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I have created a simple yet useful document class. I am interested in uploading this to CTAN so it can be available in TeX distribution out of the box. As a result, I no longer need to setup texmf if it is already in the TeX distribution.

I have questions:

  1. What is the policy or rule or protocol to upload packages or document classes?
  2. Should I create a manual for them?
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  • 5
    Do you think you could refine your question title a bit to make it more distinct from How can I contribute to CTAN?? You seem to be asking about a different aspect of contributing to CTAN. – doncherry Jul 23 '11 at 11:16
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    A simple Google search provides the answer. This is only to promote your blog and package, is it not? ;-) – Harold Cavendish Jul 23 '11 at 12:10
  • @Harrold: All search engines have been blocked by my router. I hope I can upload my document class as soon as possible so I can shut my blog down to avoid getting wrong impression of this question. :-) – xport Jul 23 '11 at 12:26
  • @Harrold: In this case, I would give xport the benefit of the doubt. xport: You may prove me right/wrong by creating/not creating documentation for your soon-to-be released class. – lockstep Jul 23 '11 at 12:37
  • Nah, do not take it personally. I was merely joking. @lockstep Of course, I did not meant it as a serious accusation. There are moderators for this job. – Harold Cavendish Jul 23 '11 at 12:38
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Usually packages and classes are uploaded as DTX files. There is the sty2dtx script of mine on CTAN which can help you here and also works for class files. Another one is makedtx. In the first part of the DTX you should add the documentation. LaTeX manuals for this topic are clsguide, ltxdoc and doc.

You also need a small README file with the name and description of you contribution.

Finally everything should be zipped together and uploaded at e.g. http://dante.ctan.org/upload.

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  • "Usually" was in former times. Nowadays there is no need for a dtx file – user2478 Jul 23 '11 at 11:37
  • @Herbert: What is a nowadays alternative to writing pretty documented code then? – Andrey Vihrov Jul 23 '11 at 12:15
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    @Andrey: Have a look on codedoc, but I like DTX still better. – Martin Scharrer♦ Jul 23 '11 at 12:36
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    @Andrey: there are several alternatives and I can say only what I do. I have for one package: <package>.sty, <package>.tex (if a tex version exists), <package>-doc.tex, <package>-doc.bib and <package>-doc.pdf. And of course a short README. This configuration is easy for me to handle. But others like dtk and others like ... – user2478 Jul 23 '11 at 13:04
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    Yes, <package>-doc.tex is also fine. @all: Please don't call it <subdir>/manual.tex which then becomes manual.pdf which is very difficult to find with texdoc! – Martin Scharrer♦ Jul 23 '11 at 13:23
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TeX Frequently Asked Questions — Contributing a file to the archives

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Every package without a documentation is not a good package. For uploading it visit http://dante.ctan.org/upload or http://www.tex.ac.uk/upload/

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