latex
Run
dvi to postscript
dvips txfl to printer
dvips txfl -o to file: txfl.ps
view postscript
gv txfl.ps
imagetool txfl.ps
Barebone Latex file
Example: Barebone Latex file
\documentclass[11pt]{article}
% Preamble
\begin{document}
%body
\end{document}
font
*References*: [ASI] $2.1, p10.
Emphasising & Decorating
In printed books, words are emphasized by typesetting them in an italic font,
around the edges by using \fbox instead. (More on framing in $6, p. 81.) The
vary the font style
This is \textbf{boldface}.
This is \textit{italic}.
This is \textrm{roman}.
This is \textsc{small caps}.
This is \textsf{sans serif}.
This is \textsl{slanted}.
This is \texttt{typewriter}.
Some combinations of font styles can be produced. For example,
\textbf{\textit{bolditalic}}
\bf, \textbf and \bfseries
> All the books I read (quite limited though :->) use \textbf for
> bolding, but I also see people use \bf.
\bf was borrowed from plain TeX and is now obsolete in
LaTeX2e and should not be used.
> The recommended syntax is \textbf{stuff} unless the stuff
> is very long, in which case {\bfseries stuff} is better
> because TeX won't fill up your memory looking for the }
> of the argument.
More or less. {bfseries …} also works a bit more quickly and
therefore has two reasons to be preferred by class and package writers
Vary the font size
tex:sizes
\tiny, \scriptsize, \footnotesize, or \small.
\normalsize, \large, \Large, \LARGE, \huge or \Huge.
Help
You can make the text {large large} or {Large larger} or even {LARGE larger
still}. You can also make it {huge huge}. You might want to make something
{small small} or {footnotesize smaller} or even {scriptsize smaller
still}. You can make it really {tiny tiny}.
Dealing with large block of texts
The use of braces to enclose a font size specification is like an
environment. Optionally, we can explicitly use the environment syntax:
environment syntax is useful when you want to keep the size for a large block
of text, and the braces format is useful for short phrases.
There is no intrinsic environment for font styles.
Justifications
flushleft and flushright
The flushleft environment allows you to create a paragraph consisting of
lines that are flushed left to the left-hand margin. Each line must be
terminated with a \\.
\begin{flushleft}
Text on line 1 \\
Text on line 2 \\
....
....
\end{flushleft}
\raggedright
This declaration corresponds to the flushleft environment. This declaration
can be used inside an environment such as quote or in a parbox.
Unlike the flushleft environment, the \raggedright command does not start a
new paragraph; it simply changes how LaTeX formats paragraph units. To
affect a paragraph unit's format, the scope of the declaration must contain
the blank line or \end command (of an environment like quote) that ends the
paragraph unit.
Centering
To center the text/graphics, put them inside a center environment
\begin{center}
text
\includegraphics[width=2in]{graphic.eps}
\end{center}
If the \includegraphics command is inside an environment (such as minipage or
figure), the \centering declaration centers the remaining output of the
environment. For example
\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=2in]{graphic.eps}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=2in]{graphic.eps}
\end{center}
\end{figure}
double vertical space above and below the figure due to the space produced
by the figure environment and by the center environment. If extra vertical
space is desired, the commands in Section 18.1 should be used.
horizontal spacing
\hspace
The \hspace command adds horizontal space. The length of the space len can
be expressed in any terms that LaTeX understands, i.e., points, inches,
etc. You can add negative as well as positive space with an \hspace
command. Adding negative space is like backspacing.
LaTeX removes horizontal space that comes at the end of a line. If you don't
want LaTeX to remove this space, include the optional * argument. Then the
space is never removed.
\hfill
The \hfill fill command produces a rubber length which can stretch or shrink
horizontally. It will be filled with spaces. It is equivalent to
\hspace\fill.
vertical spacing
line spacing
\singlespacing
\onehalfspacing
\doublespacing
more specific
\begin{spacing}{1.2}
\end{spacing}
help
The easiest way to control line spacing throughout your document is to specify
\singlespacing \onehalfspacing \doublespacing Right after you specify one of
these, that spacing will commence.
\linebreak
\smallskip
\medskip
\bigskip
\vspace{length}
\vspace{\stretch{1}} % to last line of the page
*References*: [ASI] $2.1, p12. $2.6, p26.
Line and Page Breaks
Page break
if \footnote is a concern.
Help
You can cause a new line by entering \linebreak. When text is justified (the
default), this could result in an undesirable appearance, like the following:
\textsf{This example is \linebreak extreme.}
The \newline command forces a new line without justifying it.
\textsf{Here is the extreme \newline example.}
The \nolinebreak command works analogously, preventing a line break, even if
it means extending into the right margin.
There are two commands to force a page break: \pagebreak and \newpage. The
\newpage command follows the analogy with \newline in forcing a page break
precisely at the point it is specified, rather than completing the line as
\pagebreak does. The \nopagebreak command disallows a page break immediately
following the next blank line. The \samepage command prevents a page break
within its scope. Here is an example that keeps line 1 on the same page as
line 2.
Lists
There are three intrinsic list environments, distinguished by what appears at
the beginning of each item: number, bullet, or your description (perhaps
nothing).
itemize
\item This is item 1 and our task has just begun. Blank lines
before an item have no effect.
\item This is item 2 and we shall limit to just this few.
A blank line within an item does create a new paragraph, using the
indentation of the itemize environment.
\item A second (nested) itemized list changes the bullet
and indents another level.
\end{itemize}
enumerate
\item This is item 1, and we are having fun.
\item This is item 2, and it's time to number anew.
\begin{enumerate}
\item Back to item 1, but we are not yet done.
\item Two is new.
\begin{enumerate}
\item One again!
\item Two (b) or knot 2b?
\end{enumerate}
\end{enumerate}
\end{enumerate}
description
\begin{description}
\item [Basic Document Preparation.] Knowing how to setup ...
\item [Making Tables.] \LaTeX~ provides a means ...
\item [Bibliography.] Knowing how to create a bibliography ...
\item [Mathematics.] This is the power of \LaTeX~ and one ...
\item [Graphics.] This has progressed a great deal in the ...
\item [Other.] There are a great many things to learn ...
\end{description}
macro commands
\newcommand{\lib}{\begin{itemize}} % item list begin
\newcommand{\lie}{\end{itemize}} % item list end
\newcommand{\leb}{\begin{enumerate}} % enumerate list begin
\newcommand{\lee}{\end{enumerate}} % enumerate list end
\newcommand{\ldb}{\begin{description}} % description list begin
\newcommand{\lde}{\end{description}} % description list end
Quotation
Commands
\begin{quote}
short quotes, generally one short paragraph (as above), or a sequence of one
line quotes, separated by blank lines
\end{quote}
\begin{quotation}
``The indentation is the same as the quote, except the first line of each new
paragraph is indented.
\bigskip
``Next paragraph.''
\hfill --- Author
\end{quotation}
Help
Now consider ways to indent a block of text. Here is an example using the
The quote environment is intended for short quotes, generally one short
paragraph (as above), or a sequence of one line quotes, separated by blank
lines. The quotation environment is used for long quotations, having more than
one paragraph (separated by blank lines). The indentation is the same as the
quote, except the first line of each new paragraph is indented. (Just as in
the regular text, this can be overridden by the \noindent command.) Here is an
The quotes are by two pioneers of algorithms, Alan M. Turing and Donald
E. Knuth. Their names appear on the right, after their quote, by skipping a
line and entering \hfill (which means horizontal fill), to make the line flush
right. Here are some other things to notice about this example:
-
The dash that appears before each name is created by three minus signs,
---. The more minus signs you use, the longer the dash. The convention is
that one dash is for hyphenation, two are for ranges, such as page numbers,
and three are for punctuation — i.e., use --- preceding 'i.e.'
-
There is extra space between the two quotations. This was done with
the \bigskip command.
Math mode
Inline
math display mode
|
NO empty line between \[ and \] allowed! |
\[
(L_i < R_j < R_i) \iif \mbox{$i$ is the ancestor of $j$}
\]
Numbered expressions
Use 'equation' environment.
s|\\\[|\\begin{equation}|
s|\\]|\\end{equation}|
Help
One can write mathematical expressions by entering math mode, signified by
delimiters $ … $ or \[ … \]. The $ delimiter keeps the mathematical
expression in the text, like this:
A consequence of Einstein's postulates is that $E = mc^2$.
The other form is math display mode, like this:
A consequence of Einstein's postulates is that \[E = mc^2.\])
Reference & Crossreference
*References*: [ASI] s4, p43.
Basic Concepts
A counter is a numerical value that refers to something that is being
numbered, such as pages, sections, figures, and equations. A label is the
identification of a particular value, and a reference is a citation to a
the counter's value is set, where label is unique in the document. The LATEX
defined:
\section{Bibliography with \Bibtex} \label{sec:Bibliography}
arbitrary, except do not use LATEX special characters or blanks, just as the
labels in the bib file entries.
There are times when you just want to produce the counter value, without a
label. This is done by \thecounter. For example, \thepage produces the page
number. On the other hand, if you want to use the counter's numerical value as
Current Reference
\thepage, \thesubsection \thesection
help
You are looking at page 44, which I was able to print by writing
\thepage. Similarly, you are reading subsection 4.2 of section 4, whose
numbers I could write by \thesubsection and \thesection, respectively.
Crossreference
define
\subsection{The bib File} \label{subsec:bibfile}
\subsubsection{Web citations} \label{subsubsec:webcite}
To illustrate how I can reference other parts of this document, the above
labels were defined (when the subsection and subsubsection were first
written):
ref
Then, I can refer to these as follows:
\S\ref{subsec:bibfile} => $3.2
\S\ref{subsubsec:webcite} => $3.2.2
I can also refer to their page numbers:
p.~\pageref{subsubsec:webcite} => p. 36
p.~\pageref{subsec:bibfile} => p. 31
help
used to have a space without a linebreak, which is an element of good style.)
No leading space for short line:
\begin{flushleft}
Dear Sir or Madam,
\end{flushleft}
No leading space for short line:
You can also suppress indentation of the first line of a paragraph with the
\noindent command. Here is an example:
\noindent This paragraph is not indented.
No leading space for short line:
*Tags*: latex left margin
To suppress indentation of the first lines of all the paragraphs, use
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\setlength{\parskip}{9pt}
documented on: 2001.02.25
When you write TeX documents, you will occasionally make mistakes and as a
result, TeX won't be able to process your document. There are six broad
classes of mistakes you're likely to make:
-
Naming documents or files that TeX cannot find.
-
Misspelling the name of a TeX control sequence.
-
Failing to close an environment or forgetting to insert a closing brace after an opening brace.
-
Using math operators outside of math mode or forgetting to close an opened math environment.
-
Requesting a font that TeX cannot find.
-
Everything else.
TeX is legitimately criticized for having error messages that are very
difficult to understand. TeX frequently provides far more information than
you really need or want, and the excess information often obscures the
actual cause of the error.
Nevertheless, understanding what TeX does when it encounters an error will
help make error messages easier to understand. Let's begin with an
example. Example Example 3.1 shows a simple LaTeX document using the New
Font Selection Scheme (NFSS), which contains an error.[33] The error is that
the control sequence \Large, which has been redefined to request a 17pt
Example: Example 3.1. The Document BADFONT.TEX
00001: \documentstyle{article}
00002: % The following definition changes the font that LaTeX
00003: % uses for the 'Large' font. I have introduced a typo
00004: % into the definition, "\fontsiz" should be "\fontsize".
00005: % The first time a \Large font is requested, an error will occur.
00006: \renewcommand{\Large}{\fontsiz{17}{20pt}\selectfont}
00007: \begin{document}
00008:
00009: This text precedes the first section header.
00010:
00011: % Note: LaTeX uses the \Large font in section
00012: % headers...this will fail in a confusing way
00013: % because the error is deep within the definition
00014: % of \section where \Large is used...
00015: \section{First Section}
00016:
00017: This is the first and only sentence of the first section.
00018:
00019: \end{document}
When TeX processes this file, using LaTeX with the New Font Selection
Scheme, it produces these error messages:
This is TeX, Version 3.1415 (C version 6.1)
LaTeX Version 2.09 <25 March 1992> with NFSS2
(badfont.tex (/work/nutshell/texguide/styles/latex/article.sty
Standard Document Style `article' <14 Jan 92>.
(/work/nutshell/texguide/styles/latex/art10.sty)) (badfont.aux)
(/usr/local/lib/tex/inputs/nfss2/T1cmr.fd)
! Undefined control sequence.
\Large ->\fontsiz
{17}{20pt}\selectfont
l.15 \section{First Section}
?
These messages exemplify the kind of confusing error messages that TeX
produces. Remember the following rule: Always look at the first and last
line of the TeX error message when trying to figure out what went wrong and
where it went wrong. In this case, the first line is:
! Undefined control sequence.
l.15 \section{First Section}
The error is that the control sequence \fontsiz is not defined and TeX was
processing line 15 of the file when it occurred. The control sequence that
is actually undefined is right after the point symbol '->', till the end of
line. I.e., '->' points to the actual undefined control sequence.
Interpreting TeX Error Messages
|
|
The text about the interpreting the TeX error messages is not strictly
copied from the original article, but have been corrected by truly yours for
consistency, and amended for clearness. |
The first line of a TeX error message begins with an exclamation point
followed by the text of the message. The lines that follow it show the
context in which the error occurred. In the previous example, the error
message indicates an Undefined control sequence. This means that TeX
encountered a control sequence which was not previously defined.
The final line, which says
l.15 \section{First Section}
occurs right above the question mark prompt. It identifies the line in your
document that TeX was processing when it encountered the error. The error
occurred when TeX was at line 15 of the file, and that line began with
Between the first and last lines, TeX prints a detailed description of how
the error occurred. This is necessary because the error may have occurred
inside the replacement text of a macro that you used. When TeX encounters a
control sequence, like \section, it has to look up the definition to figure
out how to typeset your document. The definition of a control sequence may
contain other control sequences which also have to be interpreted. It is
possible for TeX to be several levels deep, as it was in this case, when an
error occurs. To give the person who wrote the definition of the control
sequence an opportunity to figure out what went wrong, TeX prints out a
trace back of what happened before the error. As you gain experience with a
particular macro package, you'll find the intervening lines more meaningful.
Correcting an error depends entirely on the nature of the error. In this
case, all you need to do is correct the typo.
As stated above, there are six general classes of errors you might encounter
when you run TeX. The following sections briefly describe each class.
Log Files
You don't have to remember or write down the error messages that TeX
produces. When TeX processes a document, it produces a transcript of
everything that occurs; you can refer to this transcript later if you need
to recall what errors occurred when you processed your document. TeX stores
this transcript in a file which has the same name as the document and the
extension .log. For example, if you process main.tex, TeX produces a
transcript in main.log.
|
|
Log files go in the current directory. TeX always places the log file
in the current directory, even if you specify a path when you format your
document. For example, if you process lectures/main.tex, TeX produces a
transcript in main.log, not in lectures/main.log as you might expect. |
Naming a File TeX Cannot Find
Missing documents are discussed in the section called "the section called
"User Files"," earlier in this chapter.
If you request a format file that cannot be found, TeX issues the following
warning message:
Sorry, I can't find that format; will try the default
TeX then attempts to typeset your document with Plain TeX.[36] To correct
this problem, run TeX with the correct format file name. If the format file
isn't available, you will have to build it. Chapter Chapter 4, Chapter 4,
describes how to build format files for several common macro packages.
Misspelling a Control Sequence Name
Misspelling a control sequence name is one of the most common errors. For
identify. In many cases, you can simply proceed after encountering this
error. Although TeX may not typeset your document correctly, you can
continue to look for other errors. The section called "the section called
"Interpreting TeX Error Messages"," later in this chapter, describes how to
continue after an error.
In some cases, TeX may become badly confused by a misspelled control
sequence name, in which case you should give up and fix the spelling error
before trying to process your document further. This may happen if you
of the control sequences which follow.
Sometimes TeX will complain that a control sequence is undefined when you
know that the control sequence is spelled correctly. When this occurs, make
sure that you are using the correct format file (see the section "the
section called "The Command Line"" earlier in this chapter), loading the
correct macro files, and using the correct style options.
Failure to Close an Environment
Failure to close an environment is another very common error. There are
several distinct errors in this category:
-
Failure to insert a closing brace (}) for each opening brace may cause a
"TeX capacity exceeded" error when TeX processes your document. This
happens because sometimes TeX tries to read everything between braces into
memory. If the closing brace is absent, TeX may run out of memory.
If the braces are supposed to enclose the argument to a macro, you may also
get this error:
! Paragraph ended before macro was complete.
In order to help detect errors of this type, TeX doesn't ordinarily allow
the argument of a macro to consist of more than one paragraph, so the first
blank line after the place where you failed to type the closing brace may
produce this error.
-
Failure to close a begin/end environment pair causes LaTeX to complain
command.
-
If your document ends with an open environment, TeX will warn you that:
! (\end occurs inside a group at level n)
where n is the number of open groups, usually 1.
-
Failure to close a mathematics environment will result in the error:
when TeX reaches a macro that does not make sense in mathematics mode (like
\section) or when a surrounding group ends.
Math Outside of Math Mode
TeX has a lot of operators for special treatment of mathematical
formulas. These operators must occur inside mathematics mode, which is
usually delimited by dollar signs in your document.
If you attempt to use math operators, superscripts, subscripts, or other
math-mode control sequences outside of mathematics mode, the following error
will occur:
This is your clue that a mathematics environment has not been closed
properly or that you failed to open one before using a math-mode operator.
For example, the underscore character is usually defined to be a math-mode
operator which starts a subscript, in other words H${}_2$O produces
"H${}_2$O" in your document.[38] If you use the underscore outside of
mathematics mode, such as in regular text:
The file "test_one" contains the …
! Missing $ inserted
<inserted text>
$
<to be read again>
_
The file "test_
one" contains the ...
?
In LaTeX, the easiest way around this problem is to enclose the offending
text in a "verbatim" macro, like this:
The file "test_one" contains the ...
Note that the argument to the macrois delimited by any two identical
characters (in this case, two "+" signs).
In Plain TeX or another format, the problem can be circumvented in similar
ways; consult the reference for the format you are using. Also consult Table
Table 1.2 in Chapter Chapter 1, Chapter 1, for a list of special characters
and how to type them in your documents.
Missing Fonts
The first time that you use each font, TeX loads font metric information
about the font. The font metric information, stored in a TFM file, includes
information about the sizes of each character as well as kerning and
ligature information. These topics are discussed fully in Chapter Chapter 5,
Chapter 5.
If you request a font that does not exist, for example crm10 (a misspelling
of cmr10), TeX cannot find a TFM file for the font and therefore displays:
Font \myfont=crm10 not loadable: Metric (TFM) file not found
This means that TeX attempted to associate the font described by the TFM
file crm10.tfm with the control sequence \myfont, but the TFM file didn't
exist. You must have a TFM file for every font that you use.
A second kind of error---actually, a warning---occurs when you are using the
New Font Selection Scheme (NFSS). The NFSS performs font substitution, if
possible, when an unknown font is requested. The NFSS is described in
Chapter Chapter 4, Chapter 4, in the "the section called "LaTeX"" section.
Everything Else
There are, unfortunately, lots of other errors that can occur. Some of the
errors are directly related to TeX while others are warning and error
messages associated with particular macro packages. There is no way to
catalog every one of them or suggest what can be done in every case.
The best advice I can offer is to isolate the problem in as small a document
as possible, consult the references you have available very carefully, and,
if all else fails, forward your problem to one of the electronic forums that
deal with TeX (the Info-TeX mailing list and the comp.text.tex newsgroup,
for example).
The Question Mark Prompt
When TeX encounters an error, it displays an error message and a summary of
the error, as described in the section called "the section called "What
About Errors?"" earlier in this chapter. Following the error, TeX normally
stops and displays the question mark prompt.
If you type a question mark of your own at the prompt, TeX displays the
actions available to you:
? ?
Type <return> to proceed,
S to scroll future error messages,
R to run without stopping, Q to run quietly,
I to insert something, E to edit your file,
1 or … or 9 to ignore the next 1 to 9 tokens
of input, H for help, X to quit.
?
You can type any of the following responses at the question mark prompt:
-
Type Return to proceed
-
Simply typing Return will cause TeX to ignore the error and
proceed. Depending on the nature of the error, this may cause more errors
immediately or later on.
-
Type S to scroll future error messages
-
Typing S tells TeX to continue and not to stop for most future errors. TeX
will continue to print the error messages, both to the terminal and to the
log file, but it will not display the question mark prompt again.
TeX will still stop and ask about missing files.
-
Type R to run without stopping
-
The R option is just like S except that it tells TeX to ignore missing files
as well. TeX will proceed blindly forward as best as it can. You will still
see all of the error messages scroll by as TeX proceeds.
-
Type Q to run quietly
-
This option is just like R except that error messages are not displayed on
the screen. The messages are saved in the log file, however, even though
they are not displayed.
-
Type I to insert something
-
If you notice a simple typo, you can correct it with the I command. For
example, suppose that TeX complains of an undefined control sequence:
can insert the correct control sequence by responding i\cite to the question
mark prompt. TeX will ignore the misspelled control sequence and insert the
(correct) sequence \cite in its place.
Inserting words or commands at the question mark prompt does not change your
input file. It simply instructs TeX to pretend that your file contained a
different sequence of words and commands. You must change the input file
with an editor, or the same error will occur the next time you format the
document.
-
Type E to edit your file
-
This option terminates TeX. If your system is configured appropriately, an
editor will be loaded automatically, and the cursor will be placed at the
offending line in your input file. This is not possible in all environments.
-
Type n, where n is a number between 1 and 9
-
This option tells TeX to ignore some of the input. After skipping over the
number of tokens you request, TeX returns to the question mark prompt so
that you can delete more tokens.
What's a token? When TeX reads an input file, it breaks each line down into
the smallest, indivisible chunks that have meaning. These are called
tokens. For the most part, tokens are individual characters. The exceptions
are control sequences, which are single tokens, and white spaces which are
also single tokens. There are other exceptions (and more technical
definitions of "token"), but that's the gist of it.
-
Type H for help
-
Typing H displays a slightly more verbose description of the error that
occurred and, usually, suggests the nature of the corrective action that you
might take.
-
Type X to quit
-
Typing X tells TeX to stop immediately and ends the TeX program. If there
are any completed pages (pages processed before the error, in other words),
they are written to the DVI file before TeX ends.
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
> I read from the book that I can use \S\ref{subsubsec:webcite} and
> p.~\pageref{subsubsec:webcite} to reference the numbers.
>
> But how can I refer to the name of another section? Thanks
Get the titleref package from CTAN.
Install
cp titleref.sty $TEXMF/tex/latex/misc/
chmod 644 $TEXMF/tex/latex/misc/titleref.sty
# texhash
texhash: Updating /usr/share/texmf/ls-R...
texhash: Updating /var/lib/texmf/ls-R...
texhash: Done.
help
Use "\titleref" just like "\ref" and "\pageref".
% Titles for numbered sectioning units and for floats with captions are
% the same as the respective TOC, LOF, or LOT entry (even when no TOC is
% it will be used for the "\titleref".
% The title of the current section is also available without "\label":
% Use the command "\currenttitle" to generate a "\titleref" to the current
% section.
>In the finished document the references turn out like this:
>
>[1,2,3,4,5,7]
>
>I'd much rather have it look something like this: [1-5,7]
>
>How do I do that?
>
You might not have the cite package installed; if not,
get it from CTAN.
Modify the \includeonly{one,two,three} to your needs. For example, you
probably don't want to LaTeX chapter one and two while you are modifying
chapter three only. When you xdvi the document, all chapters will appear
in the dvi file, but without going to the (painful) process of waiting
hours for the whole thing to be LaTeXed.
Synopsis
If you want to "include" a file, use \input, not \include :-)
Explain
The \include command is used in conjunction with the \includeonly command for
selective inclusion of files. The file argument is the first name of a file,
denoting file.tex. If the file is also in the file list of the \includeonly
command or if there is no \includeonly command, the \include command is
equivalent to
\clearpage \input{file} \clearpage
except that if the file file.tex does not exist, then a warning message rather
than an error is produced.
Synopsis
Explain
Encapsulated PostScript (eps) is the easiest graphics format to import into
LATEX. For example, eps files are inserted by specifying
\includegraphics{file.eps}
Optionally, the graphic can be scaled to a specified height or width
\includegraphics[height=4cm]{file.eps}
\includegraphics[width=3in]{file.eps}
Additionally, the angle option rotates the included graphic…
Horizontal Centering
The placement of the graphic is controlled by the current text
justification. To center the graphic, put it inside a center environment
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=2in]{graphic.eps}
\end{center}
If the \includegraphics command is inside an environment (such as minipage or
figure), the \centering declaration centers the remaining output of the
environment. For example
\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=2in]{graphic.eps}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=2in]{graphic.eps}
\end{center}
\end{figure}
double vertical space above and below the figure due to the space produced
by the figure environment and by the center environment. If extra vertical
space is desired, the commands in Section 18.1 should be used.
Using Subdirectories
When importing a large number of graphics files, it may be desirable to store
the graphics files in a subdirectory. For example, when the subdirectory is
named sub, one may be tempted to then include the file file.eps with the
following command \includegraphics{sub/file.eps} While this syntax works for
most Unix and dos T E X distributions, there are problems with such usage
Inefficiency.
The best method is to modify the T E X search path. Another method is to
specify sub/ in a \graphicspath command. However, this is much less efficient
than modifying the T E X search path. Both of these options causing
\includegraphics to automatically search the graphics subdirectory, allowing
\includegraphics{sub/file.eps}
\includegraphics{file.eps}
TEX Search Path
For web2c/teTeX Unix distributions, the T E X search path can be modified by
setting the TEXINPUTS environment variable.
When using csh shells, setenv TEXINPUTS /dir1:/dir2:
Putting // after a directory causes all of its subdirectories to be
searched. For example, setenv TEXINPUTS /dir1//:/dir2: causes all the
subdirectories (and sub-subdirectories) of /dir1 to be searched. Be careful in
using // as it may slow down the searching if the directory contains many
files.
These examples also work for sh shells, although the syntax should be changed
to TEXINPUTS=''/dir1:/dir2:''; export TEXINPUTS
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 14:12:30 -0500
> > I'm trying to print nice looking reports from a script running on a
> > linux server.
> >
> > Is there any app or utility that can make "nice" prints that support
> > lines for columns/rows and different font sizes, headers and so on or
> > do i have to code postscript by hand?
> >
> > I guess i'm looking for some sort of tagged data to postscript
> > converter (sort of like a html to postscript converter).
>
> Have you considered LaTeX? Professional-quality typesetting from
> marked-up text.
I used LaTeX for my books. It's absolutely the best, most precise way to
handle text. But it's a markup language and takes some learning. For more
information see:
To start learning see "The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e," by Tobias
Oetiker and a few others. Another excellent one is "A Simplified
Introduction to LaTeX," by Harvey Greenberg.
"Not So Short" is a little more current than Greenberg, but I recommend
both. Each goes a little more in depth than the other on certain topics.
If you want to know a little more about graphics (too much, actually)
there's "Using Imported Graphics in LaTeX2e," by Keith Reckdahl. Another
handy one is "The Comprehensive Symbol List," by Scott Pakin. Has all those
wingdings, math and other symbols you might find handy.
LaTeX can also be used to make PDF files with hyperlinks within the
document.
I like it so much I'm actually trying to figure out ways to use it in places
where a traditional word processor is much more handy. The quality is such
it can get that kind of hold on you.
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Name of contribution: The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List
Name: Scott Pakin
Location on CTAN: tex-archive/info/symbols/comprehensive
Summary description: Samples of thousands of symbols that are accessible from LaTeX
License type: lppl
Please note that PDF files are available as
info/symbols/comprehensive/symbols-letter.pdf
(for US letter paper dimensions)
