Arbitrary size pages

Question

Is it possible to create a latex document where some pages have a unique size [width & depth] that basically is the right size to contain all the data from some input file?

More details. I am writing a technical document where I want to include very large tables (both in width and depth.) In order for me to edit these tables efficiently I don't use a latex environment such as array or tabular. Instead I produce tables such as the one below (this is a small subset of such a table) which I can conveniently resize etc ... using e.g. tablemode in vim.

|-------+--------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------|
| Row   | Persp. |                                     |                                     |                                                          |
|-------+--------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------|
| i     | SCEN   | SCEN/MODEXP                         | FAILURE_KNOWN_TO_RAM                |                                                          |
|-------+--------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------|
| i + 1 | MISC   | MMU_FLAG = 0                        | EXP_FLAG = 0 blablablablablablabla  | OOB_FLAG = 1      blablablablablablablablablablabla      |

My strategy is to include these tables as is in my main document by putting the above text inside of a verbatim environment.

What I would like to do is have some pages of arbitrary size that can precisely fit such tables. Outside of these pages the document should be standard A4 pages.

@samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz As in produce a standalone document, compile it and include the pdf? I have not tried it. The only reason being that I don't want to the recompilation by hand every time. But this does seem like a good option. — Olivier Bégassat, Dec 20 '23 at 12:48
@samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz I tried your suggestion. It seems I have to add the preview option for it to compile (as suggested here https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/50162/how-to-make-a-standalone-document-with-one-equation). But the pdf is cropped for some reason. I.e. it produces a pdf which has the right depth but not the right width. — Olivier Bégassat, Dec 20 '23 at 13:15
I was thinking of something like this: https://pastebin.com/furBjeGs — samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz, Dec 20 '23 at 13:21
That is precisely the output I was looking for :D Thank you — Olivier Bégassat, Dec 20 '23 at 13:23

samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz · Accepted Answer · 2023-12-20T13:27:54.453

One possible approach would be to compile the tables using the standalone class:

\documentclass[varwidth=\maxdimen,margin=0.5cm,multi={verbatim}]{standalone}
\begin{document}
\begin{verbatim}
|-------+--------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------|
| Row   | Persp. |                                     |                                     |                                                          |
|-------+--------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------|
| i     | SCEN   | SCEN/MODEXP                         | FAILURE_KNOWN_TO_RAM                |                                                          |
|-------+--------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------|
| i + 1 | MISC   | MMU_FLAG = 0                        | EXP_FLAG = 0 blablablablablablabla  | OOB_FLAG = 1      blablablablablablablablablablabla      |
\end{verbatim}
\begin{verbatim}
|-------+--------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------|
| Row   | Persp. |                                     |                                     |                                                          |
|-------+--------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------|
| i     | SCEN   | SCEN/MODEXP                         | FAILURE_KNOWN_TO_RAM                |                                                          |
|-------+--------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------|
| i + 1 | MISC   | MMU_FLAG = 0                        | EXP_FLAG = 0 blablablablablablabla  | OOB_FLAG = 1      blablablablablablablablablablabla      |
\end{verbatim}
\end{document}

@OlivierBégassat yes, to show the each table will automatically create a new page and since there was only one example table in the question, I used it twice :) — samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz, Dec 20 '23 at 13:25
On a different note: do you happen to know how to include emojis into verbatim text ? My original text actually includes symbols à la (in lue of _FLAG) but these don't render properly. — Olivier Bégassat, Dec 20 '23 at 13:29
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/705376/including-emojis-in-verbatim — Olivier Bégassat, Dec 20 '23 at 13:38
So is your suggestion to produce these standalone pdf's and then to include them in the main document via \includepdf ? — Olivier Bégassat, Dec 20 '23 at 16:05
@OlivierBégassat Yes. Depending on your compilation workflow, one might even be able to automate the creation of the pdf with all the tables. — samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz, Dec 20 '23 at 16:13

Arbitrary size pages

1 Answers1

Linked