[OS X TeX] [TeXShop] input file and master doc compilation

[Herbert Schulz]

On Feb 3, 2010, at 5:34 PM, Alain Schremmer wrote:

> 
> On Feb 3, 2010, at 5:34 PM, Sylvain CHAMBON wrote:
> 
>> howdy (again) !
>> 
>> i have a document (book class) in which i input files for each chapter in order to work only on the chapter in process. this chapter file is not indeed a tex document, just a piece of text.
>> 
>> now imagine i have in the master document the line '\input{./chapitres/3e-trigo}' among other things and i'm working on this file '3e-trigo'. is there a way to compile this file _without_ opening the master document ? in fact, i have actually to do backwards and forwards all the time between the master document and the file of the chapter to see the result of what i'm writing... which it's quite boring !!!
> 
> Here is the way I do it with the magnum opus.
> 
> I have three folders:
> 	Chapters-contents
> 	Chapters-controls
> 	Textbook
> 
> A) The files in Chapters-contents are numbered, say, 1, 2, 3 and they all start with the same first line:
> 
> File 1 starts as:
> 	%!TEX root = ../Chapters-controls/\jobname.tex
> 		\chapter{Blah Blah Of The First Kind}
> 		Blah Blah
> 
> File 2 starts as:
> 	%!TEX root = ../Chapters-controls/\jobname.tex
> 		\chapter{Blah Blah Of The Second Kind}
> 		Blah Blah
> 
> Etc
> 
> B) The files in Chapters-control are numbered the same way and are all copies of the single:
> 
> 	\documentclass[11pt]{book}
> 		\usepackage{MyPreamble}
> 	\begin{document}
> 
> 		\addtocounter{page}{0}%adjusted manually after a typesetting of the whole book.
> 		\addtocounter{chapter}{0}%adjusted when the chapter is being begun.
> 
> 		\include{../Chapters-contents/\jobname}
> 	%	\printindex
> 	\end{document}
> 
> No more, no less.
> 
> C) The third folder consists of only one .tex file together with its aux:
> 
> 	\documentclass[11pt]{book}
> 		\usepackage{MyPreamble}
> 	\begin{document}
> 		\frontmatter
> 		. . .
> 		\tableofcontents
> 
> 		%1 - Blah Blah Of The First Kind:
> 		\include{../Chapters-contents/1}
> 
> 		%2 - Blah Blah Of The Second Kind:
> 		\include{../Chapters-contents/2}
> 	
> 		%3 - Blah Blah Of The Third Kind:
> 		\include{../Chapters-contents/3}
> 		. . .
> 		\printindex
> 	\end{document}
> 
> I can thus typeset a chapter from both the Content file and from the Control file. I typeset the whole book once in a while to update the \addtocounter{page} in the control files.
> 
> There are other possibilities as well. For instance, until I developed the above, I used the package "askinclude" which asks you interactively which chapter(s) to include.
> 
> My separation of contents and controls, though, comes in very handy when you want to give the reader the freedom of choice among different options such as to how to format Exercises, Exams. etc More details should you be interested. (An old implementation of this "system" can be found on http://www.freemathtexts.org but the new improved version of the system has yet to get there--but will be "soon".)
> 
> Regards
> --schremmer

Howdy,

But can you start a compile from one of your chapter files? With the root set to .../\jobname... TeXshop can't possibly find the proper root file from within the Chapter file. You've always got to compile from one of your root files and those

%!TEX root = ../Chapters-controls/\jobname.tex

are not doing anything.

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs at wideopenwest dot com)