March 2026 - ntg-context

Add JFIF as recognized extension for JPEG files
by Giuseppe Bilotta 05 Apr '26

05 Apr '26

Hello all, this is just a heads-up that some JPEG files are shipped under a .jfif extension, it might be worth adding it to the list of recognized extensions for JPEG files. I know users can do it themselves with \definegraphictypesynonym[jfif][jpg] but it might be worth doing it at the distribution level. Cheers, Giuseppe Bilotta

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statistical-charts: line charts with several lines
by Henning Hraban Ramm 01 Apr '26

01 Apr '26

Hi Tomáš (or others who might know), I’m trying to use line charts, but they work only with one line (of data): """ \usemodule[statistical-charts] \starttext \chart[line][basic][ xunit=Year, yunit=Millions of …, axesunits=yes, ][ data={7.25,2,9,3,6,5}, % works %data={{7.25,2,9,3,6,5},{0.1,0.1,0.2,0.01,0.3,0.5}}, % doesn’t xlabels={2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006}, ] \stoptext """ The error is: """ token call, execute: ...ontext/third/statistical-charts/t-statistical-charts.lua:1608: attempt to mul a 'string' with a 'number' stack traceback: [C]: in metamethod 'mul' ...ontext/third/statistical-charts/t-statistical-charts.lua:1608: in field 'changeaxeslength' ...ontext/third/statistical-charts/t-statistical-charts.lua:1515: in field 'all' """ I get the same error if I try to call it from Lua code with a Lua table, like \startluacode context.linechart({"basic"},{ xunit = "Year", yunit = "Millions of …", axesunits = "yes", },{ data = {7.25,2,9,3,6,5}, xlabels = {2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006} }) \stopluacode Additional questions: – Can I label the lines? E.g. Cows, Dodos… – Could you please document how to use the module from Lua (CLD)? Hraban

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\showreferences
by Jim 31 Mar '26

31 Mar '26

Hi all, I tried putting \showreferences in a document which has lots of internal references (and a number of external ones), but I see no difference in the new PDF (although the PDF internals changed a bit, there were no visible differences according to the "diffpdf" program). I see nothing in the .log file, the terminal output, or even the .tuc file. In .../tex/texmf-context/tex/context/base/mkxl/strc-ref.mklx I see \permanent\protected\def\showreferences{\enabletrackers[nodes.references.show,nodes.destinations.show]} so I don't get the feeling I needed to give it some optional arguments. I tried it in the preamble. I tried it in the body of the document. There is no \showreferences wiki page. Back in 2015 there were 3 messages about this in the mailing list, with someone claiming it did what he wanted. So I tried 'context --luatex' to see if MkIV would give me something... but apparently nothing. So... can someone tell me how to make \showreferences do something visible? (Or maybe if it is doing something, where I can see this?) Thanks. Jim

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metapost spiral
by Hraban Ramm 30 Mar '26

30 Mar '26

Hi, in https://tug.ctan.org/info/drawing-with-metapost/Drawing-with-Metapost.pdf I found this code to draw a spiral: path S; S = origin for t=1 upto 90: .. 1/12 t * dir 16t endfor; draw S; I understand it starts at origin and adds a number of points – but where are the points (pairs)? There’s a number (distance?) and a direction (angle?). Could you explain this in layman’s terms? If I try a different starting point than origin, the spiral still is drawn around origin. I'd like to add it to another path and also randomize the points a bit to make it look hand-drawn. Hraban

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Slightly off-topic: pretext
by Jairo A. del Rio 29 Mar '26

29 Mar '26

I recently saw this project: https://chenglou.me/pretext/ I thought it might inspire some ideas in ConTeXt, especially with respect to text layout. Regards, Jairo

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Spacing between a decimal point and the denominator of a fraction.
by Fabrice Couvreur 28 Mar '26

28 Mar '26

Hi, When I type up my lessons, I notice that the decimal point right after a fraction is too close to the denominator, which sometimes causes confusion for some of my students. How can I improve this ? Thank you for your help. Fabrice \starttext \im{f'(a)=-\frac{1}{a²}}, \stoptext

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How to forbid horizontal overflows totally (in some cases)?
by Jairo A. del Rio 28 Mar '26

28 Mar '26

Hi, I want to know if ConTeXt currently has a simpler mechanism to achieve what is in the title, i.e., avoid text overflows at all. Something similar to "ugly MSWord justify" for some specific cases. I've attached an example of what I need to do and what I've come up with so far (formulas are just for testing, not actual content). Best regards, Jairo

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Questions about \start-ing things with \environment and \project
by Jim 27 Mar '26

27 Mar '26

Hi all... (I know this is long, but breaking it into 5 separate messages would be even worse.) Using LMTX, if instead of \starttext and \stoptext, I have either (a) \startcomponent[aaa] Hello \stopcomponent or (b) \startproduct[aaa] Hello \stopproduct then running context on such a file gives me a PDF with "Hello" in it. Contrariwise, if I use (c) \startproject[aaa] Hello \startproject I get a PDF with a page number, but no "Hello". AIUI, when LMTX sees \starttext it does some initialization, as well as signalling that actual textual content follows. Q1: Do \startcomponent and \startproduct do the same initialization as \starttext, so that I will see the same output, or will things be different in some situations? Q2: Is it "accidental" that \startcomponent and \startproduct work for me right now, or is it part of ConTeXt's design that they work like this? Q3: When one uses \startproduct, does it matter if any \environment commands go before or after? That is, are both of these equally valid, or is one The Right Way and one The Wrong Way? (a) \environment myenv \startproduct mydoc ... (b) \startproduct mydoc \environment myenv ... Q4: When one uses \startproduct, does it matter if any \project commands go before or after? That is, are both of these equally valid, or is one The Right Way and one The Wrong Way? (a) \project myproject \startproduct mydoc ... (b) \startproduct mydoc \project myproject ... Q5: In addition to \starttext, \startTEXpage, \startcomponent and \startproduct, are there any other \start<something> commands which signify the start of the text to be typeset? Thanks. Jim

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\lastpage incremented by one since 2026.02.10
by andreas.hof＠me.com 27 Mar '26

27 Mar '26

Hi, recently I saw a difference between context 2026.01.08 23:24 and afterwards. with the following mwe I get from Version: 2026.02.10 16:31 \lastpage (or \lastrealpagenumber) one increment to high (even with one page of output \lastrealpagenumber reports 2) \setupfootertexts[page \realpagenumber\ of \lastrealpagenumber] \setuppagenumbering[location=,] \starttext hallo \stoptext in Version 2026.01.08 23:24 same works fine. Maybe this is because of the modification in strc-pag.mkxl from line 237 (I cannot judge if there are any side effects): % \protected\def\strc_pagenumbers_decrement_counters % only at the end % {\strc_counters_decrement\s!realpage % \strc_counters_decrement\s!userpage % \strc_counters_decrement\s!subpage} \protected\def\strc_pagenumbers_decrement_counters % only at the end {\ifcase\insertonlycount\else \strc_counters_decrement\s!realpage \strc_counters_decrement\s!userpage \strc_counters_decrement\s!subpage \fi} if I rollback to the old \strc_pagenumbers_decrement_counters code \lastpage works as expected. Or did I miss something from Version 2026.02.10 16:31 and newer? Thanks for your help! Andreas

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update
by Hans Hagen 26 Mar '26

26 Mar '26

Hi, I just uploaded a new version: -- There are a couple of fixes based on reports to this list and otherwise. -- There is aa new option \externalfigure[foo.png][gray=yes] for png images but it should also work for some jpg variants. -- The compare extra now replaces colors with: context --extra=compare --colors=red,blue one.pdf two.pdf which makes regression checks a bit easier. -- Some more done in m-bibles which serves as testbed for mvl based columns. -- A new "squeeze" keyword for left and right justification which uses a different aspproach. -- Experimental space factoring code, the align repertoire aloready had "fixed", "packed', "broad" and now also has "fixed:small" and "broad:small" where the small refers to a small penalty associated with some punctuation (favours end of line). -- A \pbsp command that when uses like "crazy\\pbsp president" will keep these words together when possible (read: a space with penalty) dedicated to Guiseppe B. For sure I forgot some. There is for instance pending stuff for cjk but I can't test that myself. Hans ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands tel: 038 477 53 69 | www.pragma-ade.nl | www.pragma-pod.nl -----------------------------------------------------------------

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