[OS X TeX] OT: Authoring+Editing with LaTeX/Mac Integration

[Maarten Sneep]

On May 8, 2007, at 21:51, Jeffrey J Weimer wrote:

> I have been in search of a good tool for the Authoring + Editing  
> stage of preparing a manuscript (a textbook in this case). My  
> primary goal is to find a tool that allows me to WRITE a document  
> unfettered with concerns about Design + Printing. During the  
> writing process, an ability to OVERSEE the organization of the  
> content is important. Direct INTEGRATION with LaTeX at the Design +  
> Printing stage is the final wish.
>
> So far, I have found Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/ 
> scrivener.html) as the most likely tool to accomplish the WRITE and  
> (some aspects of the) OVERSEE parts of the process. The downside  
> is, its only INTEGRATION with LaTeX is through MultiMarkDown. This  
> leaves me a bit ... unimpressed (I started a thread on the  
> Scrivener forum with further comments about this for those  
> interested).

I'm most happy 'working on the metal', that is using a plain text  
editor, which ensures nothings gets in the way. I prefer BBEdit, and  
with its code folding it has become a lot easier to organise the  
text. TextMate also has folding, you may be interested in that as well.

Both are extensible through scripting, and both have (La)TeX  
integration if you search on the web, or ask here. Since every user  
has different requirements, the scripts may need some adaptation to  
suit your needs. Simple scripts often call TeXShop to do the  
compilation and previewing, although I find that a bit lacking.

So, in summary:

WRITE: in a plain text editor, for me: BBEdit.
OVERSEE: Code folding for overview in single file, file groups for  
multiple files (combined with some scripts to open all files  
contained in the current file (which makes file groups almost  
superfluous)). Integration with a revision control system (CVS,  
subversion) to really manage the whole project. I cannot emphasise  
enough that revision control is essential for a large writing project.
INTEGRATION: work on the metal. Start with the standard classes and  
separate from from function. I had macros for all special items, and  
as such I could easily replace the looks later on. I used Memoir  
eventually. You might want to have a look at ConTeXt if you are free  
from publisher requirements.

HTMH,

Maarten

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