Writing a Hebrew dictionary with XeLaTeX

Question

BACKGROUND

I'm trying to format a book with XeLaTeX. This book has been written with Word, and typesetted manually with a propriety program. Now I'm trying to build an automated flow that will convert the .docx to .tex, and create a PDF. I have built a Python code that parses the .docx, now I have to correctly create the .tex...

Since the text is Hebrew with Nikud (diacritics), it seems best to use XeLaTeX - according to this and according to my own experiments.

DESCRIPTION

1. This book is a Hebrew dictionary, divided to sections, and letters.
2. Each page should have 2 columns of text
3. The footnotes should be at the bottom of the page - single columned.
4. There should be a short dividing line between the text and the footnotes.
5. The page numbering should be in Hebrew letters instead of regular numerals.
6. The section full name should be at the heading
7. There should be a kind of "marker" with abbreviated form of the section name.

Attaching pictures at the end of my question to make it more clear.

The Question

• I have no experience with LaTeX, but I'm willing to learn new things... Is it feasible to do all these with XeLaTeX? (or maybe just a subset of my requirements?)
• Where should I start? Is there some template the resembles this? Should I build my own? Should I use packages like Multicol?
• Any other tips?

Your help is greatly appreciated!

EDIT 21/3/16

More details:

8. In some sections the header should contain the section name on both odd and even pages; and in other section it should contain the section name on odd pages and the sub-section name on even pages.
9. I plan to manually request a new thumb-index every new section; I'd like it to automatically calculate the size of every thumb-index so all of them together will fill the page.
10. The footnotes numerals should be regular numbers (Arabic).
11. No paragraph and footnotes indentation.

What I have got so far?

In the meanwhile, I've built something that seems to answer almost all my requests. I'd like to get feedback, if I did something wrong (or not good enough...):

% missing:
% thumbs
% modify רע to  ער:  http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/300008/modify-specific-hebrew-alpha-numerals-on-page-number
% increase margin above and below footnotes ruler

\documentclass{book}

\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancyhf{}
\fancyhead[RE,LO]{עמוד \thepage}    % it's not exactly what I want to be there, it's just for me to check the abilities
\fancyhead[CE,CO]{מדור}

\usepackage{multicol}           % allow using 2 columns
\setlength{\columnsep}{1.5pc}   % increase space between columns

\usepackage{polyglossia}        % allow Hebrew
\setdefaultlanguage{hebrew} 

\rightfootnoterule              % move footnote ruler to the right, until https://github.com/reutenauer/polyglossia/issues/5 will be fixed
\usepackage[hang,flushmargin]{footmisc}     % un-indent footnotes

\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}     % avoid space at beginning of paragraph


\pagenumbering{alph}            % change page numbers to Hebrew letters
\setcounter{page}{3}            % start at arbitrary page number

\renewcommand\thesection{}      % remove sections' numbers

\setlength{\footnotesep}{0.4cm} % vertical space between footnotes
%\setlength{\skip\footins}{2cm}     % should've controlled the footnote indent - not working

\usepackage{fontspec}
\newfontfamily\hebrewfont{Times New Roman}[Script=Hebrew]
\newfontfamily\hebrewfonttt{Miriam}[Script=Hebrew]

\begin{document}

\begin{multicols}{2}

\section{בראשית א}
א בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ ב וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָֽיְתָ֥ה תֹ֨הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃ ג וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃ ד וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ ה וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃ {פ}
ו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יְהִ֥י רָקִ֖יעַ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַמָּ֑יִם וִיהִ֣י מַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין מַ֖יִם לָמָֽיִם׃ ז וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִים֮ אֶת־הָֽרָקִיעַ֒ וַיַּבְדֵּ֗ל בֵּ֤ין הַמַּ֨יִם֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ מִתַּ֣חַת לָֽרָקִ֔יעַ וּבֵ֣ין הַמַּ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֖ר מֵעַ֣ל לָֽרָקִ֑יעַ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃ ח וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֱלֹהִ֛ים לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ שָׁמָ֑יִם וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם שֵׁנִֽי׃ {פ}

\texttt{
ט וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יִקָּו֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם מִתַּ֤חַת הַשָּׁמַ֨יִם֙ אֶל־מָק֣וֹם אֶחָ֔ד וְתֵֽרָאֶ֖ה הַיַּבָּשָׁ֑ה וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃ י \footnote{יש כאן בעיה בתצוגה - אבל היא קיימת בגופן \textbf{מרים} מנוקד גם בWord } וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לַיַּבָּשָׁה֙ אֶ֔רֶץ וּלְמִקְוֵ֥ה הַמַּ֖יִם קָרָ֣א יַמִּ֑ים וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃ יא וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים תַּֽדְשֵׁ֤א הָאָ֨רֶץ֙ דֶּ֗שֶׁא עֵ֚שֶׂב מַזְרִ֣יעַ זֶ֔רַע עֵ֣ץ פְּרִ֞י עֹ֤שֶׂה פְּרִי֙ לְמִינ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר זַרְעוֹ־ב֖וֹ עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃ יב וַתּוֹצֵ֨א הָאָ֜רֶץ דֶּ֠שֶׁא עֵ֣שֶׂב מַזְרִ֤יעַ זֶ֨רַע֙ לְמִינֵ֔הוּ וְעֵ֧ץ עֹֽשֶׂה־פְּרִ֛י אֲשֶׁ֥ר זַרְעוֹ־ב֖וֹ לְמִינֵ֑הוּ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃ יג וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם שְׁלִישִֽׁי׃ {פ}}   \footnote{עוד הערה}
יד וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יְהִ֤י מְאֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַיּ֖וֹם וּבֵ֣ין הַלָּ֑יְלָה וְהָי֤וּ לְאֹתֹת֙ וּלְמ֣וֹעֲדִ֔ים וּלְיָמִ֖ים וְשָׁנִֽים׃ טו וְהָי֤וּ לִמְאוֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהָאִ֖יר עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃ טז וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־שְׁנֵ֥י הַמְּאֹרֹ֖ת הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים אֶת־הַמָּא֤וֹר הַגָּדֹל֙ לְמֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת הַיּ֔וֹם וְאֶת־הַמָּא֤וֹר הַקָּטֹן֙ לְמֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת הַלַּ֔יְלָה וְאֵ֖ת הַכּֽוֹכָבִֽים׃ יז וַיִּתֵּ֥ן אֹתָ֛ם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם לְהָאִ֖יר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ יח וְלִמְשֹׁל֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם וּבַלַּ֔יְלָה וּֽלְהַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֣ין הַחֹ֑שֶׁךְ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃ יט וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם רְבִיעִֽי׃ {פ}
כ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יִשְׁרְצ֣וּ הַמַּ֔יִם שֶׁ֖רֶץ נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֑ה וְעוֹף֙ יְעוֹפֵ֣ף עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ עַל־פְּנֵ֖י רְקִ֥יעַ הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ כא וַיִּבְרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־הַתַּנִּינִ֖ם הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים וְאֵ֣ת כָּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּ֣ה ׀ הָֽרֹמֶ֡שֶׂת אֲשֶׁר֩ שָֽׁרְצ֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם לְמִֽינֵהֶ֗ם וְאֵ֨ת כָּל־ע֤וֹף כָּנָף֙ לְמִינֵ֔הוּ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃ כב וַיְבָ֧רֶךְ אֹתָ֛ם אֱלֹהִ֖ים לֵאמֹ֑ר פְּר֣וּ וּרְב֗וּ וּמִלְא֤וּ אֶת־הַמַּ֨יִם֙ בַּיַּמִּ֔ים וְהָע֖וֹף יִ֥רֶב בָּאָֽרֶץ׃ כג וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם חֲמִישִֽׁי׃ {פ}
כד וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים תּוֹצֵ֨א הָאָ֜רֶץ נֶ֤פֶשׁ חַיָּה֙ לְמִינָ֔הּ בְּהֵמָ֥ה וָרֶ֛מֶשׂ וְחַֽיְתוֹ־אֶ֖רֶץ לְמִינָ֑הּ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃ כה וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִים֩ אֶת־חַיַּ֨ת הָאָ֜רֶץ לְמִינָ֗הּ וְאֶת־הַבְּהֵמָה֙ לְמִינָ֔הּ וְאֵ֛ת כָּל־רֶ֥מֶשׂ הָֽאֲדָמָ֖ה לְמִינֵ֑הוּ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃ כו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ וְיִרְדּוּ֩ בִדְגַ֨ת הַיָּ֜ם וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּבְכָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבְכָל־הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ הָֽרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ כז וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃ כח וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָם֮ אֱלֹהִים֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לָהֶ֜ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֛וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁ֑הָ וּרְד֞וּ בִּדְגַ֤ת הַיָּם֙ וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּבְכָל־חַיָּ֖ה הָֽרֹמֶ֥שֶׂת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ כט וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּה֩ נָתַ֨תִּי לָכֶ֜ם אֶת־כָּל־עֵ֣שֶׂב ׀ זֹרֵ֣עַ זֶ֗רַע אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעֵ֛ץ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֥וֹ פְרִי־עֵ֖ץ זֹרֵ֣עַ זָ֑רַע לָכֶ֥ם יִֽהְיֶ֖ה לְאָכְלָֽה׃ ל וּֽלְכָל־חַיַּ֣ת הָ֠אָרֶץ וּלְכָל־ע֨וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֜יִם וּלְכֹ֣ל ׀ רוֹמֵ֣שׂ עַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ֙ נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֔ה אֶת־כָּל־יֶ֥רֶק עֵ֖שֶׂב לְאָכְלָ֑ה וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃ לא וַיַּ֤רְא אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֔ה וְהִנֵּה־ט֖וֹב מְאֹ֑ד וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם הַשִּׁשִּֽׁי׃ {פ}

\end{multicols}
\end{document}

Regarding thumb-index, the Fancy Header support for it seems not good for my case(if I understand correctly, it doesn't allow writing text inside the thumb-index), but I've found Thumbs package which looks promising. I haven't got to read its doc yet.

Pictures

(Remember, Hebrew is a Right-To-Left language)

Answer 1

My answer is yes, but you'll have to do a lot of learning. Here are some places to start you off:

See here on how to write a hebrew book in 2 columns.

The black chapter markers are called Thumb-indexes and you can make them using fancyhdr package, info here.

A bit more info about typesetting in hebrew

Answer 2

I start this answer with the page style and the thumb-indexes and plan to extend it later with the other features. This answer uses the KOMA-script book class scrbook and tikz. I will comment on the different steps first and will post the whole code at the end of the answer.

Let me first address the use of fancyhdr: First you should use

\fancyfoot{}
\fancyhead{}

to clear the settings for header and footer. Now basically both are empty. Since you want to have the page numbering in Hebrew numerals you can use the \Hebrewnumberal{}command of the polyglossia package. To get these in the corresponding header we use

\fancyhead[LO,RE]{\Hebrewnumeral{\thepage}}

and the line

\fancyhead[C]{\leftmark}

will be used to get the name of the chapter in the centre of the header. In the fancyhdr manual the code snippet

\renewcommand{\chaptermark}[1]{\markboth{#1}{}}

is given to set the \leftmark to the name of the current chapter. Note that this line has to be after the first call of \pagestyle{fancy}.

For the thumb-indices, I suggest to define the following functions: The first function

\newcommand{\ThumbIndWidth}{1.8cm}

will be used to keep as a value the width of the indices. The lines

\newlength{\ThumbIndY}
\newlength{\ThumbStep}

define the lengths which will be used to save both the position of the current thumb-index and how far below the next one should be placed. In the beginning we initialise these with a suitable value for \ThumbIndY and set \ThumbStep to zero since this length will be determined automatically later. This can be achieved with the following lines

\setlength{\ThumbIndY}{2cm}
\setlength{\ThumbStep}{0cm}

The following function can be called at the beginning of each chapter to set the thumb-index for this chapter

\newcommand{\SetThumbInd}[1]{%
  \addtolength{\ThumbIndY}{\ThumbStep}
  \immediate\write\ThumbIndFile{\unexpanded{\AddThumbIndToPic}\wbgroup\the\ThumbIndY\wegroup\wbgroup\unexpanded{#1}\wegroup}
  \renewcommand{\ThumbText}{#1}
  \setlength{\ThumbStep}{\totalheightof{\parbox{\ThumbIndWidth-4mm}{#1}}+5.5mm}}

To keep the length of the answer reasonably short, I will not comment on the details of how these thumb-indexes are created. Note that the command \PrintThumbPage generates an empty page with all the thumb-indexes created in the document. With this I tried to reproduce the page shown on your second picture.

If you do not want to have thumb-indexes on a particular page you can use the command

\setboolean{specialpage}{true}

to switch off the thumb-indexes and afterwards

\setboolean{specialpage}{false}

to switch them back on.

The whole code (I used the culmus fonts following this example because I had them installed already):

\documentclass[twocolumn]{scrbook}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{everypage}
\usepackage{ifthen}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{calc}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}

\setmainlanguage{hebrew}

\newfontfamily\hebrewfont[Script=Hebrew]{David CLM}
\newfontfamily\hebrewfonttt[Script=Hebrew]{Miriam Mono CLM}
\newfontfamily\hebrewfontsf[Script=Hebrew]{Simple CLM}

\fancyfoot{}
\fancyhead{}
\fancyhead[LO,RE]{\Hebrewnumeral{\thepage}}
\fancyhead[C]{\leftmark}

% To remove the chapter number from the first page of the chapter
\renewcommand*{\chapterformat}{}

% The following snippet is taken from http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/117389/93559
\fancypagestyle{plain}{%
  \fancyhf{}%
  \fancyfoot[C]{\Hebrewnumeral{\thepage}}%
  \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}% Line at the header invisible
  \renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0.4pt}% Line at the footer visible
}

% The following snippet is taken from http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/47452/writing-and-to-a-file-with-latex
\makeatletter
\begingroup
\catcode`<=1 \catcode`>=2
\catcode`{=12 \catcode`}=12
\gdef\wbgroup<{>
  \gdef\wegroup<}>
\endgroup
\makeatother

\newcommand{\ThumbIndWidth}{1.8cm}

\newcommand{\ThumbText}{}
\newlength{\ThumbIndY}
\newlength{\ThumbStep}
\setlength{\ThumbIndY}{2cm}
\setlength{\ThumbStep}{0cm}

\newcommand{\SetThumbInd}[1]{%
  \addtolength{\ThumbIndY}{\ThumbStep}
  \immediate\write\ThumbIndFile{\unexpanded{\AddThumbIndToPic}\wbgroup\the\ThumbIndY\wegroup\wbgroup\unexpanded{#1}\wegroup}
  \renewcommand{\ThumbText}{#1}
  \setlength{\ThumbStep}{\totalheightof{\parbox{\ThumbIndWidth-4mm}{#1}}+5.5mm}}

\newcommand{\ThumbBreak}[1]{\addtolength{\ThumbIndY}{#1}}

\newcommand{\AddThumbIndToPic}[2]{
  \node [shift={(0, -#1)}] at (current page.north west) {%
    \begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay]
      \node[shape=rectangle, color=thtcolor, minimum width=\ThumbIndWidth, minimum height=0.7cm, text width=\ThumbIndWidth-4mm,
      align=center, anchor=base, fill=thbcolor, inner sep=2mm] (ThumbInd) at (0.9,0.4) {\bf\textsf{#2}};
    \end{tikzpicture}};}

\newcommand{\PrintThumbPage}{
  \cleardoublepage
  \thispagestyle{empty}
  \IfFileExists{\jobname_thumbs.tex}{\input{\jobname_thumbs.tex}}{}
  \cleardoublepage}

\definecolor{thtcolor}{rgb}{1,1,1}
\definecolor{thbcolor}{rgb}{0.15,0.15,0.15}
\newboolean{specialpage}
\setboolean{specialpage}{true}

\AddEverypageHook{
  \ifthenelse{\boolean{specialpage}}{}{
    \ifthispageodd{
      \begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay]
        \node [shift={(0, -\the\ThumbIndY)}] at (current page.north west) {%
          \begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay]
            \node[shape=rectangle, color=thtcolor, minimum width=1.8cm, minimum height=0.7cm, text width=1.4cm,
            align=center, anchor=base, fill=thbcolor, inner sep=2mm] (ThumbInd) at (0.9,0.4) {\bf\textsf{\ThumbText}};
          \end{tikzpicture}};
      \end{tikzpicture}}{
      \begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay]
        \node [shift={(-2cm, -\the\ThumbIndY)}] at (current page.north east) {%
          \begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay]
            \node[shape=rectangle, color=thtcolor, minimum width=2cm, minimum height=0.7cm, text width=1.6cm,
            align=center, anchor=base, fill=thbcolor, inner sep=2mm] (ThumbInd) at (1,0.4) {\bf\textsf{\ThumbText}};
          \end{tikzpicture}};
      \end{tikzpicture}}}}


\pagestyle{fancy}
\renewcommand{\chaptermark}[1]{\markboth{#1}{}}

\begin{document}
\PrintThumbPage
\newwrite\ThumbIndFile\immediate\openout\ThumbIndFile=\jobname_thumbs.tex
\immediate\write\ThumbIndFile{\unexpanded{\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay]}}
\setboolean{specialpage}{false}

\chapter{מילון}
\SetThumbInd{מילון}
\begin{center}
  \textbf{\large א}
\end{center}

% Here comes the content of the chapter

% The following lines should be at the end of the document
\immediate\write\ThumbIndFile{\unexpanded{\end{tikzpicture}}}
\immediate\closeout\ThumbIndFile
\end{document}