Re: [PATCH]: ox-latex: omit empty date

[General discussions about Org-mode.]

> emacs--- via "General discussions about Org-mode."
> <emacs-orgmode@gnu.org> writes:
>
>> My use case is very niche and be solved by changing my custom latex date 
>> command by renaming it as for example \mydate.
>>
>> Adding extra options like with_date:nil seems overkill for this small issue.
>>
>
> I agree; I think we shouldn't change basic behavior for more advanced
> usages unless it's something many people are interested in and we keep a
> backward compatibility.
>
>> A second option would be is to analyze the data format in the org file.
>> If for example the date is specified as 
>> #+date: {day}{something}
>>
>
> The thing is \date is a macro with one parameter, a string. That's way
> \date{} doesn't do anything and \date{\today} prints today's date where
> \today return today's date as a string. Starting to introduce new kinds
> of inputs - e.g. {y}{m}{d} - to the \date macro would just confuse
> people, I think.
>

It is an optional use pattern and the old options wil still work. 
The following code would "mostly" does the trick (I come back at the mostly term
later in this mail)     ;; Date.
     (let ((date (and (plist-get info :with-date) (org-export-get-date info))))
       (if (string-match-p "^\{.*\}$" (org-export-data date info))
           (format "\\date%s\n" (org-export-data date info))
         (format "\\date{%s}\n" (org-export-data date info))))

Dates can now de set as, and exported to: 
#+date: some date  -> \date{some date}
#+date: my {date} -> \date{my \{date\}}
#+date: {my}{fancy}{date} -> \date{my}{fancy}{date}
#+date: {} -> \date{}

Why mostly:
At the moment the code escapes the provided brackets and the current behaviour 
is 
#+date: {my}{fancy}{date} -> \date\{my\}\{fancy\}\{date\}
#+date: {} -> \date\{\}
which is not correct and I cant seem to find a good way to alter the format 
command to 
not escape the special characters. Tips are appreciated. 

A general Remark: I feel that passing latex options by their literal value i.e. 
including all 
latex formatting and brackets, would be a good general addition to the 
exporter. I can 
imagine use cases where the author command is also overwritten to format names 
differently
at different locations in the document. As in 
#+author: {title}{name}{sir name}
#+author: {name}{thanks}{special thanks}
It gives the end user way more control over the final document and does not 
break any
backward compatibility.

Kind regards 
Bob