How do I create a template for thesis title page?

Question

My university wants my thesis title page to be formatted in a certain way (see left image below) and I was able to do it in LaTeX (see right image below):

I used the following LaTeX code to do the formatting:

\begin{titlepage}
\begin{center}

\textsc{\Large Title of Thesis or Dissertation}\\[0.5cm]

% Title
\HRule \\[0.4cm]
{ \huge \bfseries FIRST LAST NAME \\ Hometown and State \\[0.4cm] }

\HRule \\[1.5cm]

\begin{minipage}{0.8\textwidth}
\centering
\large
\emph{Previous degree \textsc{DEPARTMENT}}\\
ALMAMATER, YEAR
\end{minipage}

\vspace{3cm}

A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the UNIVERSITY NAME in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

\vfill
Department
UNIVERSITY NAME\\
EXPECTED GRADUATION DATE

\end{center}
\end{titlepage}

However, I would like to go a step further and make some sort of template that I can give to the university that parametrizes the details. I know how to do this in common object-oriented languages like C++ and Python, but I don't even know where to begin in LaTeX.

The pseudo code for what I'm looking for would allow a user to create the title page like the following:

import university_thesis_style_template

\thesis_university_name{CURRENT_UNIV}
\thesis_title{TITLE}
\thesis_author{AUTHOR_NAME}
\thesis_almamater{DEGREE}{UNIV}{YEAR}
\thesis_almamater{DEGREE2}{UNIV2}{YEAR2}
\thesis_department{DEPT_NAME}
\thesis_graduationdate{GRAD_DATE}

which would output the code above. Can anyone help me make and install the "package" that would allow me to set this up?

Well, i think this will be the first time i say the following: Look at the freaking wikibooks page. If you want something more robust, do it will LaTeX3 syntax. — Johannes_B, Feb 08 '16 at 15:14
By the way, that dreaded \Hrule is straight from the former version of the wikibooks page and can still be found on L-templates and other sources of bad code. — Johannes_B, Feb 08 '16 at 15:19
By the way, prepare to spin in circles soon, there is no way to efine something like this in general. You can only do it for specific universities or departments. — Johannes_B, Feb 08 '16 at 15:20
@Johannes_B, Thank you for all the attention to this problem. Perhaps you could consolidate all this information into an answer instead of adding further to the comments? — user1717828, Feb 08 '16 at 15:26
The wikibook page and the answer to the linked question are almost the same, the \Hrule thing has nothing to do with the question. That you cannot define a title page that will duit every institution should be obvious. — Johannes_B, Feb 08 '16 at 15:28
Though i have to say, that closing that as a dupe doesn't seem to be the right thing. — Johannes_B, Feb 08 '16 at 15:28
It sounds a bit as if you expect other to make the work while you get the reward. Imho if you want to do this you should also invest some time to learn how to do it. — Ulrike Fischer, Feb 08 '16 at 15:32

How do I create a template for thesis title page?

0 Answers0