Welcome to gtex-letter
gtex-letter is a gnome-druid written in python.
It is an assistant, that guides you through the writing process of a LaTeX-letter. The advantage of using gtex-letter is the fact, that it takes care of the LaTeX-part of the writing, letting you focus on the real contents.
The features include:
- use of the gnome-card addressbook (gnome-card is
part of gnome-pim).
- simple configuration of various default openings
and closings for your letters.
- makeup of the dvi-, the ps- and pdf-files with
just a mouseclick.
- an editor to continue the work on the raw LaTeX-letter
can be started from within gtex-letter.
- different letter-headers can be defined to choose from.
- the address-browser can be used seperately and will
print out the address chosen. (call addressbook_vcard.py)
- optional it is possible to generate a letter in a
non-interactive way. You just supply enough information
on the command-line and gtex-letter makes up the letter.
Optionally it can be printed directly.
- Various complexity levels for the graphical user
interface (gui). Configurable to your needs.
Configuration
gtex-letter is configured by editing .gtex-letterrc. gtex-letter will search the current directory, the home directory and finally the installation directory for the file.
For German-Speaking Users:
There is a file called .gtex-letterrc.german. Please
copy that file to gtex-letterrc. The file
includes default openings and closings in German.
If you are interested to produce rc-files for other languages, please let me know.
By the way, this stretches to letter-headers as well. I want to help people using LaTeX with as little effort as possible. Therefore i would like to include some good-looking headers as examples. So people would just have to fill in their address to have an appropriate header.
The options in the rc-file (.gtex-letterrc):
addressbook: location of your gnome-card-addressbook.
Default is ~/.gnome/GnomeCard.gcrd
mycountry: for destination addresses outside of 'mycountry',
gtex-letter sets the country abbrevation in
front of the zip-code. No default set.
mydvips: The programm (with options) to make the ps-file
from the dvi-file. Default is dvips.
mydvipdf: The programm (with options) to make the
pdf-file from the dvi-file. Default is dvipdf.
mylatex: The LaTeX-command (with options) used to make
the dvi-file. Default is latex
myeditor: The editor (with options) to call from within
gtex-letter. Default is vim.
myprintcommand: The print-command (with options).
Default is lpr.
myxdvi: The dvi-viewer (with options). Default is xdvi.
quite_latex: Set this option to 1 or yes to suppress all
LaTeX output. It will also suppress the output of
xdvi, dvips and dvipdf.
guilevel: This is the level of complexity of the graphical
user interface (gui). Default value is 'novice',
which means simple screens, that are easy to
understand. After a few runs you might consider
moving to 'indermediate'. This is a bit more
straight forward. You can give it a try with the
command-line option "--guilevel 'intermediate'".
At last, there is the guilevel 'expert' that
brings you everything in one big page.
opening_defaults: The different default buttons for the
opening. Please enter the openings seperated by ';'
(only the ; of course), but do not forget to set a "
before and after each opening.
It is possible to further enhance the buttons with
the name of the address chosen. This can be reached
via inclusion of a term like __lastname__. The possible
terms include: __name_prefix__ __firstname__,
__middlename__, __lastname__ and __name_suffix__.
Please refer to the .gtex-letterrc-file for examples.
closing_defaults: The different default buttons for the
closing. Please enter the openings seperated by ';'
(only the ; of course), but do not forget to set a "
before and after each closing.
Please refer to the .gtex-letterrc-file for examples.
header_defaults: You can enter a list of different header
filenames here. Please enter the header filenames
seperated by ';' (only the ; of course). You may
choose to omit the '.tex' in the filename.
A WORD OF WARNING: LaTeX letter classes are very specific.
The letter-header defines some parameters that will be
passed to LaTeX while processing your letter of the
specified class. Now if you simply choose to use a
different of the letter-headers that come with gtex-letter,
without adopting the rc-file. LaTeX will complain.
However, it is secure to use the default headers that
are defined in every rc-file.
addressbook_columns: The different columns of the gtex-letter
representation of your addressbook. You can choose from
the following columns: Name_Prefix, Firstname, Lastname,
Street, ZIP, City, Country, Telephone.
This is list is also the default value.
addressbook_column_widths: The widths of the columns, seperated
by "," (just the , of course). Please make sure, that
the number of columns and the number of column widths
match. Default is 50, 80, 100, 120, 50, 100, 20, 90
lettertype: The type of your LaTeX-letter. Default is 'letter'.
texcommands.0 etc.: The LaTeX-commands for your letter. They
are numbered, starting from 0. Empty lines are possible.
To let gtex-letter fill in the address, the opening etc.,
you can choose from the following key-words:
__letter_type__, __letter_address__, __letter_opening__,
__letter_header__, __letter_subject__, __letter_contents__
and __letter_closing__.
Please see .gtex-letterrc for an example of a LaTeX-letter.
For suggestions and questions or just to let me know, you like gtex-letter or hate my poor English, please mail me at the address below.