LaTeX macros

I have made the following LaTeX macro files which I use when writing articles. You can choose to use individual macros, just cut and paste from the files, or the whole setup I'm using. Files can be downloaded individually, or as a zipped file containing all the files.

LaTeX template for articles (mal.tex)

Defines my default setup for articles including the inclusion of setup.tex and meta.tex. Suggested solution: Rather than modify setup.tex for each new article, keep one copy in a shared directory; make your own setup file including (using \input) the shared setup.tex for each new article and redefine macros you wish to modify.

LaTeX setup for articles (setup.tex)

Defines various macros and parameters: define paths (home directory, bibliography), \addsection for adding sections with automatic labeling, multi-column table of contents, \DRAFT macro for marking label and citation definitions in the margin.

LaTeX metafile for articles (meta.tex)

Standardized file for defining meta-information on article: title, author, etc. Macro \includesections is defined here adding all the sections and appendices using \addsection.

My typical LaTeX article setup consists of the following documents per article:

Main document

This follows the template (mal.tex). The files macro.tex and meta.tex are included using \input.

macro.tex

This contains macro definitions specific to the article. It includes setup.tex at the start using \input the general setup file which is in a shared catalogue; including that here rather than in the main document ensures that macros originally defined in setup.tex can be redefined here if you wish to modify their behaviour.

meta.tex

This is a copy of the meta file adapted to the specific document. It contains information such as title, author, etc. It also contains a list of all the sections (chapters) in the definition of \includesections where all the sections are included using the macro \addsection.

one file per section (chapter)

I use one file per section (chapter). These are included by adding them to the definition of \includesections made in the meta file. This way, the sections are automatically labeled as chap:xxx or app:xxx where xxx is the section name. The filename is on the form {\texfileprefix}xxx.tex where \texfileprefix should be (re)defined in the meta file.