\centerline{\bf \TeX\ and the Linotron 101}
\noindent
One of Informat's main activities is the typesetting of academic
journal's. This is accomplished at present by a suite of programs called
\TS, which take unformatted text with embedded markup codes and
pass it through a series of processes which result in fully justified,
hyphenated and page-formatted output being sent to a Linotron 101 typesetter.

Early this year I conceived the idea of retaining the simple user
interface of \TS\ but creating an entire new version of the system
which would use \TeX\ as its internal engine; and which would produce
output in \dvi\ format rather than Cora, the language understood by the
Linotron. By doing this we would gain speed, extensibility and
flexibility.

\TS's markup codes are mnemonics like {\tt\#TEXT\#}, {\tt\#TITLE\#},
{\tt\#FOOTNOTE\#}, etc.\ These are both hard-coded but specified by a style sheet:
there is a style sheet for every different type of document we set.
In the present version of \TS\ a program called CONVERT, which is an
exteremely fast and flexible table-driven string-replacement filter,
changes the markup codes into strings of Cora commands that select
the appropriate style on the Linotron. For example
{\tt\#TEXT\#} might, in a certain type of document, be replaced by Cora commands which
select Garamond Light at 11 points on 12-point leading and set the measure
to 20 picas.

The first task I attempted was to experiment with editing the substitution
file (the table of string substitutions read by CONVERT) so that \TeX\
rather than Cora would be produced. This proved gratifyingly easy:
after about half a day of work I had created a substitution file that would
allow CONVERT to turn an unmodified source document from one of our
medical journals into output that \TeX\ could process without errors.

I then realised the main task lay elsewhere. The creation of valid
\TeX\ source code was, if not trivial, a predictable and well-explored
problem. What we really needed was some way of driving the various output
devices that \TS\ uses. These are the screen, for visual previewing,
the laser printer, for a preview that is reasonably high-quality but
faster and cheaper than real typesetting; and the Linotron typesetter
itself.

I wrote a library of functions in C which could open and read the instructions
from a \dvi\ file. Since several \dvi\ drivers were needed it seemed
sensible not to have different pieces of interpreter code in
each program. This task would have been impossible without
reference to {\sl\TeX\ the Program}, which contains a full decsription of
the \dvi\ and \tfm\ (\TeX\ font metric) file formats. Nevertheless, I found
some parts of the explanation difficult to grasp: Knuth's pithy style
is a constant test of the reader's alertness.

I have now written two drivers: DVISCR, which reads any \dvi\ file and
displays its contents on a screen using the GSX graphics system, for which
drivers are available for most MS-DOS machines; and DVICORA, which creates
a file of text and Cora commands which can be sent to the Linotron 101
by our existing program TCONTROL. DVISCR does not use the pixel files
created by \MF: all it needs are \tfm\ files. The characters are displayed
on the screen using a simple vector font, in which each caharacter
consists of a list of strokes contained in a data file
loaded when DVISCR is invoked.

DVICORA would be useless without appropriate \tfm\ files. These are created
by running a program called LINTFM, written by my colleague Mrs Nisha
Patel. LINTFM uses conversion tables which describe the relationship
between Knuth's standard extended-Ascii encoding and the way characters
are accessed on the Linotron: this results in \tfm\ files which reflect the
macros of {\tt plain.tex}. Only one \tfm\ file is created for each Linotron font,
so the `at <size>' argument must be used when specifying fonts. There are three
`special' Linotron \tfm\ files: {\tt mathital.tfm}, {\tt symbol.tfm} and
{\tt mathex.tfm}. These describe the correspondence between \TeX\ mathematical
characters and Linotron `pi' fonts, and allow most of the {\tt plain.tex}
mathematical macros to work unchanged.

To tell \TeX\ to sue the Linotron fonts rather than its own Almost or
Computer Modern Roman fonts I had to create a modified version of {\tt plain.tex},
changing all the preloaded fonts and the font specifications 
for math mode. I have set it up so that Roman text is set by
default at Times Roman, and sans-serif as Helvetica; but anyone
who uses our system can easily change this to suit his or her
convenience.

In progress at the time of writing is a PostScript driver called
DVIPOST, also written by Mrs Nisha Patel. This will use any font
available on the PostScript device or make a table-driven substitution
for fonts that are not available.

I an writing a \TeX\ version of another component of \TS: a
system for simplified table creation. This program,
TEXTABLE, takes input files in
our existing friendly table format and converts them into the
complete apparatus of alignment preambles, glue and tabs.

In the long term (between six months and a year in the future)
we hope to build a complete \TeX\ version of \TS, including
its powerful style sheet specification facilities and
automatic page make-up optimised over the entire document.

The parts of the system which exist so far work very well (and
are already being used at one beta-test site). That is,
you can use our {\tt tsplain.tex} format, \tfm\ files and screen driver
to create valid \TeX\ source
code, then process this using \TeX\ in the normal way. The \dvi\
file can then be used to drive the Linotron 101 typesetter to produce
camera-ready pages at up to 1400 dots per inch.

We propose to charge \quid2.00 per 300 points of leading for high-resolution
(1400 dpi) setting of \dvi\ files on the Linotron; or \quid1.50 per 300pt
leading for low-resolution (350 dpi). Laser printing will be charged
at \quid2.00 per A4 page. These prices do not include VAT, postal charges
or delivery. The minimum charge is \quid20.00. Normal turnaround is three
days: prices are doubles for same-day turnaround.

If you are interested, please contact me:
{\obeylines\parindent2em
Graham Asher
Informat Computer Communications Ltd
34--42 Cleveland Street
London W1
01 580 4271 ex 311
}
 
\rightline{\sl Graham Asher}
\bigskip\eject
\centerline{\bf More Markup}
\noindent
Charlesworth's have developed a markup
system which they say ``can be used for coding
input on any word processor or computer and may
be interfaced to virtually any front-end system
to drive a phototypesetter.'' The markup language
includes codes for font changes, type size changes, justified
text, and other typographic effects, including complex
tabular work and access to special characters (like
Greek, phonetic, etc.). It is also said to be simple
and effective. The guide to Genesis (Generic Coding For All),
may be obtained, price {\it\$}6.00 from:
{\obeylines\parindent2em
H Charlesworth \&\ Co Ltd
254 Deighton Road
Huddersfield HD2 1JJ
0484 517077
}

\bigskip\vfil
\centerline{\bf McQueen/Mac\TeX\ update}
\noindent
McQueen now handle not only Mac\TeX, but also
the Page One Book Publishing system. This is a fully
automated book publishing system which is based on {\sl FTL systems}'
Mac\TeX, using templates to access a variety of formats and book designs,
eliminating the need for users to design their own layouts.
One of the ways this software exploits the hardware
and software available is by letting output be
printed at magnifications up to 180\%, allowing
standard laser printers to produce a notional
540 dpi after photoreduction.

The manuscript is entered using Microsoft Word on a Mac, and then
it can be processed through Page One (and \TeX) to produce printed
copy on any \PS\ compatible printer.

The prices quoted are \$2000US, although for Mac\TeX\ owners
this is reduced to \$1500US. I would anticipate these prices
to be translated almost directly into sterling, despite the
abyssmal showing of the dollar at present.

From this description, gleaned from the McQueen press release, Apple 2000
and TUGboat, it is not clear whether Word's limitations similarly
limit Page One --- for example, have things like diacriticals
and mathematics been abandoned? Since Page One was developed by
Toronto-based McCutcheon Graphics, it is likely that diacriticals
are in there. More information when McQueen sends it, or
contact:
{\obeylines\parindent2em
McQueen's
Elliott House
8--10 Hillside Crescent
Edinburgh EH7 5EA
031 558 3333
}

\bigskip\eject
\centerline{\bf The Return of \TeX hax}
\noindent
As noted in the last \TeX line, \TeX hax has
returned. First, what is  \TeX hax? It is
one of the many electronic distribution
systems which are around. In this  you receive
a copy of the centrally submitted material, both
queries and responses. The basic idea is that for any
query, someone somewhere will at least have encountered
a similar problem, and may be able to help (or to
confirm that the problem is difficult).

\TeX hax has a `moderator', who tries to `edit'
the material which comes in, perhaps filtering
out the more trivial or libellous material (takes
all the fun away). The moderator is Malcolm Brown
of Stanford University. \TeX hax has a distribution
list. The digest of mail is sent to each person
on the distribution list. To be placed on the
distribution list, you will need to contact
|MBB@SU-Lindy.ARPA|
or perhaps |texhax-request@SU-score.ARPA|
through one of the networks. There are at least two
minor problems involved in this: the first is accessing
ARPAnet.  The second
problem is the vast amount of email byte-ing its
way across the Atlantic (or even the Pacific ---
it sometimes seems easier to access the US via Australia). 
A way out of this problem is to establish a distribution
list within the local area. A small number of
sites then receive \TeX hax, and dutifully re-transmit
it to their own distribution list. This makes active
participation in \TeX hax limited, but at least
makes the material failrly accessible.

All the UK
academic sites are connected through JANET, which
makes this re-transmission very easy. The Irish
universities are on another system, and European
sites appear to be connected mainly  by Bitnet.
I would like to collect the electronic mailing addresses
of those receiving \TeX line anyway, and such a list
could provide the backbone for a local distribution
list.

This does not solve the problem for non-academic
people, but there must be some way of accommodating
them too. Any suggestions? 
\bigskip\vfil
\centerline{\bf DIY cmr fonts for the pc}
\noindent
We seem to have been waiting for the cmr fonts
for the pc versions of \TeX\ for a long time.
Although they are promised for both micro\TeX\ and
pc\TeX, they have not yet arrived. \DW\
has started generating the Computer Modern fonts, through
their definitions and pc\MF. So far he has completed
the  fonts which \LaTeX\ uses. If you would
like to get hold of these, simply contact:
{\obeylines\parindent2em
\DW
Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine
183 Euston Road
London NW1 2BP
01 387 4477
}
\bigskip\vfil
\centerline{\bf More typesetter drivers}
\noindent
ArborText have recently announced the availability of
DVICG, a driver for the Compugraphic 8000, 8400 and
8600 phototypesetters. It will allow you to use
the resident Compugraphic fonts alone, or combine them with
\TeX\ cmr fonts.

They have also announced `New Low Prices', claiming
to have cut most of their prices in half, as well
as insituting a standard academic discount of 25\%.

\noindent
Contact:
{\obeylines\parindent2em
ArborText Inc
416 Fourth Street
PO Box 7993
Ann Arbor
Michigan 48107
0101 313 996 3566
}