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:; Graphics : ConTeXt integrates a superset of [[MetaPost]] called [[MetaFun - MetaPost in ConTeXt|MetaFun]], which allows drawing page backgrounds and ornaments.
:; Internationalization : ConTeXt provides a multi-lingual user interface with support for markup in English, Dutch, German, French, and Italian and support for output in many languages including western European languages, eastern European languages, Indic languages, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
:; Compatibility : ConTeXt supports TeX engines such as [[wikipedia:pdfTeX|pdfTeX]], [[XeTeX]], and [[LuaTeX]] without changing the user interface. It works best with [[LuaMetaTeX]].
:; History : ConTeXt was developed from 1990 by Hans Hagen from [http://www.pragma-ade.comnl/ PRAGMA Advanced Document Engineering] (Pragma ADE), a Netherlands-based company. See [[ConTeXt history]] for further details.
:; Licensing : ConTeXt is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/free_software free software]. The program code (i.e. anything not under the <code>/doc</code> subtree) is distributed under the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_GPL GNU GPL]; the documentation is provided under [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons Creative Commons] Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike license.
: In short, there are 3 major version branches:
:* 1995: ConTeXt [[Mark II]], which defaulted to the [[pdfTeX ]] engine, but also supported ε-TEX, XeTeX, and Aleph. Now in maintenance-only modedeprecated.:* 2005: ConTeXt [[Mark IV]], using the [[LuaTeX ]] engine. This is the current stable versionNow in maintenance-only mode.:* 2019: ConTeXt [[LMTX]], using the new [[LuaMetaTeX ]] engine. This is the current development version.
: Each of the releases in those major branches also has an ISO timestamp that functions as a minor version number.
: See [[ConTeXt history]] for further details.
=== Does ConTeXt support Unicode? ===
:Yes. It supports Unicode (UTF-8), and it’s the default input encoding. In When working with [[XeTeX]] and [[LuaTeXpdfTeX]] it is the default input encoding(deprecated), while you need to use the {{cmd|enableregime}}<tt>[utf-8]</tt> command when working with [[pdfTeX]]. See also [[Encodings and Regimes - Old Content]] (This needs a bit of elaboration!)
=== Why should I only use letters, digits and hyphens in file/path names? ===
:Please see section "Files" of the [http://pmrb.free.fr/contextref.pdf ConTeXt manual]. And also [http://www.ntg.nl/pipermail/ntg-context/2011/057342.html here] for some discussion on the mailing-list.
(This is old. ConTeXt is much more tolerant now.)
== ConTeXt vs. LaTeX ==
:The main difference between the two, in my opinion, is a philosophical one: LaTeX was created with the idea of separating content and presentation to such an extent that the typical author would write their content and then use a style file created by someone else to provide the visual presentation. Thus, the proliferation of style files and related things.
:ConTeXt, on the other hand, retained the idea of separating content and presentation, but was created with the idea of being used for books, where each book tends to have a different layout, and so the expected "end user" “end user” is the person doing all the layout. Thus, it's designed to provide a vast amount of flexibility for layout in a way that can be fairly easily defined without needing to write a package (or go find one that's that’s already written).
:To some extent, modern LaTeX has become a lot more like ConTeXt's ConTeXt’s intent, with a large quantity of packages, and classes like "memoir" “memoir” that are designed to give the end user a large amount of control of the visual presentation. Thus, the difference is more one of focus and arrangement -- – ConTeXt is all "of “of a piece" piece” and most things are built in and designed as a complete set, whereas with LaTeX it's it’s generally the case that when you want to do something different, you need to find the right package, and sometimes find that there are three that almost do what you want and none that are quite right (but, then, that also means that there are usually choices for how to do things, which can be good.)
:Another difference is that IMO, ConTeXt is a lot easier to program in. It was designed a fair bit later than LaTeX, for much faster computers, and thus includes a lot of things that make it load and run slower but make programming a lot easier.
:Author: Brooks Moses on c.t.t. usenet
:(Note that the internal coding of ConTeXt has become much easier, too, with the use of LuaTeX - or perhaps seemingly more complicated, as one has to then learn lua Lua to understand the internal workings of ConTeXt. Most users will never delve into this level, but do indeed benefit from the increased performance of the ConTeXt system. The loading of the ConTeXt macros and the processing of even very large typesetting projects is *not * slow!And since LuaMetaTeX, ConTeXt is even usually much fast than LaTeX.)
=== What are the advantages of ConTeXt over LaTeX? ===
:Another advantage is that many good books on LaTeX exist. Documentation of ConTeXt is not satisfactory, as attested by much activity on the mailing list, but is slowly being improved. And good books on the use of ConTeXt need to be written!
:There are a few things that ConTeXt can’t do yet, that don’t work any more or that work better in LaTeX:
:*[[TikZ]] generally works with ConTeXt, but is much slower than [[MetaPost]] and better integrated with LaTeX.
:*Forms (see [[Widgets]]) are broken WRT radiobuttons, signature fields and some other details; they were implemented very early and the code doesn’t suit many PDF viewers any more. (state in 2022, but at least since 2019)
:*Similar to LaTeX, there are several [[Tables Overview|table modes]], and, depending on your needs, none of them can provide all necessary features.
:*The possibilities for parallel text streams (in LaTeX e.g. `reledmac` or `parallel`) aren’t mature or {{src|buff-par.mkvi|documented}}.
=== How transcribe this LaTeX macro to ConTeXt? ===
:Hot topic on the mailing list!
:There's currently no converter such as LaTeX2html or tex4ht available for ConTeXt. If you're ready to pay a price and put some more effort in your document, the best way is to use XML input and produce PDF out of it with ConTeXt and HTML using XSLT.
:[http://archive.contextgarden.net/thread/20050921.151245.b6a6f87e.en.html ConTeXt to RTF Conversion]
=== Can I change to LaTeX’s Computer Modern font? ===
I see differences in screen between default fonts in ConTeXt (Latin Modern) and LaTeX (Computer Modern). Can I switch to LaTeX default font?. I think it's it’s more aesthetical.
: No.
: ''(I mean - of course you can; you only need to modify a few type-xxx.tex files and replace lm with cm in the source. But that solution is not/will not be supported officially.)''
:: Is there any tutorial for doing it?
::: ''No. There are no tutorials for the things that one is not supposed to mess with. Take a look at how things are done in those files and replace any occurrence of lm with cm.''
: There might be a workaround for this. Install the [http://cm-unicode.sourceforge.net/ OpenType version of Computer Modern fonts] on your system and use it with <code>simplefonts</code>like other OpenType fonts.
=== How can I get the “oldstyle numbers” (text figures) in a document? ===
=== How do I make a presentation? ===
:You don't need any special package (like prosper or seminar in LaTeX) to make a presentation. In contrast to LaTeX, changing the document size, changing colors, adding hyperlinks, ... appears to be is extremely simple in ConTeXt. See [[Presentations]] for more specific topics. :Don’t forget to activate links etc. with `\setupinteraction[state=start]`.
[[Category:Basics]]
