[pdftex] Story behind pdfpages request

[beezaur]

I apologize for once again "starting a new thread," if that is in fact 
what is happening. I receive these messages as emails with no way to 
reply to the list except as I am now.  I have no way to maintain "thread 
integrity."

If you are interested, there is a small story behind my recent pdfpages 
request, so read on.  Otherwise, by all means, stop wasting your time.

As I mentioned, I was writing a report for work (a small engineering 
company) that required some extras that I didn't know how to do.  My 
company uses Microsoft Word, but there have been tremendous problems 
with getting the technical reports we write to work well.  I have been 
trying to get the company to switch to LaTeX, something which has worked 
exceptionally well for me in school.

I got the OK to try a single experiment, a report for one job only.  The 
report for that job turned out to be a nightmare, with daily design 
changes, even on the morning the report was due for review.

I am relatively new to LaTeX, but I do have some books on the topic and 
a bunch of references from the web.  I read through those materials for 
several days to no avail.  In the end, I tried this forum.  The help I 
received here was extremely rapid and of very high quality.

If my posts were annoyingly basic or seemed arrogant, then I sincerely 
apologize.  Sometimes I am not good with words, and I was in a 
tremendous hurry to just make the thing work.  I was as thorough as I 
could be before posting - I did try the file that was included in my 
last post, for example.  I never intended to waste anyone's time, and I 
am sorry if someone felt "used" or similar.  I was in a real bind that 
was fixed by advice found here.  I truly appreciate that.

In the end I do not think that it was a waste of time.  My report 
"worked" - it was accepted at the office.  LaTeX will now be used for 
all of my reports and an increasing number of reports from others.  I 
would hope this group would see increased LaTeX use as a good thing.  I 
also received valuable information that I might not have found 
otherwise.  The little "experiment" at my work has opened many people's 
eyes to something they never knew existed.  I think there was an 
abnormally large effect from the help offered in this case, both in 
business and private use.

So, I thank you once more for your help, even if you are motivated to 
scold me.

Scott
-- 
A day without math is like a day without sunshine.