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From: mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: Troff versus TeX: tables and math
Message-ID: <637@mcgill-vision.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 4-Feb-87 21:23:03 EST
Article-I.D.: mcgill-v.637
Posted: Wed Feb  4 21:23:03 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 9-Feb-87 03:36:54 EST
References: <362@linus.UUCP> <1244@ucbcad.berkeley.edu>
Distribution: comp.text
Organization: McGill University, Montreal
Lines: 22

In article <1244@ucbcad.berkeley.edu>, faustus@ucbcad.berkeley.edu (Wayne A. Christopher) writes:
> The one thing I've heard that troff is better than TeX with is tables
> -- I've used tbl a lot and it seems to work fine, but others who have
> used TeX's table-making facilities complain that they are not very
> convenient.

Troff is probably worse than TeX for tables.  You are comparing
troff+tbl to raw TeX, an unfair comparison.  There can be and surely
are macro packages for TeX which make tables very simple and convenient
(I can't name any, I find raw \halign clear and simple to use).

What these people are probably complaining about is mostly that TeX's
table facilities are *unfamiliar* - are the people used to tbl|troff?
I find tbl dreadfully restrictive; I'm used to TeX.  Most of this is
just a matter of what you're used to.

					der Mouse

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