% !TeX spellcheck = en_GB \documentclass[a4paper, 11pt]{article} \usepackage[british]{babel} \usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref} \usepackage{microtype} \usepackage{easyformat} \def\labelitemi{--} \def\easyformat{\texttt{easyformat}} \title{\easyformat\\[.5em] \large _the_ manual for the 2017/04/09 version (v1.1.0)} \author{Evert Provoost} \date{} \begin{document} \maketitle \begin{abstract} \easyformat\ is a package that allows the use of~\_ to begin/end _italic_ or __bold__ formatting as an alternative to the standard \LaTeXe\ \verb|\textit{italic}| and/or \verb|\textbf{bold}|. \end{abstract} %\tableofcontents % NOT NEEDED \newpage %% NOT NEEDED. % Insert a blank page. %\null % The page has to contain 'something'. %\thispagestyle{empty} % Hide the pagenumber. %\addtocounter{page}{-1} % So the next doesn't turn 3. %\newpage \section{Introduction} Usually when you want to make something _italic_ or __bold__ in \LaTeX\ you insert \verb|\textit{italic}| or \verb|\textbf{bold}| respectively. However when writing a book or another text where this formatting is common, this quickly becomes annoying to type. \begin{quote} __Quick disclaimer:__\\ I'm not saying that the \LaTeX\ way is bad. I just want to explain that it's not ideal under all circumstances. \end{quote} Simple markuplanguages (eg. Markdown) have a more elegant solution. If you, for example, wanted to write: \begin{quote} __Stop!__, you _have_ to wait! \end{quote} In Markdown, you'd type: \begin{quote} \verb|**Stop!**, you *have* to wait!| \end{quote} As you can see it's a matter of _wanting_ italic or bold formatting, adding~*'s where needed and done; no (long) macros to type. With the help of \easyformat\ we can do something similar, here we get the same result with: \begin{quote} \verb|__Stop!__, you _have_ to wait!| \end{quote} (Why underscores? See: \ref{Why?!}) \section{Usage, syntax and examples} Like usual you import the package with: \verb|\usepackage{easyformat}| \easyformat\ makes \_ an active character, however it was already 'special' before so you still have to type~\verb|\_| if you want to insert an underscore. As already said, \easyformat\ uses a Markdown-like syntax, so: \begin{quote} \verb|_italic,_ __bold,__ and ___bolditalic!___| \end{quote} Gives: \begin{quote} _italic,_ __bold,__ and ___bolditalic!___ \end{quote} However we can also do more complex stuff, eg.: \begin{quote} \verb|_Lorem __ipsum_ totalem__ da __givea _zin_ doram__ _zet_tim, liefkan.| \end{quote} Becomes: \begin{quote} _Lorem __ipsum_ totalem__ da __givea _zin_ doram__ _zet_tim, liefkan. \end{quote} Those with a good eye might have noticed that \easyformat\ adds italicscorrection when needed. Just like \verb|\textit{zet}tim| would have. \section{Utilities} %% This is solved in version 2017/04/09 %\subsection{Underscore in subtitles\label{undtitles}} %If you ever try something similar to \verb|\section{__Vectors:__ %$\vec{F}_g$}|: \TeX\ will shout at you. Why? I don't really know. However I %do know how to fix this. If we want to get the previous example we would use: %\begin{quote} % \verb|\setundsub|\\ % % Yeah there's a glitch were the first is indented slightly more % % unless there is something before the next lines...... % \hspace*{0pt}\verb|\section{$\textbf{Vectors:} \vec{F}_g$}|\\ % \hspace*{0pt}\verb|\setundact| %\end{quote} %This first resets the \_ character so it can only be used as the start of %subscripts; then adds the subtitle and afterwards re-initiates \_ for %__bold__ and _italic_. (Obviously the \easyformat\ syntax does not work %_in_ the subtitle, so you'll have to use the \LaTeX-commands.) \subsection{\texttt{\textbackslash nrshape}} Reverts the fontshape to the default. \subsection{\texttt{\textbackslash nrseries}} Reverts the fontseries to the default. \subsection{\texttt{\textbackslash setundact}} Sets the catcode of \_ to 13 (active), effectively _(re-)enabling_ the \easyformat\ syntax. \subsection{\texttt{\textbackslash setundsub}} Sets the catcode of \_ to 8 (subscript), effectively _disabling_ the \easyformat\ syntax. \section{Technical details} \subsection{Why \_ and not *?\label{Why?!}} To make * work we would have to make it an active character, however this would break things like \verb|\section*{Art}|. The~\_ is already protected by \TeX\ because of it's meaning in mathmode. However, it has little to no use in textmode. This is why we can use~\_ for this purpose and not~*. \subsection{Does this break mathmode?} No it doesn't. It keeps behaving like before in mathmode, it's meaning only changes in textmode. (We first check whether we are in mathmode or not and behave accordingly.) \section{Contact} If you want to make suggestions or have any questions whose answer could be included in a future version of this document, you can email to this address: \url{mailto:evert.provoost@gmail.com} \newpage \section{Changelog} We only include important changes from v1.0.0 onwards, since earlier versions barely worked. \subsection*{2017/04/09 v1.1.0} Made usage of syntax in \verb|\section{}|, and similar macros, possible. Changed the behaviour so it works more like \verb|\emph{}| (this also simplifies the code). \subsection*{2017/04/07 v1.0.0} First stable version. % Insert a friendly message :) \vspace*{\fill}\noindent Made with $\heartsuit$ in Berlaar, Belgium. \clearpage \end{document}