HSRTReport LaTeX Template

A professional LaTeX report template for academic papers and theses at the University of Applied Sciences Reutlingen (Hochschule Reutlingen).

📋 Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Project Structure
• Usage
• Document Class Options
• Customization
• Building the Document
• Troubleshooting
• License

📖 Overview

The HSRTReport class is a customized LaTeX document class based on KOMA-Script's scrreprt class, specifically designed for creating professional academic reports, seminar papers, and bachelor/master theses at the University of Applied Sciences Reutlingen. It provides a consistent, professional layout with minimal configuration required.

✨ Features

• Professional Typography: Configured for optimal readability with proper font settings
• Automatic Title Page Generation: Customizable title page with university branding
• Bibliography Management: Integrated BibLaTeX support for APA-style citations
• Glossary Support: Built-in glossary and acronym management
• Code Highlighting: Syntax highlighting for multiple programming languages
• Word Count: Automatic word counting functionality
• Cross-referencing: Smart referencing with hyperref
• Advanced Page Break Control: Intelligent section and listing page break management
• Docker Support: Containerized build environment for consistent compilation
• Enhanced Spacing: Optimized vertical spacing for sections and subsections
• Smart TOC Grouping: Automatic chapter grouping in table of contents

🔧 Prerequisites

Option 1: Docker (Recommended)

• Docker: Install Docker
• Docker Compose: Supports both variants:
  • docker-compose (standalone tool)
  • docker compose (Docker plugin, included with Docker Desktop)
  • The Makefile automatically detects which version is available

This is the easiest way to get started, as all LaTeX dependencies are handled automatically in a container.

Option 2: Local Installation

• XeLaTeX: This template requires XeLaTeX for compilation (included in most TeX distributions)
• TeX Distribution: One of the following:
  • TeX Live (Linux/Windows/macOS)
  • MiKTeX (Windows)
  • MacTeX (macOS)
• GNU make: Automates compilation and cleaning tasks
• Inkscape: For SVG to PDF conversion (optional, but needed for SVG graphics)

Required LaTeX Packages

The template automatically loads all necessary packages. Key dependencies include:

• KOMA-Script bundle
• BibLaTeX with Biber backend
• glossaries-extra
• fontspec (for font management)
• TikZ (for graphics)
• listings (for code)

📁 Project Structure

SAT-WiSe-25-26/
│
├── HSRTReport/             # Document class files
│   ├── HSRTReport.cls      # Main class definition
│   ├── Assets/             # Fonts and images
│   │   ├── Fonts/          # Custom fonts
│   │   └── Images/         # Logo and graphics
│   ├── Config/             # Configuration modules
│   │   ├── Fonts.tex       # Font settings
│   │   ├── PageSetup.tex   # Page layout
│   │   └── ...             # Other configurations
│   ├── Imports/            # Package imports
│   │   ├── Core.tex        # Core packages
│   │   ├── Document.tex    # Document structure
│   │   └── ...             # Other imports
│   ├── Modules/            # Feature modules
│   │   ├── Content/        # Content-related features
│   │   ├── Layout/         # Layout features
│   │   └── Tools/          # Utility tools
│   └── Pages/              # Page templates
│       └── Titlepage.tex   # Title page definition
│
├── Content/                # Document content
│   ├── 00_toc.tex          # Table of contents and lists
│   ├── 01_content.tex      # Chapter loader (auto-managed)
│   ├── 99_bibliography.tex # Bibliography
│   ├── Chapters/           # Individual chapter files
│   │   ├── 01_introduction.tex
│   │   ├── example_chapter.tex
│   │   └── ...
│   └── Images/             # Document images
│
├── Settings/               # Document settings
│   ├── General.tex         # General settings
│   └── Logos.tex           # Logo configuration
│
├── scripts/                # Chapter management scripts
│   ├── create_chapter.sh   # Create new chapters
│   ├── list_chapters.sh    # List all chapters
│   ├── delete_chapter.sh   # Delete chapters
│   └── show_chapter.sh     # View chapter content
│
├── Main.tex                # Main document file
├── Preamble.tex            # Document preamble
├── Glossary.tex            # Glossary definitions
├── Main.bib                # Bibliography database
├── Makefile                # Build automation
├── .latexmkrc              # Latexmk configuration
└── docker-compose.yml      # Docker configuration

📝 Usage

Basic Document Setup

1. Configure document metadata in Settings/General.tex:

   % Document title
   \title{Your Document Title}
   
   % Title page information
   \AddTitlePageDataLine{Thema}{Your Topic}
   \AddTitlePageDataLine{Vorgelegt von}{Your Name}
   \AddTitlePageDataLine{Studiengang}{Your Study Program}
   % ... additional fields
   

2. Add your content using one of these methods:

   • Automatic (Recommended): Use scripts to manage chapters

     ./scripts/create_chapter.sh 02 methodology
     ./scripts/create_chapter.sh 03 results
     ./scripts/list_chapters.sh
     

   • Manual: Create files in Content/Chapters/ and add them to Content/01_content.tex

3. Manage bibliography in Main.bib using BibTeX format (I recommend using a tool like Zotero)

4. Define glossary entries in Glossary.tex:

   \newglossaryentry{term}{
       name=Term,
       description={Description of the term}
   }
   
   \newacronym{abbr}{ABBR}{Full Form of Abbreviation}
   

⚙️ Document Class Options

The HSRTReport class accepts all standard KOMA-Script scrreprt options plus:

Option	Description	Values
paper	Paper size	a4, letter, etc.
fontsize	Base font size	10pt, 11pt, 12pt
oneside/twoside	Page layout	Single or double-sided
DIV	Type area calculation	Integer (12-16 recommended)
onecolumn/twocolumn	Column layout	Single or double column

🎨 Customization

Modifying the Title Page

Edit Settings/General.tex to customize title page fields:

\AddTitlePageDataLine{Field Name}{Field Content}
\AddTitlePageDataSpace{5pt}  % Add vertical space

Adding Custom Packages

Add custom packages to Preamble.tex:

\usepackage{yourpackage}
\yourpackagesetup{options}

Changing Fonts

The template uses custom fonts defined in HSRTReport/Config/Fonts.tex. Modify this file to change fonts template-wide.

Creating Custom Commands

Add custom commands to Preamble.tex:

\newcommand{\mycommand}[1]{#1}

📚 Chapter Management

Automatic Chapter Management (Recommended)

The template includes scripts for efficient chapter management:

Create a New Chapter

./scripts/create_chapter.sh 02 methodology

This creates Content/Chapters/02_methodology.tex with a template structure and automatically adds it to the document.

List All Chapters

./scripts/list_chapters.sh

Shows all chapters and their inclusion status in the document.

View Chapter Content

./scripts/show_chapter.sh 02_methodology --info
./scripts/show_chapter.sh 02_methodology --structure

Delete a Chapter

./scripts/delete_chapter.sh 02_methodology

Removes the chapter and creates a backup in .chapter_backups/.

Manual Chapter Management

1. Create a file in Content/Chapters/
2. Add \input{Content/Chapters/your_chapter} to the marked section in Content/01_content.tex

🔨 Building the Document

Using Docker (Recommended - Default)

The template now uses Docker by default for consistent builds across all platforms. The Makefile automatically detects whether you have docker-compose (standalone) or docker compose (plugin) installed:

# Show Docker configuration and which compose variant is used
make docker-info

# Default build using Docker
make

# Docker build with image rebuild (after Dockerfile changes)
make docker-build

# Docker build using cached image (faster)
make docker-build-cached

# Open shell in Docker container for debugging
make docker-shell

# Clean Docker containers
make docker-clean

Using Local Installation

If you have a local LaTeX installation:

# Local build with automatic PDF viewing
make local

# Just compile without opening
make compile

# Clean auxiliary files
make clean

# Full clean including output
make distclean

Using latexmk directly

latexmk -xelatex -shell-escape -bibtex Main.tex

🚀 CI/CD Pipeline

Continuous Integration

The project includes GitHub Actions workflows for automated building and testing:

Build Workflow (makefile.yml)

• Triggers on: Push to main, Pull requests
• Actions:
  • Builds the document using Docker
  • Uploads the PDF as an artifact
  • Available for 30 days after build
  • Build logs uploaded on failure

Release Workflow (release.yml)

• Triggers on: Version tags (e.g., v1.0.0, release-2024-10)
• Actions:
  • Creates a GitHub release
  • Attaches the PDF with version number
  • Generates release notes automatically
  • Archives artifacts for 90 days

Creating a Release

To create a new release with the PDF:

# Tag the current commit
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release version 1.0.0"

# Push the tag to trigger the release workflow
git push origin v1.0.0

The workflow will automatically:

1. Build the document
2. Create a GitHub release
3. Attach the PDF to the release
4. Generate release notes from commit history

Accessing Build Artifacts

1. Go to the Actions tab in your GitHub repository
2. Select a workflow run
3. Scroll down to Artifacts
4. Download SAT-WiSe-25-26-PDF

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "This class can only be used with XeLaTeX" error

   • Solution: Ensure you're using XeLaTeX, not pdfLaTeX
   • Check your editor's compiler settings
   • Use Docker build (make) to avoid this issue

2. Bibliography not appearing

   • Run biber Main after the first XeLaTeX compilation
   • Check for errors in Main.bib
   • The Docker build handles this automatically

3. Glossary entries not showing

   • Run makeglossaries Main after adding new entries
   • Ensure entries are referenced in the document using \gls{term}

4. Docker build not working

   • Ensure Docker Desktop is running
   • Run make docker-info to check your Docker setup
   • Check that port is not blocked by firewall
   • Try docker-compose build --no-cache or docker compose build --no-cache for a fresh build
   • The Makefile supports both docker-compose and docker compose automatically

5. SVG images not converting

   • Inkscape is required for SVG support
   • Docker build includes Inkscape automatically
   • For local builds: Install Inkscape separately

📄 License

This template is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

• Original Author: Martin Oswald (Zürich University of Applied Sciences)
• Modified by: Frederik Beimgraben (University of Applied Sciences Reutlingen)

See LICENSE for details.

📧 Support

For questions, issues, or suggestions:

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Contact the maintainer at frederik@beimgraben.net

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Martin Oswald for the original ZHAWReport class
• KOMA-Script team for the excellent document classes
• University of Applied Sciences Reutlingen – Reutlingen University

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🆕 Recent Updates

Version 1.0 (October 2025)

• Added Docker support for containerized compilation

Key Configuration Changes

• Paragraph Spacing: 6pt
• Section Minimum Content: 12 baseline skips (~2 paragraphs)
• Citation Style: APA format via BibLaTeX

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Documentation Last updated: 30th of October 2025