The text: synthesis and challenges

Summary

This lesson closes the second unit of the course, devoted to the text. It reconstructs the chain of conventions and procedures that runs from the paragraph and its signs to notes, quotations and verse, pointing out in each link which principle is used and in which lesson it is established; it places what has been achieved against the plan of the course and specifies which questions, barely anticipated, are left for the following units; it repeats in its exit assessment the skills of the entry assessment; and it ends with six challenges, harder than the problems of the lessons, which require combining several of them to diagnose badly typeset texts, predict results in documents with several languages and plan documents from their description.

Learning objectives

Reconstruct the order of the conventions and procedures of the unit, identifying the principle on which each one rests.
Explain how the declared language, the fonts, logical markup and the decisions the engine takes at the end of each paragraph are related.
Distinguish what the unit established from what it only anticipated and the following units will develop.
Diagnose texts that compile but are badly typeset, separating what the log reports from what only reading reveals.
Plan the preamble and the body of a document with several languages, notes and quotations from its description.

What the unit achieved

The unit set out to go from a document that compiles to a text typeset with the conventions of typography and of each language. The purpose has been fulfilled by relying on what the introduction declared known from the previous unit: the rules by which the engine reads the source, the scope of declarations, the separation of content and form, LuaLaTeX with Unicode, and the runs of the compilation. With that, the path travelled can be read as a single chain in four stretches.

Paragraphs, spaces and punctuation

The lesson on paragraphs, spaces and punctuation distinguished the paragraph, which is opened by a blank line or by \par, from the line break, which does not open one, and established that the shape of the paragraphs and the vertical space between them are decided by the class. It sorted spaces by their function: the one that stretches and admits a line break, the tie that prevents it and the thin space of the thousands; it showed that LaTeX enlarges the space after a period, as traditional English typography does, and that \frenchspacing, which babel turns on in languages such as French or Spanish, makes it equal. It distinguished the hyphen, the en dash, the em dash and the minus sign; it typeset quotation marks on several levels, by hand or with \enquote, and the ellipsis; and it taught how decimals, thousands and percentages are written in English, in the text and in formulas, and what babel changes in them in other languages, such as Spanish.

Languages and fonts

The lesson on languages and fonts explained what the declared language decides: hyphenation, captions, the date and certain keyboard shorthands; it distinguished the three ways of switching language by what they change, and applied them to Greek and Latin. It presented the three font families, \babelfont for assigning one to each language and the most useful OpenType features; and it taught how to check that no character and no style is missing, and to prefer the fonts of TeX Live when the document must compile on other computers.

Formatting with meaning

The lesson on formatting with meaning carried the separation of content and form into the detail of the text. It distinguished logical from visual markup; it studied emphasis, which reverses when nested; the three attributes of type, with their argument and declaration forms; and sizes, which exist only as declarations. It established that the line spacing and the alignment of a paragraph are decided when it ends, from which it follows that a group that changes either of them must include the end of the paragraph. It proposed defining commands that name functions, presented lists with enumitem and alignment, and ended with what is best avoided.

Notes, quotations and verse

The lesson on notes, quotations and verse typeset the apparatus of the academic text: footnotes, with the reference after the punctuation mark as English typography requires, the mark and the text separately, and notes in titles; inline quotations with \enquote and displayed ones with quote, quotation and \blockquote; epigraphs; verse in the verse environment; and line numbering with lineno, whose references need, like every reference, two runs.

The following figure gathers the four stretches into a single chain. Each node of the column is a convention or a procedure, numbered according to the order in which they rest on one another and joined by an arc to the earlier links it uses; around them float the supports, that is, the principles to which the chain turns again and again, each joined by a solid line to the links that rest on it and by a dotted one to the link where it is established, except those established in the previous unit, which are drawn as rings. Clicking a support highlights all the links that use it, and each link refers to the lesson in which it is studied.

Supports of the chain

AReading the source. Several spaces count as one, a line break counts as a space and a blank line ends the paragraph; control words consume the space that follows them. Established in the previous unit. Admitted without proof in this unit.
BScope of declarations. A declaration applies until the end of the group that contains it, and the braces that follow it do not limit it. Established in the previous unit. Admitted without proof in this unit.
CContent and form. The author declares what each thing is, and a decision taken elsewhere fixes how it looks. Established in the previous unit. Admitted without proof in this unit.
DUnicode and fonts. LuaLaTeX reads the source in Unicode, and a character the font does not contain is missing from the PDF, with a warning in the log. Established in the previous unit. Admitted without proof in this unit.
ERuns. References are written to the auxiliary file in one run and used in the next. Established in the previous unit. Admitted without proof in this unit.
FThe language decides. The language declared with babel decides hyphenation, captions, the date, certain shorthands and the space after a period; in some languages, such as Spanish, also the space before the percent sign and the decimal comma in formulas. Established in: 8. What the language decides.
GWhen the paragraph ends. The line spacing and the alignment of a paragraph are decided when it ends, with the values in force at that moment. Established in: 18. Sizes.

Segment 1 Paragraphs, spaces and punctuation
- Separate paragraphs with blank lines and reserve the line break for the cases in which the unit is the line.
- Choose between the ordinary space, the tie, the thin space and no space at all.
- Write the hyphen, the en dash, the em dash and the minus sign where each belongs.
- Typeset quotation marks on several levels, ellipses and numbers.
1. Paragraph and line break. The blank line and \par end the paragraph, whose shape the class decides; the line break ends only the line, without indentation or protection for the next one.
  Rests on: A (Reading the source). Proved in: Paragraphs, spaces and punctuation.
2. Vertical space. Stretchable skips and \vspace add space between blocks and are discarded at the top of a page; they are used sparingly, because the space between paragraphs is decided by the class.
  Uses: 1. Paragraph and line break. Rests on: C (Content and form). Proved in: Paragraphs, spaces and punctuation.
3. Tie and thin space. The tie is an ordinary space at which the line cannot break; the thin space is narrow, fixed and unbreakable, and separates groups of digits.
  Rests on: A (Reading the source). Proved in: Paragraphs, spaces and punctuation.
4. Space after a period. LaTeX enlarges the space after a period it takes for the end of a sentence, as traditional English typography does; \frenchspacing makes it equal, and babel turns it on in languages such as French or Spanish.
  Uses: 3. Tie and thin space. Rests on: A (Reading the source). Proved in: Paragraphs, spaces and punctuation.
5. Hyphens and dashes. The hyphen joins compounds; two hyphens give the en dash of ranges; three, the em dash of parenthetical remarks; the minus sign exists only in a formula.
  Rests on: D (Unicode and fonts). Proved in: Paragraphs, spaces and punctuation.
6. Quotation marks and ellipsis. American English uses double quotation marks outside and single ones inside, and \enquote chooses and closes them; the ellipsis is a single sign.
  Rests on: D (Unicode and fonts), C (Content and form). Proved in: Paragraphs, spaces and punctuation.
7. Decimals and percentages. In a formula the comma is punctuation and is protected with braces; thousands take a thin space or the comma of ordinary prose, and the percent sign is attached to the number.
  Uses: 3. Tie and thin space. Rests on: A (Reading the source). Proved in: Paragraphs, spaces and punctuation.
Segment 2 Languages and fonts
- Declare the main language and the secondary ones, and explain what each one decides.
- Choose between \foreignlanguage, otherlanguage and \selectlanguage.
- Typeset Greek and Latin with their rules and a suitable font.
- Assign fonts and features, check that nothing is missing and prefer portable fonts.
1. What the language decides. babel applies, language by language, the hyphenation patterns, the captions, the date and the shorthands; the last language in the list is the main one.
  Uses: 4. Space after a period, 6. Quotation marks and ellipsis, 7. Decimals and percentages. Proved in: Languages and fonts.
2. Switching language. \foreignlanguage changes the hyphenation and the shorthands of a short passage; otherlanguage also changes the date and the captions, and closes; \selectlanguage changes everything from there on.
  Uses: 8. What the language decides. Rests on: F (The language decides), B (Scope of declarations). Proved in: Languages and fonts.
3. Greek and Latin. Latin is a babel option; Ancient Greek is declared with \babelprovide and needs a font with polytonic Greek.
  Uses: 9. Switching language. Rests on: F (The language decides), D (Unicode and fonts). Proved in: Languages and fonts.
4. Families and fontspec. The main font, the sans serif and the monospaced one are assigned by name, with features in square brackets.
  Rests on: D (Unicode and fonts). Proved in: Languages and fonts.
5. A font for each language. With a language in square brackets, \babelfont assigns a font that applies only to what is marked as that language.
  Uses: 11. Families and fontspec, 9. Switching language. Rests on: F (The language decides). Proved in: Languages and fonts.
6. OpenType features. Old-style or lining figures, proportional or tabular ones, small capitals and ligatures are switched on as features, in the declaration or in a group.
  Uses: 11. Families and fontspec. Rests on: B (Scope of declarations). Proved in: Languages and fonts.
7. Coverage and portability. A font covers only some scripts and styles; what is missing is reported in the log, and the fonts of TeX Live compile on any full installation.
  Uses: 12. A font for each language, 10. Greek and Latin. Rests on: D (Unicode and fonts). Proved in: Languages and fonts.
Segment 3 Formatting with meaning
- Prefer logical markup to visual markup.
- Predict nested emphasis, combinations of type and sizes.
- Define commands that name functions.
- Typeset lists and align passages, and avoid visual marks.
1. Logical markup. Each formatting mark answers to a function of the text, and its appearance is decided in a single definition.
  Rests on: C (Content and form). Proved in: Formatting with meaning.
2. Emphasis. \emph stands out by contrast: in upright text it gives italics, in italics it returns to upright, and in bold it adds italics.
  Uses: 15. Logical markup. Rests on: B (Scope of declarations). Proved in: Formatting with meaning.
3. Family, series and shape. The three attributes of type are independent and combine; each command has its declaration, and a missing shape is substituted with a warning.
  Uses: 11. Families and fontspec, 16. Emphasis. Rests on: B (Scope of declarations). Proved in: Formatting with meaning.
4. Sizes. Sizes are only declarations; a group that changes the size of a paragraph must include its end.
  Uses: 17. Family, series and shape, 1. Paragraph and line break. Rests on: B (Scope of declarations). Proved in: Formatting with meaning.
5. Commands with meaning. A command of one's own for each function, defined in the preamble, lets its appearance be changed in a single line.
  Uses: 15. Logical markup, 16. Emphasis. Rests on: C (Content and form). Proved in: Formatting with meaning.
6. Lists. Bullets, numbers or labels according to the meaning; enumitem sets labels, spacing and numbering, and \setlist does so for the whole document.
  Uses: 15. Logical markup. Rests on: C (Content and form). Proved in: Formatting with meaning.
7. Alignment. The alignment environments add vertical space; their declarations do not, and must include the end of the paragraph.
  Uses: 18. Sizes, 1. Paragraph and line break, 2. Vertical space. Rests on: G (When the paragraph ends), B (Scope of declarations). Proved in: Formatting with meaning.
8. What is best avoided. Spacing by hand, faking headings with bold type and underlining imitate the word processor and fail silently.
  Uses: 1. Paragraph and line break, 20. Lists, 19. Commands with meaning. Rests on: C (Content and form). Proved in: Formatting with meaning.
Segment 4 Notes, quotations and verse
- Place footnotes with the reference where it belongs, also in tables and titles.
- Quote inline and display long quotations.
- Typeset epigraphs and verse.
- Number the lines of a text and refer to them.
1. Footnotes. The reference is attached and, in English, follows the punctuation mark; \footnotemark and \footnotetext separate the mark from the text.
  Uses: 1. Paragraph and line break, 4. Space after a period. Rests on: A (Reading the source). Proved in: Notes, quotations and verse.
2. Notes in titles. A note in a title travels to the auxiliary files and produces an error; the optional argument keeps the table of contents clean, and \thanks annotates the title of the document.
  Uses: 23. Footnotes. Rests on: E (Runs). Proved in: Notes, quotations and verse.
3. Inline quotations. \enquote puts in the quotation marks of the language and of the level, and admits two levels by default.
  Uses: 6. Quotation marks and ellipsis, 8. What the language decides. Rests on: F (The language decides), C (Content and form). Proved in: Notes, quotations and verse.
4. Displayed quotations. quote serves for short quotations, quotation for quotations of several paragraphs, and \blockquote displays the quotation if it takes up more than three lines.
  Uses: 25. Inline quotations, 1. Paragraph and line break. Proved in: Notes, quotations and verse.
5. Epigraphs and verse. In verse, \\ breaks the lines and the blank line separates the stanzas; the epigraph heads a section with its source.
  Uses: 1. Paragraph and line break, 26. Displayed quotations. Rests on: A (Reading the source). Proved in: Notes, quotations and verse.
6. Numbered lines. lineno numbers the lines, and \linelabel and \lineref refer to them without writing numbers, with two runs.
  Uses: 27. Epigraphs and verse. Rests on: E (Runs). Proved in: Notes, quotations and verse.

Towards structure. The chain stops where the text, already well typeset, needs an architecture: chapters, table of contents, internal references and a preamble of one's own, which are the subject of the next unit.