[toolbox] TeXShop completions

[Will R. <ws...@gm...>]

Hello everyone,

I've finally gotten around to taking a more decent look at TeXShop's =20
completions, courtesy of some old file of Herb Schulz's I have lying =20
around. (Are you here, Herb?)

I've been hacking away at it for a little while now when it occurred =20
to me that I should check if it's been improved since I got my hands =20
on it. (I don't even know if the file's publicly available any more.)

Anyway, I think you'll like what I've been doing. I always forget =20
what the more complex optional arguments are supposed to be in things =20=

like minipages. I've now got completions like the following:

	\framebox[#INS#=F0=DCwidth=DD][=F0=DCpos: c,l,r,s=DD]{=F0}
	\framebox[#INS#]{=F0}

	\makebox[#INS#=F0=DCwidth=DD][=F0=DCpos: c,l,r,s=DD]{=F0}
	\makebox[#INS#]{=F0}

	\raisebox{#INS#=F0=DCraise=DD}[=F0=DCheight=DD][=F0=DCdepth=DD]{=F0=
}
	\raisebox{#INS#=F0=DCraise=DD}[=F0=DCheight=DD]{=F0}
	\raisebox{#INS#}{=F0}

And I've modified the bullet searching TeXShop macros to select any =20
matching =DC...=DD text after a bullet as well (see appended, and feel =20=

free to distribute -- I copied them from Herb).

I'm keen on the idea of expanding the completion file to include as =20
much of base LaTeX as possible, following conventions something like =20
the above. There's no reason it should be TeXShop specific, either. I =20=

don't know how much time I have or how long my motivation will last, =20
but anyone interested in helping out would be great. I guess this =20
file would need to be placed in a svn site somewhere if more than one =20=

person were to work on it.

Hypothetically, I would like this file to evolve beyond TeXShop's =20
current completion engine into a file that can be used for more =20
flexible purposes; e.g., code prompting as you type. New LaTeX =20
packages should be able to write their own command description file =20
(via the dtx mechanism) which would be preparsed somewhere such that =20
when a \usepackage is recognised, the extra macros can be added to =20
the current pool of "known" commands that the editor can prompt for. =20
Ideally, every single user command in LaTeX should be completely =20
documented in this way, which would then allow true syntax spell =20
checking of LaTeX code.

I imagine an extension to \newcommand (or the LaTeX3 equivalent, more =20=

likely) that takes such syntax information for purely metadata =20
reasons. E.g.,
   \newcommand\mycommand[2]
     (1: first argument; 2:second argument)
     {#1: #2}
(I just made that up on the spot. Perhaps it's not such a good idea.) =20=

Alternatively,
   \newcommand\mycommand[2]{#1: #2}
   \describemacro\mycommand[1=3Dfirst arg, 2=3Dsecond arg]{This is a =20
macro for not doing much.}

I know, I know. It's all easy to say these things, but I'm not the =20
first to think of them so I believe the idea has merit. (Frank =20
Mittelbach touches briefly on the subject in the documentation file, =20
if I recall correctly, ltxdoc.pdf .)

Just some rambling thoughts for a procrastinating Friday evening. Any =20=

thoughts?

Will




--AppleScript direct

--Find Next "Tab"

property bullet : "=F0"
property openDelim : "=DC"
property closeDelim : "=DD"

try
	tell application "TeXShop"
		activate
		set searchOffset to (offset of selection of front =
document)
		if (length of selection of front document) > 0 then
			set searchOffset to (searchOffset + 1)
		end if
		tell front document to set bulletMark to (search for =
bullet =20
starting from searchOffset)
		if bulletMark > 0 then
			set offset of selection of front document to =
(bulletMark - 1)
			if character (bulletMark + 1) of the text of the =
front document is =20
openDelim then
				tell front document to set delimMark to =
(search for closeDelim =20
starting from bulletMark)
				if delimMark > 0 then
					set length of selection of front =
document to (delimMark - =20
bulletMark + 1)
				else
					set length of selection of front =
document to 1
				end if
			else
				set length of selection of front =
document to 1
			end if
		end if
	end tell
end try




--AppleScript direct

--Find Previous "Tab"

property bullet : "=F0"
property openDelim : "=DC"
property closeDelim : "=DD"

try
	tell application "TeXShop"
		activate
		set searchOffset to (offset of selection of front =
document)
		tell front document to set bulletMark to (search for =
bullet =20
starting from searchOffset with searching backwards)
		if bulletMark > 0 then
			set offset of selection of front document to =
(bulletMark - 1)
			if character (bulletMark + 1) of the text of the =
front document is =20
openDelim then
				tell front document to set delimMark to =
(search for closeDelim =20
starting from bulletMark)
				if delimMark > 0 then
					set length of selection of front =
document to (delimMark - =20
bulletMark + 1)
				else
					set length of selection of front =
document to 1
				end if
			else
				set length of selection of front =
document to 1
			end if
		end if
	end tell
end try