Paper utilities

LaTeX utilities for papers, maintained by Jacopo Massa. Copy one of the files below next to your main .tex file and rename it paper-utils.sty.

Both declare the same package name. To switch variants, replace paper-utils.sty and keep \usepackage{paper-utils} unchanged. Load only one variant per document.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{paper-utils}
\addbibresource{references.bib}

\begin{document}
\cd{hello}: \SI{10}{\metre}.
\printbibliography
\end{document}

Pass options in the optional argument of \usepackage:

\usepackage[
  language=british,
  minted=true,
  gobble=4,
  tabsize=4
]{paper-utils}

Use a babel language name, such as english, british or italian. The package loads babel after biblatex. This controls language-dependent behaviour such as hyphenation, automatic headings and bibliography strings; it does not translate your text.

\usepackage[language=italian]{paper-utils}

Omitting the option loads english. An empty value is not a switch to disable babel. Avoid loading babel separately with different options; if your document class already loads it, keep the language settings consistent.

Both accept true or false. They select the implementation of code and codenum, which display Prolog snippets without and with line numbers. The verbatim implementation prints plain text; minted adds syntax highlighting.

minted=true wins regardless of option order, so it is enough to select minted. To disable both, use verbatim=false and leave minted at its default.

Minted requires its external tools and the shell-escape configuration appropriate to your TeX distribution. With minted 2, install Pygments and compile with -shell-escape. To pass options to a single block across minted 2 and 3, use the starred form, for example \begin{codenum*}{firstnumber=1}. With verbatim, use \begin{codenum}[firstnumber=1].

Set the number of characters to remove from the start of every code line. The default, 0, preserves the input. Use 4 when each line has four extra leading spaces, or 1 for one leading tab. This removes indentation added to align code within the LaTeX source; indentation beyond that prefix remains.

\usepackage[gobble=4]{paper-utils}
% ...
\begin{code}
    application(AppId, [Functions], [Services]).
\end{code}

The four spaces before application are removed. Gobble counts characters, not indentation levels: it can remove code if a line has less indentation than expected. Use a non-negative integer supported by the selected backend. The setting applies to both code and codenum, with either backend.

Set a positive integer for the display width of tabs, measured in character spaces. The default is 4. This changes how remaining tabs are displayed; it does not remove indentation or change ordinary spaces.

\usepackage[gobble=1,tabsize=4]{paper-utils}

For input with one extra leading tab, this removes that tab and displays remaining tabs with width four. Like gobble, the setting applies to both code environments and both backends. Neither option affects inline \verb or \texttt.

These options set the two colours passed to \fcolorbox: border first, background second. Defaults are black and white. Set either independently; there is no automatic tint, and the text colour is unchanged.

\usepackage[
  box-border=babyblueeyes,
  box-background=aliceblue
]{paper-utils}
\definecolor{babyblueeyes}{HTML}{A1CAF1}
\definecolor{aliceblue}{HTML}{F0F8FF}
% ...
\framedbox{A definition or a short explanation.}

This uses the same colours as \fcolorbox{babyblueeyes}{aliceblue}. Values accept xcolor colour names or expressions such as blue!60!black. Custom names must be defined before the first \framedbox, as above. Both options affect every framed box. The light variant defines neither these options nor \framedbox. These replace the former box-color option.

With XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX, the package selects Inconsolata through fontspec. With pdfLaTeX, it loads inconsolata. Install the Inconsolata fonts in your TeX distribution. Document layout and the main text font remain your choice.

The bibliography uses Biber with the IEEE bibliography style and compact numeric citations. Set your bibliography file with \addbibresource and print it with \printbibliography. Load paper-utils after other packages that must precede cleveref.

The full variant defines definition, lemma, theorem, proposition and corollary, sharing a counter that resets in each section. Do not redefine these environments in your document.

For notes, use \todo{Note}, \todo[inline]{Note} and \listoftodos. For revisions, use changes commands and define authors with \definechangesauthor. Options for these dependencies must be passed before loading paper-utils:

\PassOptionsToPackage{final}{changes}     % Accept revisions in the output
\PassOptionsToPackage{disable}{todonotes} % Hide notes
\usepackage{paper-utils}                 % Full variant

Each file in examples/ is a separate document:

examples/paper-utils.sty links to the full variant, so changes to that package apply to the examples immediately. If your checkout does not preserve symlinks, copy packages/paper-utils-full.sty to examples/paper-utils.sty instead. Compile from examples/, for example with XeLaTeX:

cd examples
latexmk -xelatex commands.tex
latexmk -xelatex biblatex.tex

Latexmk runs Biber when the bibliography needs updating. For a manual build of biblatex.tex, run XeLaTeX, biber biblatex, then XeLaTeX twice. Use latexmk -pdf for pdfLaTeX or latexmk -lualatex for LuaLaTeX. The minted example also needs the external tools described above. Both code examples use gobble=4,tabsize=4.

For questions or suggestions, contact the maintainer: Jacopo Massa.