[NTG-context] \sometxt in staticMPfigure

[Sanjoy Mahajan]

Hans Hagen wrote:
> test case:
> 
> \setupcolors[state=start,textcolor=red]
> \starttext
>     red
>         \color[green]{green
>             \startMPcode
>                 label(\sometxt{green\color[blue]{blue}green}, origin) 
> withcolor red;
>                 draw fullcircle scaled 1cm xscaled 2;
>             \stopMPcode
>         green}
>     red
> \stoptext

The test case works as you say (2006.09.26 beta).  Though I don't
understand why [Note added later: I now understand, see at the
end...]: e.g. why the 'green' text in the \sometxt is green.
Shouldn't the withcolor red trump the \color[green] from ConTeXt?  I
take your point about the lack of a color stack in metapost and the
difficulty of getting the metapost and context stacks to interact.

Here's a shorter example of what I'm confused about.

\setupcolors[state=start,textcolor=yellow]
\starttext
            \startMPcode
                label(\sometxt{?red?}, origin) withcolor red;
            \stopMPcode
\stoptext

The label(\sometxt{...}) withcolor red would produce postscript code like

  1 0 0 setrgbcolor
  <font stuff for ?red?>
  0 0 0 setrgbcolor

and that would be surrounded by code to set textcolor to yellow.

Oh, I understand now.  The \sometxt{} wraps the ?red? in yellow
setrgbcolor, since that's seen first by ConTeXt, and *then* it's
wrapped by metapost in red setrgcolor, so the red is overridden by the
yellow inside it.

-Sanjoy

`Never underestimate the evil of which men of power are capable.'
         --Bertrand Russell, _War Crimes in Vietnam_, chapter 1.