On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 06:00, NISUS automatic digest system <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

There are 7 messages totalling 502 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

1. OT: Christmas Greetings (3)
2. OT: cricket (was: Christmas Greetings)
3. a macro essay: calculate non-contiguious selected digits (2)
4. Two or Three things I Know about NWP Macro Language

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Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 07:53:41 +0000
From: Chris <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: OT: Christmas Greetings

Listening to the news here in the UK this morning I suspect the pressure
is getting to Ponting. Haranguing both umpires is not the done thing.

That said I wouldn't want him to be suspended since he should be another
cheap wicket for us to bag.... :-)

>On the other hand, when there is a changing of the guard ... ;-)

I agree. I'm old enough to know you never, ever, write off the Aussies....

Chris

On 27/12/10 Geoffrey Heard wrote:

>>Bit late to this, but Christmas greetings to all and best wishes for a
>>prosperous and healthy New Year.
>>
>>And, commiserations to Geoff on the Aussie's performance in the current
>>test match :)
>
>I have to admit, Chris, that I *LOVE* what's happening! Ponting et al
>told us all, when they were winning, that they didn't have to pay
>attention to what we all thought -- they would play how they liked,
>select who they liked, say what they liked, and be as nasty and
>arrogant as they liked. The fawning media supported them.
>
>I suspect lots of Australians are as happy as I am to see them
>getting their comeuppance.
>
>On the other hand, when there is a changing of the guard ... ;-)
>
>Cheers, geoff

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 19:02:25 +1100
From: Geoffrey Heard <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: OT: cricket (was: Christmas Greetings)

Hiya Chris

>Listening to the news here in the UK this morning I suspect the pressure
>is getting to Ponting. Haranguing both umpires is not the done thing.

And in the cirumstances, amazing. The Prior goes on to bat through to
stumps! Great stuff.

>That said I wouldn't want him to be suspended since he should be another
>cheap wicket for us to bag.... :-)

True, true. But it is such a bizarre game, you never know what is
going to happen.

Still, with 4.5 times the Australia score, 5 wickets still in hand,
Trott batting like a beauty, to say nothing of Prior, abd 3 days to
play, England should feel a certsin smount of confidence. :D

Cheers, geoff

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:47:01 +0900
From: Nobumi Iyanaga <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: a macro essay: calculate non-contiguious selected digits

Hello Kino,

Thank you very much for your reply.

On Dec 27, 2010, at 2:28 AM, Kino wrote:

>
>> foreach $num in $selectedTexts
>> $theNum = Cast to Int $num
>> if $theNum == 0
>> if $num != '0'
>> exit "$num is not a digit"
>> end
>> end
>> $theExpression &= $num & $theOperator
>> end
>
> Yeah, NWP macro does not have a proper command for that kind of
> verification. That is a bit annoying, but, in a certain sense, it
> is those shortcomings which make us more familiar with the macro
> language. Doing trials and errors to write a viable alternative,
> surely we learn something.

Yes, I completely agree with you. On the other hand, I think that one
thing which still lacks in Nisus macro language is the possibility of
using sub-routine. When this will be possible, I think/hope that
writing macros will be much simpler (but before that, we -- I --
should master the current macro language, which is not easy at all...!).

>> $theLength = $theExpression.length
>> $theLength = $theLength - 1
>> $theRange = Range.new (0, $theLength)
>
> You can condense these three lines into:
>
> $theRange = Range.new (0, $theExpression.length - 1)

Ah, I would have not been able to find this by myself. Very
intelligent and helpful!

>
>> $theExpression = $theExpression.substringInRange ($theRange)
>
> For such a purpose, I think you can use join command
> advantageously, like in the macro below.

This is also very useful. It seems there are many interesting and
useful commands in the macro language, but it is difficult to
understand and use them when one is not familiar with it. Exercise
and experience...!

> ### another version ####
...

This version is much simpler and cleverer. Thank you very much. I
will keep it in my macro file.

I will reply to your other posting, and please wait some time...

Best regard,

Nobumi Iyanaga
Tokyo,
Japan

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 07:18:49 -0400
From: THDW <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: OT: Christmas Greetings

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On 25 Dec 2010, at 19:04, Geoffrey Heard wrote:

> It was the last Feudal family dispute -- the sovereigns of all the =
principal nations when the war started were cousins. Of course, =
underlying that was the treasure generated by power over less developed =
lands that could be sucked dry.

This should clinch you the Us and Them Chair of modern history at Mel =
Gibson University.=20

You are overlooking the role of jingoism among the masses. Italy went to =
war in 1915 largely as the result of popular demand, not least from (the =
until then socialist) Benito Mussolini.

T

seen in the Economist:

> In the spring of 1854, as the Crimean fighting began in earnest, an =
Anglican cleric declared that Russian Orthodoxy was as =93impure, =
demoralising, and intolerant as popery itself=94. What could be more =
natural, then, than to team up with Islam and popery to cleanse that =
terrible impurity? A French newspaper, meanwhile, gave warning that the =
Russians represented a special menace to all Catholics because =93they =
hope to convert us to their heresy=94.

THDW
[log in to unmask]

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Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/html;
charset=windows-1252

<html><head></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; =
"><br><div><div>On 25 Dec 2010, at 19:04, Geoffrey Heard wrote:</div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type=3D"cite"><span =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: separate; =
font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; =
font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; =
orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; =
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: =
auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; ">It was the =
last Feudal family dispute -- the sovereigns of all the principal =
nations when the war started were cousins. Of course, underlying that =
was the treasure generated by power over less developed lands that could =
be sucked dry.</span></blockquote><br></div><div>This should clinch you =
the Us and Them Chair of modern history at Mel Gibson =
University. </div><div><br></div><div>You are overlooking the role =
of jingoism among the masses. Italy went to war in 1915 largely as the =
result of popular demand, not least from (the until then socialist) =
Benito =
Mussolini.</div><div><br></div><div>T</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><=
div>seen in the =
Economist:</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><blockquote =
type=3D"cite"><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-family: =
Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); =
line-height: 20px; ">In the spring of 1854, as the Crimean fighting =
began in earnest, an Anglican cleric declared that Russian Orthodoxy was =
as =93impure, demoralising, and intolerant as popery itself=94. What =
could be more natural, then, than to team up with Islam and popery to =
cleanse that terrible impurity? A French newspaper, meanwhile, gave =
warning that the Russians represented a special menace to all Catholics =
because =93they hope to convert us to their =
heresy=94.</span></blockquote></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br=
></div><br><div>
<span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: separate; =
color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 16px; =
font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; =
letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: =
auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; =
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: =
auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div>THDW</div><div><a =
href=3D"mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]=
m</a></div><div><br class=3D"webkit-block-placeholder"></div></span><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline">
</div>
<br></body></html>=

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Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 03:18:19 +0900
From: Kino <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: a macro essay: calculate non-contiguious selected digits

Hello Nobumi,

On Dec 27, 2010, at 5:47 PM, Nobumi Iyanaga wrote:

> On the other hand, I think that one thing which still lacks in Nisus =
macro language is the possibility of using sub-routine. When this will =
be possible, I think/hope that writing macros will be much simpler

I agree with you. Due to the lack of sub-routine, sometimes I have to =
write a verrrrrry long loop repeating several code blocks again and =
again in it. That is annoying.

> (but before that, we -- I -- should master the current macro language, =
which is not easy at all...!).

I remember the impression of something very stern I felt when I looked =
at NWP 1.1's Macro Reference for the first time. But believe me, it is =
far easier to master than it looks. For example, the naming scheme of =
commands is so consistent that you can know the syntax of a command from =
its name in most of the cases. Of course, I was in an uncommon =
situation. To test all new commands, I wrote a large number of small =
macros in a short period. So, if you do something similar (not for the =
current enlarged command set but for the basic one flagged as v1.1), I =
bet you will feel very comfortable with the NWP macro. It would take =
several days but worth trying, I think. Now I find the current NWP macro =
the easiest and the smartest of all the macro/scripting languages I have =
ever tried. NW Classic macro was simpler in some aspects but, with it, =
you were often forced to invent something acrobatic and tricky.

The same applies to the regular expression. If there is something I know =
and you don't, that is just because I tested all special characters and =
syntactic elements, including Unicode properties, e.g. \p{Hebrew}, when =
they adopted the new regex library in NWP 1.0.1.

BTW, according to my testings of years ago, the atomic group -- =
(?>subexp) -- is not especially efficient in NWP although it is =
supported properly. That does not mean that its implementation in NWP or =
in oniguruma (regex library) is bad. On the contrary, the regex library =
-- the one implemented in NWP at leaset -- seems to be very well =
optimized that you don't need using it in order to improve the =
performance. I'm not 100 % sure but that is my impression.

>> You can condense these three lines into:
>>=20
>> $theRange =3D Range.new (0, $theExpression.length - 1)
>=20
> Ah, I would have not been able to find this by myself.

Neither did I. Until I saw something similar in a macro written by =
Martin, I did not imagine such a construction to be possible.

Kino

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 03:34:56 +0900
From: Kino <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Two or Three things I Know about NWP Macro Language

Below are the essentials of what I came to know by exchanging messages =
with Martin at Nisus Soft and of some undocumented things I verified by =
myself.

- You can repeat the same commands several times without fearing a =
performance hit. I was told that NWP caches them. For example, recently =
I wrote such a routine in a macro.
=
<http://www2.odn.ne.jp/alt-quinon/files/NWPro/link/MakeLinkIndex_nwm.zip>

foreach $sel in $sels
$attr =3D $sel.text.attributesAtIndex $sel.location
if $pages{$attr.link} =3D=3D undefined
$pages{$attr.link} =3D Array.new
end
$page =3D $sel.text.pageNumberAtIndex $sel.location
if $pages{$attr.link}.indexOfValue($page) =3D=3D -1
$pages{$attr.link}.appendValue $page
end
$page =3D $sel.text.pageNumberAtIndex($sel.bound - 1)
if $pages{$attr.link}.indexOfValue($page) =3D=3D -1
$pages{$attr.link}.appendValue $page
end
end

Looking odd? In such a case, usually you would use a variable storing =
$attr.link ($linkText in the code below). But there is no significant =
difference in performance (I did benchmark tests) between the code above =
and a common way of coding like this:

foreach $sel in $sels
$attr =3D $sel.text.attributesAtIndex $sel.location
$linkText =3D $attr.link
if $pages{$linkText} =3D=3D undefined
$pages{$linkText} =3D Array.new
end
$page =3D $sel.text.pageNumberAtIndex $sel.location
if $pages{$linkText}.indexOfValue($page) =3D=3D -1
$pages{$linkText}.appendValue $page
end
$page =3D $sel.text.pageNumberAtIndex($sel.bound - 1)
if $pages{$linkText}.indexOfValue($page) =3D=3D -1
$pages{$linkText}.appendValue $page
end
end

- "$textObject.find" is much faster than "Find" command because the =
former does not create selections actually. There is a huge difference =
when processing a very large number of occurrences.

- Something similar applies to "Push Target Selection ... Pop Target =
Selection" command. For example,

$doc =3D Document.active
$sels =3D $doc.text.findAll '(?<=3D\t)\S+(?=3D\t)', 'E'
Push Target Selection $sels
Set Font Name 'Times'
Pop Target Selection

is much and much faster than

Find All '(?<=3D\t)\S+(?=3D\t)', 'E'
Set Font Name 'Times'

when there will be a large number of selections.

- When inserting a large number of footnotes, it is not recommendable to =
process from the document end to the document start. Then, NWP would be =
forced to update note numbers of all the already inserted footnotes each =
time you insert a new one.

Then, one inconvenience in processing from the document start is the =
necessity to update TextSelection objects when a new footnote has been =
inserted. For that, you can use a routine in a macro
=
<http://www2.odn.ne.jp/alt-quinon/files/NWPro/footendnotes/ConvertHTMLNote=
s_nwm.zip>
written for converting notes in e-texts such as
<http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/hume/treatise1.html>

In that macro, you will find...

$offset =3D 0

# $ref is a TextSelection object corresponding, for example, with "(47)" =
in the html file
foreach $ref in $noteRef
# Extract the subtext of the first value of $noteText (array)
$note =3D $noteText.dequeue.subtext
# replace "47. " of "47. Sect. 4." with $defNoteText
$note.findAndReplace $noteNum, $defNoteText, 'E-i'
# Store the current $text.length in $previousTextLength
$previousTextLength =3D $text.length
# Modify the location of $ref so that it fits the current state =
of $text
$ref.location -=3D $offset
# Delete "(47)".
$text.deleteInRange $ref.range
# Insert a footnote with note text ($note)
Note.insertFootnoteInTextAtIndex $text, $ref.location, $note
# Increase $offset by (PreviousTextLength - CurrentTextLength)
$offset +=3D $previousTextLength - $text.length
end

The code above is based on the one given by Martin when I complaint =
about the performance of an oldest version of my macro, namely =
<http://www2.odn.ne.jp/alt-quinon/files/NWPro/footendnotes/Body2Note_nwm.z=
ip>.

- And... probably you would already know but there is a long-standing =
bug in the interpretation of back slash enclosed by single quotes. The =
find expression in

Find '\\footnote{[^}]+}', 'E'

will be interpreted as '\f' (page break) followed by 'ootnote{[^}]+}'. =
To work it around, you have to put three (or four?) back slashes. That's =
ugly. So I always use a hexadecimal notation \x{5C}.

Kino

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 12:53:52 +1100
From: Geoffrey Heard <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: OT: Christmas Greetings

>On 25 Dec 2010, at 19:04, Geoffrey Heard wrote:
>
>>It was the last Feudal family dispute -- the sovereigns of all the
>>principal nations when the war started were cousins. Of course,
>>underlying that was the treasure generated by power over less
>>developed lands that could be sucked dry.
>>
>
>This should clinch you the Us and Them Chair of modern history at
>Mel Gibson University.
>
>You are overlooking the role of jingoism among the masses. Italy
>went to war in 1915 largely as the result of popular demand, not
>least from (the until then socialist) Benito Mussolini.
>
>T
>
>seen in the Economist:
>
>
>>In the spring of 1854, as the Crimean fighting began in earnest, an
>>Anglican cleric declared that Russian Orthodoxy was as "impure,
>>demoralising, and intolerant as popery itself". What could be more
>>natural, then, than to team up with Islam and popery to cleanse
>>that terrible impurity? A French newspaper, meanwhile, gave warning
>>that the Russians represented a special menace to all Catholics
>>because "they hope to convert us to their heresy".

Lovely stuff, T, but my explanation was shorter! :D

Not forgetting that the C of E clergy were catspaws (and often
younger brothers of) the aristocracy.

And let's not forget that other Crimean war in 1919 -- Australian
troops, sick of the bloodshed, climbed on to ships expecting to go
home ... but found themselves in the Crimea fighting for the White
Russians. Gawd.

Cheers, geoff

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End of NISUS Digest - 26 Dec 2010 to 27 Dec 2010 (#2010-3)
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