Penguin
Recent Changes
Blame: LatexExample
EditPageHistoryDiffInfoLikePages
Annotated edit history of LatexExample version 3, including all changes. View license author blame.
Rev Author # Line
2 AristotlePagaltzis 1 This is a short worked example on how to write and build a [LaTeX] document. ''Note that this is not a primer on the language!'' You should get hold of the [Not so short Introduction to Latex|http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf] for a more complete introduction.
1 DanielLawson 2
2 AristotlePagaltzis 3 !! Writing your <tt>.tex</tt> file
1 DanielLawson 4
2 AristotlePagaltzis 5 Because this is just a trivial example on how to use [LaTeX], not on how to actually write [LaTeX] documents, my example <tt>.tex</tt> file won't contain a lot. [LaTeX] can do plenty more than I'm demonstrating below -- make sure you read the better references mentioned above.
1 DanielLawson 6
2 AristotlePagaltzis 7 Edit a file called <tt>example.tex</tt>, and put the following text in it:
1 DanielLawson 8
2 AristotlePagaltzis 9 <verbatim>
10 \documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{report}
11 \pagenumbering{roman}
1 DanielLawson 12
13
2 AristotlePagaltzis 14 \title{Latex Example}
15 \author{Daniel Lawson}
16 \date{\today}
1 DanielLawson 17
2 AristotlePagaltzis 18 \begin{document}
1 DanielLawson 19
20
2 AristotlePagaltzis 21 \maketitle
1 DanielLawson 22
2 AristotlePagaltzis 23 \begin{abstract}
1 DanielLawson 24
2 AristotlePagaltzis 25 \end{abstract}
1 DanielLawson 26
2 AristotlePagaltzis 27 \tableofcontents
1 DanielLawson 28
2 AristotlePagaltzis 29 \newpage
1 DanielLawson 30
2 AristotlePagaltzis 31 \section{Introduction}
1 DanielLawson 32
2 AristotlePagaltzis 33 This is a quick introduction to using Latex.
1 DanielLawson 34
2 AristotlePagaltzis 35 \subsection{Example}
1 DanielLawson 36
2 AristotlePagaltzis 37 Here is a subsection.
1 DanielLawson 38
2 AristotlePagaltzis 39 \section{Conclusion}
1 DanielLawson 40
2 AristotlePagaltzis 41 In conclusion, this example doesn't show a lot. Go read the Not So Short Introduction to \LaTeX for more information.
1 DanielLawson 42
2 AristotlePagaltzis 43 \end{document}
44 </verbatim>
1 DanielLawson 45
46 !! Building it
47
2 AristotlePagaltzis 48 Seeing as we're not doing anything complicated with [LaTeX], we only need to parse the file once. If you were doing more complicated things, such as including a bibliography, you'd need to run a few more programs. See LatexMakefiles on more tips for that.
1 DanielLawson 49
2 AristotlePagaltzis 50 Run <tt>latex example.tex</tt> in the directory you saved your <tt>example.tex</tt> in earlier.
1 DanielLawson 51
52 <verbatim>
53 $ latex example.tex
54 This is TeX, Version 3.14159 (Web2C 7.3.7)
55 (./example.tex
56 LaTeX2e <2001/06/01>
57 Babel <v3.7h> and hyphenation patterns for american, french, german, ngerman, n
58 ohyphenation, loaded.
59 (/usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/base/report.cls
60 Document Class: report 2001/04/21 v1.4e Standard LaTeX document class
61 (/usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/base/size12.clo))
62 No file example.aux.
63 [1] [1]
64 No file example.toc.
65 [1] [2] (./example.aux) )
66 Output written on example.dvi (4 pages, 1180 bytes).
67 Transcript written on example.log.
68 </verbatim>
69
2 AristotlePagaltzis 70 This completed successfully, outputting some extra files created by [LaTeX] on the way -- the <tt>.aux</tt> and <tt>.toc</tt> files are used for internal references. The <tt>.dvi</tt> file is the first output file.
1 DanielLawson 71
72 You can view this with a program called xdvi:
73
74 <verbatim>
75 xdvi example.dvi
76 </verbatim>
77
78 !! Making it useful
79
2 AristotlePagaltzis 80 DVI is a __D__e__v__ice __I__ndependent format, which in theory makes it really useful. However, it tends to be harder to view in Certain OperatingSystem~s. Instead, you should convert your <tt>.dvi</tt> to a PostScript or [PDF] file:
1 DanielLawson 81
82 <verbatim>
83 $ dvips example.dvi -o example.ps
84 This is dvips(k) 5.86e Copyright 2001 Radical Eye Software (www.radicaleye.com)
85 ' TeX output 2004.12.16:1220' -> example.ps
86 $ dvipdf example.dvi example.pdf
87 $ ls *ps *pdf
88 example.pdf example.ps
89 <texc.pro>. [1] [1] [1] [2]
2 AristotlePagaltzis 90 </verbatim>
1 DanielLawson 91
2 AristotlePagaltzis 92 You can now view these with a PostScript or [PDF] viewer, such as GhostView or AcrobatReader.
3 JimCheetham 93
94 ----
95
96 !!! Dates and times
97
98 The ~LaTeX command <code>\today</code> prints the date that the document is processed in a format determined by your language settings. There is a time record, but this gives the number of minutes since midnight and this isn't particularly useful in itself.
99
100 !! Solutions
101
102 There are a number of ways to include the current time in your document. In order of potential usefulness they are:
103
104 ! Using the <code>datetime</code> package
105
106 The [datetime|http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/datetime/] package provides commands for not only easily reformatting the date but for printing the time in several formats.
107
108 ! Inserting your own time calculation code in the document
109
110 The most satisfying approach for a coder. Programming in ~TeX is an interesting challenge. The following code (included in a ~LaTeX file preamble) can be used to print the time in 24-hour format:
111
112 <pre>
113 \newcount\c@HOUR
114 \newcount\c@FINALHOUR
115 \newcount\c@MINUTE
116 \newcount\c@HOURSINMINUTES
117 \newcount\@INTVAL
118
119 \newcommand{\twodigit}~[1]{\@INTVAL=#1\relax\ifnum\@INTVAL<10 0\fi\the\@INTVAL}
120
121 \c@FINALHOUR=\time\divide\c@FINALHOUR by 60\relax
122 \c@HOUR=\time\divide\c@HOUR by 60\relax
123 \c@HOURSINMINUTES=\c@HOUR\multiply\c@HOURSINMINUTES by 60\relax
124 \c@MINUTE=\time\advance\c@MINUTE by -\c@HOURSINMINUTES\relax
125 \def\THEHOUR{\the\c@FINALHOUR}
126 \def\THEMINUTES{\the\c@MINUTE}
127
128 % time in HH:MM (24 hour clock)
129 \newcommand\rightnow{\twodigit{\THEHOUR}:\twodigit{\THEMINUTES}}
130 </pre>
131
132 Anywhere in the document <code>\rightnow</code> may be used to print the time the document was assembled (or more correctly, the time on the system clock when the document assembly began).
133
134 ! Modifying the source <code>.tex</code> file when processing the file.
135
136 Calling an editor like <code>awk</code> or <code>sed</code> to pre-process the source file is potentially popular with command-line geeks, but is rather clunky and has the feeling of a kludge about it. Not recommended.