Re: exporting to latex and docx not honouring carriage returns to tabbing

[Sharon Kimble <boudiccas@skimble.plus.com>]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 6546 bytes --]

Tim Cross <theophilusx@gmail.com> writes:

> Sharon Kimble <boudiccas@skimble.plus.com> writes:
>
>> Eric S Fraga <esflists@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> On Tuesday,  9 Oct 2018 at 12:06, Sharon Kimble wrote:
>>>> Brilliant, thanks very much Robert, you've saved the project as I didn't
>>>> fancy having to work with the document in LibreOffice. These are the
>>>> settings that I've finally gone with -
>>>>
>>>> #+LaTeX_Header: \parskip=0pt
>>>> #+LaTeX_Header: \parindent=2em
>>>
>>> This is close to the default behaviour for the LaTeX article class.  Did you have something setting these to different values?
>>
>> Yes, I have a custom class called 'my-report' which has no packages
>> outlined in it, here it is.
>>
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
>> #+begin_src emacs-lisp
>> (with-eval-after-load 'ox-latex
>> (add-to-list 'org-latex-classes
>>              '("my-report" "\\documentclass{report}
>>                [NO-DEFAULT-PACKAGES]"
>>                ;;[EXTRA]"
>>                ;;("\\part{%s}" . "\\part*{%s}")
>>                ("\\chapter{%s}" . "\\chapter*{%s}")
>>                ("\\section{%s}" . "\\section*{%s}")
>>                ("\\subsection{%s}" . "\\subsection*{%s}")
>>                ("\\subsubsection{%s}" . "\\subsubsection*{%s}")
>>                ("\\paragraph{%s}" . "\\paragraph*{%s}")
>>                ("\\subparagraph{%s}" . "\\subparagraph*{%s}"))))
>>               (custom-set-variables '(org-export-allow-bind-keywords t))
>> #+end_src
>> [2016-04-14 Thu 08:47]
>> [2016-09-09 Fri 00:54]
>> [2017-01-17 Tue 13:17]
>> http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-latex-export.html
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
>>
>>
>>>> except for the first paragraph in a new chapter.
>>>
>>> Yes, the first paragraph after any heading will not be indented.  That is also default and is actually what most books use.
>>
>> Yes, I'm learning, and checking with the book that I'm currently reading :)
>>
>> Thanks
>> Sharon.
>
> While Eric and Robert have provided some really useful tips on some
> ad-hoc tweaks you can make to latex/pdf output, I would also encourage
> you to look at the many other document styles. As Eric points out, the
> tweaks look to be changing the 'report' class to be more like the
> 'article' class. Have you tried just using the article class instead of
> report? Note also there is a 'book' class as well, which may well
> produce something more in line with what your after if you are wanting
> output which looks more like a published book. Then there are all the
> other 'publishers' styles to consider as well as other style packages
> like KomaScript, HiTec etc. 
>
> While these tweaks are often very useful, they really should be used
> sparingly as they can have unforeseen consequences, especially when you
> begin to use other packages. It is important to remember that some org
> features rely on some of these additional packages to produce good
> export results. Once you start 'tweaking' the output, it can quickly
> spiral out of control. You fix one thing only to create two new issues.
>
> One of the most common mistakes I see when people start using latex as
> the basis for document generation is ad hoc tweaking of the style. This
> is an unfortunate consequence of most of us being exposed to traditional
> word processors such as MS Word or Libre Office. Producing good quality
> documents is a very complex topic and Donald Knuth spent a lot of time
> researching all the aspects of type setting and layout to produce a
> consistently good and reliable system with TeX. Things have evolved and
> we have new requirements (such as on-line documents which are read
> electronically and not printed in hard copy). Additional packages have
> been added to address these types of enhancements. 
>
> The real trick with TeX/LaTeX is to work with the system and not against
> it. If you find it necessary to constantly tweak indent, paragraph
> spacing, line height, line breaks,  etc, then you are probably using the
> wrong document style. Try other styles and look for one which meets the
> majority of your requirements and only then consider tweaking it. As you
> will probably need more than one, you will likely end up with a number
> of custom definitions in addition to 'my-report'. I have around 5 base
> ones as well as a handful of ones specific to particular jobs/clients
> (e.g. include logos, custom headers/footers, title pages etc).
>
> The bad news is that this will probably be somewhat time consuming
> initially (there is a huge number of document styles and packages out
> there). The good news is that once you have the basic definitions, you
> probably won't have to think about this again for ages (my definitions
> have been in place for years now).
>
> good luck
>
> Tim

Thanks Tim, but I've been using Linux since sometime in 2003, and have
moved on from writing various things in 'pure' latex (meaning that it
wasn't exported into latex as it was already there!) to my current state
of writing in org-mode and exporting to latex. I've used my 'my-report'
class for the last 2 years at least with minimal problems, and am now
achieving layouts comparable with any fiction book you care to read off
the bookshop shelf now. I also install and use Tex-live into my \home
every year as it is released, and use a home-based mediawiki to develop
articles and layouts for mediawiki on the web. So to summarise, I have a
lot of history in linux and its available programs.

With regard to 'korma' that you and Eric both mentioned, it is something
that I've looked at, but only a very quick glance and play with, so I
don't know much about it. When, and if, I get time it is on my list of
things to try and investigate and learn more about. I may end up using
it in a book, I don't know yet.

The first distro that I used was Red Hat, and I bought a copy as that
was the only way in which you could get hold of it, and a couple of days
before I was going to install it, Red Hat made it free to download and
use! And that did not help my mood at all! But I've been trying to find
what year that was, can anyone tell me please, as I can't find a date
for it?

Thanks
Sharon.
-- 
A taste of linux = http://www.sharons.org.uk
TGmeds = http://www.tgmeds.org.uk
DrugFacts = https://www.drugfacts.org.uk
Debian 9.4, fluxbox 1.3.7, emacs 25.3.4, org 9.1.14

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 832 bytes --]