[Tex/LaTex] Setting a flag to make text visible in LaTeX

commentsconditionals

I am in the process of CV writing and some pieces of information are necessary to include in some applications, whilst in others they are unnecessary. For example, when applying for scientifically-oriented jobs the modules taken during my degree might be of importance and so should be included, but for other sectors they are irrelevant.

Is there a way of setting a flag at the top of a LaTeX document and using this make text wrapped in a block hide/unhide on document creation?

Best Answer

You can define your own switch with the \newif command like this:

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{article}

\newif\ifimportant

\importanttrue % or \importantfalse
\begin{document}

 some stuff which will always be shown

\ifimportant
 % only shown if \importanttrue is set
 this is some important text
\fi
\end{document}

With this setting, the important stuff will be displayed. When you want to hide this part, you set \importantfalse instead of \importanttrue

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] defining a global flag to conditionally remove text

Your definition of the teachr environment is incorrect. You're probably after something like this:

\usepackage{environ}
\NewEnviron{teachr}
  {\ifthenelse{\boolean{teach}}{\BODY}{}}

The above uses the environ package to define teachr and condition on the teach boolean. If it's set to true, \BODY is set, otherwise teachr gobbles its entire contents. One reference might be Suppressing remarks when not needed.

This is what a minimal example would look like in your instance:

\documentclass{book}

\usepackage{etoolbox,environ}

\newtoggle{teach}
\toggletrue{teach}
\NewEnviron{teachr}
  {\iftoggle{teach}{\BODY}{}}

\begin{document}                        % End of preamble, start of text.

\chapter{Introduction}
\begin{teachr}
These notes are just for teachers and should only display when printing the teacher version.
\end{teachr}

Introductory Text

\begin{itemize}
  \item Things you will need to do.
  \item Yet another bullet point.
  \item Safety third!
  \item Tired of working? Hold a meeting! Meetings, the alternative to work.
\end{itemize}

\chapter{Safety Warning}
Before starting your kindergarten course in radioactive materials, here are a few things you should know

\begin{itemize}
 \item Don't chew on the radium pacifiers.
 \begin{itemize}
   \item We know they are sugar coated and really tasty, but control yourself!
 \end{itemize}

 \item Don't put too many plutonium blocks into a big pile -- it's dangerous!
\end{itemize}

\begin{teachr}
\chapter{Teachers Notes on Engineering Competitions}

Text. text. text....
\end{teachr}

\end{document}

I've removed most packages that doesn't relate to the question and updated the use of conditionals to that supported by etoolbox using "toggles". See Why is the ifthen package obsolete? for a motivation.

You've also included the comment package that can be used to selectively include/exclude environments rather than using environ. See How to exclude text portions by simply setting a variable or option? or Commenting out large sections.

Best Answer

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[Tex/LaTex] defining a global flag to conditionally remove text

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