VEX Engineering Notebook

This folder contains the LaTeX source for the notebook PDF and the generated preview artifacts used by the web editor.

Prerequisites

Install these tools before running the notebook build scripts:

1. MiKTeX - the LaTeX distribution used to compile the PDF
2. Strawberry Perl - required by the build automation on Windows.
3. LaTeXML: used to generate the final rendered PDF.

Run this command in the terminal to install LaTeXML via CPAN:

cpan LaTeXML

Build the Notebook

The main entry point is main.tex.

Run this command in the terminal to build the PDF and preview output:

latexmk -pdfxe -interaction=nonstopmode main.tex

Or, use build.bat if you're on Windows and have the prerequisites installed.

Notes

• Keep notebook content, generated LaTeX, and preview output in sync when making notebook changes.
• If build tools are installed after the terminal is already open, restart the terminal or VS Code so the PATH updates are picked up.
• When updating notebook structure or styles, verify both the PDF and the HTML preview.

Customization

You can customize the notebook by modifying the LaTeX source files. The main structure is defined in main.tex, while styles and formatting are controlled by engineering_notebook.sty. You can also add custom LaTeX packages or commands as needed. Just make sure to keep the required commands for the JSON-to-LaTeX conversion logic. These commands are documented in engineering_notebook.sty and should be preserved to ensure the editor can generate the notebook correctly, but they can be modified as needed to change the visual output.