Guide to LaTeX (4th Edition) (Tools and Techniques

16
Letters
In addition to the three standard L AT E X document classes, there is a fourth
one named letter for formatting correspondence. As provided, this
class is intended for private letters without any frills such as letterheads
or business reference codes. However, local modifications are possible.
We first present the standard L AT E X letter class, and then demonstrate
how a house style can be written using our own institute style as an example.
As always, it is highly recommended that each of these modifications
be given its own file name so that letter.cls refers only to the provided
L AT E X version.
16.1 The L AT E X letter class
The letter document class is meant for writing letters. A single input
file may contain the text for more than one letter and recipient, all from
the same sender. Address labels may also be printed automatically if
one wishes. Most of the normal L AT E X commands function as usual within
the letter class. One exception, however, is the sectioning commands,
which will lead to the error message ! Undefined control sequence
when issued. It actually makes little sense to try to divide a letter up into
chapters, sections, etc. On the other hand, there are a number of special
commands that may be applied only within this style.
The input text for a letter begins as for every L AT E X document with
\documentclass[options]{letter}
in which all the options listed in Section 3.1 may be given for options
except for twocolumn and titlepage which hardly make any sense within
a letter.
Every letter must contain the name and address of the sender, which
are set for all the letters in one file by including the commands
\address{sender address}
\signature{sender name} or \name{sender name}
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