On Tue, 1 May 2007, James Buchanan wrote:
Hello,
I'm writing some simple workbooks for kids in grades 1 to 10 to help them with their math. I've worked with TeX and LaTeX for a while, until I was attracted to ConTeXt for is nice colors and things like that.
I need to know how to:
* Draw simple number lines, color if possible, label the cm dots or vertical lines, label the number line, fill in the numbers (or miss some out), place it where I want it, and perhaps have the label in a different color
* Draw plane shapes like squares, rectangles, triangles and so on, just 2-D plane shapes. Outline in some color, inside with another color. Label them. Place them where I a want them. Sometimes I would like to extend the lines to show that all exterior angles add up to 360 degrees, things like that, and add in the arc and shade it in a different color.
Metapost or pstricks is the easiest way to draw such things. I would recommend metapost, as it is well integrated with Context. See http://melusine.eu.org/syracuse/metapost/cours/ for some examples of geometric figures using metapost. Also see http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Metapost http://wiki.contextgarden.net/MetaFun http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Mpgraphic The last page does not list \usempgraphic and \startMPcode ... \stopMPcode which are perhaps the easiest way to include MP figures. See the metafun manual for details.
When doing basic material like:
Solve:
6 + 7 + 4 = [box]
Have the equals signs and boxes lined up (or not), two sets of simple add these numbers (or whatever) per column. The answer box could be filled with a light color.
This can be done easily using context's alignment mechanism. I am in a bit of a hurry right now, and will post an example later in the evening.
Is there a manual I should start with to learn how to do these things, and develop my own macros? First I would just like to learn how to do them, then gradually write my own macros. The material in my TeX Book and my Guide to LaTeX series gives instruction in drawing but it quickly progresses beyond my ability into 2-D shapes and so on. I understand basic things like \move{} and lineto{} and \lvec{} but that's where I get confused.
Have a look at the metapost manual. If you think geometrically, then metapost is fairly easy to use. Aditya