Automatically generate data summary at the beginning of the document

automationauxiliary-filesmacros

Within my report I want do define several structural damages and I want to automatically generate a summary table at the beginning of the document.
Here is an example of how far I have come so far and what I want to achieve.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{etoolbox}
\usepackage{pgffor}

\parindent=0pt

\newcounter{cntClassA}\newcounter{cntClassB}\newcounter{cntClassC}\newcounter{cntAddTmp}

\makeatletter

\newcommand\defineDamageKey[4] { \expandafter\edef\csname damage.#1.#2.#3\endcsname{#4} }

\newcommand{\addDamage}[3]{%
%
    \ifstrequal{#1}{A}{\stepcounter{cntClassA} \setcounter{cntAddTmp}{\thecntClassA} }{}%
    \ifstrequal{#1}{B}{\stepcounter{cntClassB} \setcounter{cntAddTmp}{\thecntClassB} }{}%
    \ifstrequal{#1}{C}{\stepcounter{cntClassC} \setcounter{cntAddTmp}{\thecntClassC} }{}%
%
    \defineDamageKey{#1}{\thecntAddTmp}{description}{#2}%
    \defineDamageKey{#1}{\thecntAddTmp}{solution}{#3}%
    \defineDamageKey{#1}{\thecntAddTmp}{ID}{#1-\thecntAddTmp}%
%
    \printDamage{#1}{\thecntAddTmp}%
}

\newcommand{\printDamage}[2]{%
    \textbf{ID:} \@nameuse{damage.#1.#2.ID}\\%
    \textbf{Damage class:} #1\\%
    \textbf{Description:} \@nameuse{damage.#1.#2.description}\\%
    \textbf{Solution:} \@nameuse{damage.#1.#2.solution}\\%
}

\newcommand{\damageSummary}[1]{%
    \newcount\damageCountForClass
%
    \ifstrequal{#1}{A}{ \damageCountForClass=\thecntClassA }{}%
    \ifstrequal{#1}{B}{ \damageCountForClass=\thecntClassB }{}%
    \ifstrequal{#1}{C}{ \damageCountForClass=\thecntClassC }{}%
%
    \foreach \n in {1,...,\damageCountForClass}%
    {%
        \textbf{\@nameuse{damage.#1.\n.ID}:} \@nameuse{damage.#1.\n.description}\\
    }%
}

\makeatother

\begin{document}

\section{Building 1}

\addDamage{A}{Broken window}{Fix window}

\addDamage{B}{Wrong wall paint}{Repaint}


\section{Building 2}

\addDamage{C}{Leaky windows}{Seal windows}

\addDamage{A}{Defective electrics}{Fix electrics}


\section{Summary}

\damageSummary{A}
\damageSummary{B}
\damageSummary{C}


\end{document}

My basic idea was to define my data as key/value pairs with structured named macros:

\@namedef{damage.A.1.description}{description damage A-1}
\@namedef{damage.A.1.solution}{solution damage A-1}
\@namedef{damage.A.2.description}{description damage A-2}

But now I want to have the summary table at the beginning of the document! Am I right that this only works with AUX files?

I've just started with low level TeX / macro writing and tried to figure out how to do this by examining the todonotes package (as the \todo and \listoftodos would possible a similar mechanism). But I dont get it.

So is my current solution actual a good starting point or do I need a different approach? Could anyone give me a hint how to achieve this?

Best Answer

Edit: hyperref-support is added in case you wish hyperlinks from the summary to the place of the document where the damage is described.

If you don't mind having an auxiliary-file whose name is of pattern ⟨expansion of jobname⟩.Damageclass⟨name of damage-class⟩ for each damage-class, then you can probably do with LaTeX 2ε's \addtocontents-\@starttoc-meachanism. I used description-environments for listing the items. How to tweak the description-environment depends on the documentclass in use and may turn out tricky.

The example needs to be compiled three times without having auxiliary-files deleted between runs until everything matches out correctly. (First run creates auxiliary files. Second run creates description-item-labes of summaries and stores measurements in the aux-file. Third run uses measurements from aux-file.)

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{hyperref}

\makeatletter
\newcommand\maxIDwidth{0pt}%
\AtBeginDocument{\providecommand\r@maxIDwidthpreviousrun{0pt}}%
\AtEndDocument{%
  \protected@write\@auxout{}{\string\newlabel{maxIDwidthpreviousrun}{\maxIDwidth}}%
}%
\DeclareRobustCommand\damageSummaryItem[3]{%
  \item[%
    \setbox\scratchbox\hbox{#1}%
    \ifdim\maxIDwidth<\wd\scratchbox\xdef\maxIDwidth{\the\wd\scratchbox}\fi
    \rlap{\hbox{\@ifundefined{hyperlink}{\@secondoftwo}{\hyperlink}{#3}{#1}}}%
    \hbox to\r@maxIDwidthpreviousrun{\hfill}%
  ]%
  #2%
}%
\newbox\scratchbox
\newcommand\addDamage[3]{%
   %#1 - Damage class
   %#2 - Damage description
   %#3 - Fix/Solution description
   \@ifundefined{c@Damageclass@#1}{%
     \newcounter{Damageclass@#1}%
     \expandafter\gdef\csname theDamageclass@#1\endcsname{#1\mbox{-}\arabic{Damageclass@#1}}%
   }{}%
   \begingroup
   \begin{description}%
   \itemsep=0pt
   \parskip=0pt
   \item[{\refstepcounter{Damageclass@#1}ID:%
     \addtocontents{Damageclass#1}{%
       \damageSummaryItem{\csname theDamageclass@#1\endcsname:}{#2}{\@ifundefined{@currentHref}{}{\@currentHref}}\protected@file@percent
     }%
   }]\csname theDamageclass@#1\endcsname
   \item[{Damage class:}]#1%
   \item[{Description:}]#2%
   \item[{Solution:}]#3%
   \end{description}%
   \endgroup
}%
\newcommand\damageSummary[1]{%
  \begingroup
  \IfFileExists{\jobname.Damageclass#1}{%
    \@ifundefined{hyperlink}{\@firstoftwo}{%
      {\expandafter}\expandafter\ifx\csname hyper@last\endcsname\relax
      \expandafter\@firstoftwo\else\expandafter\@secondoftwo\fi
    }%
  }{\@secondoftwo}%
  {%
    \begin{description}%
    \itemsep=0pt
    \parskip=0pt
    \@starttoc{Damageclass#1}%
    \par\vskip-\@topsepadd\vskip-\parskip
    \end{description}%
  }{\@starttoc{Damageclass#1}}%
  \endgroup
}%
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\section{Summary}
\damageSummary{A}
\damageSummary{B}
\damageSummary{C}

\section{Building 1}

\addDamage{A}{Broken window}{Fix window}

\addDamage{B}{Wrong wall paint}{Repaint}

\section{Building 2}

\addDamage{C}{Leaky windows}{Seal windows}

\addDamage{A}{Defective electrics}{Fix electrics}

\end{document}

The question "Use LaTeX to produce parts lists?" and the answers to it might be of interest to you— a similar problem is addressed there. In the answers you find a different approach which is based on the package datatool and a .csv-file.

An extended version using `expl3`:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xparse}

\ExplSyntaxOn
\NewDocumentCommand{\generate}{ m m m m }
 {
  \iliketocode_generate:nnnn { #1 } { #2 } { #3 } { #4 }
 }

\cs_new_protected:Nn \iliketocode_generate:nnnn
 {
  \cs_set:Nn \__iliketocode_generate_name:n { #3 }
  \cs_set:Nn \__iliketocode_generate_wrapper:n { \exp_not:n { #4 } }
  \int_step_inline:nnnn { `#1 } { 1 } { `#2 }
   {
    \cs_new:cpx
     {
      \__iliketocode_generate_name:n { \char_generate:nn { ##1 } { 11 } }
     }
     {
      \exp_args:Nf \__iliketocode_generate_wrapper:n { \char_generate:nn { ##1 } { 11 } }
     }
   }
 }
\ExplSyntaxOff

\generate{A}{Z}{rv#1}{\mathbf{#1}}
\show\rvA
\show\rvZ
\generate{a}{z}{rv#1}{\mathbf{#1}}
\show\rva
\show\rvz
\generate{A}{Z}{#1cal}{\mathcal{#1}}
\show\Acal
\show\Zcal
\generate{A}{Z}{#1#1#1}{\mathrm{#1}}
\show\RRR
\show\PPP

The syntax of \generate is a bit different: the first argument is the starting point, the second argument is the end point; the third argument is the format for the name and the fourth argument is the format for the required definition, where #1 stands for the current letter in the cycle.

The examples should make their meanings clear.

Here's the output on the terminal, just for checking.

> \rvA=\long macro:
->\mathbf {A}.

> \rvZ=\long macro:
->\mathbf {Z}.

> \rva=\long macro:
->\mathbf {a}.

> \rvz=\long macro:
->\mathbf {z}.

> \Acal=\long macro:
->\mathcal {A}.

> \Zcal=\long macro:
->\mathcal {Z}.

> \RRR=\long macro:
->\mathrm {R}.

> \PPP=\long macro:
->\mathrm {P}.

[Tex/LaTex] How to generate summary table automatically

You can use expl3's property lists to store the data for you, and then loop through the items in the property list to lay the table out.

I defined a command \DeclareImpact{<label>}{<impact>}{<countermeasure>}, which replaces your \newcommand{\Impact<label>}{<impact>} and \newcommand{\Countermeasure<label>}{<countermeasure>}.

After a <label> is defined with that you can use \impact{<label>} and \countermeasure{<label>} to retrieve the stored texts. If the <label> was never defined, then a fallback text (default Not applicable) is returned.

I also defined a \TableBody{<list-of-labels>} command which takes a <list-of-labels> and typesets the table body based on a template given to \SetRowFormat (the argument of \SetRowFormat is used once for each <label> in the <list-of-labels>).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{nameref}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{xparse}
\ExplSyntaxOn
\prop_new:N \g__leonardo_impact_prop
\prop_new:N \g__leonardo_counter_prop
\makeatletter
\NewDocumentCommand \DeclareImpact { m +m +m }
  {
    \@bsphack
      \prop_gput:Nnn \g__leonardo_impact_prop {#1} {#2}
      \prop_gput:Nnn \g__leonardo_counter_prop {#1} {#3}
    \@esphack
  }
\makeatother
\NewExpandableDocumentCommand \impact { O{Not~applicable} m }
  {
    \prop_if_in:NnTF \g__leonardo_impact_prop {#2}
      { \prop_item:Nn \g__leonardo_impact_prop {#2} }
      { \exp_not:n {#1} }
  }
\NewExpandableDocumentCommand \countermeasure { O{Not~applicable} m }
  {
    \prop_if_in:NnTF \g__leonardo_counter_prop {#2}
      { \prop_item:Nn \g__leonardo_counter_prop {#2} }
      { \exp_not:n {#1} }
  }
%
\NewExpandableDocumentCommand \TableBody { m }
  { \clist_map_function:nN {#1} \__leonardo_table_row:n }
\NewDocumentCommand \SetRowFormat { m }
  { \cs_gset:Npn \__leonardo_table_row:n ##1 {#1} }
\cs_new_eq:NN \StrLowerCase \str_lowercase:n
\ExplSyntaxOff

\begin{document}

\section{Impacts on the Environment}
\subsection{Air quality}
\label{sec:air}
Analises of air quality.
\DeclareImpact{Air}{Wood burning}{Sleeve filter installation}

\textbf{Impact}: \impact{Air}

\textbf{Countermeasure}: \countermeasure{Air}

\subsection{Water resources}
\label{sec:water}
Analises of water resources.

\textbf{Impact}: \impact{Water}

\textbf{Countermeasure}: \countermeasure{Water}

\subsection{Noise level}
\label{sec:noise}
Analises of noise level.
\DeclareImpact{Noise}{High noise level}{Acoustic engine insulation}

\textbf{Impact}: \impact{Noise}

\textbf{Countermeasure}: \countermeasure{Noise}

\section{Conclusion}
A succinct conclusion. See Table \ref{tab:sumary}.

% Set table row format:
\SetRowFormat
  {%
    \nameref{sec:\StrLowerCase{#1}}
  & \impact[--]{#1}
  & \countermeasure[--]{#1} \\
  }

\begin{table}[htb!]
  \centering
  \caption{Summary of impacts and countermeasures}
  \label{tab:sumary}
  \begin{tabular}{lll}
    \toprule
      \textbf{Analyse} & \textbf{Impact} & \textbf{Countermeasure}\\
    \midrule
      \TableBody{Air,Water,Noise}
    \bottomrule
  \end{tabular}
\end{table}

\end{document}

Best Answer

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An extended version using expl3:

[Tex/LaTex] How to generate summary table automatically

Related Question

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