Vim - VimTex, Emacs - AucTeX: create environments in empty fields

Subject of this post

This post is a follow-up to my previous one named “Vim, VimTex: environments and commands in LaTeX” in which I described the creation of environment tags in the LaTeX language through Vim’s “surround.vim” plugin.

Specifically, I described how to add environment tags to words and lines objects non-empty, that is, starting from already existing text.

If you need a reminder about the concept of “line” in Vim, you can refer to this article of mine: “What is intended by “line” in Vim? How to configure a dual alternate mode of movement between lines?”

Here I will add some considerations about tags for environments in LaTeX by using Vim, but now in empty objects, that is, virtual objects that will be filled with text only after the tags are created.

Add environment tags in LaTeX to empty objects using Vim

To add environment tags in LaTeX to empty objects in Vim you use the same command as the real base objects, that is, the “word” and “line” objects.

In short, you use references to virtual “word” or “line” objects.

Therefore, the possible combinations are (in the operating system GNU/Linux) as follows:

  • yswe environment-tag to create an environment around a “virtual word object”.

  • ysse environment-tag to create an environment around a “virtual line object”.

The result between the two versions should be the same, but in fact it is not quite so (at least in Linux): with the first command the environment tags are attached to each other (with no blank lines between them) while with the second command the tags are separated by two blank lines.

Here are two examples with the center tag: the first created with yswe and the second with ysse:

  • First example:

    \begin{center}
\end{center}

  • Second example:

    \begin{center}


\end{center}

In the former case, therefore, you need to add a blank line under the first tag before you start writing, while in the latter case you can start writing right away.

Running Vim in MS Windows, as I (necessarily) do for my job, the latter combination does not work and the former combination creates a blank line between the tags.

Add environment tags in LaTeX to empty text using Emacs and AucTeX

I cannot, at this point, not mention the parallel world of Emacs with the AucTeX package dedicated to LaTeX language.

In AucTeX almost everything is integrated within the package.

To a create a new couple of environment tag you must use the command C-c C-e followed the Environment type.

The minibuffer proposes a default choice, same of the last one used or “itemize” for the first time.

In addition, AucTeX already sets up the cursor in the row within the of the newly created environment

Vim vs Emacs, or VimTeX vs AucTeX

There is no absolute best solution.

Vim is virtually unbeatable in its natural operatin system, GNU.

The author of VimTeX explicitly stated that the programming was not designed for MS Windows.

Indeed, under Windows Vim loses some of its effectiveness.

Emacs, on the other hand, functions with the same effectiveness in both operating systems.

The approach of the AucTeX package, which tends to have all the functions for LaTeX within it, can be very comfortable.

The choice is yours.

Thank you for your attention.