how to define commands within custom environment

Question

I am working on a custom .cls for typesetting my CV. I am trying to create a custom environment to provide formatting for job/education history. I would like to specify it as follows:

\begin{cvsection}
  \cvdate{xx-xx-xxxx}
  \cvcompany{Some company & Co.}
  \cvposition{Toilet cleaner}
  \cvcomment{I love cleanin' dem toilets!}
\end{cvsection}

So I've defined my environment and tried to use \newcommand... within the environment definition. LaTeX doesn't like that so what is the best way to approach this?

Answer 1

One purpose of organizing an environment in that way is to allow flexibility in the input.

You don't need to define the commands inside the environment; a frequently used strategy is the following:

\newcommand{\cvdate}[1]{\renewcommand{\givencvdate}{#1}}
\newcommand{\cvcompany}[1]{\renewcommand{\givencvcompany}{#1}}
\newcommand{\cvposition}[1]{\renewcommand{\givencvposition}{#1}}
\newcommand{\cvcomment}[1]{\renewcommand{\givencvcomment}{#1}}
\newcommand{\givencvdate}{REQUIRED!}
\newcommand{\givencvcompany}{REQUIRED!}
\newcommand{\givencvposition}{REQUIRED!}
\newcommand{\givencvcomment}{} % this is optional

\newenvironment{cvsection}
 {\begin{flushleft}}
 {\textbf{\givencvdate}\\
  \givencvcompany\\
  \givencvposition
  \ifx\empty\givencvcomment\else\\[.5ex] \textit{\givencvcomment}\fi
  \end{flushleft}}

In this way the order one specifies the data in the environment is irrelevant. Let's see a couple of examples

\begin{cvsection}
  \cvdate{xx-xx-xxxx}
  \cvcompany{Some company \& Co.}
  \cvposition{Toilet cleaner}
  \cvcomment{I love cleanin' dem toilets!}
\end{cvsection}

\begin{cvsection}
  \cvposition{Toilet cleaner}
  \cvdate{xx-xx-xxxx}
  \cvcompany{Another company \& Co.}
\end{cvsection}

Of course you have to adjust the definition of cvsection to suit your needs.