Where can I hide this LaTeX preamble?

September 27, 2007 9:18 AM

I found a nice LaTeX .sty file for mla6, but to format the citations properly, it requires a long preamble which I'd rather not copy and paste each time I write a paper. Can I hide it somewhere?

I found the style here (this file) But I have to add the following to the preamble of any document I want to format this way:
\jurabibsetup{
authorformat={citationreversed,reducedifibidem,firstnotreversed},
citefull=first,
round,% -- JMC
endnote=false,% -- JMC
annotatorfirstsep=qtd,% -- JMC
% idem=strict,% -- JMC %---->the MLA Handbook says those options should be avoided, if, however, you want to use them, delete the %
% ibidem=strict,% -- JMC %---->the MLA Handbook says those options should be avoided, if, however, you want to use them, delete the %
% pages=ignoreibidem,% -- JMC (new option in latest beta) crossref=long %---->the MLA Handbook says those options should be avoided, if, however, you want to use them, delete the %
crossref=long,
titleformat=commasep,
bibformat=ibidem,
}

\AddTo\bibsenglish{%
\def\edbyname{}
\def\Edbyname{ed.}
\def\inname{\unskip}
\def\editorname{\unskip,\space ed.}
\def\editorsname{\unskip,\space eds.}
\def\etalname{et al\periodn}
\renewcommand*{\trans}{trans.}
\renewcommand*{\ibidemname}{}
\renewcommand*{\ibidemmidname}{}
\renewcommand*{\idemname}{}
\renewcommand*{\idemmidname}{}
\renewcommand*{\firstedname}{1\textsuperscript{st}}
\renewcommand*{\secondedname}{2\textsuperscript{nd}}
\renewcommand*{\thirdedname}{3\textsuperscript{rd}}
\renewcommand*{\fourthedname}{4\textsuperscript{th}}
\renewcommand*{\fifthedname}{5\textsuprescript{th}}
\renewcommand*{\thedname}{\textsuperscript{th}}
\renewcommand*{\editionname}{ed.}
\renewcommand*{\urldatecomment}{\unskip\commas}
\biburlfont{rm}
}
\addto\jbonlyforbib{%
\DeclareRobustCommand{\mla}{. }
\DeclareRobustCommand{\mlaws}{.}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\commas}{ }
\DeclareRobustCommand{\periodn}{}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\nosnoc}{.}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\commanot}{}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\nocolon}{:}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\diss}{Diss}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\perf}{Perf.}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\dir}{Dir.}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\reviewintro}{Rev. of }
\DeclareRobustCommand{\specintro}{Spec. issue of }
\DeclareRobustCommand{\Edbyname}{Ed.}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\editorname}{\unskip,\space ed}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\editorsname}{\unskip,\space eds}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\revedname}{Rev.}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\editionname}{ed}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\trans}{Trans.}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\bibapyldelim}{}
\DeclareRobustCommand{\bibapyrdelim}{}
\renewcommand*{\bibtfont}{\textit}
\renewcommand*{\bibbtfont}{\textit}
\renewcommand*{\bibjtfont}{\textit}
\renewcommand{\bibauthormultiple}{---. }
}

Is there any easier way? Or alternatively, is there a better mla package out there?

posted by chndrcks to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

Best answer: just put

\input somefile.tex

in your LaTeX file wherever you'd put those lines, and put those lines in somefile.tex.
posted by goingonit at 9:28 AM on September 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You could simply put all of those in a macros.tex (call it whatever you like) file and include that, right? Instant reuse too, since you can include that macros file in each paper that you write.

I have a set of customizations (a nicer itemise environment, a decent quote environment etc) that I've picked up over the years. I simply do

% include various macros
\input{/thesis/macros.tex}

after my \usepackage statements.
posted by geminus at 9:35 AM on September 27, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks, both of you. I had thought of doing something like that, but thought there might be a cleaner way to do it.

I ended up putting it in the same folder as the .sty file, and it's in the search path, so I can just do \input{mla6.tex} and not have to add an absolute path to all my files, nor worry about using a relative path (my files always seem to get moved around)
posted by chndrcks at 9:56 AM on September 27, 2007