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I'm interested in making a package using LaTeX3, but I can't (a) find documentation on how to generate a new dtx file for it or (b) find a template for creating a dtx file for a package using LaTeX3 (probably using l3doc).

Is there a utility (like dtxgen for LaTeX2e) or template for LaTeX3 packages?

An example of the kind of thing I'm after.

When making a LaTeX package (e.g. mynewpackage), my first step is usually to run

$ dtxgen mynewpackage.sty

Which creates a Makefile and mynewpackage.dtx (among other files). By default this uses docstrip and uses the class ltxdoc for the documentation. Both of these are good but LaTeX3 introduces a few changes including:

  • The use of l3docstrip to introduce new features such as @@ being replaced by __<module name> (got from expl3.pdf from https://www.ctan.org/pkg/l3kernel)
  • Uses ProvidesExplPackage instead of ProvidesPackage (got from Write new package with LaTeX2e or LaTeX3)
  • Using l3doc class instead of ltxdoc (just seems to make sense, since it has support for documenting LaTeX3 functions clearly)

Currently, I have been unable to find either a complete reference of all the changes one should make to enable full LaTeX3 support.

Is there a script to generate an initial dtx file with all the recommended changes for LaTeX3 and/or a place where all the necessary changes are documented?

|improve this question
  • 2
    you do not generate dtx files, you write them, they are the documented source files. – David Carlisle Feb 22 '18 at 10:53
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    Yes, for the content, but a lot of the boilerplate stuff that is generated by dtxgen is different for LaTeX 3 and I haven't been able to find complete documentation on how to set that up (e.g. the @@ auto replacement, making sure the l3 kernel is loaded, defining package versions seems different). – Nathanael Farley Feb 22 '18 at 11:02
  • Edited the question title to make it clearer; happy to have suggestions if it's still not clear – Nathanael Farley Feb 22 '18 at 11:03
  • 4
    OK, I'll leave someone else to answer then:-) I've been writing dtx files for 25 years but have never generated one:-) – David Carlisle Feb 22 '18 at 11:27
  • Comments are always welcome :). I've added some more detail to my question so hopefully it's clearer to would-be answerers. – Nathanael Farley Feb 22 '18 at 11:31

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