ViceVersa and LaTeX

[Derek Laing]

For me, V V is "never leave home without it software"---literally.
One reason for my reliance on it is that I use LaTeX to write scientific
papers. As you probably know, LaTeX is a modular typesetting program.
As a result, it is essential to faithfully transfer numerous working
files when switching computers. This, VV does with "one click," as it were.

ViceVersa and LaTeX
Here is a rough schematic of a typical folder (F) structure used for LaTeX documents. It is supposed to be the folder containing "My research papers" and all its subdirectories containing individual papers or books.

Root F My papers

Branches to

Level 1 Folder (Name = MyProject 1) Contains MainFile1.tex
Level 1 Folder (Name = MyProject 2) Contains MainFile2.tex
etc.

Consider Root---> Level 1 Folder, Branch n (i.e., MyProject "n")

The level 1 folder named MyProject n contains the LaTeX project file MainFile_n.tex.

Finally, the point. It also contains Level 2 folders, such as a Chapter_1 folder (containing, say, file Proj_n_Ch_1.tex), Ch_2 folder, ..., m folder; a folder containing figures; table of contents, etc. These files contain the creative work. Of course, there may be level 3 folders etc., as the hierarchy branches.

The MainFile_n.tex produces a typeset document (usually a PDF) by reading in and processing these files with LaTeX.

Now the issue. I've been working on Ch. 3 of my book, so, after a long day, I copy Ch3.tex to my flashdrive to work at home/send to a co-author (or whatever). When I arrive home, I now remember that I also changed the bibliography (in file *.bib). This is the worst case. In the best case, I remember this fact when getting ready to leave, but now must track down and copy *.bib (and umpteen other files I changed) to my drive (and reverse the process exactly on my home computer).
I could avoid the problem by copying my entire 30gig directory "My papers" every time. Yet, this hardly is an ideal solution. Obviously, in this context, VV trivializes the entire process just described.

An admittedly "long winded" description of a problem confronted by many LaTeX users and the role VV could play in solving it.