Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!wuarchive!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!jarthur!dhosek
From: dhosek@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (D.A. Hosek)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: TeX index program available
Message-ID: <3530@jarthur.Claremont.EDU>
Date: 11 Dec 89 02:40:14 GMT
References: <1989Dec8.184444.11467@cs.rochester.edu> <818@qmet.UUCP>
Reply-To: dhosek@jarthur.UUCP (D.A. Hosek)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Pitzer College, Claremont, CA 91711
Lines: 30

>ken@cs.rochester.edu (Ken Yap) writes:
>> Why should TeX have everything but the kitchen sink? Even Knuth, who
>> writes large programs, didn't go out and make TeX compile fonts or half
>> a dozen other things. Making indices is not something ordinary users
>> use often.

Actually, it _is_ possible for TeX to sort an index. TeX is Turing-complete
so any task which is computable is in theory computable with TeX (I hope
I'm understanding what Turing-complete is all about, I'm not much of a 
C.S. person).

However, it is far easier to accomplish this task with an external 
program.

It's actually kind of amazing the things that TeX will do. The project
Athena people at MIT have TeX playing "animals" and keeping the books
for their supply of soda. (includinging printing periodical statements,
of course) Michael Wichura draws amazing statistical charts using PiCTeX. 
Don Knuth demonstrated that it's possible to set halftone drawings with 
TeX. The issue is less one of can it be done internal to TeX as whether
TeX is the right tool. My pocket knife has a pair of scissors in it, but
if I want to cut things, I usually use regular scissors. TeX could sort
an index, but makeindex will do it faster and with less effort.

-dh
-- 
"Odi et amo, quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?
   nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior"          -Catullus
D.A. Hosek.                        UUCP: uunet!jarthur!dhosek
                               Internet: dhosek@hmcvax.claremont.edu