Consodoc vs tbook or jadetex
In comp.text.xml, I was asked to compare Consodoc with tbook and jadetex. My answer.
thanks for asking. It's hard to compare Consodoc with tbook or jadetex, they are different things. Consodoc is a framework which unites several technologies to the whole.
Being a framework, it automates the gory details, but you still need to write some code. It's the main and I hope the only cons. More precisely, you need to write:
* an XSLT program to convert XML to LaTeX, and
* (optionally) a LaTeX class file.
On the pros side: Thanks to TeXML, you need only the basics of XSLT to rewrite XML tags to LaTeX environments. And writing a class file is an easy task for an experienced LaTeX developer.
For more pros, see the column "Benefits": http://consodoc.com/
Now let's try to compare the tools.
tbook:
* Source XML should be in the gives DTD, but the program for converting XML to LaTeX already exists.
* Consodoc doesn't restrict the format of the source XML, but you have to write a conversion program.
jadetex:
* A Jade program should be written by you. The same is for the conversion program in Consodoc.
* The TeX code, produced by Jade, isn't for a human.
* In Consodoc, the intermediate LaTeX code is actually a first-class citizen. Consodoc encourages manual tuning of the LaTeX code to produce beautiful PDFs.
Don't hesitate to ask further questions!
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