From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Richard Lawrence Subject: Re: Large LaTeX project in single file or using publishing Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 09:40:24 -0800 Message-ID: <87zjbbnrzr.fsf@berkeley.edu> References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:33718) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XuPY6-0001ib-Kr for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Nov 2014 12:41:50 -0500 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XuPXz-0004Gf-4i for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Nov 2014 12:41:42 -0500 Received: from plane.gmane.org ([80.91.229.3]:38525) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XuPXy-0004Fr-UG for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Nov 2014 12:41:35 -0500 Received: from list by plane.gmane.org with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1XuPXx-0005Pp-EX for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Nov 2014 18:41:33 +0100 Received: from c-67-169-117-151.hsd1.ca.comcast.net ([67.169.117.151]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Fri, 28 Nov 2014 18:41:33 +0100 Received: from richard.lawrence by c-67-169-117-151.hsd1.ca.comcast.net with local (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Fri, 28 Nov 2014 18:41:33 +0100 List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org Cc: Jacob Gerlach Hi Jake, Jacob Gerlach 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