Scripting a TeX document - (or other way to number pdf pages)

Tue Apr 13 19:01:46 UTC 2010

2010/4/13  <p.echols at comcast.net>:
> ----- "Loïc Grenié" <loic.grenie at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 2010/4/13 Patton Echols <p.echols at comcast.net>:
>>> I am working on a modification to the script found here:
>>>
>>> http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=30598
>>>
>>> The purpose is to "page number" an existing PDF document.  Part of
>>> the process requires a pdf document with the page numbers in the
>>> appropriate place.  The script author made his manually using OO.
>>> What I would like to do is to script the process. One of the
>>> commentators to the script said that he made his using
>>> LaTeX. (Which I know nothing about).
>>>
>>> The documentation I have been able to find is massive and frankly I
>>> don't  quite know where to begin.
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> > Nodding in the direction of "RTFM" is there a recommended "FM?"
>>> (and pointers about what I should be reading!)
>>
>>      I have been a user of LaTeX for a long time (and I still am) and
>> I can tell you that you do not want to learn LaTeX just to number
>> pages in a pdf.
>>
>>            Sorry for the non-help,
>>
>>                    Loïc
>
> Actually, that is exactly what I was looking for, someone to tell me that the idea
> is not in the "realm of realistic" and not to go there!
>
> My limited understanding of LaTeX is that you create a source file that has both
> text and markup.  That file is then interpreted when printed.  Would it be in the
> realm of realistic for someone such as yourself to identify the segments that
> would have to be in a script to do such a thing?  My analogy in "fake" html would be
>
> <document>
> <head>
> -Format code
> -Font Code
> -etc
> </head>
> <text position=bottom-left>
> Page Number 0001
> </text>
> <pagebreak><text position=bottom-left>
> Page Number 0002
> </text>
> <pagebreak><text position=bottom-left>
> Page Number 0003
> </text>
> </document>
>
> (For the critics, I am not good at html, but I know this is wrong, and why and that's not the point)
>
> The changing parts in such a page would be few, and the result easily scriptable.
> For my purposes, I would not have to understand the LaTeX code for it to work.
> Something you might think of as a fun challenge?

    Sorry, but I think LaTeX is really not adapted for the work. I
would not know
  where to start.

       Loïc