Include custom file into header with org-mode

Question

I have a LaTeX file with some directives for my TeX documents (\usepackage and such things). Now I want to reuse this file in different org-mode files. I know I can include files with #+include: 'path/to/some/file.tex', but this puts the content of the file after \begin{document}.

Can I somehow include a file into the header?

As suggested, here an example:

A template.tex file that holds the header:

\documentclass[a4paper]{customClass}
\usepackage{etex}
\title{Some Title}
\supervisor{Someone}

As also shown here, this uses a custom document class, which is one of the reasons why I just want to be able to include it.

Then I have a file which contains all the content (content.org):

#+INCLUDE: template.tex

* Chapter 1
** Subchapter 1
   Some content
** Subchapter 2
   More content

Which currently outputs (content.tex):

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
% a lot more org-mode standard header stuff
% ...

\begin{document}

\maketitle

\setcounter{tocdepth}{3}
\tableofcontents
\vspace*{1cm}

% my template.tex file
% not where I wanted it
\documentclass[a4paper]{customClass}
\usepackage{etex}
\title{Some Title}
\supervisor{Someone}


\section{Chapter 1}
% rest of the document
% ...

\end{document}

So in short: I want to reuse my template.tex file in a few org documents to have consistent formatting. Is this possible?

Answer 1

While I do not know a way to do this with a LaTeX file, you can use #+SETUPFILE: file (http://orgmode.org/manual/In_002dbuffer-settings.html) to include an external org file in exporting. Then you can use #+LaTeX_HEADER: in the external org file.

For example, with the following in content.org:

#+SETUPFILE: template.org

and with the following in template.org:

#+LaTeX_CLASS: customClass
#+LaTeX_CLASS_OPTIONS: [a4paper]
#+LaTeX_HEADER: \usepackage{etex}
#+LaTeX_HEADER: \title{Some Title}
#+LaTeX_HEADER: \supervisor{Someone}

When you export content.org, they will be included as a part of the preamble of content.tex.

Answer 2

The latex header org uses for export is stored in org-format-latex-header, which you can modify as you like. According to the help:

It is imperative that this header make sure that no page number appears on the page. The package defined in the variables org-latex-default-packages-alist' andorg-latex-packages-alist' will either replace the placeholder "[PACKAGES]" in this header, or they will be appended.

Answer 3

You can create file local variable in your org file to disable default header,then there is no it's own header outputs which confuses latex code that you want.

# Local Variables:
# org-latex-default-packages-alist: nil
# org-latex-with-hyperref: nil
# org-latex-packages-alist: nil
# End: