nicolgo

Lifelong learning

MD DOC Template

2022.06.06

Markdown document template

Description

This repository contains a simple template for building Pandoc documents; Pandoc is a suite of tools to compile markdown files into readable files (PDF, EPUB, HTML…).

Usage

Installing

In order to use this makefile you will need to make sure that the following dependencies are installed on your system:

  • GNU make
  • Pandoc
  • LuaLaTeX
  • DejaVu Sans fonts

Folder structure

Here’s a folder structure for a Pandoc document:

my-document/     # Root directory.
|- build/        # Folder used to store builded (output) files.
|- src/          # Markdowns files; one for each chapter.
|- images/       # Images folder.
|- metadata.yml  # Metadata content (title, author...).
|- Makefile      # Makefile used for building our documents.

Setup generic data

Edit the metadata.yml file to set configuration data:

---
title: My document title
author: Ralph Huwiler
rights:  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
language: en-US
tags: [document, my-document, etc]
abstract: |
    Your summary text.
---

You can find the list of all available keys on this page.

Creating chapters

Creating a new chapter is as simple as creating a new markdown file in the src/ folder; you’ll end up with something like this:

src/01-introduction.md
src/02-installation.md
src/03-usage.md
src/04-references.md

Pandoc and Make will join them automatically ordered by name; that’s why the numeric prefixes are being used.

All you need to specify for each chapter at least one title:

# Introduction

This is the first paragraph of the introduction chapter.

## First

This is the first subsection.

## Second

This is the second subsection.

Each title (#) will represent a chapter, while each subtitle (##) will represent a chapter’s section. You can use as many levels of sections as markdown supports.

Anchor links can be used to link chapters within the document:

// src/01-introduction.md
# Introduction

For more information, check the [Usage] chapter.

// src/02-installation.md
# Usage

...

If you want to rename the reference, use this syntax:

For more information, check [this](#usage) chapter.

Anchor names should be downcased, and spaces, colons, semicolons… should be replaced with hyphens. Instead of Chapter title: A new era, you have: #chapter-title-a-new-era.

It’s the same as anchor links:

# Introduction

## First

For more information, check the [Second] section.

## Second

...

Or, with al alternative name:

For more information, check [this](#second) section.

Inserting objects

Text. That’s cool. What about images and tables?

Insert an image

Use Markdown syntax to insert an image with a caption:

![A cool seagull.](images/seagull.png)

Pandoc will automatically convert the image into a figure (image + caption).

If you want to resize the image, you may use this syntax, available in Pandoc 1.16:

![A cool seagull.](images/seagull.png){ width=50% height=50% }

Also, to reference an image, use LaTeX labels:

Please, admire the gloriousnes of Figure \ref{seagull_image}.

![A cool seagull.\label{seagull_image}](images/seagull.png)

Insert a table

Use markdown table, and use the Table: <Your table description> syntax to add a caption:

| Index | Name |
| ----- | ---- |
| 0     | AAA  |
| 1     | BBB  |
| ...   | ...  |

Table: This is an example table.

If you want to reference a table, use LaTeX labels:

Please, check Table /ref{example_table}.

| Index | Name |
| ----- | ---- |
| 0     | AAA  |
| 1     | BBB  |
| ...   | ...  |

Table: This is an example table.\label{example_table}

Insert an equation

Wrap a LaTeX math equation between $ delimiters for inline (tiny) formulas:

This, $\mu = \sum_{i=0}^{N} \frac{x_i}{N}$, the mean equation, ...

Pandoc will transform them automatically into images using online services.

If you want to center the equation instead of inlining it, use double $$ delimiters:

$$\mu = \sum_{i=0}^{N} \frac{x_i}{N}$$

Here’s an online equation editor.

Output

This template uses Makefile to automatize the building process. Instead of using the pandoc cli util, we’re going to use some make commands.

Export to PDF

Use this command:

make pdf

The generated file will be placed in build/pdf.

Please, note that PDF file generation requires some extra dependencies (~ 800 MB):

sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-base texlive-fonts-recommended texlive-latex-extra

Export to EPUB

Use this command:

make epub

The generated file will be placed in build/epub.

Export to HTML

Use this command:

make html

The generated file(s) will be placed in build/html.

References

markdown