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- From: bobby@hot.caltech.edu (Bobby Bodenheimer)
- Newsgroups: comp.text.tex,fr.comp.text.tex,comp.answers,news.answers
- Subject: TeX, LaTeX, etc.: Frequently Asked Questions with Answers [Monthly]
- Supersedes: <tex-faq_755302854@hot.caltech.edu>
- Followup-To: comp.text.tex
- Date: 8 Apr 1994 20:55:08 GMT
- Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.
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- Expires: 6 Jun 1994 20:54:15 GMT
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- Keywords: monthly faq
- Originator: bobby@hot.caltech.edu
- Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu comp.text.tex:25086 fr.comp.text.tex:41 comp.answers:4825 news.answers:17835
-
- Archive-name: tex-faq
-
- Comp.text.tex is a forum for the discussion of TeX, LaTeX and other
- related things. TeX is a software system written by Donald Knuth to
- typeset text, especially text containing mathematics. LaTeX is a set
- of macros written in TeX, designed to simplify the the typesetting of
- a document by allowing the user to concentrate on the content and
- structure of the document rather than the exact appearance of the
- finished product. METAFONT, also discussed here, is a program which
- allows the user to design their own fonts. The definitive reference
- for TeX is _The TeXbook_, by Donald Knuth (Addison Wesley, 1984, ISBN
- 0-201-13447-0, paperback 0-201-13448-9). For LaTeX, see _LaTeX, a
- Document Preparation System_ by Leslie Lamport (Addison Wesley, 1986,
- ISBN 0-201-15790-X). For LaTeX2e, full documentation can be found in
- _The LaTeX Companion_ by Michael Goossens, Frank Mittelbach, and Alexander
- Samarin (Addison Wesley, 1993, ISBN 0-201-54199-8). For METAFONT, see
- _The METAFONTbook_ by Donald Knuth (Addison Wesley, 1984,
- ISBN 0-201-13445-4). The American Mathematical Society has two macro
- packages which are also popular, called AMS-TeX and AMS-LaTeX.
-
- This article contains answers to some frequently asked questions on
- comp.text.tex. Please don't ask these questions again, as they've been
- answered many times before.
-
- This is version 1.44 for April, last changed 4/8/94.
-
- This article includes answers to:
-
- 1) How can I get a copy of this article?
- 2) Where can I get a DVI to PostScript conversion program?
- 3) How can I include a PostScript figure in LaTeX?
- 4) Where can I find a DVI previewer for machine Y running Q?
- 5) Where can I get the manual for PiCTeX?
- 6) What is VorTeX and where can I get it?
- 7) What is OzTeX and where can I get it (TeX for the Mac)?
- 8) What is Fig and where can I get it?
- 9) How do I get WEB for C, FORTRAN, or some other language?
- 10) How can I typeset music in TeX?
- 11) What is TUG and TUGboat?
- 12) How do I convert Adobe's afm files to tfm format?
- 13) In LaTeX, how do I get a double-spaced document?
- 14) In LaTeX, how do I include a file in the verbatim environment?
- 15) In LaTeX, how do I do Y?
- 16) Where can I find a TeX macro or LaTeX style file for doing Y?
- 17) How do I generate an index in TeX/LaTeX?
- 18) How do I get METAFONT to do what I want it to do?
- 19) Where do I get TeX/LaTeX for machine Y running Q?
- 20) Where can I get a thesis style for LaTeX?
- 21) How do I get symbols for ``the real numbers'', ``the complex numbers'',
- and so on?
- 22) What repositories of TeX material are available, and how can I
- access them?
- 23) How do I use PostScript fonts with LaTeX?
- 24) How can I convert from format Y to TeX or LaTeX, and vice-versa?
- 25) How do I get a file into the major style repositories?
- 26) Where can I get font Y?
- 27) Where can I get a dvi driver for the HP LaserJet?
- 28) TeX and LaTeX are hyphenating words weirdly. What can I do?
- 29) How can I convert a TeX or LaTeX file into a plain ASCII file,
- with all the formatting intact, a la nroff?
- 30) How do I enlarge TeX? I keep getting ``memory capacity exceeded''
- errors.
- 31) In LaTeX, I used \pagestyle{empty}, but the first page is still
- numbered. What do I do?
- 32) Where do I find documentation about BibTeX?
- 33) How do I use BibTeX with plain TeX?
- 34) How do I draw Feynman diagrams in LaTeX?
- 35) What is the New Font Selection Scheme (NFSS)?
- 36) In LaTeX, my cross-references for floats (figures and tables) are
- incorrect. What's wrong?
- 37) I want to change the margins in LaTeX. What can I do?
- 38) How do I find the width of a letter, word, or phrase in TeX?
- 39) In LaTeX, is there a comment or ``ignore'' environment with which
- I can exclude blocks of text from the .dvi file?
- 40) Where can I find a spelling checker for my TeX file?
- 41) What is LaTeX2e?
-
- If you are looking, for instance, for the answer to question 17, and wish
- to skip everything else, you can search ahead for the regular expression
- ``^17)''.
-
- These are all legitimate questions, but they seem to appear too
- frequently for long-time readers of the list.
-
- Many of the answers below tell you that you can obtain something
- through anonymous ftp. ``Ftp'' stands for file transfer protocol, and
- is also the name of a program implementing the protocol. The program
- allows users to transfer files to and from remote sites, if the sites
- are connected via a network such as the Internet. ``Anonymous ftp''
- indicates a user may connect to a remote site as the user
- ``anonymous'' with a password consisting of their email address, and
- thus be able to retrieve files from that site. Remember, anonymous
- ftp is a privilege and the system administrators for these sites
- have made these files available out of their own generosity. Therefore
- please restrict your ftp'ing to non-prime hours at the various sites.
-
- I would like to acknowledge Don Hosek, Ken Yap, Tomas Rokicki, Micah
- Beck, and David Carlisle, whose postings provided many of the answers.
- Joe Weening, Hal Perkins, Walter Carlip, Max Hailpern, Tad Guy,
- Raymond Chen, Henning Schulzrinne, Sebastian Rahtz, Mark James, Peter
- Galko, Mike Ernst, Rainer Sch\"opf, Oren Patashnik, Philippe Louarn,
- Rafal Zbikowski, Anita Marie Hoover, David Rhead, Darrell McCauley,
- Cameron Smith, Emma Pease, Patrick McPhee, Karl Berry, Robin
- Fairbairns, and Joohee Jeong provided additional material and
- criticisms. The format of this document is based on the Frequently
- Asked Questions written by Steve Hayman which formerly appeared in
- comp.unix.wizards. Any mistakes are mine. Send corrections,
- suggestions, and additions to bobby@hot.caltech.edu.
-
- 1) How can I get a copy of this article?
-
- You're reading it aren't you? SAVE it :-). This article is posted
- monthly to comp.text.tex and cross-posted to news.answers. It is
- therefore archived at any site that archives news.answers.
- News.answers is archived on rtfm.mit.edu (18.70.0.209), and this
- article is available there via anonymous ftp in the directory
- ./pub/usenet/news.answers/tex-faq. If you do not have anonymous
- ftp, send an e-mail message containing the lines ``SENDME FAQ.'' to
- fileserv@shsu.edu (fileserv@shsu.bitnet). Another way to retrieve
- it via email is through the mailserver at rtfm: send a message
- containing the lines ``help'' and ``index'' to
- mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu for information on how to obtain it.
-
- Other news.answers/FAQ archives are: cnam.cnam.fr (163.173.128.6)
- in the anonymous ftp directory /pub/FAQ; ftp.uu.net (192.48.96.2)
- in the anonymous ftp directory /pub/usenet (also available via mail
- server requests to netlib@uunet.uu.net, or via uunet's 1-900
- anonymous UUCP phone number); and ftp.cs.ruu.nl (131.211.80.17) in
- the anonymous ftp directory NEWS.ANSWERS (also accessible via mail
- server requests to mail-server@cs.ruu.nl). Many of the archives
- mentioned in question 22 also maintain current versions of this
- document.
-
- 2) Where can I get a DVI to PostScript conversion program?
-
- Two good DVI to PostScript conversion programs that run under
- Unix are:
- dvips - by Tomas Rokicki. This driver is very nice and has the
- ability to deal with virtual fonts. Available via anonymous ftp
- from labrea.stanford.edu (36.8.0.112) in ./pub. Dvips is
- written in C and ports easily to other operating systems. It
- is available for VMS via anonymous ftp from any CTAN site (see
- question 22) and also through the DECUS library (see question
- 22). A precompiled version for MSDOS is available from
- monu1.cc.monash.edu.au (130.194.1.101) in ./pub/dvips54.zip or
- from shape.mps.ohio-state.edu (128.146.110.30) in
- ./pub/msdos/dvips/dvips54.zip. If you wish to use postscript
- fonts, get dvipslib.zip as well. Documentation is available in
- dvips.ps.Z. Karl Berry has a version of dvips called dvipsk
- which has a configure script and path searching code similar to
- that in his other programs (e.g., web2c). It is available via
- anonymous ftp from ftp.cs.umb.edu (158.121.104.33) in
- ./pub/tex/.
-
- dvitops - by James Clark. Available via anonymous ftp from any CTAN site
- (see question 22, e.g., pip.shsu.edu (192.92.115.10)), in
- ./tex-archive/dviware/dvitops. Dvitops is written in C and will
- compile under Unix, MSDOS, VMS, and Primos.
-
- 3) How can I include a PostScript figure in LaTeX?
-
- Perhaps the best way to do this is to use the psfig macros written
- by Trevor Darrell. They are available via anonymous ftp from
- any CTAN site (see question 22) in graphics/psfig. You will
- also need a dvi to PostScript conversion program that supports
- \specials. The ones mentioned in question 2 do, and come with a
- version of psfig ready to use with them. The psfig macros work best
- with Encapsulated PostScript Files (EPS). In particular, psfig will
- need the file to have a BoundingBox (see Appendix C of the
- _PostScript Language Reference Manual_). If you don't have an EPS
- file, life can be difficult.
-
- One further note about including PostScript figures is that they
- are not part of the dvi file, but are included when you use a dvi
- to PostScript conversion program. As a result, most dvi previewers
- will simply show the blank space TeX has reserved for your figure,
- not the figure itself. LaTeX2e (see question 41) will have a standard
- interface for graphics inclusion, rotation, color, and other
- driver-related features.
-
- Anil K. Goel has written a long document describing in detail how to
- include figures, pictures, and images in LaTeX documents. It is available
- via anonymous ftp from math.uwaterloo.ca (129.97.140.144) in
- ./pub/figsInLatex.ps.Z. A dvi file with the included PostScript files
- is also available.
-
- 4) Where can I find a DVI previewer for machine Y running Q?
-
- This briefly lists some previewers available via anonymous ftp. All
- are available from any CTAN site (see question 22) in addition to the
- sites listed below:
- dvipage - For SunView. This was published in volume 15 of
- comp.sources.unix and is available at sites that archive
- this. One such source is archive.cis.ohio-state.edu
- (128.146.8.52).
- xtex - For the X Window System. Available via anonymous ftp
- from ftp.cs.colorado.edu (128.138.243.151) in
- ./pub/cs/misc/SeeTeX/SeeTeX/SeeTeX-*.tar.Z.
- dviapollo- for Apollo Domain. Available via anonymous ftp from
- labrea.stanford.edu (36.8.0.112) in ./pub/dviapollo.tar.Z.
- dvidis - For VAXstation VWS. Available via anonymous ftp from
- src.doc.ic.ac.uk (146.169.2.1) in /packages/tex/dviware/dvidis.
- xdvi - Also for the X Window System. Available via anonymous ftp
- from ftp.x.org (192.112.44.100) in ./contrib/xdvi.tar.Z. Karl
- Berry has a version of called xdvik with features analogous
- to his dvipsk (see question 2) available via anonymous ftp from
- ftp.cs.umb.edu (158.121.104.33) in ./pub/tex.
- dvitovdu - for Tektronix 4010 and other terminals under Unix.
- Available via anonymous ftp from wsmr-simtel20.army.mil
- (192.88.110.20) in the directory pd6:<unix-c.printers> as
- dvi2vdu.tar-z (ftp in ``tenex'' mode).
- dvi2tty - A dvi to ASCII conversion program, for normal terminals.
- Available from ftp.cs.ruu.nl (131.211.80.17) in
- ./pub/TEX/DVI/dvi2tty.shar. A VMS version is available from
- fileserv@shsu.edu (see question 22).
- texsgi - For SGI under Irix. Available via anonymous ftp from
- ftp.brl.mil (128.63.16.158) in ./info-iris/tex. Both a binary
- and source are available, but be sure to get the fonts as well.
-
- 5) Where can I get the manual for PiCTeX?
-
- The PiCTeX manual is not free. It is available for $30 ($35 with the
- disk) from the TeX Users Group:
- TeX Users Group
- P. O. Box 869
- Santa Barbara, CA 93102-0869 (USA)
- 805-963-1338
- FAX: 805-963-8358
- tug@tug.org
-
- The proceeds from this sale go to Michael Wichura, the author of PiCTeX,
- and TUG.
-
- 6) What is VorTeX and where can I get it?
-
- VorTeX is a package of programs written at the University of California.
- It includes several nice previewers and some Emacs modes for TeX and
- BibTeX. It is available via anonymous ftp from ftp.cs.berkeley.edu
- (128.32.149.78) in ./ucb/mhgs and from any CTAN archive (see question
- 22). The VorTeX distribution is not maintained.
-
- 7) What is OzTeX and where can I get it (TeX for the Mac)?
-
- OzTeX is a public domain version of TeX for the Macintosh. A DVI
- Previewer and PostScript driver are also included. It should run on
- any Macintosh Plus, SE, II, or newer model, but will not work on a
- 128K or 512K Mac. It was written by Andrew Trevorrow, and is available
- via anonymous ftp from from midway.uchicago.edu (128.135.12.73) in
- ./pub/OzTeX, which contains other public domain TeX-related software
- for the Mac as well, or on a floppy disk from TUG (see question 11).
- Questions about OzTeX may be directed to oztex@midway.uchicago.edu.
-
- 8) What is Fig and where can I get it?
-
- Fig is a menu driven tool similar to MacDraw that allows you to
- draw objects on the screen of a Sun Workstation running SunView.
- TransFig is a set of tools which translate the code fig produces to
- other graphics languages including PostScript and the LaTeX picture
- environment. Both are available via anonymous ftp from
- ftp.cs.cornell.edu (128.84.218.75) in ./pub/fig. Both Fig and
- TransFig are also available from the Clarkson archive server at
- sun.soe.clarkson.edu (see question 22). Fig is supported by Micah
- Beck (beck@cs.cornell.edu) and Transfig is maintained by Brian
- Smith (bvsmith@lbl.gov). Another tool for fig conversion is fig2MF
- which generates METAFONT code from fig input. It is available from
- the CTAN archives discussed in question 22.
-
- XFig is essentially the same program except it runs under the X
- Window System. It is available via anonymous ftp from ftp.x.org
- (192.112.44.100) in ./contrib/R5fixes/xfig-patches/xfig-2.1.*.Z. It
- was written by Brian Smith.
-
- 9) How do I get WEB for C, FORTRAN, or some other language?
-
- There is a version of WEB for C called CWEB written by Silvio Levy. It
- is available via anonymous ftp from princeton.edu (128.112.128.1) in
- the directory ./pub/cweb.
-
- There is a version of WEB called Spidery WEB which supports many
- languages including ADA, awk, and C. It was written by Norman Ramsey
- and, while not in the public domain, is usable free. It is available
- via anonymous ftp from pip.shsu.edu (192.92.115.10) in
- tex-archive/web/spiderweb.
-
- FWEB is a version of WEB for Fortran, Ratfor, and C written by John
- Krommes (krommes@lyman.pppl.gov). Version 1.13 is available via
- anonymous ftp from lyman.pppl.gov (192.55.106.129) in ./pub/fweb.
-
- SchemeWEB is a Unix filter that translates SchemeWEB into LaTeX source
- or Scheme source. It was written by John Ramsdell and is available from
- sun.soe.clarkson.edu (128.153.12.3) in ./pub/tex/tex-programs/schemeweb.
-
- APLWEB is a version of WEB for APL and is available from
- watserv1.waterloo.edu (129.97.129.140) in ./languages/apl.
-
- FunnelWeb is a version of WEB that is language independent. It is
- available via anonymous ftp from ftp.adelaide.edu.au (129.127.40.3)
- in ./pub/funnelweb. It also appeared in comp.sources.unix volume 26
- issue 121, posted 11 April 1993. Another language independent version
- of WEB is NUWEB, available via anonymous ftp from cs.rice.edu
- (128.42.1.30) in ./public/preston. NUWEB is written in ANSI C.
-
- Most of the above are also available from your nearest CTAN site
- (see question 22).
-
- 10) How can I typeset music in TeX?
-
- A package called MuTeX, written by Andrea Steinbach and Angelika
- Schofer, aids in doing this. It is available via anonymous ftp
- from ftp.cs.ruu.nl (131.211.80.17) in pub/TEX/MuTeX.tar.Z. This
- package allows you to typeset single-staff music and lyrics.
-
- A more powerful package which allows the typesetting of orchestral
- and polyphonic music is MusicTeX, written by Daniel Taupin
- (taupin@frups51.bitnet). It is available via anonymous ftp from
- rsovax.ups.circe.fr (130.84.128.100) [.musictex]. It should also
- be available from the archive sites detailed in question 22.
-
- There is a mailing list for discussion of typesetting music in TeX.
- To subscribe, send a request to mutex-request@stolaf.edu.
-
- 11) What is TUG and TUGboat?
-
- TUG is the TeX Users Group. TUGboat is their newsletter, containing
- useful articles about TeX and METAFONT. TUG also distributes
- TeX-related microcomputer software on disks. Inquiries should be
- directed to:
- TeX Users Group
- P. O. Box 869
- Santa Barbara, CA 93102-0869 (USA)
- 805-963-1338
- FAX: 805-963-8358
- tug@tug.org
-
- 12) How do I convert Adobe's afm files to tfm format?
-
- An afm2tfm program is distributed with dvips, available via
- anonymous ftp from labrea.stanford.edu (36.8.0.112) in ./pub. Allan
- Jeffries' fontinst package is an afm2tfm converter written in TeX
- and will be used to support the PostScript tfm files for LaTeX2e
- (see question 41). It is available from any CTAN site (see question
- 22).
-
- For the Macintosh, there is a program called EdMetrics which does
- the job (and more). It is available free from:
- Blue Sky Research
- 534 Southwest Third Avenue
- Portland, Oregon 97204 (USA)
- 800-622-8398 or 503-222-9571
-
- 13) In LaTeX, how do I get a double-spaced document?
-
- Are you producing a thesis, and trying to obey regulations that were
- drafted in the typewriter era? LaTeX is a typesetting system, so the
- appropriate design conventions are for ``real books''. Find whoever
- is responsible for the regulations, and try to get the wording changed
- to cater for typeset theses (e.g., to say ``if using a typesetting
- system, aim to make your thesis look like a well-designed book'').
-
- If you fail to convince your officials, or want some inter-line
- space for copy-editing:
- - Try changing \baselinestretch: \renewcommand{\baselinestretch}{1.2}
- may be enough to give officials the impression you've kept
- to their regulations. Don't try changing \baselineskip: its
- value is reset at any size-changing command.
- - Alternatively, get doublespace.sty from any CTAN site (see question 22,
- e.g., pip.shsu.edu (192.92.115.10)) in
- ./tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/misc. There's also a setspace.sty
- in the same directory which is more flexible, and consistent with the
- latest release of LaTeX.
-
- It's not worth going to a lot of trouble. (If officials won't allow
- standard typographic conventions, you won't be able to produce an
- aesthetically pleasing document anyway!)
-
- 14) In LaTeX, how do I include a file in the verbatim environment?
-
- A good way to do this is to use Rainer Sch\"opf's verbatim.sty,
- which provides the command \verbatiminput that takes a file
- as an argument. This package is available from any CTAN site (see
- question 22) in ./tex-archive/macros/latex/distribs. Several
- files are needed.
-
- Another way to do this is to use the alltt environment defined in
- the style file alltt.sty available from the CTAN archives in
- ./tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/misc/alltt.sty.
-
- 15) In LaTeX, how do I do Y?
-
- If you can't figure out how to do something in LaTeX after you
- have read the manual very carefully, asked your local LaTeX
- guru, and thought about it, there is a LaTeX help service
- available. Please note that the way to accomplish something
- in LaTeX is often by using an appropriate style file, so please
- check this also (see question 16). If none of this works, send mail
- in English describing your problem to latex-help@cs.stanford.edu.
- If you haven't gotten a reply to your problem within about a week,
- send mail to latex-help-coordinator@cs.stanford.edu.
-
- 16) Where can I find a TeX macro or LaTeX style file for doing Y?
-
- Before you ask for a TeX macro or LaTeX style file to do something,
- please search the TeX macro index written by David M. Jones
- (dmjones@theory.lcs.mit.edu) and available via anonymous ftp
- from theory.lcs.mit.edu (18.52.0.92) in ./pub/tex/TeX-index. Those
- without access to anonymous ftp can send a message containing the
- line ``send tex TeX-index'' to archive-server@theory.lcs.mit.edu.
- The index is an excellent reference document with plenty of
- cross-references. Also, many of the archive sites mentioned in
- question 22 maintain extensive latex style collections, which you
- can look through if you need something not in the index.
-
- Another possibility is to use the searching features of the CTAN
- archives (see question 22). Once you have an anonymous ftp connection
- established to a CTAN site, you can type the command `quote site index
- <term>' and it will provide a list of files with the string <term> in
- their names.
-
- 17) How do I generate an index in TeX/LaTeX?
-
- Making an index is not trivial. There are several indexing programs
- which aid in doing this. The following are available from any CTAN
- site (see question 22):
- makeindex - for LaTeX under Unix (but runs under other OS's
- without changes). A version for the Macintosh is available from
- Johnny Tolliver at tolliver%atf.mfenet@nmfecc.llnl.gov. The
- Makeindex documentation is a good source of information on how
- to create your own index. Makeindex can be used with some TeX macro
- packages other than LaTeX, such as Eplain.
- idxtex - for LaTeX under VMS.
- texix - for TeX on CMS and Macintosh machines.
- texindex - for LaTeX under Unix. Available from
- comp.sources.misc archives in Volume 23.
-
- 18) How do I get METAFONT to do what I want it to do?
-
- METAFONT allows you to create your own fonts, and ordinary TeX users
- will never need to use it. METAFONT, unlike TeX, requires some
- customization. Each output device for which you will be generating
- fonts needs a mode associated with it. Modes are defined using the
- mode_def convention described on page 94 of _The METAFONTbook_. So
- first create a file, which we will call local.mf, containing all the
- mode_defs you will be using. The file modes.mf by Karl Berry,
- available via anonymous ftp from ftp.cs.umb.edu (158.121.104.33) in
- ./pub/tex is a good starting point for this. Listings of settings for
- various output devices are also published periodically in TUGboat
- (see question 11). Now create a plain base file using inimf, plain.mf,
- and local.mf:
- % inimf
- This is METAFONT....
- **plain # you type plain
- (output)
- *input local # you type this
- (output)
- *dump # you type this
- Beginning to dump on file plain....
- (output)
- %
- This should create a base file named plain.base (or something close)
- and should be moved to the directory containing the base files on
- your system.
-
- Now you need to make sure METAFONT loads this base when it starts
- up. If METAFONT loads the plain base by default on your system, then
- you're ready to go. Under Unix, we might, for instance define a
- command mf which executes ``virmf &plain,'' loading the plain base
- file.
-
- The usual way to create a font with plain METAFONT is to then start
- it with the line
- \mode=<mode name>; mag=<magnification>; input <font file name>
- in response to the * prompt or on the METAFONT command line. If
- <mode name> is unknown or omitted, then the mode defaults to proof
- mode. If this has happened METAFONT will produce an output file
- called <font file name>.2602gf. The <magnification> is a floating
- point number or magstep (magsteps are defined in _The METAFONTbook_
- and _The TeXbook_). If mag=<magnification> is omitted, then the
- default is 1. For example, to generate cmr10 at 12pt for an epson
- printer you would type
- mf \mode=epson; mag=1.2; input cmr10
- Note that under Unix the '\' and ';' characters must usually be
- escaped, so this would typically look something like
- mf \\mode=epson\; mag=1.2\; input cmr10
-
- If you don't have inimf or need a special mode that isn't in the
- base, you can put its commands in a file (e.g., ln03.mf) and invoke
- it on the fly with the \smode command. For example, to create
- ln03.300gf for an LN03 printer, using the file
- % This is ln03.mf as of 2/27/90
- % mode_def courtesy of John Sauter
- proofing:=0;
- fontmaking:=1;
- tracingtitles:=0;
- pixels_per_inch:=300;
- blacker:=0.65;
- fillin:=-0.1;
- o_correction:=.5;
- (note the absence of the mode_def and enddef commands), you would type
- mf \smode="ln03"; input cmr10
-
- 19) Where do I get TeX/LaTeX for machine Y running Q?
-
- Unix - The Unix TeX distribution is available via anonymous ftp from any
- CTAN archive (see question 22). If you don't want to do this, you can
- order it from the University of Washington, for a small fee. Contact:
- Director
- Northwest Computing Support Center
- Thomson Hall, Mail Stop DR-10
- University of Washington
- Seattle, WA 98195 (USA)
- (206)543-6259
- or send electronic mail to Elizabeth Tachikawa at
- elisabet@max.u.washington.edu (note the ``s''). The fee charged
- for getting the TeX distribution through the University of
- Washington helps fund the further development of Unix TeX, so
- it's a good idea to order it this way.
-
- Instructions for retrieving TeX via anonymous ftp are available
- in the document FTP.nwc, itself available via anonymous ftp from
- ftp.cs.umb.edu (158.21.104.33) in ./pub/tex.
-
- Note: The Unix version of TeX allows your ``macros'' or ``inputs''
- and ``fonts'' directories to be hierarchically organized with
- further subdirectories, rather than dumping everything into one
- directory. This can cause TeX to start very slowly. The cure
- for this problem is to insure each subdirectory contains either
- only directories or only files.
-
- AIX - TeX for the IBM RS6000 running AIX can be found on
- ftp.dante.de (129.206.100.192) in ./tex-archive/systems/unix/aix3.2.
-
- 386/ix - Executables for the 386/ix are available via anonymous ftp
- from tik.vtt.fi (130.188.52.2) in ./pub/tex/bin-386ix and from
- math.berkeley.edu (128.32.183.94) in ./pub/tex386ix.tar.Z.
-
- PC - A TeX package for the PC, including LaTeX, BibTeX, previewers,
- and drivers is available via anonymous ftp from
- vax.eedsp.gatech.edu (130.207.226.24) in ./pub/TeX. The variety here
- is sbtex version 30 by Wayne Sullivan. EmTeX, another TeX package
- for the PC by Eberhard Mattes, is available via anonymous ftp from
- ftp.dante.de (129.206.100.192) in
- ./tex-archive/systems/msdos/emtex and also from niord.shsu.edu
- (192.92.115.8) in [.emtex]. This package includes LaTeX, METAFONT,
- BibTeX, etc., as well. Documentation is available in both German
- and English.
-
- All Public Domain TeX software for the PC is also available
- through TUG. A catalog is available free from them at the
- address given in question 11. This collection is maintained by
- Jon Radel, who will answer technical questions on the material
- (with no service guarantee). Send electronic mail to jon@radel.com.
-
- Mac - see question 7 for a public domain version (OzTeX). Another version
- is CMacTeX, which has TeX 3.14, METAFONT 2.7, a screen previewer,
- dvips, a PostScript printing utility for the LaserWriter, and some font
- managing utilities. It is available from the CTAN archives discussed
- in question 22.
-
- TOPS-20 - TeX was originally written on a DEC-10 under WAITS, and so
- was easily ported to TOPS-20. A Distribution that runs on TOPS-20
- is available via anonymous ftp from science.utah.edu
- (128.110.198.2) in ./pub/tex/pub/web.
-
- VAX/VMS - TeX for VMS is available from any CTAN site (see question 22)
- in the directory ./systems/vms. Standard tape distribution is
- through DECUS or Maria Code.
-
- Atari - TeX is available for the Atari ST from atari.archive.umich.edu
- (141.211.165.41) in ./atari/tex. If anonymous ftp is not available
- to you, send a message containing the line ``help'' to
- atari@atari.archive.umich.edu. The mail server can uuencode
- binary files. Another version can be obtained via anonymous
- ftp from ifi.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de (129.69.211.1) in
- ./pub/atari.st/tex. There is also lots of TeX stuff for the
- Atari on the rusinfo and ftp.cs.ruu.nl archives mentioned in
- question 22.
-
- Amiga - A full implementation of TeX 3.1 call PasTeX and METAFONT 2.7
- are available via anonymous ftp from merlin.etsu.edu (192.43.199.20)
- in ./ab20/AMIGA. It is also available via anonymous ftp from
- forwiss.uni-passau.de (132.231.20.10) in ./pub/amiga/tex.
- You can also order a CDROM containing this and other amiga software
- from Walnut Creek CDROM, (510) 947-5997.
-
- Tandy 6000 - If you are interested in building TeX on this machine
- contact Ken Yap (ken@syd.dit.csiro.au), and he'll help you.
-
- 20) Where can I get a thesis style for LaTeX?
-
- Thesis styles are usually very specific to your University, so it's
- usually not profitable to ask the whole newsgroup for one. If you
- want to write your own, a good place to start is the ucthesis style
- available from any CTAN archive in macros/latex/contrib/ucthesis
- (see question 22).
-
- 21) How do I get symbols for ``the real numbers'', ``the complex numbers'',
- and so on?
-
- These symbols are known as ``blackboard bold'' and are available in
- the AMS fonts ``msam'' (e.g., ``msam10'' for 10pt) and ``msbm''.
- They replace the older ``msxm'' and ``msym''. The fonts have a large
- number of mathematical symbols to supplement the ones
- provided by TeX. The fonts are available via anonymous ftp from
- e-math.ams.com (130.44.1.100) in the directory ./ams/amsfonts.
- Two files which load the fonts and define the symbols are provided,
- and both work with either TeX or LaTeX. Questions or suggestions
- regarding these fonts should be directed to
- tech-support@math.ams.com.
-
- A set of LaTeX macros for a ``lazy person's'' blackboard bold are:
- \newcommand{\R}{{\sf R\hspace*{-0.9ex}\rule{0.15ex}%
- {1.5ex}\hspace*{0.9ex}}}
- \newcommand{\N}{{\sf N\hspace*{-1.0ex}\rule{0.15ex}%
- {1.3ex}\hspace*{1.0ex}}}
- \newcommand{\Q}{{\sf Q\hspace*{-1.1ex}\rule{0.15ex}%
- {1.5ex}\hspace*{1.1ex}}}
- \newcommand{\C}{{\sf C\hspace*{-0.9ex}\rule{0.15ex}%
- {1.3ex}\hspace*{0.9ex}}}
-
- 22) What repositories of TeX material are available, and how can I access
- them?
-
- To aid the archiving and retrieval of of TeX-related files, a TUG
- working group developed the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network
- (CTAN). Each CTAN site has identical material, and maintains
- authoritative versions of its material. These collections are
- extensive; in particular, almost everything mentioned in this
- document is archived at the CTAN sites, even if not explicitly
- stated.
-
- The CTAN sites are currently ftp.dante.de (129.206.100.192)
- ftp.tex.ac.uk (134.151.44.19), and pip.shsu.edu (192.92.115.10).
- The organization of TeX files on all these sites is identical and
- starts at ./tex-archive.
-
- To find software at a CTAN site, use anonymous ftp to the host,
- and then execute the command `quote site index <search-term>'.
-
- The mail servers of the CTAN sites are not yet identical, but this is
- planned. Here are the current methods of access via electronic mail:
- - For the UK site, send a message to texserver@tex.ac.uk. The
- first non-blank line of the message must contain a valid
- TeXserver command (help, directory, files, whereis, search,
- or path). The program will then mail you a response notifying
- you that your request has been received. If you fail to get a
- response from the TeXserver, you may need to use the ``path''
- command to help the program out. For Internet users the
- return address is of the form name%site@nsfnet-relay, while
- for Bitnet and EARN it is name%site@earn-relay (i.e., include
- a line that says ``path name%site@nsfnet-relay'' along with a
- line containing ``help'').
- - For ftp.uni-stuttgart.de, send a message containing the line
- ``help'' to mail-server@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de.
- - For the SHSU site, send a message with the line HELP to
- FILESERV@SHSU.BITNET. SENDME FILELIST will get an annotated
- listing of all packages available there.
-
- The host nic.switch.ch (130.59.1.40) mirrors ftp.uni-stuttgart.de
- in /mirrors/tex, as does ftp.uni-bielefeld.de (129.70.4.55) in
- /pub/tex. Src.doc.ic.ac.uk (146.169.2.1) mirrors ftp.tex.ac.uk in
- /packages/TeX/uk-tex/. Finally, wuarchive.wustl.edu
- (128.252.135.4) mirrors pip.shsu.edu in /packages/TeX.
-
- There are several other repositories of TeX material available:
- - ftp.cs.ruu.nl (131.211.80.17) also contains a substantial TeX
- archive with ftp access. To use it via email, send a message
- containing the line ``help'' to mail-server@cs.ruu.nl. This mail
- server can send binary files in a variety of different formats.
- - There are LISTSERV facilities for TeX at LISTSERV@DHDURZ1.BITNET.
- Send a message containing the line ``help'' to this address.
- - For users on BITNET, access to anonymous ftp for some files can
- be obtained indirectly by sending mail to BITFTP@PUCC.BITNET.
- Send a message containing the line ``help'' to this address for
- more information.
-
- There is also the DECUS TeX collection, a collection of TeX material
- for VMS, Unix, MS-DOS, and the Macintosh. It is available via
- anonymous ftp from wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) in ./decus/tex.
- It can also be obtained from the DECUS Library (reference number
- VS0058) in the US, or through your DECUS office outside of the US. To
- contact the DECUS Library, send mail or call:
- The DECUS Program Library
- 219 Boston Post Road BP02
- Marlboro, MA 01752-1850
- (508)480-3418
- or send electronic mail to the DECUS TeX Collection Editor, Ted
- Nieland, at decus_tex@nieland.dayton.oh.us.
-
- Another good source of information is NETWORK SOURCES OF TeX WARE by
- Peter Flynn which appeared in TeXhax, volume 90, issues 45-47 (in
- May 1990).
-
- 23) How do I use PostScript fonts with LaTeX?
-
- The best way to do this is to install LaTeX2e (see question 41) and
- the New Font Selection Scheme (NFSS) (see question 35), and use the
- PSNFSS2e package written by Sebastian Rahtz. It is available from all
- the major archives mentioned in question 22. Other methods for using
- PostScript fonts in LaTeX are cumbersome at best.
-
- 24) How can I convert from format Y to TeX or LaTeX, and vice-versa?
-
- troff - TROFF-TO-LATEX.TAR-Z is available via anonymous ftp from
- wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (192.88.110.20) in the directory
- pd2:<unix-c.textproc>. This program, written by Kamal Al-Yahya
- at Stanford, assists in the translation of a troff document into
- LaTeX format. It recognizes most -ms and -man macros, plus most
- eqn and some tbl preprocessor commands. Anything fancier needs
- to be done by hand. Two style files are provided. There
- is also a man page (which converts very well to LaTeX :-).
- The program is copyrighted but free. An enhanced version of this
- program, tr2latex, is available from
- ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (137.226.112.172) in ./pub/TeX.
- The DECUS TeX distribution (see question 22) also contains a program
- which converts troff to TeX. If you are interested in obtaining a copy
- of this program without getting the entire DECUS TeX distribution,
- send the command: SENDME TROFFTOTEX in the body of a mail message to
- FILESERV@SHSU.BITNET (FILESERV@SHSU.edu), or use anonymous ftp to the
- directory [.TROFFTOTEX] on Niord.SHSU.edu (192.92.115.8).
-
- scribe - Mark James has a copy of scribe2latex he has been
- unable to test but which he will let anyone interested have.
- Send email to jamesm@procor.dialogic.com. The program was written
- by Van Jacobson of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.
-
- wordperfect - wp2latex.zip is available on wuarchive.wustl.edu
- (128.252.135.4) in the directory ./mirrors/msdos/tex and on
- wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (192.88.110.20) in the directory pd1:<msdos.tex>.
- This is a PC program written in Turbo Pascal by R. C. Houtepen at
- the Eindhoven University in the Netherlands. It converts
- WordPerfect 5.0 documents to LaTeX. Pascal source is included.
- Users find it ``helpful'' and ``decent'' in spite of some
- limitations. It gets high marks for handling font changes.
- Limitations include no indices, table of contents, margins or
- graphics. It also won't handle the new features of WordPerfect
- 5.1, in particular the equation formatter. The program is
- copyrighted but free.
-
- Glenn Geers of the University of Sydney (glenn@qed.physics.su.oz.au)
- is translating wp2latex into C and adding some WordPerfect 5.1
- features, in particular its equation handling. This is an ongoing
- project; the most recent version can be retrieved via anonymous ftp
- from suphys.physics.su.oz.au (129.78.129.1) in ./wp2latex. It was
- posted to alt.sources on 8 August 1990.
-
- Commercial packages are available for DOS which convert from
- WordPerfect to LaTeX, and from TeX and LaTeX to WordPerfect, but
- I am unaware of any free products which do this.
-
- PC-Write - pcwritex.arc is available on wuarchive.wustl.edu
- (128.252.135.4) in directory mirrors/msdos/tex and on
- wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (192.88.110.20) in directory pd1:<msdos.tex>.
- This is a print driver for PC-Write that ``prints'' a PC-Write V2.71
- document to a TeX-compatible disk file. It was written by Peter
- Flynn at University College, Cork, Ireland. It is public domain.
-
- runoff - Peter Vanroose (vanroose@esat.kuleuven.ac.be) has
- written a RUNOFF-to-TeX conversion program in VMS Pascal. It is
- available from comp.text archives (they do exist, don't they? The
- program was submitted in December 1987) or from the author
- (peter@dit.lth.se) or from Mark James (jamesm@procor.dialogic.com).
-
- refer/Tib - There are a few programs for converting bibliographic data
- between BibTeX and refer/Tib formats. They are available via
- anonymous ftp from ftp.ai.mit.edu (128.52.32.11) in the
- directory ./pub/refer-to-bibtex. In spite of the directory name,
- it also contains a shell script to convert BibTeX to REFER as
- well. Unfortunately, this collection is not maintained.
-
- RTF - A program for converting Microsoft's Rich Text Format to TeX
- is available via anonymous ftp from astro.princeton.edu
- (128.112.128.131) in ./pub/rtf2TeX.tar.Z. It was written and is
- maintained by Robert Lupton (rhl@astro.princeton.edu). There is
- also an rtf2LateX written by Erwin Wechtl available from
- ftp.vmars.tuwien.ac.at (128.130.39.16) in ./pub/misc.
-
- Microsoft Word - A rudimentary program for converting MS-Word
- to LaTeX is wd2latex, for MS-DOS, available via anonymous ftp
- from any CTAN site (see question 22). A better idea, however,
- is to convert the document to RTF format and use the RTF
- converter mentioned above.
-
- In addition, a group at Ohio State University is working on a common
- document format based on SGML. In theory any format could be
- translated to or from this one. Also, Framemaker supposedly has
- ``import filters'' to aid in the translation from alien formats
- (presumably including TeX) to Framemaker; perhaps other desktop
- publishing programs have similar things.
-
- 25) How do I get a file into the major style repositories?
-
- Use anonymous ftp to any CTAN archive (see question 22) and
- retrieve the file README.uploads in the root directory. It contains
- instructions for uploading files and notifying the appropriate
- people for that site.
-
- If you cannot use ftp, mail your contribution to sty-mgr@shsu.edu
- and it will be passed along. You will make everyone's life easier
- if you choose a descriptive and unique name for your submission, so
- it's probably good idea to browse through some of the styles
- already available to insure your style file's name is not already
- in use.
-
- 26) Where can I get font Y?
-
- A comprehensive list of METAFONT fonts is posted to Comp.fonts
- about once every six weeks by Lee Quin (lee@sq.sq.com). It contains
- both commercial fonts and fonts available via anonymous ftp. Most
- of the fonts available via anonymous ftp are available from
- the CTAN archives (see question 22). Also, the file wujastyk.txh
- ./tex-archive/digests/texhax/txh/wujastyk.txh is a copy of
- Dominik Wujastyk's font article, and contains information on
- METAFONT fonts as well.
-
- 27) Where can I get a dvi driver for the HP LaserJet?
-
- PC - The emtex package mentioned in question 19 contains a driver for
- the LaserJet, dvihplj.
-
- Version 2.10 of the Beebe drivers support the LaserJet. These drivers
- will compile under Unix, VMS, and on the Atari ST and DEC-20's. They
- are available from science.utah.edu (128.110.198.2) in ./pub/tex/dvi.
-
- 28) TeX and LaTeX are hyphenating words weirdly. What can I do?
-
- You have a version mismatch problem. The hyphenation algorithm changed
- between version 2.9 and 3.0. If you are using TeX version 3.0 or
- later, make sure you have plain.tex and lplain.tex files with a
- version number of at least 3.0.
-
- For those of you curious about the change, here's what happened:
- in versions of TeX before 3.0 the hyphenation algorithm would not
- break a word if the part before the break was not at least two
- characters long, and the part after the break at least three
- characters long. Starting with version 3.0 two integer parameters,
- \lefthyphenmin and \righthyphenmin, control the length of these
- fragments. These are set to 2 and 3, respectively, in the new
- plain and lplain formats. They can be set to any value, of course,
- but if \lefthyphenmin + \righthyphenmin is greater than 62, all
- hyphenation is suppressed.
-
- 29) How can I convert a TeX or LaTeX file into a plain ASCII file,
- with all the formatting intact, a la nroff?
-
- Ralph Droms (droms@bucknell.edu) has a style file and a C program
- that provide the LaTeX equivalent of nroff. Although it doesn't do
- a good job with tables and math, it's the best way to convert that
- I've seen. The software is available for anonymous ftp from
- sol.cs.bucknell.edu (134.82.1.8) in ./droms/txt-dist.tar. This is a
- modification of the dvi2tty program; the original often does an
- acceptable job and can be gotten from any CTAN site (see question 22).
-
- Another possibility is to use screen.sty, available from all the
- major archives. However you need a program called crudetype to
- process the resulting dvi file. It is available from
- emx.utexas.edu (128.83.186.11) in
- ./pub/mnt/source/tex/tex-3.0/DVIware/lpr-viewers/crudetype and
- from ftp.uni-stuttgart.de (129.69.8.13) in
- ./tex-archive/dviware/screenview. Another possibility is to use
- the LaTeX-to-ASCII conversion program, l2a, available from
- comp.sources.misc archives (one archive site is ftp.uu.net
- (192.48.96.9)), although this is really more of a de-TeXing
- program. If you are running under Unix and have C++ and perl, you
- might try Jonathan Monsarrat's LameTeX package (which actually
- does much more than this), available from wilma.cs.brown.edu
- (128.148.33.66) in ./pub/lametex.tar.Z.
-
- 30) How do I enlarge TeX? I keep getting `memory capacity exceeded'
- errors.
-
- Most of the time, a ``memory capacity exceeded'' error can be fixed
- without enlarging TeX. The most common causes are unmatched braces,
- extra-long lines, and poorly-written macros. Extra-long lines
- are often introduced when files are transferred incorrectly between
- operating systems. (The tell-tale sign of an extra-long line error
- is when the complaint is that the `buf_size' has overflowed.)
-
- If you really need to extend your TeX's capacity, the proper method
- varies depending on your installation. In the purest form, you
- change the parameters in module 11 (``The following parameters can
- be changed...'') In less pure forms, you might need to modify a
- change file, or perhaps change some environment variables. Consult
- the documentation that came with your particular implementation.
-
- 31) In LaTeX, I used \pagestyle{empty}, but the first page is still
- numbered. What do I do?
-
- If you see this, you are using the \maketitle command too. This is
- not a bug but a feature! The standard LaTeX styles are written so
- that initial pages (pages containing a \maketitle, \part, or \chapter)
- have a different page style than the rest of the document. Hence, the
- above commands internally issue a \thispagestyle{plain}. This is
- usually not acceptable behavior is the page style is `empty'.
-
- Possible workarounds include:
- - Put \thispagestyle{empty} immediately after the \maketitle command,
- with no blank line between them.
- - Use fancyheadings.sty, available from any CTAN (see question 22).
- In this style, the style for initial pages can be customized as well.
-
- 32) Where do I find documentation about BibTeX?
-
- BibTeX, a program originally designed to produce bibliographies in
- conjunction with LaTeX, is explained in Section 4.3 and Appendix B
- of Leslie Lamport's LaTeX manual. The ``BibTeXing'' document,
- contained in the file btxdoc.tex, gives a more complete description.
- _The LaTeX Companion_ also has information on BibTeX and writing
- BibTeX style files.
-
- The ``Designing BibTeX Styles'' document, contained in the file
- btxhak.tex, explains the postfix stack-based language used to
- write BibTeX styles (.bst files). The file btxbst.doc is the template
- file for the four standard styles (plain, abbrv, alpha, unsrt). It
- also contains the documentation for them.
-
- The current Unix-BibTeX man page, contained in the file
- bibtex.1, was updated in January 1992 and is about one page long.
- There's an old and obsolete version floating around, written in 1985
- before ``BibTeXing'' and ``Designing BibTeX Styles'' appeared, that is
- several pages long. You should ignore it (or throw it away), since it
- describes BibTeX version 0.98, style files of which are incompatible
- with the current version, 0.99 (to be precise, 0.99c).
-
- All files mentioned in this answer are available via anonymous ftp
- from labrea.stanford.edu (36.8.0.112) in the BibTeX ftp area,
- tex/bibtex. All the non-Unix files should be available on any system
- that runs BibTeX; if they're not on your system, please complain to
- your BibTeX installer or to your distribution source.
-
- 33) How do I use BibTeX with plain TeX?
-
- The file btxmac.tex contains TeX macros and documentation for using
- BibTeX with plain TeX, either directly or with Karl Berry's Eplain
- package. It is available via anonymous ftp from labrea.stanford.edu
- (36.8.0.112) in tex/bibtex (see question 32 for more information
- about BibTeX).
-
- 34) How do I draw Feynman diagrams in LaTeX?
-
- Michael Levine's macro package for drawing Feynman diagrams in LaTeX
- is available via mail-server from physics.utoronto.ca. Send a message
- containing the line ``send INDEX'' to mail-server@physics.utoronto.ca
- for information on how to retrieve it.
-
- 35) What is the New Font Selection Scheme (NFSS)?
-
- NFSS is an extension to LaTeX written by Frank Mittelbach and Rainer
- Sch\"opf. It is described in TUGboat, volume 10 (1989), No. 2.
- In traditional typesetting, fonts are described by four parameters:
- the family (e.g., computer modern), the series (i.e., the weight and
- width of the font, like light or bold), the shape (e.g., italic), and
- the size. NFSS is a mechanism allowing the user to change any of these
- independently. NFSS makes it relatively easy to use nonstandard fonts
- such as the PostScript ones with LaTeX, and easy to change math fonts.
- It also allows dynamic loading of fonts at runtime (not when the
- format file is created).
-
- NFSS is no longer supported for LaTeX version 2.09, but is standard
- with LaTeX2e (see question 41).
-
- There is one caveat that applies to LaTeX documents written for
- the OLD scheme: some of them use special styles for special fonts
- which will not work under the NFSS.
-
- 36) In LaTeX, my cross-references for floats (figures and tables) are
- incorrect. What's wrong?
-
- The \label command must come after the \caption command, or
- be part of it. For example,
- \begin{figure} \begin{figure}
- \caption{A Figure} or \caption{A Figure\label{fig}}
- \label{fig} \end{figure}
- \end{figure}
-
- 37) I want to change the margins in LaTeX. What can I do?
-
- This answer first helps you change the margins throughout a
- document, then tells you how to change the margins in a portion
- of the document.
-
- Perhaps the easiest way to get more out of a page in LaTeX is to
- get fullpage.sty, available from all the major archive servers
- mentioned in question 22. This sets the margins of the page identical
- to those of Plain TeX, i.e., 1-inch margins at all four sides of the
- paper. It also contains an adjustment for A4 paper.
-
- Here is a brief explanation of what's going on with the page
- parameters in LaTeX. They are explained in section C.4.2 of the
- LaTeX manual (p. 163). The margin parameters represent measurements
- made to the DVI file. The origin in DVI coordinates is one inch
- from the top of the paper and one inch from the left side. This
- explains the ``one inch less than'' terminology used in the LaTeX
- manual. In DVI coordinates, positive horizontal measurements extend
- right across the page, and positive vertical measurements extend down
- the page. Thus, for margins closer to the left and top edges of the
- page than 1 inch, the corresponding parameters, e.g.,
- \evensidemargin, \oddsidemargin, \topmargin, can be set to negative
- values.
-
- Finally, to change the margins of a document within the document,
- modifying the parameters listed on page 163 will not work. They
- can only be changed in the preamble of the document, i.e, before
- the \begin{document} statement. To adjust the margins within a
- document we define an environment which does it:
- \newenvironment{changemargin}[2]{\begin{list}{}{
- \setlength{\topsep}{0pt}\setlength{\leftmargin}{0pt}
- \setlength{\rightmargin}{0pt}
- \setlength{\listparindent}{\parindent}
- \setlength{\itemindent}{\parindent}
- \setlength{\parsep}{0pt plus 1pt}
- \addtolength{\leftmargin}{#1}\addtolength{\rightmargin}{#2}
- }\item }{\end{list}}
- This environment takes two arguments, and will indent the left
- and right margins by their values, respectively. Negative values
- will cause the margins to be widened, so
- \begin{changemargin}{-1cm}{-1cm} widens the left and right margins
- by 1cm.
-
- 38) How do I find the width of a letter, word, or phrase in TeX?
-
- Put the word in a box, and measure the width of the box. For example,
- \setbox0=\hbox{hi}
- width=\wd0
- Note that if the quantity in the hbox is a phrase, the actual
- measurement only approximates this width, since the interword glue
- can be adjusted in paragraph mode.
-
- In LaTeX, the following works (taken from the manual):
- \newlength{\gnat}
- \settowidth{\gnat}{\em small}
- This sets the value of the length command \gnat to the width of ``small''
- in emphasized text.
-
- 39) In LaTeX, is there a comment or ``ignore'' environment with which
- I can exclude blocks of text from the .dvi file?
-
- Rainer Sch\"opf's verbatim.sty provides a comment environment which
- excludes everything between \begin{comment} and \end{comment}. It is
- available via anonymous ftp from any CTAN site (see question 22) in
- ./tex-archive/macros/latex/distribs. Several files are needed to
- install the package. A more general environment for doing this is
- comment.sty, also available from the CTAN sites in
- ./tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/misc.
-
- 40) Where can I find a spelling checker for my TeX file?
-
- For Unix, ispell is probably the program of choice. It is available
- from any CTAN site (see question 22) in ./tex-archive/support/ispell.
-
- For DOS, jspell is an extended version of ispell, and is available via
- anonymous ftp from oak.oakland.edu (141.210.10.117) in
- ./pub/msdos/tex/jspell*.zip.
-
- 41) What is LaTeX2e?
-
- LaTeX2e is the new standard version of LaTe, prepared and supported
- by the LaTeX3 project team. Currently, it is in a test phase
- although it is available from any CTAN site (see question 22) in
- ./tex-archive/macros/latex2e/core. After testing, LaTeX2e will become
- LaTeX, and LaTeX 2.09 will no longer be supported or available.
-
- LaTeX2e is upwardly compatible with LaTeX 2.09, but supports many new
- features, including:
- - NFSS (see question 35) is now standard.
- - SliTeX is consolidated into it, and there is no longer a need for
- a separate program.
- - The output routine gives better control of floating environments,
- such as figures.
- - There is a documented interface to style files.
- - Enhanced box commands, e.g., options to specify the height of a
- minipage.
- - \ref is now robust and can be used in \caption.
- - \newcommand can define commands with optional arguments.
- - A standard package for color and graphics inclusion (real soon now).
-
- Since LaTeX2e is supported, you can report bugs or problems with it by
- typing `latex latexbug' and sending the report it generates to
- latex-bugs@rus.uni-stuttgart.de.
- --
- Bobby Bodenheimer @hot.caltech.edu
- // ARPA : bobby@hot.caltech.edu |
- // BITNET: bobby@caltech.bitnet | Woof!
- // UUCP : {amdahl,ames!elroy}!cit-vax!bobby |
-