Creating a Macros File for Lyx

Question

I've created a set of macros in Lyx that I use continuously. I want to automatically include them in all my .lyx documents.

From what I've been reading in the forums, perhaps the most elegant way is to create a .sty file with my macros in it, save it in some folder, and then add stuff to the LaTeX preamble in the document settings of Lyx.

What I wasn't able to find is how to actually do the above, given that I'm not an experienced Tex/Lyx user. So my questions are:

1. How do you create and edit a .sty file?
2. What exactly do you need to type in the .sty file? Say I want the macro (I'm typing it as it appears in Lyx).

\sequence{#1}:=(#1)^\infty _{n=1}

I understand the above should be wrapped by some extra code (\newcommand etc.), but I don't know the precise format.

3. Where do you place your .sty file such that it can be included in all *.lyx documents globally? I'm a Windows user if it matters and I want to avoid adding it to every folder that contains a lyx document.
4. What do I need to type in the preamble? or more generally, how do I implement it in my document defaults?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Here is how people do usually for math macros. (For text macros it would be entirely different and limited to defining custom insets or paragraph styles with layouts or modules.)

1. Define your macros as LyX macros as explained in Help > Math > Math macros in a file macros.lyx.
2. Use Insert > File > Sub-document to include macros.lyx at the beginning of your documents.

In practice, the macro file evolves with time so to avoid breaking the compilation or appearance of old documents you must create a new version (macros2.lyx...) before every major iteration.