There are two common types of local modifications that can be done
very simply. Do not forget that documents produced using such
modifications will not be usable at other places (such documents are
called `non-portable').
One type of modification is the use of personal commands for commonly
used symbols or constructions. These should be put into a package
file (for example, one called <#563#>mymacros.sty<#563#>) and loaded by
putting 379 in the document preamble.
Another type is a local document class that is very similar to one of
the standard classes but contains some straightforward modifications
such as extra environments, different values for some parameters, etc.
These should be put into a class file; here we shall describe a simple
method of constructing such a file using, as an example, a class
called <#564#>larticle<#564#> that is very similar to the <#565#>article<#565#>
class.
The class file called <#567#>larticle.cls<#567#> should (after the
preliminary identification commands) start as follows:
verbatim28
This command should be followed by whatever additions and changes you
wish to make to the results of reading in the file
<#568#>article.sty<#568#>.
The effect of using the above 380 command is to
load the standard class file <#569#>article<#569#> with whatever options
are asked for by the document. Thus a document using your
<#570#>larticle<#570#> class can specify any option that could be specified
when using the standard <#571#>article<#571#> class; for example:
verbatim29