Convert TEX to TOML

Why Convert LaTeX to TOML?

TOML is the modern standard for configuration files, designed to be both human-readable and machine-parseable. Converting LaTeX document metadata to TOML enables integration with modern development toolchains and static site generators.

For documentation projects using tools like Hugo, Zola, or mdBook, extracting LaTeX metadata to TOML frontmatter allows seamless integration of academic content into modern publishing workflows. The structured format preserves title, author, date, and other metadata in a clean, portable format.

Research software projects using Rust (Cargo.toml) or Python (pyproject.toml) can benefit from having document metadata in the same format as project configuration. This enables automation scripts to process both code configuration and documentation metadata uniformly.

TOML's native support for dates, arrays, and nested tables makes it ideal for representing structured document metadata that would require custom parsing in plain text formats.

Practical Examples

Example 1: Hugo Frontmatter for Academic Content

Use extracted TOML as Hugo static site frontmatter:

+++
title = "Quantum Computing: A Comprehensive Survey"
date = 2024-01-15
authors = ["Dr. Jane Smith", "Prof. John Doe"]
draft = false

[taxonomies]
tags = ["quantum", "computing", "physics"]
categories = ["research"]

[extra]
latex_class = "article"
bibliography = "references.bib"
+++

Example 2: Document Database Entry

Store document metadata in a TOML-based document catalog:

[document]
id = "paper-2024-001"
title = "Machine Learning in Physics"
created = 2024-01-15T10:30:00Z
modified = 2024-01-20T14:22:00Z

[document.authors]
primary = "Dr. Alice Chen"
contributors = ["Bob Wilson", "Carol Davis"]

[document.source]
format = "latex"
class = "article"
packages = ["amsmath", "tikz", "hyperref"]
pages = 24

Example 3: Build Configuration for LaTeX Project

Generate project configuration from LaTeX document:

# latex-project.toml
[project]
name = "quantum-computing-paper"
version = "1.0.0"
main_file = "main.tex"

[build]
engine = "pdflatex"
bibtex = true
runs = 3

[dependencies]
packages = [
    "amsmath",
    "amssymb",
    "graphicx",
    "hyperref"
]

[output]
formats = ["pdf", "html"]

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is TOML?

A: TOML (Tom's Obvious Minimal Language) is a configuration file format created by Tom Preston-Werner, GitHub's co-founder, in 2013. It's designed to be minimal, unambiguous, and easy for humans to read and write. It reached stable v1.0.0 in 2021.

Q: Where is TOML commonly used?

A: TOML is the standard configuration format for Rust projects (Cargo.toml), Python packaging (pyproject.toml), Hugo static sites, Netlify, and many modern development tools. It's increasingly replacing JSON and YAML for configuration files.

Q: What LaTeX data gets extracted to TOML?

A: The converter extracts document metadata (title, author, date), document class and options, loaded packages, and structural information. Content is converted to plain text in a content field. Complex LaTeX-specific features are simplified.

Q: How is TOML different from JSON or YAML?

A: TOML has native date/time types, clearer syntax (no significant whitespace like YAML), and is designed for configuration (not data interchange like JSON). It's more readable for humans but less suitable for deeply nested data structures.

Q: Can I use this with Hugo or Zola?

A: Yes, the TOML output can be used as frontmatter for Hugo, Zola, or other static site generators that support TOML. You may need to adjust the structure to match your site's taxonomy and content organization.

Q: How are LaTeX dates converted?

A: TOML supports native date types (YYYY-MM-DD). LaTeX \date commands are parsed and converted to TOML date format. Relative dates like \today are converted to the conversion date. Complex date formats may be stored as strings.

Q: Are arrays and nested data supported?

A: Yes, TOML supports arrays and nested tables natively. Multiple authors become arrays, packages become lists, and document structure uses nested tables ([document], [document.metadata], etc.).

Q: Can I validate the TOML output?

A: The output conforms to TOML v1.0.0 specification. You can validate it using any TOML parser (Python's tomllib, Rust's toml crate, online validators). The syntax is strict by design - there's no ambiguity in valid TOML.