LaTeX Overview

Introduction

L^ATEX (pronounced Lay-Tech) is a text-based formatting language used to create documents. L^ATEX logically structures a document by explicitly stating which parts of the document are titles, subtitles, bibliolography, etc. This is converse to a WYSIWYG word processor in which titles are usually just put in bold or a larger font. This way of formatting, called logical markup, is useful because it yeilds an easy way to make mass changes to the entire document. For example, you could change the font for every subtitle in the document, or you could change the title of a section and the table of contents would automatically update.

Figure 1: A simple L^ATEX source



Figure 2: Resulting L^ATEX output



Notice how the differences in font and boldness for the titles were handled by L^ATEX and were never stated, however in the second bullet the text was explicitly made italic.

Font and Characters

Special Symbols and Characters

Symbol	LATEX Symbol
LATEX	\LaTeX{}
\	$\backslash$
$	\$
%	\%
&	\&
_	\_
#	\#
{	$\{$
}	$\}$
" (open quotes)	`` (character on ~ key twice)
" (close quotes)	'' (single quote twice)

Additional symbols can be found at http://www.agu.org/symbols.html

{\it this text will be italic} but the rest of the text is normal type
this text will be italic but the rest of the text is normal type

{\bf this text will be boldface} but the rest of the text is normal type
this text will be boldface but the rest of the text is normal type

Printing

• You want to convert a L^ATEX file (.tex) to a post script file (.ps) and print it on CS dept. printers.

What to do next:

1. SSH to interactive.cs.tamu.edu, as explained in SSH via PuTTY.
2. At the command prompt, type L^ATEX filename.tex and press Enter. This will convert your .tex file to .dvi file with the same name.
3. Now, type dvips filename.dvi and press Enter. This will convert your file to a post script file with the same name.
4. To print the post script file from Unix, type lpr -Pps210 filename.ps and press Enter.

Additional L^ATEX Resources

The following guides are very helpful, and can be found freely on the web via search engine:

• A Simplified Introduction to L^ATEX, by Harvey J. Greenberg
  • A somewhat long but thorough introduction. Includes helpful sections on BIBTEX, the main bibliography tool for L^ATEX, in addition to helpful sections on tables and maths.
  • Download it at: http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/simplified-L^ATEX/simplified-intro.ps
• The Not So Short Introduction to L^ATEX2e, by Tobias Oetiker
  • A friendly introduction which is shorter but less thorough than the preceding guide.
  • Download it at: http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf
• L^ATEX for Word Processor Users, by Guido Gonzato
  • A document which explores L^ATEX options from the viewpoint of popular word processor features. Best when read after one of preceding two resources.
  • Download it at: http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/L^ATEX4wp/L^ATEX4wp.pdf
• Reference Card for L^ATEX, by Joseph Silverman
  • A handy reference card listing L^ATEX commands. Note that the section regarding math commands uses the special American Mathmatical Society format for maths rather than the default L^ATEX maths format (both math styles are popular). Available at the following URL: http://leibniz.math.brown.edu/~jhs/

The above guides, as well as much other helpful L^ATEX related information, can also be found on the following helpful websites:

• http://www.tug.org
  • The official website of the TEX users group.
• http://www.L^ATEX-project.org/
  • The home of L^ATEX. Contains several guides, as well as a list of good L^ATEX books for those who like treeware...
• http://tug.ctan.org
  • The primary site where additional L^ATEX packages as well as other L^ATEX related tools and guides can be downloaded.
• http://www-h.eng.cam.ac.uk/help/tpl/textprocessing/
  • Cambridge's helpful L^ATEX site.
• http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~hgreenbe/sites/L^ATEX.html
  • Harvey Greenberg's list of L^ATEX links.
• http://www.lib.rpi.edu/dept/acs/ftp/resumes/L^ATEX/
  • A nice listing of sample resumes done in L^ATEX using the res document class for resumes.
• http://www.giss.nasa.gov/L^ATEX/
  • A good online L^ATEX syntax and command reference.
• http://tex.loria.fr/english/
  • The L^ATEX Navigator, another very good online resource.
• http://ee.tamu.edu/~tex/
  • Our own EE department's L^ATEX page.
• http://www.miwie.org/presentations/
  • A helpful overview of different ways to set up PowerPoint© -like presentations using L^ATEX.

Sample L^ATEX Files

The following sample files may be helpful to you as you start to learn L^ATEX. In MS Internet Explorer, just right-click on the links and select ``save as...'' to save the file to your disk.

• The L^ATEX source files for this document:
  • For the document itself:
    • L^ATEX Overview (DVI format) (36.32 KB)
    • L^ATEX Overview (Adobe Acrobat format) (190.09 KB)
    • L^ATEX Overview (PostScript format) (172.17 KB)
    • L^ATEX Overview (L^ATEX Source) (22.11 KB)
  • For the simple L^ATEX sample document shown above in figure 1:
    • First Document (DVI format) (0.91 KB)
    • First Document (Adobe Acrobat format) (29.08 KB)
    • First Document (PostScript format) (23.50 KB)
    • First Document (L^ATEX source) (1.06 KB)

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, Nikos Drakos, Computer Based Learning Unit, University of Leeds.
Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999, Ross Moore, Mathematics Department, Macquarie University, Sydney.

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