Re: Org-babel and LaTeX letter

[Ben Alexander <bva@alexanderonline.org>]

Thanks Thomas and Eric for responses!

I wasn't trying to export at first.  I think of export as a 'whole org- 
document' kind of thing, and I wanted to just have one TODO task  
(write a snail mail letter) completed without having to store a  
separate file for it.  But I read the docs on export, and I can easily  
select a headline and then export just the current region.  After  
updating the export class variable (I always use customize, as I am  
not that good at emacs lisp) it almost worked.

My problem was that I did not have enough of the MacPorts texlive-*  
packages installed. I needed texlive-fonts-recommended and texlive- 
latex-extra (if anyone else cares).  Googling for the broken  
\usepackage{} and texlive macports gave me a list of of what each  
package has.  I don't know if I've got enough for any latex+org usage,  
but it finally spit out my letter.  Good enough for today - I can  
avoid using a separate file for a paragraph.

This isn't perfect though.  I still have a spurious few lines in my  
tex file:

: \maketitle
: Some descriptive text to be emitted.  Several lines OK.

I've no idea where that comes from.  Anybody have any ideas?  For now,  
I edit the tex file before processing further, and it's good enough  
for today.

Now perhaps is a good time to ask what the different workflows are for  
export, publish, babel and tangle.  They seem to have overlapping  
functionality.  My basic concept is:

export : Your complete (or partial) org file in another form, like  
paper or on the web.  For when emacs isn't around and you don't want  
to forget what your orgmode file says, or for giving a copy of the  
data in your org file to someone who doesn't appreciate emacs. # 
+begin_latex blocks belong to this export.

publish : export more than one org file.  I've no idea what use case  
makes publish different than export.

babel : use for including chunks of code in an org file.  Base use  
case simply allows you to easily edit them in a native emacs mode  
while still having them organized into your run-of-the-mill org file.   
Also allows code blocks to be printed more nicely (in color? with line  
numbers?) which doesn't happen in 'export' Secondary use case allows  
you to execute the code blocks #+begin_src and #+results: blocks  
belong to babel.  I plan on using ledger in babel blocks to store my  
often executed queries, even though most of the 'code' is on the  
command line.

tangle : use case - lets you have lots of code blocks organized in an  
orgmode file become a complete, compilable program.  Normally the  
orgmode syntax would cause a complier to choke, so tangle removes the  
orgmode structure.  Added bonus: lets different programs co-operate in  
a single orgmode file.  Like a makefile on steroids? #+begin_src  
blocks can belong to tangle, too. n

While the orgmode documentation does a great job of explaining how to  
configure the details of each process, I feel like I'm missing the  
'how do I pick the feature that solves the problem I have right now'  
part.  Probably because each feature is flexible enough to be used in  
overlapping ways.

But as always, I'm grateful for the orgmode, the wonderful  
documentation, the customize-able options, and the great help I get  
when I turn to the mailing list.  You all rock!

-Ben



On 2011-Sep-06, at 17:58, Thomas S. Dye wrote:

> Aloha Ben,
>
> I'm not sure I understand what you are doing here, so please excuse me
> if I'm offering misplaced advice.
>
> Ben Alexander <bva@alexanderonline.org> writes:
>
>> Hello orgmode and latex users!
>>
>> I'm trying to use a latex to write a letter, and I'm using an org
>> babel block to hold the original source.
>
> There are (at least) two ways to create a tex file from Org-mode: 1)
> export the Org-mode buffer, and 2) tangle latex code blocks.  IIUC,  
> you
> appear to be setting up code blocks for tangling, but then are using  
> the
> export facilities.
>
> See http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-latex-export.html#sec-4
> for instructions on how to change the Org-mode export class.
>


>>
>> The funny thing is, if I run pdflatex from the command line, it works
>> fine.  Though it doesn't have as many lines of diagnostic output.  I
>> think the wrapping code for babel execution of latex code is the
>> issue.  I'd be happy to install more tex files. I use MacPorts to
>> maintain my system; perhaps I am missing a tex package that is  
>> needed?
>>
>
> I don't know about the macports distribution of LaTeX, but it seems  
> odd
> to me that latex works fine from the command line but then can't find
> wrapfig.sty when it is called from Org-mode.  Perhaps the place to  
> start
> debugging this is the variable org-latex-to-pdf-process, see
> http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-latex-export.html#sec-8.
>
> hth,
> Tom
>
>> Any pointers would be helpful.
>>
>> -Ben
>>
>> ORG file
>> ***** trial of latex
>> #+begin_src latex :file letter.pdf
>> Hello
>> #+end_src
>>
>> BUFFER *Org PDF LaTeX Output* shows the following (first and last few
>> lines only)
>>
>> This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-2.3-1.40.12 (TeX Live 2011/MacPorts
>> 2011_1)
>> restricted \write18 enabled.
>> entering extended mode
>>
>> (/var/folders/pC/pCO-RjsoEHGUcvQ-+Z3F2U+++TI/-Tmp-/babel-58334TCg/
>> latex-58334gM
>> m.tex
>> LaTeX2e <2009/09/24>
>> Babel <v3.8l> and hyphenation patterns for english, dumylang,
>> nohyphenation, lo
>> aded.
>> (/opt/local/share/texmf-texlive-dist/tex/latex/base/article.cls
>> Document Class: article 2007/10/19 v1.4h Standard LaTeX document  
>> class
>>
>> .....lines of output omitted......
>>
>> ! LaTeX Error: File `wrapfig.sty' not found.
>>
>> Type X to quit or <RETURN> to proceed,
>> or enter new name. (Default extension: sty)
>>
>> Enter file name:
>> ! Emergency stop.
>> <read *>
>>
>> l.13 \usepackage
>>                {soul}^^M
>> !  ==> Fatal error occurred, no output PDF file produced!
>> Transcript written on /var/folders/pC/pCO-RjsoEHGUcvQ-+Z3F2U+++TI/-
>> Tmp-/babel-5
>> 8334TCg//latex-58334gMm.log.
>>
>> Xander$ port list installed and texlive*
>> texlive-basic                  @23152          tex/texlive-basic
>> texlive-basic                  @23152          tex/texlive-basic
>> texlive-bin                    @2011           tex/texlive-bin
>> texlive-bin                    @2011           tex/texlive-bin
>> texlive-common                 @2011           tex/texlive-common
>> texlive-common                 @2011           tex/texlive-common
>> texlive-documentation-base     @23160          tex/texlive-
>> documentation-base
>> texlive-documentation-base     @23160          tex/texlive-
>> documentation-base
>> texlive-generic-recommended    @23088          tex/texlive-generic-
>> recommended
>> texlive-generic-recommended    @23088          tex/texlive-generic-
>> recommended
>> texlive-latex                  @23089          tex/texlive-latex
>> texlive-latex                  @23089          tex/texlive-latex
>> texlive-latex-recommended      @23089          tex/texlive-latex-
>> recommended
>> texlive-latex3                 @19447          tex/texlive-latex3
>> texlive-xetex                  @23080          tex/texlive-xetex
>>
>>
>>
>
> -- 
> Thomas S. Dye
> http://www.tsdye.com