Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On Friday, 28 Nov 2014 at 21:38, Jacob Gerlach wrote: [...] On Thu, Nov 27, 2014 at 5:09 AM, Eric S Fraga e.fr...@ucl.ac.uk wrote: For me, the killer feature is the ability to put inline tasks in the document so that I know what I need to work on without having to have a separate task list or todo items within my general day to day task list. Then a simple C-c / t shows me all the tasks for the current document. Thus far I've mostly used Org as a LaTeX editor and haven't really taken the time to learn and use the task tracking, but I really like this idea. I haven't looked, but I'm sure there are variables to control whether TODO state gets exported. Indeed: ,[ C-h v org-latex-format-inlinetask-function RET ] | org-latex-format-inlinetask-function is a variable defined in `ox-latex.el'. | Its value is org-latex-format-inlinetask | Original value was | org-latex-format-inlinetask-default-function | | This variable may be risky if used as a file-local variable. | | Documentation: | Function called to format an inlinetask in LaTeX code. | | The function must accept seven parameters: | TODO the todo keyword (string or nil) | TODO-TYPE the todo type (symbol: `todo', `done', nil) | PRIORITY the inlinetask priority (integer or nil) | NAME the inlinetask name (string) | TAGS the inlinetask tags (list of strings or nil) | CONTENTS the contents of the inlinetask (string or nil) | INFO the export options (plist) | | The function should return the string to be exported. | | You can customize this variable. | | This variable was introduced, or its default value was changed, in | version 25.1 of Emacs. | | [back] ` -- : Eric S Fraga (0xFFFCF67D), Emacs 24.4.1, Org release_8.3beta-595-g5945be
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On 2014-11-29, at 04:48, Jorge A. Alfaro-Murillo wrote: If you decide to go with LaTeX, the reason to split your dissertation in several chapters is so that the compilation can run faster, since when you change a chapter and compile only that chapter is compiled again. This is a substantial gain in compilation time with big documents (books, dissertations). If you decide to go with several org files and the publishing mechanism or a single org file, I think that every time that you export the whole document needs to be compiled. I mostly agree, but the above is not true: see TeX-pin-region and TeX-command-region. Bottom line: IMHO no point in dividing into many files. Best, Regards, -- Marcin Borkowski http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science Adam Mickiewicz University
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Marcin Borkowski writes: I mostly agree, but the above is not true: see TeX-pin-region and TeX-command-region. Bottom line: IMHO no point in dividing into many files. You are right, you can compile a region in AUCTeX, or export just a region in org, but the problem (besides having to select the region as compared to a fast C-c C-c C-m) is that the result does not have the whole document, just the part you selected, so you miss seeing the exported part in context. For example, you miss the ability to read before or after in the pdf and use a backward search to find the code that corresponds to the next part that you want to edit. If you use a main file plus several files in LaTeX, the whole document is preserved but the compilation just runs in the files with changes, and the backward search from the pdf points to the right point in the right file (at least with evince it does). Best, -- Jorge.
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On 2014-11-29, at 18:30, Jorge A. Alfaro-Murillo wrote: Marcin Borkowski writes: I mostly agree, but the above is not true: see TeX-pin-region and TeX-command-region. Bottom line: IMHO no point in dividing into many files. You are right, you can compile a region in AUCTeX, or export just a region in org, but the problem (besides having to select the region as compared to a fast C-c C-c C-m) is that the result does not have the whole document, just the part you selected, so you miss seeing the exported part in context. For example, you miss the ability to read before or after in the pdf and use a backward search to find the code that corresponds to the next part that you want to edit. If you use a main file plus several files in LaTeX, the whole document is preserved but the compilation just runs in the files with changes, and the backward search from the pdf points to the right point in the right file (at least with evince it does). Well. 1. C-c C-r C-m is not /that/ slower than C-c C-c C-m ;-). You only select the region once (with C-c C-t C-r) and it persists until “unpinned”. 2. I did not get your second part. AFAIK, it is impossible to compile just one file in the document and still get the whole pdf as a result. I agree with backward search, it might not work (I don't know, I hardly ever use it – I have C-s and C-r and don't feel the need for it...). Best, Regards, -- Marcin Borkowski http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science Adam Mickiewicz University
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Hi Jake, Jacob Gerlach jacobgerl...@gmail.com writes: I'm starting writing my thesis, for which I hope to remain in org-mode rather than regular LaTeX. Others have already given you good advice, but since I am also writing my thesis in Org, I thought I would chime in. Like you, I felt a bit of trepidation when I was deciding whether to write in Org or LaTeX; I ultimately went with Org because (1) I find it much more pleasant to use 98% of the time; (2) I felt pretty confident I could plug the gaps in the other 2% with help from Org's awesome community; and (3) I wanted the option to export to other formats like HTML (though I haven't used this much so far). I am working on adapting a thesis LaTeX template into org-mode. The template is set up with a main.tex having several individual files (chapters, appendices, etc) \include'd. I believe that I could parallel this using org's publishing mechanism. An alternate approach would be to use one single file, since I can simply fold chapters to focus my workflow. Like others, I would recommend the one-file approach. One advantage is that it makes it easier to compile parts of your document by themselves, since exporting a subtree from Org will inherit any #+LATEX_HEADER: declarations that apply to the whole document (unless you override them by setting the EXPORT_LATEX_HEADER property on the subtree). My first concern is losing the ability to use internal links if I use separate files. Another thought is compilation time if I use one file and must always run pdflatex over the entire document. I'm sure there are pitfalls either way that I'm not yet aware of. If you decide you need to go the multiple-files route, you can probably find a way to convert internal links into external ones. I half-recall someone posting code on this list to do this at some point... Here are a couple of other things to think about. When I decided to go with Org, I took a few steps to ensure that if I ever need to switch to pure LaTeX, I will be able to do so with minimal pain, just by exporting my Org document to .tex and going from there. (The big sticking point here for me was making sure I could produce human-readable, stable labels and refs for things like sections. See the variable org-latex-custom-id-as-label, which was introduced by a patch I wrote.) If you're worried about ever having to make the switch, I would recommend thinking ahead about each of the Org features you rely on and seeing how they get exported to LaTeX. If the default output is not something you'd want to edit by hand, consider either limiting your use of that feature, or customizing it so that it produces better output for you. Org provides a lot of ways to do the latter, from tweaking variables to export filters to custom export backends. Another thing to think ahead about is how you want to deal with your bibliography. People on this list use different approaches. I personally keep my reading tasks and notes in Org, then generate a .bib file from this as needed during compilation of my thesis. Others keep bibliographic information directly in .bib. I think you'll find there are good tools for either approach, but one or the other will probably fit better into your workflow, and may affect how easily you can export to other formats. Hope that's helpful! Best, Richard
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
My five cents. Pretty long ago I started writing my thesis as a single LaTeX file so I see no reason to redo it in Org format. Nevertheless I began use Org mode almost exlusively for writing articles. Thanks to Org I can keep all information needed for article in one file. I find helpful using export/noexport tags to choose what I do and what I do not like to see in the final article.
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On 2014-11-27, at 10:26, Andreas Leha wrote: Marcin Borkowski mb...@wmi.amu.edu.pl writes: Just my 2 cents: I'd go for LaTeX if heavy math typesetting is involved (then amsmath!), maybe for Org otherwise, check whether the template imposes a many-file structure (which it probably doesn't), and keep everything in one file. I would disagree here. I do not see, that writing equations in LaTeX is substantially easier than in org. Or put the other way round: org's support for equations is quite good. And preview-latex is really speeding me up. You're right, mostly. My point was that with displayed equations (in amsmath, since core LaTeX lacks a lot in this department), AUCTeX has at least one nice thing: C-u C-c C-e. (Also, plain C-c C-e.) Both very handy. (As for preview-LaTeX; in AUCTeX, you also have folding, which looks worse, but is faster - at least I guess so, I hardly ever use it.) (C-c C-e inserts an environment, with autocompletion. With prefix argument it /changes/ the surrounding environment.) Also, Richard's post made me realize why I prefer to stay with LaTeX: I know it way better than Elisp (even though I'm making progress), and in case of troubles, I can more easily deal with them in LaTeX (though vertical positioning of things on the page - especially trying to typeset on a grid - still beats me). Just my 2 cents. Andreas Best, -- Marcin Borkowski http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science Adam Mickiewicz University
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On 2014-11-28, at 18:40, Richard Lawrence wrote: Hi Jake, Others have already given you good advice, but since I am also writing my thesis in Org, I thought I would chime in. Like you, I felt a bit of trepidation when I was deciding whether to write in Org or LaTeX; I ultimately went with Org because (1) I find it much more pleasant to use 98% of the time; (2) I felt pretty confident I could plug the gaps in the other 2% with help from Org's awesome community; and (3) I wanted the option to export to other formats like HTML (though I haven't used this much so far). Re (1): as I said, I'm biased; re (2): thanks for making me realize this was exactly one of my reasons to stay with LaTeX. My first concern is losing the ability to use internal links if I use separate files. Another thought is compilation time if I use one file and must always run pdflatex over the entire document. I'm sure there are pitfalls either way that I'm not yet aware of. If you decide you need to go the multiple-files route, you can probably find a way to convert internal links into external ones. I half-recall someone posting code on this list to do this at some point... Yep, it was me. https://github.com/mbork/org-one-to-many, please consider it somewhere between proof-of-concept and public beta (bug reports/feature requests welcome). Here are a couple of other things to think about. When I decided to go with Org, I took a few steps to ensure that if I ever need to switch to pure LaTeX, I will be able to do so with minimal pain, just by exporting my Org document to .tex and going from there. (The big sticking point here for me was making sure I could produce human-readable, stable labels and refs for things like sections. See the variable org-latex-custom-id-as-label, which was introduced by a patch I wrote.) Nice! If you're worried about ever having to make the switch, I would recommend thinking ahead about each of the Org features you rely on and seeing how they get exported to LaTeX. If the default output is not something you'd want to edit by hand, consider either limiting your use of that feature, or customizing it so that it produces better output for you. Org provides a lot of ways to do the latter, from tweaking variables to export filters to custom export backends. Great advice! Again, a project idea I mentioned some time ago (a LaTeX exporter which would export to something more idiomatic and customizable on the LaTeX side) might help here. Not yet, however, I don't have time for that now. Hope that's helpful! Best, Richard Regards, -- Marcin Borkowski http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science Adam Mickiewicz University
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On 2014-11-27, at 11:09, Eric S Fraga wrote: On Wednesday, 26 Nov 2014 at 19:00, Jacob Gerlach wrote: Hello list, I'm starting writing my thesis, for which I hope to remain in org-mode rather than regular LaTeX. I would encourage this. Although I have been using LaTeX for almost 30 years, I now do all of my writing in org with the odd LaTeX directive when necessary. With all the various LaTeX helper bits in org (e.g. preview), there is little advantage to writing directly in LaTeX any longer. On the contrary: Org-mode (however I like it) does not have the functions and keybindings that make writing LaTeX in AUCTeX so pleasant. C-c C-e can be simulated by speed keys to enter special blocks (to some extent, at least), but AFAIK there's no equivalent of C-u C-c C-e, nor (C-u) C-c C-f, nor C-c C-l with C-x ` (and probably some others I forgot about). BTW: are there any plans to support similar thing in Org? Maybe not in the core, but some kind of plugin in contrib? Like: convert region to italic/bold, or enter a special block with autocompletion (e.g., based on other special blocks in this very file), or change the surrounding special block to another one? OTOH, I don't try to convert anyone to using LaTeX; I'm only saying that there are valid reasons to use LaTeX over Org, at least in some cases. Though I would guess that they mean anything only for seasoned LaTeX/AUCTeX users: if you have invested over half of your life in learning TeX/LaTeX, and over a third of your life to learn AUCTeX, switching and having to fight your muscle memory is not an easy option;-). (And probably for some very special cases, too, where you have to manually tweak a lot of things with low-level TeX code, for instance.) For me, the killer feature is the ability to put inline tasks in the document so that I know what I need to work on without having to have a separate task list or todo items within my general day to day task list. Then a simple C-c / t shows me all the tasks for the current document. And that is insanely cool, I have to say. (Though one can M-x occur in LaTeX - not the same, but close.) Best, -- Marcin Borkowski http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science Adam Mickiewicz University
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On Friday, 28 Nov 2014 at 21:41, Marcin Borkowski wrote: [...] On the contrary: Org-mode (however I like it) does not have the functions and keybindings that make writing LaTeX in AUCTeX so pleasant. C-c C-e can be simulated by speed keys to enter special blocks (to some extent, at least), but AFAIK there's no equivalent of C-u C-c C-e, nor (C-u) C-c C-f, nor C-c C-l with C-x ` (and probably some others I forgot about). True. I must admit that it did take a while for my fingers to forget AUCTeX bindings... but I actually still use them as I do have significant amounts of embedded LaTeX in most documents I work on, particularly equations. -- : Eric S Fraga (0xFFFCF67D), Emacs 24.4.1, Org release_8.3beta-595-g5945be
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Hi Marcin, Marcin Borkowski mb...@wmi.amu.edu.pl writes: On 2014-11-27, at 10:26, Andreas Leha wrote: Marcin Borkowski mb...@wmi.amu.edu.pl writes: Just my 2 cents: I'd go for LaTeX if heavy math typesetting is involved (then amsmath!), maybe for Org otherwise, check whether the template imposes a many-file structure (which it probably doesn't), and keep everything in one file. I would disagree here. I do not see, that writing equations in LaTeX is substantially easier than in org. Or put the other way round: org's support for equations is quite good. And preview-latex is really speeding me up. You're right, mostly. My point was that with displayed equations (in amsmath, since core LaTeX lacks a lot in this department), AUCTeX has at least one nice thing: C-u C-c C-e. (Also, plain C-c C-e.) Both very handy. (As for preview-LaTeX; in AUCTeX, you also have folding, which looks worse, but is faster - at least I guess so, I hardly ever use it.) (C-c C-e inserts an environment, with autocompletion. With prefix argument it /changes/ the surrounding environment.) Are you aware of org-cdlatex-mode [1]? That provides some similar functionality.f Also, Richard's post made me realize why I prefer to stay with LaTeX: I know it way better than Elisp (even though I'm making progress), and in case of troubles, I can more easily deal with them in LaTeX (though vertical positioning of things on the page - especially trying to typeset on a grid - still beats me). I agree here. And some of my org documents admittedly look more like latex documents ... Best, Andreas [1] http://orgmode.org/manual/CDLaTeX-mode.html#CDLaTeX-mode
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On 2014-11-28, at 22:36, Andreas Leha wrote: Hi Marcin, You're right, mostly. My point was that with displayed equations (in amsmath, since core LaTeX lacks a lot in this department), AUCTeX has at least one nice thing: C-u C-c C-e. (Also, plain C-c C-e.) Both very handy. (As for preview-LaTeX; in AUCTeX, you also have folding, which looks worse, but is faster - at least I guess so, I hardly ever use it.) (C-c C-e inserts an environment, with autocompletion. With prefix argument it /changes/ the surrounding environment.) Are you aware of org-cdlatex-mode [1]? That provides some similar functionality. Nope - I'll check this out, thanks! Best, -- Marcin Borkowski http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science Adam Mickiewicz University
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Marcin Borkowski mb...@wmi.amu.edu.pl writes: Also, Richard's post made me realize why I prefer to stay with LaTeX: I know it way better than Elisp (even though I'm making progress), and in case of troubles, I can more easily deal with them in LaTeX (though vertical positioning of things on the page - especially trying to typeset on a grid - still beats me). Yes, that's a good point: if you already know LaTeX well, but are less comfortable hacking on Org, that would probably change my advice. I have accumulated about 600 lines of custom Elisp that is required to export my thesis from Org to LaTeX and PDF. (The bulk of this, 471 lines, is a custom export backend derived from the latex backend. It deals with exporting certain Org lists as non-standard LaTeX environments. Most of the rest deals with exporting my reading list to .bib and defining various custom link types, etc. to make the Org side more pleasant.) By contrast, I have only written about 100 lines in custom LaTeX style files (so far -- I might need to do more of this when it comes time to get the final styling right for filing my dissertation). I also rely on other packages from CTAN, but I don't have to maintain those myself. I'm no Elisp wizard, but I am now pretty familiar with Org exporter and I'm comfortable with Lisp in general. On the other hand, I tend to shy away from anything more complicated that \newcommand in the (La)TeX world. Best, Richard
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Richard Lawrence richard.lawre...@berkeley.edu writes: Marcin Borkowski mb...@wmi.amu.edu.pl writes: Also, Richard's post made me realize why I prefer to stay with LaTeX: I know it way better than Elisp (even though I'm making progress), and in case of troubles, I can more easily deal with them in LaTeX (though vertical positioning of things on the page - especially trying to typeset on a grid - still beats me). Yes, that's a good point: if you already know LaTeX well, but are less comfortable hacking on Org, that would probably change my advice. I have accumulated about 600 lines of custom Elisp that is required to export my thesis from Org to LaTeX and PDF. (The bulk of this, 471 lines, is a custom export backend derived from the latex backend. It deals with exporting certain Org lists as non-standard LaTeX environments. Most of the rest deals with exporting my reading list to .bib and defining various custom link types, etc. to make the Org side more pleasant.) By contrast, I have only written about 100 lines in custom LaTeX style files (so far -- I might need to do more of this when it comes time to get the final styling right for filing my dissertation). I also rely on other packages from CTAN, but I don't have to maintain those myself. Just as a second data point. (Well, I did not measure any of this really. Only guesswork) Of all the elisp dealing with orgmode in my .emacs only the lines enabling babel for some languages and and the lines loading the exporters -- I think -- are strictly necessary to compile my thesis. Which are less then 10 lines (and could be set via customize). Ahh, and a few lines from Nicolas enabling :ignoreheading: All the real work is done in a LaTeX cls file. For the process of writing I had some more convenience code (enabling reftex, mapping of inlinetasks to LaTeX todonotes and the kind). As for the lists: Org can export lists do different LaTeX lists via something like --8---cut here---start-8- #+ATTR_LATEX: :environment enumerate* - foo - bar --8---cut here---end---8- or more general (with the definition of myownlist in the cls file) --8---cut here---start-8- #+ATTR_LATEX: :environment myownlist :options [with options] - foo - bar --8---cut here---end---8- In summary, I'd say it is quite possible to do the 'work' in LaTeX but still use org for the actual writing. It is a little more work to set up, as org is another layer that has to be connected to LaTeX correctly which can be tricky to get right. But in my opinion the advantages are numerous (babel, agenda, navigation) and outweigh the limitations when it comes to supporting LaTeX (as compared to what auctex offers, that is). Regards, Andreas
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Wow, I expected a little help, but never to spark such a conversation. Thanks to all for the comments. Thanks to all who suggested sticking with one file. That was the main issue I needed to sort out, and I'm glad I have a way foward On Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 2:31 PM, Scott Randby sran...@gmail.com wrote: You don't have to compile the whole document every time. You can export a subtree: C-c C-e, C-s changes the export scope. I had never tried out this feature before. I had previously customized org-latex-link-with-unknown-path-format to help me catch link typos [1], which causes subtree (pdf) export to fail if it includes a link that is out of scope. Nevertheless, I may come back to this and adjust the behavior if I end up having problems with export time. On Thu, Nov 27, 2014 at 2:51 AM, Marcin Borkowski mb...@wmi.amu.edu.pl wrote: On Wednesday, 26 Nov 2014 at 19:00, Jacob Gerlach wrote: I am working on adapting a thesis LaTeX template into org-mode. The template is set up with a main.tex having several individual files (chapters, appendices, etc) \include'd. Is that required in any way? I'd be surprised if it was. Not at all required. I'm working from an already-created template that meets the format requirements. The template is set up with separate files. All that's required is the final pdf format. (FYI: you can also fold things in AUCTeX.) Didn't realize that, but I'll probably stick with Org for now! On Thu, Nov 27, 2014 at 5:09 AM, Eric S Fraga e.fr...@ucl.ac.uk wrote: For me, the killer feature is the ability to put inline tasks in the document so that I know what I need to work on without having to have a separate task list or todo items within my general day to day task list. Then a simple C-c / t shows me all the tasks for the current document. Thus far I've mostly used Org as a LaTeX editor and haven't really taken the time to learn and use the task tracking, but I really like this idea. I haven't looked, but I'm sure there are variables to control whether TODO state gets exported. On Thu, Nov 27, 2014 at 6:43 AM, Rainer M Krug rai...@krugs.de wrote: Don't forget latexmk which runns in an emacs shell or even a different terminal, monitors file changes, and if a file changes compiles the latex file - so exporting from org is exporting to latex only, and the pdf is creqated in the background. Inded, I have org-latex-pdf-process set to: (latexmk -f -pdf %f latexmk -f -pdf %f) And I always export directly to pdf. I use it daily and it works perfectly. I often find that latexmk fails to resolve links after I've made some minor changes to a document. I haven't put much effort into troubleshooting this - I end up running pdflatex over the file 2 extra times. I suppose I should add that to org-latex-pdf-process... On Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 12:40 PM, Richard Lawrence richard.lawre...@berkeley.edu wrote: Here are a couple of other things to think about. When I decided to go with Org, I took a few steps to ensure that if I ever need to switch to pure LaTeX, I will be able to do so with minimal pain, just by exporting my Org document to .tex and going from there. (The big sticking point here for me was making sure I could produce human-readable, stable labels and refs for things like sections. See the variable org-latex-custom-id-as-label, which was introduced by a patch I wrote.) This sounds helpful. I'm using ELPA (tracking maint?) and don't see this variable. Was your patch applied to master? Another thing to think ahead about is how you want to deal with your bibliography. People on this list use different approaches. I personally keep my reading tasks and notes in Org, then generate a .bib file from this as needed during compilation of my thesis. Others keep bibliographic information directly in .bib. I think you'll find there are good tools for either approach, but one or the other will probably fit better into your workflow, and may affect how easily you can export to other formats. Yes, I know I have a lot to figure out in this arena. That's another day... [1] http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-orgmode/2014-08/msg00681.html
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Jacob Gerlach jacobgerl...@gmail.com writes: On Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 12:40 PM, Richard Lawrence richard.lawre...@berkeley.edu wrote: (The big sticking point here for me was making sure I could produce human-readable, stable labels and refs for things like sections. See the variable org-latex-custom-id-as-label, which was introduced by a patch I wrote.) This sounds helpful. I'm using ELPA (tracking maint?) and don't see this variable. Was your patch applied to master? It was. I just checked -- sorry, I guess it's not in maint, even though it was applied a while ago. Looks like it will land in Org 8.3. Best, Richard OpenPGP Key ID: CF6FA646 Fingerprint: 9969 43E1 CF6F A646 (See http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~rwl/encryption.html for more information.)
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Andreas Leha writes:
On 2014-11-26, at 20:00, Jacob Gerlach wrote:
Just my 2 cents: I'd go for LaTeX if heavy math typesetting is
involved (then amsmath!), maybe for Org otherwise, check
whether the template imposes a many-file structure (which it
probably doesn't), and keep everything in one file.
I would disagree here. I do not see, that writing equations in
LaTeX is substantially easier than in org. Or put the other way
round: org's support for equations is quite good.
There is no way that writing equations can be faster in org than
in AUCTeX, since AUCTeX is designed for that, especially with
LaTeX-math-mode, two keys write any Greek symbol for example. And
all the support for completion of commands, environments and
environment variables, changing fonts, sectioning, integration
with reftex...
By the way, AUCTeX supports many packages by default including
amsmath, so just adding the proper \usepackage{amsmath} in the
preamble makes AUCTeX fontify in math-mode align, gather,
multline, and their starred equivalents.
The one thing that org is better at is tables, but for that I use
radiotables inside of AUCTeX.
And preview-latex is really speeding me up.
I have never been a fan of preview or any WYSIWYG editing, I feel
like it slows me down, but if you use only org and are not used to
LaTeX it could be helpful, in AUCTeX it is easier to read math
because of the fonts used (for example subscripts and superscripts
are written under and over the symbols). I would also suggest
compiling with SyncTeX for forward search support, I do not know
if forward search is possible with org.
That being said there is a learning curve associated with
TeX/AUCTeX and if you are already very comfortable with org and do
not have time for learning something new, perhaps it is better to
stick with org.
If you decide to go with LaTeX, the reason to split your
dissertation in several chapters is so that the compilation can
run faster, since when you change a chapter and compile only that
chapter is compiled again. This is a substantial gain in
compilation time with big documents (books, dissertations). If you
decide to go with several org files and the publishing mechanism
or a single org file, I think that every time that you export the
whole document needs to be compiled.
Best,
--
Jorge.
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Marcin Borkowski mb...@wmi.amu.edu.pl writes: On 2014-11-26, at 20:00, Jacob Gerlach wrote: [ ... ] Just my 2 cents: I'd go for LaTeX if heavy math typesetting is involved (then amsmath!), maybe for Org otherwise, check whether the template imposes a many-file structure (which it probably doesn't), and keep everything in one file. I would disagree here. I do not see, that writing equations in LaTeX is substantially easier than in org. Or put the other way round: org's support for equations is quite good. And preview-latex is really speeding me up. Just my 2 cents. Andreas
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On Wednesday, 26 Nov 2014 at 19:00, Jacob Gerlach wrote: Hello list, I'm starting writing my thesis, for which I hope to remain in org-mode rather than regular LaTeX. I would encourage this. Although I have been using LaTeX for almost 30 years, I now do all of my writing in org with the odd LaTeX directive when necessary. With all the various LaTeX helper bits in org (e.g. preview), there is little advantage to writing directly in LaTeX any longer. For me, the killer feature is the ability to put inline tasks in the document so that I know what I need to work on without having to have a separate task list or todo items within my general day to day task list. Then a simple C-c / t shows me all the tasks for the current document. I am working on adapting a thesis LaTeX template into org-mode. The template is set up with a main.tex having several individual files (chapters, appendices, etc) \include'd. I believe that I could parallel this using org's publishing mechanism. An alternate approach would be to use one single file, since I can simply fold chapters to focus my workflow. Indeed. My first concern is losing the ability to use internal links if I use separate files. Another thought is compilation time if I use one file and must always run pdflatex over the entire document. I'm sure there are pitfalls either way that I'm not yet aware of. As others have said, you can export just subtrees when you wish. Not an issue generally. -- : Eric S Fraga (0xFFFCF67D), Emacs 24.4.1, Org release_8.3beta-589-g9eff31.dirty
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Jacob Gerlach jacobgerl...@gmail.com writes: Hello list, I'm starting writing my thesis, for which I hope to remain in org-mode rather than regular LaTeX. I am working on adapting a thesis LaTeX template into org-mode. The template is set up with a main.tex having several individual files (chapters, appendices, etc) \include'd. I believe that I could parallel this using org's publishing mechanism. An alternate approach would be to use one single file, since I can simply fold chapters to focus my workflow. My first concern is losing the ability to use internal links if I use separate files. Another thought is compilation time if I use one file and must always run pdflatex over the entire document. I'm sure there are pitfalls either way that I'm not yet aware of. Don't forget latexmk [1] which runns in an emacs shell or even a different terminal, monitors file changes, and if a file changes compiles the latex file - so exporting from org is exporting to latex only, and the pdf is creqated in the background. I use it daily and it works perfectly. Cheers, Rainer Any input or advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Jake Footnotes: [1] http://users.phys.psu.edu/~collins/software/latexmk-jcc/ -- Rainer M. Krug email: Raineratkrugsdotde PGP: 0x0F52F982 signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 2:00 PM, Jacob Gerlach jacobgerl...@gmail.com wrote: Hello list, I'm starting writing my thesis, for which I hope to remain in org-mode rather than regular LaTeX. I am working on adapting a thesis LaTeX template into org-mode. The template is set up with a main.tex having several individual files (chapters, appendices, etc) \include'd. I believe that I could parallel this using org's publishing mechanism. An alternate approach would be to use one single file, since I can simply fold chapters to focus my workflow. My first concern is losing the ability to use internal links if I use separate files. Another thought is compilation time if I use one file and must always run pdflatex over the entire document. I'm sure there are pitfalls either way that I'm not yet aware of. You don't have to compile the whole document every time. You can export a subtree: C-c C-e, C-s changes the export scope. Scott Randby Any input or advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Jake
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
Aloha Jake, In my experience, the one file approach is easiest with Org mode. I've written a book in Org mode using this approach and found it to be quite comfortable. Compilation time wasn't ever a big deal for me, but this will depend on your patience obviously. I don't think there are any real pitfalls, where you run into a situation that can't be remedied. The various LaTeX constructs in Org mode let you apply LaTeX solutions at several scales, from snippets to blocks, and these work well in my experience. We use LaTeX at work and it would be easy for me to do my writing outside work in LaTeX, but I now do all my outside work in Org mode. The combination of Babel and the new exporter, along with the integration of tools such as ebib, make this a congenial document preparation environment. hth, Tom Jacob Gerlach jacobgerl...@gmail.com writes: Hello list, I'm starting writing my thesis, for which I hope to remain in org-mode rather than regular LaTeX. I am working on adapting a thesis LaTeX template into org-mode. The template is set up with a main.tex having several individual files (chapters, appendices, etc) \include'd. I believe that I could parallel this using org's publishing mechanism. An alternate approach would be to use one single file, since I can simply fold chapters to focus my workflow. My first concern is losing the ability to use internal links if I use separate files. Another thought is compilation time if I use one file and must always run pdflatex over the entire document. I'm sure there are pitfalls either way that I'm not yet aware of. Any input or advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Jake Hello list, I'm starting writing my thesis, for which I hope to remain in org-mode rather than regular LaTeX. I am working on adapting a thesis LaTeX template into org-mode. The template is set up with a main.tex having several individual files (chapters, appendices, etc) \include'd. I believe that I could parallel this using org's publishing mechanism. An alternate approach would be to use one single file, since I can simply fold chapters to focus my workflow. My first concern is losing the ability to use internal links if I use separate files. Another thought is compilation time if I use one file and must always run pdflatex over the entire document. I'm sure there are pitfalls either way that I'm not yet aware of. Any input or advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Jake -- Thomas S. Dye http://www.tsdye.com
Re: [O] Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing
On 2014-11-26, at 20:00, Jacob Gerlach wrote: Hello list, I'm starting writing my thesis, for which I hope to remain in org-mode rather than regular LaTeX. Personally, I never really got that; I much prefer writing in LaTeX. (That said, I've been using LaTeX for almost 15 years now, and plain TeX for, like, two decades, with heavy hacking on both, and am currently writing a (yet another, though hopefully unique;-)) book on LaTeX so I'm rather biased.) OTOH, I never really bought the idea of dividing my LaTeX project into several files. The only reasons I can come up with are: 1. Compilation time. Nowadays almost non-issue, especially that you can C-c C-r a region (or a previously, specially marked (with region and then C-c C-t C-r) fragment of the LaTeX file) in AUCTeX. (As said by others, you can do a similar thing in Org-mode.) 2. Collaboration and editing issues. Nowadays a non-issue with modern, distributed CVSs with good merging capabilities (like Git or Mercurial). 3. Efficiency of editing (font-lock, for instance). Nowadays a non-issue due to the speed of today's machines (oh, ye olde times;-), when my first PC had a 40 MHz clock, 4 MB of RAM and 170 MB (!) HDD... and before that I had a C-64, with 64 kB RAM and 1 MHz processor - and I did some *real work* with that!) So, basically, I'd advise going with one big file. There are several advantages to that - the main (for me, at least) being the ease of navigation between various parts of the project. That said, I'm just wondering whether there is something in Emacs which would combine several files (possibly in different languages) into one buffer (maybe even in Org-mode), where C-x C-s would save each part into its own file etc. Just thinking. (Babel/tangling probably comes close.) I am working on adapting a thesis LaTeX template into org-mode. The template is set up with a main.tex having several individual files (chapters, appendices, etc) \include'd. Is that required in any way? I'd be surprised if it was. I believe that I could parallel this using org's publishing mechanism. An alternate approach would be to use one single file, since I can simply fold chapters to focus my workflow. Yes. (FYI: you can also fold things in AUCTeX.) My first concern is losing the ability to use internal links if I use separate files. Another thought is compilation time if I use one file and must always run pdflatex over the entire document. I'm sure there are pitfalls either way that I'm not yet aware of. This is maybe only distantly related, but shameless plug: https://github.com/mbork/org-one-to-many. (The project is currently dormant, since I'm working on a few other things, but I'm going to revisit it within a few weeks/months. Feature requests/bug reports are welcome.) Any input or advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Just my 2 cents: I'd go for LaTeX if heavy math typesetting is involved (then amsmath!), maybe for Org otherwise, check whether the template imposes a many-file structure (which it probably doesn't), and keep everything in one file. Regards, Jake Hth, -- Marcin Borkowski http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science Adam Mickiewicz University
