the situation where the desired test is *not* already
provided in a special template instance. Suppose Joe Bloggs at the
University of Podunk in 2005 is working with this wonderful template
system which is "completely declarative". If he finds that he wants a
special caption format that requires such a test and the system does not
already provide it, then he can not "declare" what he wants, he has to
specify in some sort of procedural language the kind of test that he
wants to apply, and find a programmer to implement it.

This is not exactly an original thought; as I said it was only intended
as an off-hand remark.

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