#39 Not helpful description of option `headings=standardclasses` in the manual

[Markus Kohm]

I've got an email report about the KOMA-Script manual with the following statement:

The classes now have the option “headings=standardclasses” is not
helpful either, because, as the manual says, it

adjusts the font sizes of the headings to those of the standard
classes. In addition, the font for the disposition element is
set to \bfseries.

It doesn’t do just that: it also sets chapters the same way as book
wich is not mentioned in the manual).

[Markus Kohm]

The quote from the KOMA-Script manual is unfortunately incomplete. There are two places, that explain option headings=standardclasses, both in section 3.16. Document Structure.

The first one is in the description of option headings=<setting>. Currently, it is the third paragraph there:

The headings=standardclasses option adjusts the font sizes of the headings to those of the standard classes. In addition, the font for the disposition element is set to \bfseries. It therefore no longer uses a sans-serif font for the headings. If you use scrbook or scrreprt, headings=twolinechapter is also set and the spacing between the chapter headings is adjusted to that of the standard classes.

Option setting headings=twolinechapters is exactly the change to a formatting with a prefix line with Chapter <number> like book or report do. So this change is also mentioned here.

The second one it in Table 3.13 Available values for the headings option to format section headings. Currently, it is the twelfth entry:

standardclasses
Reset the font settings for each of the standard sectioning levels and use headings
with the sizes of the standard classes. For chapter headings, scrbook und scrreprt set
headings=twolinechapter.

Note: I've already changed the und into and in [r4009]. And in the same table you can find the entry:

twolinechapter, chapterprefix, chapterwithprefix, chapterwithprefixline
Chapter titles are set with a number line whose format is determined by \chapterformat.

So in my opinion the manual already mentions, that not only the font but also the formatting with prefix line changes.

BTW: If the option would only change the font, the value standardclasses would be somehow misleading, wouldn't it?

Nevertheless. I'm willing to improve the description of headings=twolinechapters in the table, if this would help to understand the difference. For example it could copy more from the second paragraph of the description of option headings=<settings>, which is currently:

Chapter headings also have the two options headings=twolinechapter and headings=onelinechapter, which correspond to chapterprefix=true and chapterprefix=false explained above. […] Of course, these options do not exist with scrartcl.

I'm waiting for suggestions.

[Markus Kohm]

Closed, because no suggestion from anybody in about three month.