Nicola Talbot
23rd Dec 2005
The quotepas package was designed to allow you to quote predefined passages. It was originally designed to quote bible passages, but can be used for any quotations. The passages are stored in a database. The name of the database is specified using the command:
\quotepasdatabase{filename}
For example, if the database is contained in the file
sampledb.tex, then the following should be placed
in the preamble:
\quotepasdatabase{sampledb}
Within the database file, individual passages are stored using the command:
\newquotepas{label}{text}
For example:
\newquotepas{Gen1v1}{In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.}
Each passage can then be inserted into the document using the command:
\quotepas{label}
For example, to insert the above passage:
\quotepas{Gen1v1}
You can combine passages by using a comma-separated list of
labels. For example, if your database contains the
following:
\newquotepas{Gen1v1}{In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.}
\newquotepas{Gen1v2}{Now the earth was a formless
void, there was darkness over the deep, and God's spirit
hovered over the water.}
\newquotepas{Gen1v3}{\qupar God said, `Let there
be light', and there was light.}
then the three verses can be inserted using
\quotepas{Gen1v1,Gen1v2,Gen1v3}
The command \qupar indicates
that this verse should start a new paragraph if it is not
the first one in the list used in \quotepas. So,
\quotepas{Gen1v1,Gen1v2,Gen1v3}
will have a paragraph break between verse 2 and verse 3, but
the following won't:
\quotepas{Gen1v1} \quotepas{Gen1v2} \quotepas{Gen1v3}
Of course, you could just define all three verses in one block:
\newquotepas{Gen1v1-3}{In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was a formless
void, there was darkness over the deep, and God's spirit
hovered over the water.
God said, `Let there be light', and there was light.}
and use \quotepas{Gen1v1-3}. It all depends on how many
of your documents are using an individual database. The
advantage in storing each verse singly is that one document
my quote, say, verse 1, but another may quote verses 1 and 2.
\renewenvironment{qupformat}{``}{''}
Using the passages defined in the previous section, note the
difference between \quotepas{Gen1v1,Gen1v2,Gen1v3}:
``In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was a formless
void, there was darkness over the deep, and God's spirit
hovered over the water.
God said, `Let there be light', and there was light.''
and \quotepas{Gen1v1}
\quotepas{Gen1v2}
\quotepas{Gen1v3}:
``In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.''
``Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the
deep, and God's spirit hovered over the water.''
``God said, `Let there be light', and there was light.''
As noted earlier, \qupar should be used in the
quotation definition if there should be a paragraph break
at that point, but only if this passage is not the first
listed in the command \quotepas. If you want a paragraph
break to be inserted at that point even if it is the first
listed, use the starred version of \quotepas, e.g.
\quotepas*{Gen1v3}.
The command \qupar can be redefined it you want any
additional text to occur at the start of the paragraph. For
example, if you have redefined qupformat as
\renewenvironment{qupformat}{``}{''}
it would also be advisable to redefine \qupar so
that inserts a new opening double quote at the start of the
new paragraphs:
\renewcommand{\qupar}{\par``}
The command \quotepassep is inserted between each
passage. By default this is a space, but can be redefined.
As with BiBTEX, you can have a large database, and use an application, in this case a Perl script called quotepas.pl, to select only the passages that have been referenced in the document. Each entry in this database should be entered in the form:
<quotepas>
<label>label</label>
<block>text</block>
</quotepas>
For example:
<quotepas>
<label> Gen1v1</label>
<block>In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.</block>
</quotepas>
The Perl script can either be called as:
quotepas.pl <aux file> <database>or
perl quotepas.pl <aux file> <database>depending on your system, where aux file is the name of the auxiliary file and database is the name of the database. The Perl script will determine the name of the output file (the file given in
\quotepasdatabase) from the auxiliary file.
For example, if your document is saved in sample.tex, and the database is contained in database.qup, then do
latex sample quotepas.pl sample.aux database.qup latex sample
If you have a very large database, this is recommended as
it reduces the memory requirements of TEX, since each
\newquotepas command defines a new command containing
the given text.
| Dr Nicola Talbot |
| School of Computing Sciences |
| University of East Anglia |
| Norwich. Norfolk. NR4 7TJ. |
| United Kingdom |
| http://theoval.cmp.uea.ac.uk/~nlct/ |