hi all
i am under texmacs 1.0.7.14 under max os X.6.7 (4Go Ram)
i have read and worked during the past days all the help docments that can be found in the help menu of texmacs, except the complete manuals/user manual that makes my texmacs crash when i try to open it

some pages are beyond my actual skills on latex, sheme & others. So i have written generaly what they deal with and i keep them in mind in case i need them
my summary could interess beginners that have not the time to read all the documentation, as me...
i signalise the questions with (?)
sorry for the long email...

generalities 1
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1a) how can i copy paste from the manual to a personal new texmacs document ? lot of things becomes red...

1b) some instructions like <key|accent:acute e> or <math-cursor> dont have any effect when i try to use them in a new document

1c) why does texmacs creates a new blank document each time i open a new document ?

and why, if i leave texmacs, does texmacs just close one of the opened documents, instead of closing all the documents ? As if there were several occurences of texmacs opened in the same time.

1d) is it possible to use psstricks within texmacs ?

2 configuration
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some generalities

3 manual
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- starting : the apple or command key is designed by "meta" and alt+command is designed as "hyper". Some sentences in the help documents seem to mind that alt+command is the same as command alone, i do not really understand. Moreover, some correspondances between function-keys and modification-keys dont work by me (see below)

- simple texts :
       command+'or` followed by a voyel like e gives é or è : interesting.
       the lower menubar corresponds to the menu "focuse" : interesting. the arrows let navigate between similar environments. the upper menubar depends on the mode. (mathmode, textemode...)
       other very interesting things that i did not know like "insérer balises", shift+return in enumerations, \dueto, control+!
       (?) insertion of spaces or breakings. In my texmacs, this item is grey (document/page/breaking)
       (?) they say alt+cancel_character_at_left let cancel an object, but by me the only effect of this combination is to modify the hierarchy of the current enumeration (to the left)
       (?) control space must make a little space (breakable ? unbreakable ?) but in new mac os X, it calls the spotlight menu.
       (?) control+ arrow_that_points_to the beginning or end of line or document... no such key by me
       there is a little mistake for the trema ë
       (?) the ligatures like æ or œ necessitates the use of a F5 key. But this key is realy not practical on a laptop keyboard. How to replace it shiftF5A by something like altA ?
       (?) modifier le clavier (keyboard) : $TEXMACS_PATH/progs/keyboard. for me $TEXMACS_PATH is obtained by "view the content of the paquet TeXmacs" and so /Applications/TeXmacs.app/Contents/Resources/share/TeXmacs/progs but no file keyboard in it i guess i have to create it but which help file does explain how to write a keyboard file ?

- math formulaes
       (?)key combination for greek touchs ... does not work... F5 works but not well located on the keyboard (must have long fingers or lot of time...). they say F5=hyper=command+alt. But for me it does not work at all.
       other mathmode shortcuts i did not know : control N,S,$, F6,F7,F8,shift F6 ( (?) how to customize this ?), @ or @tab followed by a character., / after a symbol, !^ or !_, shift F5+ANUVW (how to customize that (?) )
       (?) very interesting, the possibility of placing an exposant below by ->!^x for example. Problem : ->!^e doesnt work because TExmacs tries to make an ê that appears naturally in red. Is there so no shortcut to have a "e" above an arrow ? ->!_x works too and also ->!_e. I dont relaly understand how to get an arrow with a letter above and a letter below. I have succeed one time. For binomial coefficient i can do _+p+arrowright+^+space+m no needs of a !.
       (?) big symbols, how to use an other key as F5 ?
       (?) part 4-5 of this page. they do not explain how to get math:large. I have tried \math:large in math mode or text mode.
       (?) antislash +h+a+t+enter let do a... hat. But how can i get the tilda, vector... I had noticed that esc-esc+what they say works. i deduce from this that math:large=esc+esc. Is there an other combination ?

- tables        very complicated shortcuts.

- automatic generation of the content.
       command! or command?, very useful. The label must be placed after the name of the section, or at the beginning of the equation.
       (?) they say it is possible to troncate, recadrer, modify the size of a picture. But they do not say how it is possible to do it...
       summary, index, glossary... important to study when it becomes necessary.
       book in several parts... ******************

-editing tools
       look for = "command" F
       (?) i can modify the number of columns of only one paragraph. What a comfort comparing to the other text editors where you have to play with the sections for the same effect... Question : if s choose 2 columns, the space between the columns is really too large; how can i modify it ?
       document/pages/breaks (inactive by me) let choose between professional or other sorts of pagebreaks. "professional" can slowdown the edition of the document. Maybe that was my problem as i used to crash my texmacs each time i wanted to compile ?

- plugins
       where can i find a didacticiel ? something pedagogic that explains from the beginning for the beginner ?

- your style sheets
       this page is not pedagogic at all.
       (?) i must charge a file named "book.ts" but if i choose "charge (open)" in the file menu, there is no field to write the name of a document. They say i dont have to indicate the path because .ts files are considered to be at the root even if they are "physically" not there.
       i have found on my hard drive a .ts file. i open it with texmacs. i try the shorcuts given by the help menu like command= : nothing...

reference guides
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- the texmacs format
       the §3 gives some instructions like <TeXmacs|version>. but by me, <TeXmacs-version> works fine but \TeXmacs|version nor \TeXmacs tab version do not give anything.
       this page gives the source code of all (?) some (?) the instructions of texmacs, what i was looking for some days ago. For example <\quote-env>
 <framed-fragment|<verbatim|\<less\>with\|mode\|math\|x+y+\<less\>frac\|1\|2\<gtr\>+\<less\>sqrt\|y+z\<gtr\>\<gtr\>>>. that can help for doing exceptionnaly a quick look for and replace thgouth a source code editor.
       (???) everything about assign and macros. Very important. gives lot of possibilities. But i encounter problèmes from the beginning. for example :
               <assign|toto|<macro|z|2^z [in math mode]>        <toto|4> gives 2^z instead of 2^4
       the rest is very complicated.

- standard environment variables, very long to charge, only codes, codes...

- texmacs primitives
       interesting shortcuts like <no-indent> or <yes-indent> or <new-page> or <pageref|>, that can be very useful.
       source codes for all maths instructions
       (???) <tree>, in text mode or math mode, gives vertical trees, with only vertical bars.. In the help document althought, the trees present oblique bars. (i am not speaking about professor, just the instruction \tree). Why ?

- style sheets
       rich page to explore

- standard texmacs stylesheet [i do not really understand how the item are classified and agenced in the texmacs help]
       shortcuts fort <em|...> strong, hrule, texmacs, TeXmacs-version, new-theorem, <footnote|....> et <footnote-sep>, titles
       math mode shortcuts binom, matrix, det, choice, very useful.
       (?) shrink-inline???
       personalised counters... to see one day.

- compatibility
       export texmacs ->latex. Style sheets to manage with.

plugins
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       (?) why are the images for asymptote, very bad and left centered ? is it normal ?
       control * let altern between source code and result... does not work by me.

help us
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       about the way of formatting a help document... long... to read.

interfaçage
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       beyond my skills

scheme extensions
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       idem; but could maybe help me creating new environments as i wanted some weeks ago ?