rivtlib 1.0.0a12

write, edit and share engineering documents

rivtlib is alpha software. Some features are not complete and the program has bugs.

rivt is an extensible, open source tool for writing and sharing engineering documents. This has always been a challenge because engineering documents are complex. They may include text, images, tables, calculations, models and computer code.

A rivt file is a Python file (.py) that imports the rivtlib Python package and includes rivt markup. Markup publishes the file as a text, PDF or HTML doc that can be assembled and linked, with other docs, into a rivt report.

The primary use case for rivt is producing clear, acurate engineering documents that are:

1. Easier to write and format than LaTeX, Excel, Word or other general purpose word processors.

2. Do not need to be formatted to the precise standards of a formal journal publication.

A second use case is when documents may need to be produced in a variety of formats from the same input file. For futher details please refer to the rivt user manual.

Use Cases

In addition to publishing engineering documents for:

1. internal communication

2. research documentation

3. government permits

4. technical reports

5. funding applications

6. teaching

7. presentations

rivt can:

1. function as a front and back end for external software

2. be used for real time collaboration

The table below compares limitations between different software programs. rivt is designed to address these limitations and serve as a complement or replacement to existing software.

Software Comparison

Program	Rep [1]	Ver [2]	Txt [3]	Comp [4]	CP [5]	Collab [6]
Matlab	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mathcad	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mathematica	no	no	no	no	no	no
Cloud SaaS	limited	no	no	no	yes	limited
Excel	limited	no	no	yes	no	yes
Jupyter	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
rivt	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes

[1]

Report generation

[2]

Native version control

[3]

Plain text, readable input files

[4]

Forward and backward compatibility

[5]

Cross-platform

[6]

Collaboration support