General ⇒ Does LaTeX have this facility?

[srengam]

Is their a way I can save frequently used commands into some sort of custom toolbox?

Ie, commnds for things such as

\noindent
\textbf{}
\emph{}

etc etc

So when I'm working I can quickly click on the command I want, just like I can for many of the mathematics functions etc. But since theirs so many commands for text, I imagine it would have to be customizable.

That would be so helpful if it does have such a facility.

Many thanks.

[paul]

LaTeX isn't an editor, so I don't know what you mean about something you can "click on" for "mathematics functions etc."

If you use Emacs, you can pretty much make it do anything you want. If don't use Emacs...well, that'd be the first problem to solve

[srengam]

I should have explained it a bit better.

If i'm working on maths, I've got certain "click on" functions that save time, for example, if I click on the fraction icon in the toolbox, the one click gives me the command

\frac{}{}

saving time. And this icon facility is availble on many other functions in about 15 other toolboxes each with about 4 to 15 functions.

But does latex have a customisable facility for other commands such as

\addvspace{10pt}

I use this command a lot, and it would be nice to be able to click on it each time as an icon in a toolbox where I have customised the functions of each icon. Even if each icon was simply labelled as (for example) "C1" meaning Customized Command 1, which I could set as \addvspace{10pt} it would be so useful.

Does LateX have anything like this.

My "backup" solution at the moment is to have a notepad document open and simply copying and pasting the commands I use frequently.

Regards,

Shayne.

[sommerfee]

As Paul have already said, LaTeX isn't an editor, it does not even have a graphical user interface. LaTeX is a macro collection for TeX. And TeX is a typesetting system (without GUI), see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeX

If you are searching for a (La)TeX editor which suits your needs best, you could take this table as a starting point:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_TeX_editors

[srengam]

Thanks all,

It's a shame it doesn't have the facility, I think it'd be a great function.

I've had a bit of a brainwave this morning. I've got a razer keyboard which lets me assign whatever instructions to any of the keys on it (using different presets for different games and programs). I might sacrifice the 17 keys on the number pad on the right to some function texts I use all the time. For example, create a LaTeX preset for the keyboard and have the NumLock key assigned to \addvspace{10pt} etc, and then keep adding until I've got my own sort of shortcut system going.

Thanks again.

[localghost]

[…] It's a shame it doesn't have the facility, I think it'd be a great function. […]

You should read what others write here. And you have still a wrong understanding of what TeX is and how it works. As sommerfee already pointed out, you are not looking for a feature of TeX but of your editor. So, take the manual of your favourite editor and see if you can customize something like text blocks.


Thorsten

[srengam]

I must humbly confess to being a noob div with Tex and "editors", and hence ask the question; what is an editor?

If it's an editor that I need could you recommend one?

I am sorry for being a pain in the ****.

Cheers all,

Shayne

[localghost]

The editor is that piece of software wherein you write the source code for your document. Such things like TeXnicCenter (TXC) or TeXworks. What do you use to edit your documents?

[paul]

I must humbly confess to being a noob div with Tex and "editors", and hence ask the question; what is an editor?

If it's an editor that I need could you recommend one?

What operating system are you using (presumably Windows or MacOS)? When you want to "start TeX", what do you click on? (Does it actually say "TeX", or something else?)

TeX has no user interface to speak of: you just start it and it processes a preexisting file and, if all goes well, produces a dvi file (or possibly a PDF file); you don't type into it, and there's nothing to click, no windows on your screen, etc. Whatever that program is that you start when you want to type something, click on your equations, etc., that isn't tex; it's some editor that runs tex for you "under the covers". Someone might be able to tell you how to customize it, but only after we can identify it.

[srengam]

I am using TeXnicCenter on Windows XP, and use LaTex => PDF

(if this helps)

I think it's starting to make a bit of sense to me now, is TeXnicCentre basically a tool I am using to USE TeX? Hence TeXnicCentre is my chosen editor?

Is it worth me looking for a book on TeXnicCentre?

Thanks again.