[Tex/LaTex] ConTeXt: Part, chapter, section, and subsection names

contextcross-referencingindexing

Background

Looking to include the section within an index.

Problem

In LaTeX the nameref package allows coding a contextual macro called \currentname. This allows users to refer to the current section (or chapter, or part) without needing to type it in explicitly.

Ultimately, I'd like to include the current name in the index. For example:

\starttext

\placeindex
\page [yes]

\startchapter[title={Title1},]
\index{item+\currentchaptername}
\input knuth
\stopchapter

\startchapter[title={Title2},]
\index{item+\currentchaptername}
\input knuth
\stopchapter

\stoptext

Being able to reference the chapter title indirectly has other uses than the one given above.

Question

What is the equivalent to \currentname in ConTeXt?

Ideas

I have tried: \the\chapter, \show\thechapter, \thechapter, \currentchaptername, etc. I have also looked at \nameref{marker}, but that, even if it worked, seems like an obtuse solution.

Some related information:

Best Answer

The following variables give information about the current section (from strc-sec.mkiv):

   \xdef\currentstructurename           {\structureparameter\c!name}%
   \xdef\currentstructurecoupling       {\structureparameter\c!coupling}%
   \xdef\currentstructureownnumber      {\structureparameter\c!ownnumber}% optional own number
   \xdef\currentstructurelevel          {\structureparameter\c!level}%
   \edef\currentstructureexpansion      {\structureparameter\c!expansion}%
   \xdef\currentstructurexmlsetup       {\structureparameter\c!xmlsetup}%
   \xdef\currentstructurecatcodes       {\structureparameter\s!catcodes}%
   \xdef\currentstructurelabel          {\structureparameter\c!label}%
   \xdef\currentstructurereference      {\structureparameter\c!reference}%
   \xdef\currentstructurereferenceprefix{\structureparameter\c!referenceprefix}%
   \xdef\currentstructurebackreference  {\structureparameter\c!backreference}%
   \xdef\currentstructureshownumber     {\structureparameter\c!number}%
   \xdef\currentstructuresaveinlist     {\structureparameter\c!saveinlist}%
   \xdef\currentstructureincrementnumber{\structureparameter\c!incrementnumber}%

   \xdef\currentstructuretitle   {\structureparameter\c!title}%
   \xdef\currentstructurebookmark{\structureparameter\c!bookmark}%
   \xdef\currentstructuremarking {\structureparameter\c!marking}%
   \xdef\currentstructurelist    {\structureparameter\c!list}%

In addition, the following have more complicated definitions.

\currentstructurenumber
\currentstructurelistnumber
\currentsectioncountervalue
\previoussectioncountervalue

Other useful commands are

\structurenumber
\structuretitle
\structurevariable{#1}
\structureuservariable{#1}

and

\namedstructurevariable{#1}{#2}
\namedstructureuservariable{#1}{#2}

Where #1 is the structured item to inspect and #2 is its attribute. For example:

\namedstructurevariable{subsection}{title}

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] ConTeXt: Set margin background colour for all chapter pages

One option is to use Metapost backgrounds and use the trick described in Conditional page backgrounds in ConTeXt.

\startMPinclusions
  numeric ChapterPageDone[];
\stopMPinclusions

\startuseMPgraphic{chapterbackground}
  StartPage;
  n := \somenamedheadnumber{chapter}{current};

  x0 := PaperWidth - BackSpace;
  x1 := x0 + RightMarginWidth;

  if n > 0 : % ignore pages before the first chapter
    if unknown ChapterPageDone[n] : % This is the first page a new chapter
          fill (x0,0) -- (x1,0) -- (x1, PaperHeight) -- (x0, PaperHeight) -- cycle
               withcolor \MPcolor{blue};
        ChapterPageDone[n] := 1 ;
    fi;
  fi;
  StopPage;
\stopuseMPgraphic

\defineoverlay[chapterbackground][\useMPgraphic{chapterbackground}]
\setupbackgrounds[page][background=chapterbackground]

\setuppapersize[A6]

\starttext

Non chapter page

\chapter{First}
Chapter page
\page

Non chapter page

\chapter{Second}
Chapter page

\stoptext

which gives

enter image description here

EDIT Based on the comment below, the above method will not work for unnumbered section heads. In that case, one option is to check if there has been a change in the title of chapter. Such an approach will work as long as you do not have two chapters with identical titles.

\startMPinclusions
  string prevChapterTitle, currentChapterTitle;
  prevChapterTitle := "";
  currentChapterTitle := "";
\stopMPinclusions

\startuseMPgraphic{chapterbackground}
  StartPage;
  currentChapterTitle := "\namedstructurevariable{chapter}{title}";

  x0 := PaperWidth - BackSpace;
  x1 := x0 + RightMarginWidth;

  if currentChapterTitle <> prevChapterTitle :
        fill (x0,0) -- (x1,0) -- (x1, PaperHeight) -- (x0, PaperHeight) -- cycle
             withcolor \MPcolor{blue};
     prevChapterTitle := currentChapterTitle ;
  fi;
  StopPage;
\stopuseMPgraphic

\defineoverlay[chapterbackground][\useMPgraphic{chapterbackground}]
\setupbackgrounds[page][background=chapterbackground]

To exclude the table of contents page, make the following minor change:

if prevChapterText <> "":
  fill (x0,0) -- (x1,0) -- (x1, PaperHeight) -- (x0, PaperHeight) -- cycle
    withcolor \MPcolor{blue};
fi;

[Tex/LaTex] Two-column layout with thick vertical rule in ConTeXt

When using columnsets, your entire page design must be done using columnsets. So, if you want chapter or section heads to span the entire page, you will have to define a columnspan.

For simple two column documents, you can use \startcolumns ... \stopcolumns, or its MkIV replacement \startmixedcolumns ... \stopmixedcolumns. Here is an example:

\setupcolors[state=start]

\startuseMPgraphic{StyleVerticalRule}
  draw OverlayBox;
\stopuseMPgraphic

\defineoverlay[StyleVerticalRule][\useMPgraphic{StyleVerticalRule}]

\definemixedcolumns
  [sectioncolumns]
  [
    n=2, 
    separator=rule,
    rulecolor=red,
    rulethickness=6.5pt,
    balance=yes,
  ]

\setupalign[verytolerant,stretch,hanging]

% Horizontal line below the section header.
\defineframed[sectionframed]
             [
               frame=off,
               bottomframe=on,
               framecolor=pink,
               rulethickness=1.0pt,
               width=local,
               align=normal, % to get a vbox
             ]

\define[2]\StyleSection{\sectionframed{#2}}

\setuphead
    [section]
    [
      command=\StyleSection,
      after={\startsectioncolumns},
      aftersection={\stopsectioncolumns},
    ]

\starttext
\startchapter[title={Chapter}, reference=sec:my-chapter,]
  \startsection[title={Section}, reference=sec:my-section,]
      \startsubsection[title={Equipment},reference=sec:my-equipment,]
        \input knuth
        \input knuth
      \stopsubsection
  \stopsection
\stopchapter

\stoptext