Peter Baumgartner wrote:
> 1) Editing the child file:
>
> It says in the manual that the master document will be used in the
> background by LyX when you are editing the child file after you have
> specified the master in the child file using the menu
> Document->Settings->Document Class.
NB: This only applies if you compile the document *as a whole* (i.e. from the
master or via master-buffer-view). If you compile the child document
separately, it is (intentionally) completely isolated. So you can (and must)
specify specific settings for the child.
This is because there are many use cases where it makes sense to have a
document as a child and as a single document. Think about beamer handouts
including beamer presentations, for instance.
I understand that the situation for usecases like yours can be improved (see
below). But we must keep the possibility to have documents as children and
single documents at the same time.
> This is in my opinion not completely true. At least it did not work with
> modules for me. In order to prevent error messages I had to replicate the
> module configuration for each file separately (eg to include the Logical
> Markup Module for each file.)
see above.
> 2) Compiling the file:
>
> It is not possible to compile the file separately because it does not know
> the preamble files of the master document. I had to use the feature of
> excluding all the other files in the master document and then I had to
> compile the child file from the master document.
Yes, the "Subdocuments" feature is just for this. It has the further advantage
that it maintains counters, page numbers, references etc. I strongly recommend
to use this feature for your usecase.
> (I did it many times the
> other way round and generated new (child) files with the standard settings
> of the master document. But with changes in the setting of the master file
> the child files are not synchronised anymore.)
As far as preamble settings are concernded, you can avoid this by simply
outsourcing the preamble to a file mydocument_preamble.tex and include that
via \include{mydoc_preamble} to the master and the children. The all documents
will always use the same preamble.
For native settings, there's no really good solution,unfortunately. A template
framework, where you can automatically inherit from and save template settings
(just like the "graphic groups we have) would certainly be a nice feature.
> 3) UI glitches with "Child Documents" in the Document Settings:
>
> Whenever I start LyX I get my window of the child document settings always
> reset in a way where I can't see the full name of the child files. (see
> picture).
Yes, this should be easy to solve (please file a bug report).
> The order of the child files is not the same as in my master document. It is
> difficult to find the child file I want to work on. (I'm not sure but I
> believe the order has also sometimes changed with a new start of LyX).
It is supposed to show the files in inclusion order (and it does here). If
not, file a bug report.
> 4) Group Graphics Setting
>
> Another complete different issue is that the grouping feature for pictures
> works - as far as I know - just for the file where the group is defined. It
> would be nice to have this feature for all the files linked with the master
> file. If one is defining a new picture group in a child document this group
> should be available in all the other child files of the connected master
> document.
I've never checked that, but if so, file an enhancement request.
> I hope some of these observation are useful and not all of them are caused
> by my limited knowledge and experience with LyX.
They certainly are welcome. Thanks,
Jürgen
> Peter
