A Guide to LATEX: Document Preparation for Beginners and Advanced Users

by Helmut Kopka, Patrick Daly

Overview

Published Nov 25, 2003 by Addison-Wesley Professional. Part of the Tools and Techniques for Computer Typesetting series. The series editor may be contacted at [e-mail]. LaTeX is the text-preparation system of choice for scientists and academics, and is especially useful for typesetting technical materials. This popular book shows you how to begin using LaTeX to create high-quality documents. The book also serves as a handy reference for all LaTeX users. In this completely revised edition, the authors cover the LaTeX2ε standard and offer more details, examples, exercises, tips, and tricks. They go beyond the core installation to describe the key contributed packages that have become essential to LaTeX processing.

Inside, you will find:

• Complete coverage of LaTeX fundamentals, including how to input text, symbols, and mathematics; how to produce lists and tables; how to include graphics and color; and how to organize and customize documents
• Discussion of more advanced concepts such as bibliographical databases and BIBTeX, math extensions with AMS-LaTeX, drawing, slides, and letters
• Helpful appendices on installation, error messages, creating packages, using LaTeX with HTML and XML, and fonts
• An extensive alphabetized listing of commands and their uses

New to this edition:

• More emphasis on LaTeX as a markup language that separates content and form--consistent with the essence of XML
• Detailed discussions of contributed packages alongside relevant standard topics
• In-depth information on PDF output, including extensive coverage of how to use the hyperref package to create links, bookmarks, and active buttons

As did the three best-selling editions that preceded it, Guide to LaTeX, Fourth Edition, will prove indispensable to anyone wishing to gain the benefits of LaTeX.

The accompanying CD-ROM is part of the TeX Live set distributed by TeX Users Groups, containing a full LaTeX installation for Windows, MacOSX, and Linux, as well as many extensions, including those discussed in the book.

0321173856B10162003

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780321617743
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	11/25/2003
Series:	Tools and Techniques for Computer Typesetting
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	624
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Helmut Kopka was previously a scientific staff member at the Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie in Germany. He was involved in writing one of the first TeX drivers for HP LaserJet and subsequently introduced TeX and LaTeX into his institute, where it has become the standard text-processing system for scientific publications.

Patrick W. Daly is a scientific staff member at the Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie in Germany. He has written formatting styles for several scientific journals and is the author of the natbib package for flexible bibliographic citations and of the custom-bib system for customizing bibliographic styles for use with BibTeX.

Read an Excerpt

A new edition to A Guide to LaTeX begs the fundamental question: Has LaTeX changed so much since the appearance of the third edition in 1999 that a new release of this book is justified?

The simple answer to that question is 'Well,. . . .' In 1994, the LaTeX world was in upheaval with the issue of the new version LaTeX2ε, and the second edition of the Guide came out just then to act as the bridge between the old and new versions. By 1998, the initial teething problems had been worked out and corrected through semiannual releases, and the third edition could describe an established, working system. However, homage was still paid to the older 2.09 version since many users still employed its familiar syntax, although they were most likely to be using it in a LaTeX2ε environment. LaTeX has now reached a degree of stability that since 2000 the regular updates have been reduced to annual events, which often appear months after the nominal date, something that does not worry anyone. The old version 2.09 is obsolete and should no longer play any role in such a book. In this fourth edition, it is reduced to an appendix just to document its syntax and usage.

But if LaTeX itself has not changed substantially since 1999, many of its peripherals have. The rise of programs such as pdfTeX and dvipdfm for PDF output adds new possibilities, which are realized, not in LaTeX directly, but by means of more modern packages to extend the basic features. The distribution of TeX/LaTeX installations has changed, such that most users are given a complete, ready-to-run setup, with all the 'extras' that previously had to be obtained separately. Those extras include user-contributed packages, many of which are now considered indispensable. Today 'the LaTeX system' includes much more than the basic kernel by Leslie Lamport, encompassing the contributions of hundreds of other people. This edition reflects this increase in breadth.

The changes to the fourth edition are mainly those of emphasis.

1. The material has been reorganized into 'Basics' and 'Beyond the Basics' ('advanced' sounds too intimidating) while the appendices contain topics that can be skipped by most everyday users. One exception: Appendix G is an alphabetized command summary that many people find extremely useful (including ourselves).
   
   This reorganizing is meant to stress certain aspects over others. For example, the section on graphics inclusion and color was originally treated as an exotic extra, relegated to an appendix on extensions; in the third edition, it was moved up to be included in a front chapter along with the picture environment and floats; now it dominates Chapter 8 all on its own, the floats come in the following Chapter 9, and picture is banished to the later Chapter 16. This is not to say that the picture features are no good, but only that they are very specialized. We add descriptions of additional drawing possibilities there too.
   
2. It is stressed as much as possible that LaTeX is a markup language, with separation of content and form. Typographical settings should be placed in the preamble, while the body contains only logical markup. This is in keeping with the modern ideas of

3. Throughout this edition, contributed packages are explained at the point in the text where they are most relevant. The fancyhdr package comes in the section on page styles, natbib where literature citations are explained. This stresses that these 'extensions' are part of the LaTeX system as a whole. However, to remind users that they must still be explicitly loaded, a marginal note is placed at the start of their descriptions.
   
4. PDF output is taken for granted throughout the book, in addition to the classical DVI format. This means that the added possibilities of pdfTeX and dvipdfm are explained where they are relevant. A separate Chapter 13 on PostScript and PDF is still necessary, and the hyperref package, the best interface for PDF output with all its bells and whistles, is explained in detail. PDF is also included in Chapter 17 on presentation material.
   
   On the other hand, the other Web output formats, HTML and LaTeX Web Companion.
   
5. This book is being distributed with a modified version of one of the CDs from the TeX Live set. It contains a full TeX and LaTeX installation for Windows, Macintosh OSX, and Linux, plus many of the myriad extensions that exist. We once again express our hope that this Guide will prove more than useful to all those who wish to find their way through the intricate world of LaTeX. And with the addition of the included TeX Live CD, that world is brought even closer to their doorsteps.

Helmut Kopka and Patrick W. Daly September 2003

Table of Contents

Preface.

I. BASICS.

1. Introduction.

Just what is LaTeX?

Markup Languages.

TEX and its offspring.

How to use this book.

Basics of a LaTeX file.

TEX processing procedure.

Sample LaTeX file.

2. Text, Symbols, and Commands.

Command names and arguments.

Environments.

Declarations.

Lengths.

Special characters.

Exercises.

Fine-tuning text.

Word division.

3. Document Layout and Organization.

Document class.

Page style.

Parts of the document.

Table of contents.

4. Displaying Text.

Changing font style.

Centering and indenting.

Lists.

Generalized lists.

Theorem-like declarations.

Printing literal text.

Comments within text.

5. Text in Boxes.

Boxes.

Footnotes and marginal notes.

6. Tables.

Tabulator stops.

Tables.

7. Mathematical Formulas.

Mathematical environments.

Main elements of math mode.

Mathematical symbols.

Additional elements.

Fine-tuning mathematics.

Beyond standard LaTeX.

8. Graphics Inclusion and Color.

The graphics packages.

Adding color.

9. Floating tables and figures.

Float placement.

Postponing floats.

Style parameters for floats.

Float captions.

Float examples.

References to figures and tables in text.

Some float packages.

10. User Customizations.

Counters.

Lengths.

User-defined commands.

User-defined environments.

Some comments on user-defined structures.

II. BEYOND THE BASICS.

11. Document Management.

Processing parts of a document.

In-text references.

Bibliographies.

Keyword index.

12. Bibliographic Databases and BibTeX.

The BibTeX program.

Creating a bibliographic database.

Customizing bibliography styles.

13. PostScript and PDF.

LaTeX and PostScript.

Portable Document Format.

14. Multilingual LaTeX.

The babel system.

Contents of the language.dat file.

15. Math Extensions with AMS-LaTeX.

Invoking AMS-LaTeX.

Standard features of AMS-LaTeX.

Further AMS-LaTeX packages.

The AMS fonts.

16. Drawing with LaTeX.

The picture environment.

Extended pictures.

Other drawing packages.

17. Presentation Material.

Slide production with slides class.

Slide production with seminar.

Slide production with the prosper class.

Electronic documents for screen viewing.

Special effects with PDF.

18. Letters.

The LaTeX letter class.

A house letter style.

A model letter customization.

APPENDICES.

A: The New Font Selection Scheme.

Font attributes under NFSS.

Simplified font selection.

Font encoding.

B: Installing and Maintaining LaTeX.

Installing LaTeX.

Obtaining the Adobe euro fonts.

TeX directory structure.

The CTAN servers.

Additional standard files.

The various LaTeX files.

C: Error Messages.

Basic structure of error messages.

Some sample errors.

List of LaTeX error messages.

TeX error messages.

Warnings.

Search for subtle errors.

D: LaTeX Programming.

Class and package files.

LaTeX programming commands.

Changing preprogrammed text.

Direct typing of special letters.

Alternatives for special symbols.

Managing code and documentation.

E. LaTeX and the World Wide Web.

Converting to HTML.

The Extensible Markup Language: XML.

F: Obsolete LaTeX.

The 2.09 preamble.

Font selection.

Obsolete means obsolete.

G: Command Summary.

Brief description of the LaTeX commands.

Summary tables and figures.

Bibliography.
Index

Preface

PREFACE:

Four years after the release of LATEX 2E and almost as long since the appearance of the second edition of A Guide to LATEX, the time is ripe to consider a third edition. How has LATEX changed in this interval? What has to be altered in the book?

First of all, LATEX 2E is now well established as the official version of LATEX; for this reason the title of this book reverts to the original form used for the first edition. (The second edition was titled A Guide to LATEX 2E to emphasize that it covered the new LATEX.) Nevertheless, we continue to point out those features that are exclusive to LATEX 2 E and which were not available under version 2.09.

LATEX is upgraded every six months. The first few updates to LATEX 2E saw a number of important changes, but now it has become very stable, at least for standard features at the user level. Improvements and changes occur mostly at deeper levels, or in supporting packages. For example, the number of input encoding tables and graphics drivers has steadily increased. The 256-character DC fonts have now been replaced by their EC equivalents. However, the major change since 1994 is the prevalence of the Internet and World Wide Web; new programs are now available to enable LATEX documents to be 'put online'. These do not reflect changes to LATEX itself but rather to the entire LATEX environment and its applications. This is now dealt with in Section D.4.

A new edition provides an opportunity to reorganize much material, to change emphasis, and to correct mistakes. In this light, we have decided that the importation of graphics files is no longer an extension for advanced users, but a basic part ofLATEXapplication. The usage has become standardized; many problems have been identified and solved. Thus a very detailed explanation of the graphics and color packages is now given in Chapter 6 and the emphasis on the LATEX picture environment has been reduced.

The use of PostScript fonts has also become more relevant, to such an extent that Computer Modern fonts are no longer the hallmark of a LATEX document. Appendix F (TEX Fonts) has been revised to reflect this.

Several example packages in Appendix C (LATEX programming) have been removed, in particular those dealing with language adaptation and author-year citations. These examples contained far too much TEX code to be appropriate as demonstrations, and their usefulness as packages is questionable considering the widespread availability of the babel and natbib packages. As compensation, a new package is offered for redefining the sectioning commands.

It has always been our intention only to describe the standard LATEX features, and not to elaborate on many of the excellent contributed packages available. This is not because we consider them to be inferior; on the contrary, a large number of them are indispensable and should be part of any standard installation. It is simply that we must limit the material in this book somehow, and these packages are dealt with elsewhere, for example in the LATEX Companion (Goosens et al., 1994) and LATEX Graphics Companion (Goosens et al., 1997). We have decided to make two exceptions. Many of the 'tools' packages mentioned in Section D.3.3 are now described in the main text where their application would be most appropriate. Packages like multicol, array, longtable should be used in everyday situations, and are by no means exotic.

The amsmath and amsfonts packages are the other exception. An overview to these important mathematical tools is now provided in Appendix E and tables of the extra AMS symbol fonts are given on pages 5525 54. For mathematical typesetting, these additional commands must also be considered indispensable.

We feel the changes will make this book even more relevant and applicable to the effective production of high-class documents with LATEX.

Helmut Kopka and Patrick W. Daly
September 1998

Editorial Reviews

TEX is a computer typesetting program for producing scientific and technical documents, but is very complicated to use without a background in programming; LATEX is a set of macros that act as a more user-friendly interface. The systematic tutorial for beginners would also be a handy reference for the more experienced user. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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