New documentclass options for draft

[toastertaster]

I'll just propose an idea for draft and final document class options.

draft will not print "unnecessary" pages (cover, sf-298, abstract, toc, lists, etc). This way the student can focus on their content without needed to comment out entries.

final will do a few things

• perhaps verify the correct order of each item based on thesis processor guidance (ie, list of figures cannot be before TOC).
• verify that all mandatory sections were included
• usepackage pdfx for PDF/A compliance. I recently saw the TP has started releasing PDF/A compliant files (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF/A ). This would help verify that the PDF produced will be compliant and potentially save a step for the thesis processors.
• we might find some other checks necessary to include

[gondree]

I think I'm in favor of adding the final checks that you mention.

I'm not in favor of a draft option --- I think it will just clutter the style file. I have my students use a "draft.tex" file where they include those chapters that need review. Its a single-column, double-spaced article style. Its convenient for printing and marking up. If this seems convenient for other people, we could make a contrib directory where we add useful tools, like this one. I also use the latexdiff package, to show whats changed between drafts. How I do this is a little hacky --- I have a makefile that copies all their files to a hidden directory, then they edit their files, afterwards they can generate the diff.

If these ideas are interesting, we can open a ticket to add a contribs section where we put stuff not directly related to the npsreport style file.

[gondree]

I'm having second thoughts on my previous opinion. I was projecting the fact that my 'drafts' don't use heavy customizations from external packages. I can see the value in having a 'draft' option, given that the preamble of the working document could be highly complex (custom macros, extra packages, etc). Such that working in an entirely separate document would not be trivial.

[gondree]

Per coffee today: archive maybe, instead of final