DN577258629

Subject: ANN: Expand 1.3 is Available - DN [1]

duquette@cogent.net (Will Duquette) - 24 Jan 2000 - comp.lang.tcl.announce

 Howdy!

 Expand 1.3 is a macro expander.  It is usable with any kind of text
 input; the macros are simply Tcl commands which are embedded
 in the input file in square brackets "[" and "]" or in any other
 set of bracketing characters you may choose, e.g., "(*" and "*)".
 Macros can be defined within the input file, using the Tcl
 "proc" command, or can be defined in an Expand "rules" file
 and loaded automatically by Expand before processing any
 of the input files.

 Expand can be used with any kind of text input, as I've said;
 however, I commonly use it to maintain my own personal web
 pages, such as my "Guide to Success with Namespaces and
 Packages".  I write all of the webpages as almost pure content,
 using Expand macros to insert all of the boilerplate: navigation
 bars, hyperlinks, and so forth.  It's a remarkably powerful tool;
 some time ago I was able to convert my website from a frames-based
 layout to a much different looking table-based layout merely
 by changing the rules; I didn't have to touch the content
 files at all.

 Expand 1.3 has some slight changes from Expand 1.2, which
 was included on the Tcl Blast! CD; one obscure bug is fixed,
 and there is a now a "raw_text_hook" which allows the rules
 file to have at least a minimal effect on the file's raw (i.e.,
 non-macro) text.

 Expand is available from the Expand Home Page:
 http://www.cogent.net/~duquette/expand.

 Will Duquette -- duquette@cogent.net
 ---------------------------------------------------
 Will Duquette     | duquette@cogent.net
 Ex Libris Reviews | http://www.cogent.net/~duquette
 ---------------------------------------------------
 It's amazing what you can do with the right tools.

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