Re: document processing
Douglas Tutty wrote:
I'm revisiting how I make documents. I have been using lout since I
started with linux in 2000 but it has the following shortcomimgs:
Difficult to change things like margins
Can't make html
plain text output has blank lines that must be edited.
My primary use is for letters and notes but also larger projects. I
don't like wysiwyg. I want to be able to make: ps, pdf, txt, html.
Something like DebianDoc seems overkill for a letter.
I want something that is simple, probably a markup language, but without
excessivly long tags or difficulty changing things like margins for
non-html output.
What do people find works well?
LaTeX, in combination with hyperlatex and other packages; I can give you
a list if you are interested.
I think you shall find no better guide to LaTeX than "A Guide to LaTeX"
by Helmut Kopka & Patrick W. Daly, 3rd Edition, Addison-Wesley, 1999,
ISBN 0-201-39825-7.
For correspondence, follow the example in Kopka & Daly to create a
template (a document "class") which suits your needs and taste. I find
the "letter" class of LaTeX too plain; besides, the wide margins are
wasteful of paper.
Once you have created your template, the production cycle is as follows
(with a document named "letter-1.tex"):
(1) edit "letter-1.tex"
(2) execute "latex letter-1.tex"; this typesets the document and creates
a fresh dvi version of the document; typesetting takes only a few
seconds unless you have a document on the order of a hundred pages, in
which case typesetting may take a minute
(3) execute "xdvi letter-1 &"; this gives you a display of the finished
product (assuming PDF output)
(4) repeat steps 1 and 2 until the document is complete, then jump to
step 5; note that xdvi automatically displays the latest revision
(5) execute "dvips letter-1"; this creates a postscript file for printing
(6) execute "lpr letter-1.ps"; this prints the document
You can change the font size and switch from single column to multiple
columns without revising the template, but the physical dimensions of
the layout and details such as margin with are determined by the templace.
Kopka & Daily also provides detailed guidance and procedures for larger
projects such as books.
RLH
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