parent_url
stringlengths 41
46
| parent_score
stringlengths 1
4
| parent_body
stringlengths 25
35.5k
| parent_user
stringlengths 37
42
| parent_title
stringlengths 12
150
| accepted
bool 2
classes | body
stringlengths 4
36.7k
| score
stringlengths 1
4
| user
stringlengths 37
42
| answer_id
stringlengths 1
6
| __index_level_0__
int64 0
322k
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/759 | 30 | Is there in LaTeX a symbol or a macro for the average integral with a horizontal slash? I know about `\strokedint`, but I'd prefer the dash to be horizontal.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/214 | Average integral symbol | false | I'm not aware of a pre-existing version of that sign. So you have to design it for yourself. I would suggest something like:
```
\newcommand*{\avint}{\mathop{\ooalign{$\int$\cr$-$}}}
```
`\ooalign` vertically overlaps symbols. Internally it creates a `tabular` environment. Thatswhy you need the `\cr` between the `$\int$` and `$-$`.
**edit**: This example compiles and shows the correct sign:
```
\documentclass{article}
\newcommand*{\avint}{\mathop{\ooalign{$\int$\cr$-$}}}
\begin{document}
$\avint_{i=0}^{\infty} f(x)dx$ or
\[
\giint_{i=0}^{\infty} f(x)dx
\]
\end{document}
```
| 0 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/201 | 764 | 523 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/759 | 30 | Is there in LaTeX a symbol or a macro for the average integral with a horizontal slash? I know about `\strokedint`, but I'd prefer the dash to be horizontal.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/214 | Average integral symbol | false | This answer probably will not help you right now, but it should sometime in the future.
There is a unicode entry for that symbol [U+2A0D FINITE PART INTEGRAL](http://www.utf8-chartable.de/unicode-utf8-table.pl?start=10765): ⨍ (your computer might or might not display this correctly. At least modern Linux distros should). The STIX font and `unicode-math` seem to support that symbol, so if you have them set up you can just use the symbol. As Will Robertson remarked below, `unicode-math` provides the `\intbar` command to access the symbol.
| 12 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/83 | 765 | 524 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/766 | 11 | I want some words to always be in upright teletype (they are defined to be something specific).
If the sentence is emphasised and this word appears I do not want the text to be italic teletype, but remain upright teletype.
In this case is it OK to use {\tt word} to achieve this effect or is there some better way?
```
\emph{A sentence that contains the {\tt word} yet it remains upright teletype.}
```
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/185 | Is it OK to use \tt etc. in latex2e if you don't want the text to inherit the font of the containing text? | true | `\tt` is obsolete with LaTeX2e, it's just defined by classes. So, if you use a class that's still supporting it, it would work. But I would not recommend it.
Classes like `article.cls` define for compatibility:
```
\DeclareOldFontCommand{\tt}{\normalfont\ttfamily}{\mathtt}
```
I would use `\normalfont\ttfamily`. Further, I wouldn't use it in the body text but in the preamble, defining a logical markup like `\code`.
| 18 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 767 | 525 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/770 | 8 | Where can I find them?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Are there any free fraktura fonts available for LaTeX? | true | You have the `yfonts` package that provides several styles of Fraktur fonts. It's quite old and stable and should be part of all the standard TeX distributions (I just checked it is present in TeX Live, but don't have access to MiKTeX).
| 8 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/170 | 772 | 526 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/769 | 76 | Books often have a special letter (often spanning two lines) at the beginning of chapters. How can I create this in LaTeX?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | How can I create documents in LaTeX using a calligraphic first letter for chapters? | true | The *LaTeX Companion* suggests looking at the `lettrine` package. However the usage seems to be a bit complicated and you need suitable fonts.
If you also accept fraktur letters, then the `yfonts` package has a very easy solution:
```
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yfonts,color}
\begin{document}
\yinipar{\color{red}L}orem ipsum [...]
\end{document}
```
This results in . The *Companion* suggests setting the paragraph with `\fraklines` to get better spacing. See what you like better.
| 53 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/83 | 773 | 527 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/768 | 29 | Is there a good utility for this? Does it more than the standard stuff, or does it also do formulas and poems etc. in a good way?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | How do I convert Open Office documents into LaTeX? | true | You could use Writer2LaTeX:
* [homepage at sourceforge](http://writer2latex.sourceforge.net/ "Writer2LaTeX homepage")
* [OpenOffice extension](https://extensions.libreoffice.org/extensions/writer2latex-1 "Writer2LaTeX OpenOffice extension")
Perhaps have a look at alternative ways: [Converters from PC Textprocessors to LaTeX](http://www.tug.org/utilities/texconv/pctotex.html "Converters to LaTeX")
| 28 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 775 | 528 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/759 | 30 | Is there in LaTeX a symbol or a macro for the average integral with a horizontal slash? I know about `\strokedint`, but I'd prefer the dash to be horizontal.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/214 | Average integral symbol | false | There is [a very useful site](http://detexify.kirelabs.org/classify.html) for this sort of questions. It is a hand-writing interface to the [comprehensive LaTeX symbol list](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/symbols/comprehensive/): you draw the symbol you are looking for in a box (using your mouse,...) and the software tries to recognise it. You can teach the software by telling it which one (if any) of its suggestions is the one you wanted.
I tried it with the average integral symbol and it suggested the command `\fint` in the `esint` package. That package seems to contain a number of ornamented integral signs.
| 2 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/18 | 777 | 529 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/762 | 2 | When I have TikZ images or I include `.png` graphics, I need to use PDFLaTeX instead of plain `vanilla` LaTeX. (That is, I need to use PDFLaTeX all the time, rather than just when I want to produce the final PDF).
Sometimes I forget that my current document (or one `\include`d in it) contains one of these things. The compilation using latex doesn't work. The errors I get out when this happens don't seem to be meaningful: they don't just say
>
> No such file `image.eps`
>
>
>
or
>
> LaTeX can't work TikZ
>
>
>
or the like. Is there anyway I can make these kinds of errors more transparent?
I've often spent ages fiddling with insignificant other bits of code, because I haven't realised it's the image that is messing up the compilation. [`beamer`](https://www.ctan.org/pkg/beamer) also sometimes messes up in LaTeX, but I normally spot that one.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/215 | Meaningful error messages when using LaTeX instead of PDFLaTeX | false | If you have both `includedimage.png` and `includedimage.eps` in the same directory and your LaTeX code doesn't specify the extension, i.e. it says `\includegraphics{includedimage}`, then latex will pick up the .eps file and pdflatex will use the .png. Even if you don't feel like converting your .png, you could just use a blank placeholder image in .eps format so that latex will also compile correctly. (If you do feel like converting them but don't currently have an easy way to do it, I recommend [ImageMagick convert](http://www.imagemagick.org/script/convert.php) as an excellent free utility.)
| 2 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/32 | 778 | 530 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/143 | 152 | When working with **Bibtex**, manually transferring the **citation information** for articles, prooceedings, books, etc. can be a tedious work. Some web sites provide citations in Bibtex format. What are your favorite sites to get Bibtex citations of your used references?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/46 | What are good sites to find citations in BibTex format? | false | Since it hasn't been mentioned yet: Nelson Beebe maintains an [extensive database](http://www.math.utah.edu/~beebe/bibliographies.html "Beebe bibliography") of references for mathematics and computer science.
| 2 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/170 | 779 | 531 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/158 | 36 | Occasionally, I write letters that I actually print out and send by snail mail :).
I'd like them to look as formal as possible. Archaic (pre-typewriter) Dutch customs require the sender's address to be in the top left corner and the recipient's in the top right. The place and date should be aligned with the recipient's address. The sign off ("Yours truly") should also be aligned with that.
Of course there are also specific rules for the amount of vertical whitespace.
Does anyone know of a good package that lets me customize all this stuff, preferably in a .sty file or something that I can include, so I don't have to do it again for every letter?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/116 | Anyone know a good template for formal letters? | false | Have you tried the built-in `letter` class?
* [Wikibooks: LaTeX/Letters](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Letters)
* [Standard Letter Document Class for LaTeX2e](http://www.tug.org/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/letter.pdf)
| 5 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/9 | 780 | 532 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/143 | 152 | When working with **Bibtex**, manually transferring the **citation information** for articles, prooceedings, books, etc. can be a tedious work. Some web sites provide citations in Bibtex format. What are your favorite sites to get Bibtex citations of your used references?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/46 | What are good sites to find citations in BibTex format? | false | A few people have already mentioned MathSciNet (and noted that it is subscription only). The same BibTeX data are freely available from the AMS via [MRef](http://www.ams.org/mref).
| 5 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/206 | 781 | 533 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | Sorry about violating your "one class per answer" request, but I feel that these three should be included in the same post: `amsart`, `amsbook`, and `amsproc`. They come from the `ams-LaTeX` collection prepared by the American Mathematical Society and are the standard document classes to use for preparing documents for publication by the AMS. As their names suggest, they are modified versions of the `article`, `book`, and `proc` classes to adhere to the AMS's house style, and also incorporate the features of the package `amsthm` and load supplementary mathematics packages `amsmath` and `amsfonts`. For more detail one should refer to [the website for the collection](http://www.ams.org/publications/authors/tex/amslatex).
| 33 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/119 | 785 | 534 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | Okay, one class per answer, so I'll make a start with something basic.
The `minimal` class is the absolute minimum you load and actually have LaTeX work. It's only intended for testing purposes, as it doesn't define many things you almost always expect (things like titling and sectioning commands). You would not usually use the `minimal` class yourself as it is so basic that there will not really be suitable for real work.
| 21 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/73 | 786 | 535 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | The classes in the [KOMA-Script bundle](http://www.ctan.org/pkg/koma-script)\* (`scrbook`, `scrreprt`, `scrartcl`, `scrlttr2`) provide replacements of standard classes (`book`, `report`, `article` and `letter` respectively). They offer lots of configuration options to accommodate different layouts without using ugly hacks. Generally I think they are nearer to European (and in particular German) typography conventions than the standard classes are.
\* see also the [german homepage](http://www.komascript.de/) of KOMA-Script.
| 107 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/83 | 787 | 536 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/783 | 27 | I would like to have my document compiled with two pages in one using LaTeX, like what you see when you choose to print two pages in one. As my pages are "portrait", I need the page to be shown in landscape when the two pages are compiled in one, and If I could also include margins around each page, that would be wonderful.
Does anyone know of any package(s) I can use to get the effect I am after?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | Is there a way to get two pages in one with LaTeX? | true | You could use [pdfpages](http://ctan.org/pkg/pdfpages) or [pdfjam](https://github.com/DavidFirth/pdfjam) and its pdfnup tool.
| 15 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 788 | 537 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | I think the base classes probably deserve a single answer. (`minimal`, `letter` and `slides` are different enough to need their own answers.)
The **`article`** class is, as the name suggests, intended for writing articles. This means relatively short documents which do not contain chapters or parts, only sections, subsections, *etc.* As one of the base classes, the formatting is pretty basic. However, as the article class does provide the basic function most people expect from LaTeX it is often used with modifications for longer documents.
The **`report`** class is intended for longer documents which will have chapters, while **`book`** is intended for very large documents. The standard settings for `report` and `book` are slightly different from `article`. For example, the default for `article` is to put the `\maketitle` information at the top of the first page, whereas `report` and `book` use separate title pages. `book` includes pre-defined shortcuts for the `\frontmatter` (unnumbered chapters with roman page numbers), `\mainmatter` (numbered chapters and arabic page numbers) and `\backmatter`.
All of the base classes have very basic formatting. Some of this can be questioned, but the LaTeX Project have made it clear that with so much use of these classes, the decisions are 'fixed'. As a result, modifying the base classes is an approach many people use for their own documents.
| 46 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/73 | 789 | 538 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | [`powerdot`](http://www.ctan.org/pkg/powerdot) is a good alternative to the beamer class. Presentations can be developed easily. It provides many styles and allows creating your own style. powerdot offers automatic overlays, notes and a handout mode, further it supports LyX.
It's intended to replace the older classes `prosper` and `HA-prosper`.
powerdot requires PSTricks. So, it may be a good choice when you're using PSTricks in a presentation, but it cannot benefit from pdfTeX features.
| 13 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 790 | 539 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | The `beamer` class is designed for creating presentations (although it can be used for academic posters in conjunction with the `beamerposter` package). It provides a wide range of graphical functions for making 'good looking' presentations. The specialist functions in `beamer` include modifications to standard macros (such as the lists `itemize` and `enumerate`) so that they can be revealed partwise. The class is designed to be able to also produce article-style material by including the appropriate. The documentation also provides advice on what makes a good presentation.
| 37 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/73 | 791 | 540 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | `slides` is the basic class for presentations. It predated presenting using projectors, and shares with the other base classes the somewhat questionable layout choices. Other options such as `powerdot` or `beamer` are very much better choices than `slides`.
| 12 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/73 | 792 | 541 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/784 | 24 | I am using the book documentclass and have a list of figures. After [much trouble](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/496/what-is-wrong-with-the-line-spacing-of-my-lists-of-figures-and-tables) I noticed that there is a blank line to separate figures that are in different chapters, but not if they are within the same chapter. Since I changed the numbering of my figures to be {1, 2, 3, etc.} instead of {2.1, 2.2, 3.1, etc.} this looks silly and I'd rather have a blank line between each figure, no matter what.
How do I do that?
Similar:
* [How to tweak the LOF and LOT without using any packages?](https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/97289/14996)
* [The line spacing in the list of algorithms](https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/88562/14996)
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/124 | How to change the line spacing in my list of figures? | true | In the book class there's an internal macro `\@chapter` that's adding the space by this line:
```
\addtocontents{lof}{\protect\addvspace{10\p@}}%
```
You could redefine this macro. Alternatively, you could disable `\addvspace` in the list of figures, for instance by
```
\newcommand*{\noaddvspace}{\renewcommand*{\addvspace}[1]{}}
\addtocontents{lof}{\protect\noaddvspace}
```
The effect should end with the list of figures, but of course you could group it to limit the scope.
If you disabled it you could use an environment or a declaration of the `setspace` package, to get more space between the lines of the list of figures. Or you just use `\linespread` locally:
```
\addtocontents{lof}{\linespread{2}\selectfont}
```
| 40 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 793 | 542 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | [`REVTeX`](http://www.ctan.org/pkg/revtex4-1) is a class designed for the American Physical Society (APS). It can produce output which is ready for production printing for a range of APS journals, depending on class options. The class provides a wide range of specialist functions needed by the journals, for example modifying how the `\author` macro works to improve the meta-data control. The `REVTeX` documentation includes a wide range of advice not only on the class itself but also on wider LaTeX use.
| 21 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/73 | 794 | 543 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | New working link: [Alternative LaTeX class(es)](https://ctan.org/topic/class)
---
**Original answer:**
There's a category in the TeX Catalogue: [Alternative Document Classes](http://texcatalogue.ctan.org/bytopic.html#classes) (web archive [link](https://web.archive.org/web/20171222231507/http://texcatalogue.ctan.org/bytopic.html#classes)).
| 162 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 795 | 544 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/771 | 8 | [TEI](https://tei-c.org) documents have a lot of information that can be used for representation and style. Are there any tools to convert such documents into LaTeX in order to create good pdf/html etc. versions?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | How can I efficiently convert TEI documents into LaTeX? | true | It's an XML defined markup. There are XSLT stylesheets for this format from the same website you link to
<https://www.tei-c.org/Tools/Stylesheets/>
>
> This is a set of XSLT 2.0 specifications to transform TEI XML documents to XHTML, to LaTeX, to XSL Formatting Objects, to OOXML (docx), and to ePub format. The files can be downloaded from the Releases area of <https://tei.sf.net> . They concentrate on the simpler TEI modules, but adding support for other modules is fairly easy. In the main, the setup has been used on ‘new’ documents, ie reports and web pages that have been authored from scratch, rather than traditional TEI-encoded existing material.
>
>
>
| 7 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/137 | 796 | 545 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/323 | 8 | Web2c defines its format style using Pascal strings, so there are no separator characters between csnames. Is there a straightforward way of listing all csnames bound in a .fmt file?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/175 | What macros are defined in a Web2c format file? | true | In the Web2C implementation of TeX and friends, the programs come with an (apparently undocumented) option `-debug-format` that prints out a lot of information contained in the format file, most of which consists of the names of the control sequences (followed by a pipe sign: `|`).
Hence, for example:
```
$ tex -debug-format \\bye
This is TeX, Version 3.1415926 (TeX Live 2009)
fmtdebug:format magic number = 1462916184
fmtdebug:engine name size = 4
fmtdebug:string pool checksum = 57981441
fmtdebug:mem_bot = 0
fmtdebug:mem_top = 2999999
fmtdebug:string pool size = 29307
fmtdebug:sup strings = 2025
fmtdebug:csnames from 514 to 24525:
endlinechar|
AA|
AE|
@M|
OE|
downbracefill|
@m|
bigbreak|
Im|
bordermatrix|
Pi|
[etc.]
```
is the list of all control sequences defined in `tex.fmt`.
| 6 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/170 | 797 | 546 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/783 | 27 | I would like to have my document compiled with two pages in one using LaTeX, like what you see when you choose to print two pages in one. As my pages are "portrait", I need the page to be shown in landscape when the two pages are compiled in one, and If I could also include margins around each page, that would be wonderful.
Does anyone know of any package(s) I can use to get the effect I am after?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | Is there a way to get two pages in one with LaTeX? | false | The booklet package might be able to help, but Beamer compatibility could be a problem.
| 5 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/179 | 798 | 547 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/299 | 88 | I often format path names with \texttt which can be very long. Usually Tex will not break this text. The line will just create a hbox overflow. It looks like this:
```
................
...C:\documents and settings
................
................
................
................
................
................
................
```
How do I get Tex to create a line break?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/168 | How to get long \texttt sections to break | false | Hyphenation and full justification is possible with typewriter text as well. Here's a command `\justify` for this purpose, shown with the example above:
```
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\newcommand*\justify{%
\fontdimen2\font=0.4em% interword space
\fontdimen3\font=0.2em% interword stretch
\fontdimen4\font=0.1em% interword shrink
\fontdimen7\font=0.1em% extra space
\hyphenchar\font=`\-% allowing hyphenation
}
\begin{document}
\texttt{\justify\lipsum[1]}
\end{document}
```
Further the everysel package might be useful, as shown in [Full justification with typewriter font](http://texblog.net/latex-archive/plaintex/full-justification-with-typewriter-font/ "Full justification with typewriter font").
| 46 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 799 | 548 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/783 | 27 | I would like to have my document compiled with two pages in one using LaTeX, like what you see when you choose to print two pages in one. As my pages are "portrait", I need the page to be shown in landscape when the two pages are compiled in one, and If I could also include margins around each page, that would be wonderful.
Does anyone know of any package(s) I can use to get the effect I am after?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | Is there a way to get two pages in one with LaTeX? | false | Try the [2up](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/generic/2up/) package.
| 4 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/143 | 800 | 549 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/801 | 44 | I want my document to have borders in all pages. I imagine I can do that using TikZ, but is there an easier way to do it?
I also asked this question [here](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/783/is-there-a-way-to-get-two-pages-in-one-with-latex), but as the main question was something else, this one problem got ignored (probably the use of the word "margin" rather than "border" did not help my case).
Can anyone help me?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What is the easiest way to get borders around a page in LaTeX? | false | A box around your document: it sounds like a frame around your logical page on a bigger paper size. This can be done using the [crop package](http://ctan.org/pkg/crop).
| 5 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 802 | 550 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/588 | 136 | Sometimes the margins need to be changed for a particular page, paragraph, or other section of text. For example, if I'm writing a letter and want the left margin to be almost at the right side of the page for the four lines of my address, or if I am combining prose with poetry and want the poems to be indented relative to the rest of the work.
What is the best way to change both left and right margins on the fly?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/32 | How can I change the margins for only part of the text? | false | Earlier versions of the `geometry` package did not allow to change the margins inside the document. The package `gmeometric` could help then.
Today `geometry` supports changing the margin inside the document by its commands `\newgeometry{...}` accepting the same `key=value` arguments and by `\restoregeometry`, see the manual of the current package version.
| 13 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 803 | 551 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/770 | 8 | Where can I find them?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Are there any free fraktura fonts available for LaTeX? | false | A good place to look for questions such as this is the [LaTeX Font Catalogue](http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/). [This page](http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/yfrak/) shows how to use a Fraktur font.
| 7 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/17 | 804 | 552 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/698 | 50 | I have been trying to encourage my students to use TeX in writing up homework, especially in early math major courses, like intro to proofs, where the typesetting is not too arduous. I have had very limited success with students taking it up. Does anyone else encourage/require assignments to be typeset? What strategies have worked best for you?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/200 | How to encourage TeX as a homework medium | false | A few of my undergraduate physics classes required LaTeX in one way or another. Our reports for each experiment in the laboratory course had to be in [two-column APS classic](https://authors.aps.org/revtex4/), for example. In our third term of quantum mechanics, we each did a term paper on some subject drawn from the literature (general instructions, LaTeX templates and a sample paper are available [here](http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-06-quantum-physics-iii-spring-2005/projects/)). In some circumstances, having one or two big LaTeX projects over the course of the, ah, course might be preferable to lots of shorter LaTeXnical assignments.
**Edit to add:** For example, if the structure of the class is such that a longer writing project like a term paper is possible, then the students can gain familiarity with LaTeX features beyond equations and text formatting, such as building a bibliography and adding figures. These would be beyond the requirements of an ordinary problem set; the student who uses BibTeX for a weekly homework assignment is not a student who needs help being enthused about typesetting. But this might be a bit much to spring on people who've just encountered the TeXniverse for the first time.
| 1 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/112 | 806 | 553 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/698 | 50 | I have been trying to encourage my students to use TeX in writing up homework, especially in early math major courses, like intro to proofs, where the typesetting is not too arduous. I have had very limited success with students taking it up. Does anyone else encourage/require assignments to be typeset? What strategies have worked best for you?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/200 | How to encourage TeX as a homework medium | false | One university that I know of designated 5 out of 25 marks for "clarity and style". Since writing clearly is a recognisable skill and one that mathematicians really ought to learn, this is easily justifiable in a mark scheme.
However, I would be a little disturbed to find someone awarding credit *only* for LaTeX'ing documents. Although I agree that TeX and its derivatives are by far the best system for writing mathematics, it can be a little overwhelming to start with and so actually requiring it (other than for a TeX-specific course) would seem to me to be on dubious pedagogical grounds. I would rather go down the route of encouragement rather than requirement.
It has just occurred to me that students learning LaTeX might actually be a side-benefit of something I'm planning on next semester. I'm thinking of running a maths-enabled forum for my students to ask and answer questions. They'll be able to use a LaTeX-like system for entering their mathematics to get it converted in to MathML. That might get them introduced to (La)TeX equation markup without needing to know all the extra stuff (like what to put in a preamble). Hopefully, once they see how easy and intuitive that part is, they'll recognise that it's worth learning how to do it properly.
| 3 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/86 | 807 | 554 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/801 | 44 | I want my document to have borders in all pages. I imagine I can do that using TikZ, but is there an easier way to do it?
I also asked this question [here](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/783/is-there-a-way-to-get-two-pages-in-one-with-latex), but as the main question was something else, this one problem got ignored (probably the use of the word "margin" rather than "border" did not help my case).
Can anyone help me?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What is the easiest way to get borders around a page in LaTeX? | false | You're right that it can be done with TikZ, but it's not necessary to load in the whole of TikZ to get the bits required for this. The part that is needed is `pgfpages`. You can do a lot of page manipulation with this package, but here's some to get you started:
```
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgf}
\usepackage{pgfpages}
\pgfpagesdeclarelayout{boxed}
{
\edef\pgfpageoptionborder{0pt}
}
{
\pgfpagesphysicalpageoptions
{%
logical pages=1,%
}
\pgfpageslogicalpageoptions{1}
{
border code=\pgfsetlinewidth{2pt}\pgfstroke,%
border shrink=\pgfpageoptionborder,%
resized width=.95\pgfphysicalwidth,%
resized height=.95\pgfphysicalheight,%
center=\pgfpoint{.5\pgfphysicalwidth}{.5\pgfphysicalheight}%
}%
}
\pgfpagesuselayout{boxed}
\begin{document}
Something simple
\end{document}
```
Of course, if you're going to use the same layout again and again, put it in a separate style file and `\usepackage{mylayouts}` in each document.
Note: the package `pgf` is only needed to provide the command `\pgfstroke`. As all this does is draw a line, it may be possible to remove this in favour of a `\rule` of some sort.
| 29 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/86 | 808 | 555 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/783 | 27 | I would like to have my document compiled with two pages in one using LaTeX, like what you see when you choose to print two pages in one. As my pages are "portrait", I need the page to be shown in landscape when the two pages are compiled in one, and If I could also include margins around each page, that would be wonderful.
Does anyone know of any package(s) I can use to get the effect I am after?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | Is there a way to get two pages in one with LaTeX? | false | As the question doesn't *specifically* say that the solution should be for PDFs, I'd like a useful external tool that works on postscript documents called `pstops`. According to `dpkg-query -S pstops`, this comes from the `psutils` package on Debian/Ubuntu. The syntax takes a little getting used to, but as it can do some really clever tricks with postscript files, it's worth learning the basics. As with (La)TeX, the best way to learn is by example so here's the most frequent situation for me: I want to print an article, to save trees I decide to print it 2-up (and double sided). But standard articles come with a lot of white-space when they are created as a4paper/letter, so in doing the 2-up, I don't shrink by the standard 71% - 90% tends to be okay. The command to do this is:
```
pstops -pa4 "2:0@.9L(24cm,-2cm)+1@.9L(24cm,12.85cm)" original.ps new.ps
```
Reading from left to right, this says: physical (output) page size is a4, work with the pages modulo 2, the even pages should be scaled .9, rotated to the left, and placed at '(24cm,-2cm)' on the page; the odd pages should be scaled .9, rotated to the left, and placed at '(24cm, 12.85cm)'; the original file is 'original.ps' and put the output in 'new.ps'.
Of course, I'll tweak the positioning and scaling for each document (I try not to print many) to optimise the spacing and size.
Once caveat: I note from [my notes](http://www.math.ntnu.no/%7Estacey/HowDidIDoThat/Hints/Postscript.html) on this that the files produced by `pstops` didn't print duplex on my department printer so I needed to add a little extra hack to the file to ensure that they did. I recommend testing with a simple file to see if this is necessary. If so, follow the link at the start of this paragraph.
| 5 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/86 | 809 | 556 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/801 | 44 | I want my document to have borders in all pages. I imagine I can do that using TikZ, but is there an easier way to do it?
I also asked this question [here](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/783/is-there-a-way-to-get-two-pages-in-one-with-latex), but as the main question was something else, this one problem got ignored (probably the use of the word "margin" rather than "border" did not help my case).
Can anyone help me?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What is the easiest way to get borders around a page in LaTeX? | true | `Memoir` class has option `showtrims` and commands `\trimFrame`, `\settrimmedsize`, `\settrims`. Example:
```
\documentclass[10pt,a4paper,showtrims]{memoir}
\trimFrame
\settrimmedsize{210mm}{145mm}{*}
\settrims{20mm}{34mm}
```
| 14 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/85 | 810 | 557 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/805 | 21 | It's often convenient to add line numbers to a page automatically and the lineno package generally does the trick. But I've had two problems with it
1. It doesn't seem to align the line numbers with the actual text lines - linenumbers drift between lines and occasionally skip lines as well as a consequence.
2. Sequences of equations get skipped. Now I've seen this work properly in other PDFs and so was wondering if there's some magic option I'm missing.
All I do is include the package and then turn line numbering on.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/103 | Adding line numbers to latex and respecting equations | true | (This is a copy of the comment I posted above. Now an answer due to Will Robertson's suggestion.)
This addresses, partially, problem 2 described in the question. I've never seen problem 1 happen myself; then again, I haven't used lineno that much.
Take a look at ulineno.pdf from <http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/lineno/> (the user's manual). It explains why lineno has trouble with equations and paragraphs containing equations, and also some work-arounds.
Basically, the line number can only be computed after LaTeX finished typesetting the text. The package does this after every paragraph (this having something to do with LaTeX's internal workflow). However, when a paragraph is punctuated by equations, the portions before each equation environment is processed before the equation is processed. So when the package tries to number the lines for one of such paragraphs, it only knows about the last block of text not interrupted by an equation environment before the paragraph break.
To deal with this the package defines a wrapper to be put around the math environments so that it flushes the numbering before entering the math environment, numbers the equation when leaving the environment, and resumes as usual afterwards. So the work around described in the manual is to enclose the equation environments in this wrapper.
Now, to make life slightly simpler, you can also pass an option to lineno to automatically redefine the math environments to include the wrapper. But this will likely not work with document classes that defines their own math environments (such as AMS-LaTeX's `align`).
| 16 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/119 | 811 | 558 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | The `memoir` class is based on the `book` class. It implements a lot of design facilities that with other classes usually need loading additional packages. The result is a feature-rich, customizable and powerful class, especially useful for designing books.
`memoir` offers an extensive manual with more than 500 pages ([here](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/memoir/memman.pdf)) containing also examples for the design of a book and of a thesis.
| 67 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 812 | 559 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | `moderncv` is a class for typesetting modern curriculums vitae. If offers both a classic and a casual style. It is fairly customizable allowing the definition of your own style regarding colors and fonts.
More classes useful for writing a CV can be found in the [CV category](https://ctan.org/topic/cv) of the TeX Catalogue.
| 30 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 813 | 560 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/782 | 496 | Some of the available classes of documents in LaTeX are well known and widely used, such as the [`article`](http://texdoc.net/texmf-dist/doc/latex/base/classes.pdf) and `beamer` classes, while others are not so well known, such as the [`standalone`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/452/how-can-i-create-a-pdf-document-exactly-as-big-as-my-tikz-picture/514#514) class.
I found [this figure](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Document_Structure#Document_classes) (edit: transcribed)
>
> **`article`** for articles in scientific journals, presentations, short reports, program documentation, invitations, ...
>
> **`proc`** a class for proceedings based on the article class.
>
> **`minimal`** is as small as it can get. It only sets a page size and a base font. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.
>
> **`report`** for longer reports containing several chapters, small books, thesis, ...
>
> **`book`** for real books
>
> **`slides`** for slides. The class uses big sans serif letters.
>
> **`memoir`** for changing sensibly the output of the document. It is based on the `book` class, but you can create any kind of document with it [(1)](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/memman.pdf)
>
> **`letter`** For writing letters.
>
> **`beamer`** For writing presentations (see [LaTeX/Presentations](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Presentations)).
>
>
>
which lists the main classes and is a good starting point, but the description is too short and still leaves one wondering when it would be more suitable to choose one class over the other and what the characteristics of each class is. Furthermore, the list is not exhaustive I think, given that I know at least one more document class that is not there (the `standalone` class, as I mentioned).
So my question is: what are the available classes of documents in LaTeX, and could you provide a brief description of the class and the situations where it would be recommended?
Please give only one class per answer.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/14 | What are the available "documentclass" types and their uses? | false | The [`extsizes` package](http://ctan.org/pkg/extsizes) provides the classes `extarticle`, `extreport`, `extbook`, `extletter` and `extproc`. They can be used instead of a corresponding base class and allow choosing a base font of a size between 8pt and 20pt.
When you're in need of a base font size that standard classes don't provide, these classes adjust commands like `\tiny`, `\Huge` etc. fitting to your desired base font size, further they adjust page dimensions, list and float dimensions accordingly.
Note that the KOMA-Script classes allow *any* font size specified in *any* TeX measurement unit so they might be considered as well when specific font sizes are needed.
| 18 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 814 | 561 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/816 | 114 | What are different ways to use Cyrillic in (La)TeX? What are their pros and cons?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/85 | Cyrillic in (La)TeX | false | `inputenc` + `babel`
--------------------
### Usage
```
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[russian]{babel}
```
### Pros
Standard — works with any LaTeX installation. One can use any encoding in .tex files. Works fine with `hyperref`. It works with `xetex` and `luatex`, too, provided `inputenc` is not loaded and the encoding is UTF-8.
### Cons
With `pdftex`, Cyrillic letters become active symbols — so one can neither define commands with Cyrillic names nor use them in arguments of `\label`, `\cite` etc. Cyrillic letters in .aux and .toc files become unreadable.
**Note**
If you get this error: *Unknown option 'russian'. Either you misspelled it or the language definition file francais.ldf was not found* try installing the `texlive-lang-cyrillic` package. [(source)](https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/139707)
| 65 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/85 | 817 | 562 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/816 | 114 | What are different ways to use Cyrillic in (La)TeX? What are their pros and cons?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/85 | Cyrillic in (La)TeX | false | Cherepanov's `russlh`
---------------------
### Usage
```
%&latex --tcx=koi2t2
\usepackage{russlh}
```
(Can be downloaded e.g. from <http://www.mccme.ru/free-books/p_cher.htm>.)
### Pros
Cyrillic letters are `\catcode`'d to `11` ("letter"); thus, they can be used freely in control sequence names, labels, etc. In text files written by LaTeX (.toc, .aux, .idx, etc.) Russian letters are recoded back to their initial form, which makes these files readable and simplifies the processing of .idx files.
### Cons
One has to (download and) use a non-standard package. Doesn't work with `hyperref` (at least not with the current version).
| 5 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/85 | 818 | 563 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/819 | 241 | I would like to typeset a draft of my document with double linespacing so that my collaborators have space to write in their edits (with a pen). How do I do it?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | Double line spacing | false | Simple: put
```
\usepackage{setspace}
\doublespacing
% or:
%\onehalfspacing
```
into your preamble. ([TeX-FAQ](https://texfaq.org/FAQ-linespace) advises for `setspace` and against `doublespace`.)
| 235 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/42 | 820 | 564 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/823 | 1092 | I know that I can use [`hyperref`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/272/how-to-make-clickable-links-and-cross-references-in-pdfs-produced-by-latex) to make cross-references and hyperlinks clickable. That makes the clickable areas outlined in fluorescent green, however. How can I make the green boxes go away?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | Remove ugly borders around clickable cross-references and hyperlinks | false |
```
\hypersetup{
colorlinks=false,
pdfborder={0 0 0},
}
```
---
**Edit:** Fortunately, this is no longer needed. Since 2011-02-05 (hyperref version 6.82a), you can use the `hidelinks` option to achieve the same result; see [this answer](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/823/remove-ugly-borders-around-clickable-crossreferences-and-hyperlinks/12408#12408).
| 128 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/100 | 824 | 565 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/826 | 241 | How can I make LaTeX use symbols (\*, †, ‡, and so on) instead of numbers to mark footnotes? (The numbers are confusing because I use superscripted numbers for citations.)
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | Symbols instead of numbers as footnote markers | true | Use the [`footmisc`](http://ctan.org/pkg/footmisc) package, with option `symbol`.
here is small example:
```
\usepackage[symbol]{footmisc}
\renewcommand{\thefootnote}{\fnsymbol{footnote}}
\footnote[num]{text}
```
instead of `num` you can put the number of the symbol you like:
```
1 asterisk * 2 dagger † 3 double dagger ‡
4 section symbol § 5 paragraph ¶ 6 parallel lines ‖
7 two asterisks ** 8 two daggers †† 9 two double daggers ‡‡
```
| 167 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/100 | 829 | 566 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/826 | 241 | How can I make LaTeX use symbols (\*, †, ‡, and so on) instead of numbers to mark footnotes? (The numbers are confusing because I use superscripted numbers for citations.)
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | Symbols instead of numbers as footnote markers | false | This can be done by redefining the output of the footnote counter:
```
\renewcommand*{\thefootnote}{\fnsymbol{footnote}}
```
If you would like to switch back to Arabic numbering, you can do it by
```
\renewcommand*{\thefootnote}{\arabic{footnote}}
```
especially if limiting by grouping (curly braces) would cover a too wide scope.
It may be desirable to reset the counter after such a change, such as by
```
\setcounter{footnote}{0}
```
| 195 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 830 | 567 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/825 | 41 | How can I reduce the amount of space around items in an itemized or enumerated list? I would like to reduce the vertical space between items, the space to the left of the bullet, and the space between the bullet and the text.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | Remove space around bullet points in itemized or enumerated list | true | The `paralist` package provides compressed lists, the new environments are called `compactitem`, `compactenum` and `compactdesc`. Use it just like the corresponding standard list environments. It can even keep lists within a paragraph.
The `enumitem` provides more features but also compressed lists, for instance by
```
\usepackage{enumitem}
\setlist{nolistsep,leftmargin=*}
```
`\setlist` modifies all lists, `\setitemize` just `itemize` etc. It takes an optional parameter that stands for the level that should be changed, default it alters all levels. Since `enumitem` allows a lot more customization I prefer it over `paralist`, but the latter is easier to use and fits better to the question here.
| 36 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 831 | 568 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/822 | 130 | I would like to italicize my figure captions and make them smaller. How can I do that?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | Change the font of figure captions | true | It can be done by loading [the `caption` package](https://ctan.org/pkg/caption) and by choosing options or `\captionsetup`, for instance:
```
\usepackage[font={small,it}]{caption}
```
The caption package provides a lot more feature and is very well documented.
| 145 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 832 | 569 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/727 | 21 | I would like to somehow use LaTeX to automatically number constants.
### Some background
As a mathematician, in my daily work there are a lot of throw-away constants which are not extremely important in the discourse. So I will sometimes write inequalities like
```
\[ f(x) \leq c_1 g(x) \leq c_2 (g'(x) + h(x)^2 -3) \leq c_3 \int h(x)^2 \]
```
Since the constants themselves tend not to be important, to conserve alphabets, I call them all 'c' with a subscript. Now, it is a bit of a hassle to
1. keep track manually which numbers I've used up to a given point in the paper, especially if I am working on a large document
2. renumber the constants if I modified an argument. Say if I remove the middle inequality from the example above, for aesthetic purposes it'd much better to have `\[ f(x) \leq c_1 g(x) \leq c_2 \int h(x)^2 \]` instead of `c_3` in the last term. But then I'd have to go back through the document to renumber *all* the constants.
Now sometimes I can solve the problem using the convention that 'c' with no subscripts stands for a constant that can change from line to line. But often that is not feasible (suppose I do need to refer to individual of those constants and verify that they are indeed 'constant' enough for my purpose).
### What I'd like
Now I am aware of the `newcounter` command to define a new counter. I even know how to use it to automatically increment the counter. So I can define a command that prints `c_\thecounter` and increments the counter so I get a running list of constants. So that solves half the problem.
The other half of the problem that I don't know how to deal with is how to *refer* to a constant defined previously. Naively using `label` and `ref`, of course, doesn't work. (I actually don't quite understand the inner workings of those two commands; so an explanation of why they don't work will also be helpful.)
As an illustration of what I'd like, it'd be great to have a pair of commands `\newconstant` and `\oldconstant` which can be used like this
```
% Create some new constants
\[ f(x) \leq \newconstant g(X) \leq \newconstant h(x) \]
% Create a new constant with a label
\[ m \geq \newconstant[cnst:m] m' \]
% Refer to an already defined constant
The constant $\oldconstant{cnst:m}$ defined above is actually 1.
```
Which will display something like
```
f(x) <= c_1 g(x) <= c_2 h(x)
m >= c_3 m'
The constant c_3 defined above is actually 1
```
What I know how to do is to define, say
```
\newcounter{cnstcnt}
\newcommand{\newconstant}{\ensuremath{c_\thecnstcnt}\addtocounter{cnstcnt}{1}}
```
and this will print the running list.
>
> Is there already a package that does this? If not is there a way to get the behaviour I described? (Especially the ability to refer back to a previous constant.)
>
>
>
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/119 | Automatically numbering constants | false | Since asking this question I've also discovered the `constants` package [on CTAN](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/constants/). It does precisely what I want it for, and also saves me brain-cell from having to define my own commands and counters.
In particular one can declare new families of constants by
```
\newconstantfamily{name}{symbol=<symbol>}
```
(one can also tune how the subscripts are displayed etc.) And use this new family by
```
\C[name]
\Cl[name]{label}
\Cr{label}
```
(the first form gives the next constant in family `name`, the second also labels it with `label`, the third refers to whichever constant `label` points to. The default family has its symbol set to C. It also plays well with `hyperref` in the sense that no links are generated for the constants (the way I think it should be).
One note: the command by default is not aware of the mode you are in. So if you want to use mathmode symbols, it may be quicker to define a wrapper
```
\newconstantfamily{errorterms}{symbol=\mathfrak{e}}
\newcommand{\errorterm}{\ensuremath{\C[errorterms]}}
\newcommand{\errorterml}[1]{\ensuremath{\C[errorterms]{#1}}}
...
```
to make typing in textmode more pleasant.
| 15 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/119 | 833 | 570 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/819 | 241 | I would like to typeset a draft of my document with double linespacing so that my collaborators have space to write in their edits (with a pen). How do I do it?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | Double line spacing | true | The [`setspace`](http://ctan.org/pkg/setspace) package does it for you, but it turns doublespacing off within footnotes and floats like `figure` and `table` captions. That's usually desired.
But if you don't want to use `setspace`, perhaps because of the mentioned reason, you could use the command `\linespread`, for instance:
```
\linespread{1.5}
```
A package may be preferred over such a command though.
| 177 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 834 | 571 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/816 | 114 | What are different ways to use Cyrillic in (La)TeX? What are their pros and cons?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/85 | Cyrillic in (La)TeX | false | XeLaTeX
-------
### Usage
```
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fontspec} % loaded by polyglossia, but included here for transparency
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainlanguage{russian}
\setotherlanguage{english}
% XeLaTeX can use any font installed in your system fonts folder
% Linux Libertine in the next line can be replaced with any
% OpenType or TrueType font that supports the Cyrillic script.
\newfontfamily\russianfont[Script=Cyrillic]{Linux Libertine}
\begin{document}
Привет
\begin{english}
Hello!
\end{english}
\end{document}
```
Compile with `xelatex`.
### Pros
Works out of the box in fresh TeX distributions. Cyrillic letters can be used freely in control sequence names, labels, etc.
### Cons
One needs a pretty modern TeX distribution. (What else?)
| 46 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/85 | 835 | 572 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/821 | 20 | I would like to mark the parts of my document that have changed since the last revision with vertical bars in the margin. Is there a package to help with this?
Is there a tool that can compare two files and automatically add bars in the appropriate places, or do I have to insert markup manually?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | Mark changes since last edition with bars in the margin | false | Marking changes:
* the [changebar package](http://ctan.org/pkg/changebar) allows marking changes by bars. Not automatically, it has to be done by commands:`\cbstart` and `\cbend`. Change may can be nested within each other and with other environments, they can be colored and can cross page boundaries.
* the [chbar package](http://ctan.org/pkg/chbar) is an alternative for plain TeX.
Comparing files:
* Since LaTeX files are text documents
you could use any [diff tool](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diff)
comparing txt files and printing out
the differences.
| 17 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 836 | 573 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/816 | 114 | What are different ways to use Cyrillic in (La)TeX? What are their pros and cons?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/85 | Cyrillic in (La)TeX | false | Mixing Cyrillic and Latin letters
---------------------------------
The basic idea is to use `babel` and `inputenc` (like [inputenc+babel](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/816/cyrillic-in-latex/817#817)). Your document looks like:
```
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[OT2, T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[russian, english]{babel}
\begin{document}
\foreignlanguage{russian}{Druzhba} means friendship.
\end{document}
```
Especially important is `OT2`-encoding and `russian` as option to `babel`. The command `\foreignlanguage` allows you to switch between English and Russian.
### Pros
* You don't need a Cyrillic keyboard.
* Nearly every LaTeX system has `OT2`.
* `babel` also offers specific names e.g. for the table of contents (Содержание), table of ..
### Cons
* Hyphenation does not work perfect.
* Using `OT2` encoding is like a poor man's alternative to `T2A`
Some time ago I wrote a blog post in German: [Kyrillischen Text mit LaTeX setzen](http://www.kubieziel.de/blog/archives/858-Kyrillischen-Text-mit-LaTeX-setzen.html)
| 26 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/201 | 838 | 574 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/816 | 114 | What are different ways to use Cyrillic in (La)TeX? What are their pros and cons?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/85 | Cyrillic in (La)TeX | false | Using UTF-8
-----------
If you're using UTF-8, you have a Russian keyboard and you want to type only Russian texts, the best would be:
```
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T2A]{fontenc}
\begin{document}
ЛаТеХ
\end{document}
```
This way you don't have to change your behaviour. Typing LaTeX texts is as easy as typing other texts. Usually you also have correct hyphenation patterns, so you can use the full feature set of LaTeX. :-)
| 17 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/201 | 839 | 575 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/837 | 44 | My institution's letterhead is available as a PDF file. The PDF is not just of the logo (to be placed in a corner), but of the entire page. Is it possible to make this PDF the background of the first page of my document?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | PDF letterhead as document background | true | You can accomplish this with the [`wallpaper` package](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/wallpaper/). It has many options for creating background images that are tiled, centered, and scaled, on every page or only specific ones. In your case if the letterhead is contained in `lh.pdf` then you simply need
```
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{wallpaper}
\ULCornerWallPaper{1}{lh.pdf}
\begin{document}
Your text on the letterhead
\end{document}
```
The key command in this case is of course `\ULCornerWallPaper{<scale>}{<file>}` that places the image contained in `<file>` in the upper-left corner, scaled by a factor of `<scale>`.
| 55 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/32 | 840 | 576 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/828 | 5 | Is there a way to determine the height of the current line? More specifically, after the hbox comprising the current line is finalized, I'd like to determine it's height (and perhaps also depth) and write this information to an auxiliary file. The application I have in mind is placing something in the margin which is vertically aligned with the center of the current line, rather than with the baseline of the current line. I'm primarily interested in the case where the current line is a displayed equation.
(This is a more focused version of [this older question](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/464/aligning-marginal-notes-with-center-of-line-rather-than-baseline).)
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/203 | Determining the height of the current line, especially in displayed math | false | Unfortunately I don't know how to answer your more general question, but it sounds as if the [`marginnote` package](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/marginnote/) will help with the problem that motivated it. By using the `\marginnote` command in conjunction with its `<voffset>` option you can manually change to vertical alignment of the margin note arbitrarily. For example, the margin note in the following example is vertically aligned with the equation:
```
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{marginnote}
\begin{document}
Here is some text.
\[
F(b)-F(a)
=
\int_a^b f(x)dx
\marginnote{A form of the fundamental theorem of calculus}[-2em]
\]
Here's a little more text.
\end{document}
```
| 2 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/32 | 841 | 577 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/837 | 44 | My institution's letterhead is available as a PDF file. The PDF is not just of the logo (to be placed in a corner), but of the entire page. Is it possible to make this PDF the background of the first page of my document?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | PDF letterhead as document background | false | The package [`eso-pic`](http://ctan.org/pkg/eso-pic) allows to include a background image at each page but also on a single page.
Another option is to use the [`textpos`](http://ctan.org/pkg/textpos) package that can put a box at a position on the page behind the text. It can be used together with `\includegraphics` and a PDF file.
| 10 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 842 | 578 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/528 | 161 | What are some good **tutorials** on writing custom styles (classes) that clearly explain commands used and some of the features that TeX has to offer in the way of styles?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/142 | Style/class tutorials | false | While I cannot point to a pre-built 'how to' guide, I can at least try to provide some pointers here. The first point to remember is that LaTeX2e is rather weak at providing documented 'hooks' for customisation in the kernel. As a result, a lot has to be done by loading support packages.
At the most basic, a class is a collection of instructions to alter the standard formatting. Many simple classes therefore start out as little more than a customised preamble spun out into a separate file. Unless you are very experienced, it is likely that the best place to start a custom class is by loading one of the standard ones, for example
```
\LoadClass{article}
```
It's then possible to load a selection of packages (using `\RequirePackage` rather than `\usepackage`), to allow modification. Obvious examples here would be `geometry`, `float`, `caption`, various font packages, *etc*. Quite a lot can be achieved by simply bundling up a group of support packages and appropriate options into one file.
The next thing to consider is providing custom commands. These might be as simply as something like
```
\newcommand\subject[1]{%
\begin{center}
\bfseries
#1%
\end{center}
}
```
which I do in a slightly-customised letter class for my own use. Of course, what makes sense here will depend on what you want. Custom commands might of course depend on packages that you know will be loaded as they are included in the list for the class.
The next thing that people tend to do in custom classes is simple redefinition of LaTeX internals. The most obvious one is `\@maketitle`, which you may well want to modify. Remember that class files set `@` as a letter, so `\makeatletter` *is not needed*. At this stage, modifications tend to be made by starting with the existing code and altering it. The LaTeX2e kernel classes (`article.cls`, `report.cls`, *etc*.) and the kernel itself (`latex.ltx`) are the first port of call for code to modify. Taking the `\@maketitle` example, the version from `article.cls` reads
```
\def\@maketitle{%
\newpage
\null
\vskip 2em%
\begin{center}%
\let \footnote \thanks
{\LARGE \@title \par}%
\vskip 1.5em%
{\large
\lineskip .5em%
\begin{tabular}[t]{c}%
\@author
\end{tabular}\par}%
\vskip 1em%
{\large \@date}%
\end{center}%
\par
\vskip 1.5em}
```
So obvious changes are to alter the spacing or fonts.
Beyond that, you are in to serious (La)TeX programming, where I'd suggest writing some of the code as a package and requiring it from the class might be better. This is a complex subject, and I think is not the way to start out learning how to write class files!
| 44 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/73 | 844 | 579 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/845 | 13 | I want to create a command set that allows me to do something like
```
\nestedlist{
\listitem An item
\sublist{
\listitem A sub item
\listitem Another sub item
}
}
```
and get
1. An item
1.1 A sub item
1.2 Another sub item
etc, but with infinite depth (that is, I want to be able to use `\sublist` recursively, without specifying on beforehand how many nesting levels are allowed, or having to write extra code to allow another level).
I tried an approach with one counter to keep track of the current depth, and one per nesting level to keep track of the numbers. However, when I try to create the number counters with
```
\newcounter{n\arabic{depth}}
```
I get an error the second time I reach a nesting level, since the counter is already defined. Is there any way to check if the counter is already defined, and if it is just set it to zero (or whatever number is appropriate)?
And as a side note: Is there already some package where this functionality is provided? My requirements are that there should be no limit on the nesting depth, and on each item, the entire "breadcrumb" should be shown as the bullet.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/223 | Infinite-depth list | true | The [`paralist`](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/paralist/) package provides the package option `pointedenum` (or `pointlessenum` depending on whether you want 1.1.1. or 1.1.1) that makes the `enumerate` environment behave in exactly this way. If you only want to use this on some enums, you can define (with `paralist` loaded)
```
\newenvironment{myenum}%
{\pointedenum\begin{enumerate}}%
{\end{enumerate}}
```
The same works with `\pointlessenum`.
| 16 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/83 | 846 | 580 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/823 | 1092 | I know that I can use [`hyperref`](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/272/how-to-make-clickable-links-and-cross-references-in-pdfs-produced-by-latex) to make cross-references and hyperlinks clickable. That makes the clickable areas outlined in fluorescent green, however. How can I make the green boxes go away?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | Remove ugly borders around clickable cross-references and hyperlinks | false | I use something like
```
\usepackage{xcolor}
\hypersetup{
colorlinks,
linkcolor={red!50!black},
citecolor={blue!50!black},
urlcolor={blue!80!black}
}
```
This gets rid of the ugly color boxes, but uses dark colored fonts which still make it clear that they are clickable.
| 444 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/169 | 847 | 581 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/815 | 11 | I'm using multibib to typeset two "bibliographies": references and bibliographies. My supervisors don't want any keys/number in the text nor in the bibliographies section. I'm using `\nocite{key}` to suppress the key appearance in the text, but this still generates citations keys in the bibliography section. How do I simply insert full citation without a key (inverse of what is printed by the `\cite`)?
**Example**
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.[1] Vivamus urna nisi, mattis eget convallis eget, sollicitudin eget quam. Duis lobortis odio vitae nulla vestibulum id suscipit ante elementum. Nulla vitae justo nec risus vehicula commodo.[2] Aenean commodo diam eget mi tincidunt condimentum. Nunc dolor nibh, mollis in vehicula auctor, porta aliquam lorem. Ut sagittis ipsum vel lorem sagittis sed bibendum ipsum molesti
**References**
[1] *Citation*
[2] *Citation*
**Bibliography**
*Citation*
*Citation* - This one is best to read last.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/137 | How to instert full citation, instead of citation key? List of Author's publication? | true | Use whatever bibliography style you're currently using to `\cite` and render your references section. Then use the `bibentry` package to generate your bibliography section.
| 9 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/169 | 848 | 582 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/821 | 20 | I would like to mark the parts of my document that have changed since the last revision with vertical bars in the margin. Is there a package to help with this?
Is there a tool that can compare two files and automatically add bars in the appropriate places, or do I have to insert markup manually?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/35 | Mark changes since last edition with bars in the margin | false | See latexdiff on ctan:
>
> Latexdiff is a Perl script for visual mark up and revision of significant differences between two latex files. Various options are available for visual markup using standard latex packages such as color . Changes not directly affecting visible text, for example in formatting commands, are still marked in the latex source. A rudimentary revision facilility is provided by another Perl script, latexrevise, which accepts or rejects all changes. Manual editing of the difference file can be used to override this default behaviour and accept or reject selected changes only.
>
| 10 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/179 | 849 | 583 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/851 | 55 | I'd like to set `$1024 \times 768$` without any space between the three items. Is this possible? If so, how?
E.g., what I get is:
>
> 1024 x 768
>
>
>
and what I want is:
>
> 1024x768
>
>
>
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/27 | Removing spaces between "words" in math mode | true | Math binary operators and relations automatically add appropriate spaces between the symbol and their operands. If you want to remove this space, you can turn the operator into a regular symbol by enclosing it in braces. For example
```
$1024 {\times} 768$
```
If you will be using this often you can also define a new command and say something like
```
\newcommand{\stimes}{{\times}}
$1024 \stimes 768$
```
where `\stimes` is a *symbol* version of the `\times` *operator*.
| 76 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/169 | 852 | 584 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/851 | 55 | I'd like to set `$1024 \times 768$` without any space between the three items. Is this possible? If so, how?
E.g., what I get is:
>
> 1024 x 768
>
>
>
and what I want is:
>
> 1024x768
>
>
>
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/27 | Removing spaces between "words" in math mode | false | Perhaps defining it as an ordinary math symbol might be better than just enclose it in braces and expect that would do it now and in the future. So, I would use `\mathord`:
```
$1024\mathord{\times}768$
```
| 12 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 853 | 585 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/855 | 56 | If so, how? Do I need any additional software?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Can I create music sheets with LaTeX? | true | I'd instead use [LilyPond](http://lilypond.org/), which, though not based on TeX at all, has similar goals of human-readable plain-text source files and beautiful, customizable output.
| 55 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/9 | 858 | 586 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/857 | 14 | I have and extensive database with references in form of an SQL database. How can I use this information in BibTeX?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Is it possible to use sql database for BibTeX? | false | One idea would be to use one of the many python APIs for SQL, and pipe that to one of the python modules that output bibtex
| 2 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/103 | 859 | 587 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/857 | 14 | I have and extensive database with references in form of an SQL database. How can I use this information in BibTeX?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Is it possible to use sql database for BibTeX? | true | Nelson Beebe gave [a talk at TUG 2009](http://river-valley.zeeba.tv/tag/nelson-beebe/) on using SQL databases for bibliographic purposes as a replacement for BibTeX. The program is [bibsql](http://www.math.utah.edu/pub/bibsql/) and looks very promising, but I haven't used it myself.
You can read more details and examples in his paper in [TUGboat 30(2)](http://www.tug.org/TUGboat/Contents/contents30-2.html).
| 15 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/179 | 860 | 588 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/854 | 58 | I have created a template and some macros that I would like to share. How can I contribute them to CTAN?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | How can I contribute to CTAN? | true | Great! The process is simple. Everything is explained on the upload page (see below for the actual links). My own guidelines are listed below.
1. Make sure the material is licensed appropriately. Most LaTeX package are licensed under the LPPL, but you can also use the GPL or one of the Apache/BSD/MIT licenses if you wish.
2. Make sure that you include the sources to any pre-built files (where appropriate: files such as images do not have 'sources'). PDFs without source files are not permitted in TeX Live. The usual system for LaTeX packages is to use a DTX file as a combined source/documentation file that can be typeset to PDF, or extracted to a STY or CLS file using an INS file -- this is known as the ‘docstrip’ system. See Scott Pakin's [dtxtut](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/dtxtut/) for good guidelines here.
3. If you're not using docstrip for your package source, make sure the material is documented; a package without PDF documentation will probably not be accepted these days. Remember to include a readme file (called `README`, i.e., without an extension) that briefly explains the package.
4. Check the naming of things. The names of your files shouldn't conflict with anything on CTAN or anything in TeX Live/MiKTeX. The more specific the name can be, the better. E.g., don't call a conference class anything like `conference.cls`; refer explicitly to which conference it is to be used for, such as `active-conf-2006.cls`.
Having done that, take your files and bundle them up in a ZIP or TAR.BZ (or etc.) archive and [upload it](http://ctan.org/upload/).
| 60 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/179 | 861 | 589 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/854 | 58 | I have created a template and some macros that I would like to share. How can I contribute them to CTAN?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | How can I contribute to CTAN? | false | I see Will has answered this, but I'm going to give the same information in a slightly different form!
The upload page at <http://www.ctan.org/upload> contains some advice, as well as an upload form. You only have to upload the files themselves, but it is usual to include some kind of README file and also probably some documentation. If you have a package called 'mypkg', you might therefore want to upload:
* mypkg.sty, the package itself
* mypkg.pdf, the documentation
* mypkg.tex, the source for the documentation (needed to get the documentation into TeX Live)
* README, the readme file
All of that needs to go into a single zip file, which you then upload.
A lot of LaTeX packages are written in 'dtx' format, which puts the source for the documentation and the code into one file. This is also used to document the code itself. If you use dtx format, then you'd upload
* mypkg.dtx, the source file
* mypkg.ins, used to unpack the dtx file
* mypkg.pdf, the documentation
* README, the readme file
Again, everything goes into one zip file and gets uploaded using the form on the CTAN website.
There are additional things that you can upload, but to begin with I think this is where to start.
| 48 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/73 | 862 | 590 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/850 | 13 | Imagine I have two commands defined as
```
\def\witharg#1{something with #1}
\def\without{something without arg}
```
and I want to define a new command `\mycmd` that behaves as `\witharg` if it's followed by an argument (not necessarily enclosed in braces), and behaves like `\without` if it is not followed by an argument. In fact, the later case can only be true if `\mycmd` is followed by the token `}`. To make things slightly more clear, I want
```
{\mycmd\token\mycmd}
```
to expand to something similar to the expansion of
```
{\witharg{\token}\without}
```
How can I achieve this?
Note that, in fact, trying to evaluate something like `{\witharg}` fails with TeX complaining that there is an extra `}`, i.e. the argument to `\witharg` is missing.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/169 | How can I test if a command is followed by an argument? | true | Whenever you need to check what comes next after a macro, the primitive to use is generally `\futurelet` (see TeX by Topic for a good reference). In this case, you'd write something like
```
\def\mycmd{%
\futurelet\mytoken\myargparse
}
```
which will `\let` the following token to `\mytoken` and then expand `\myargparse`. Define `\myargparse` to be conditional on what `\mytoken` is, and that's it:
```
\def\myargparse{%
\ifx\mytoken\closingbracetoken
\expandafter\without
\else
\expandafter\witharg
\fi
}
\let\closingbracetoken=}
```
Finally, check that it works:
```
\def\witharg#1{something with #1}
\def\without{something without arg}
\def\token{TOK}
{\mycmd\token\mycmd}
```
| 18 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/179 | 863 | 591 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/856 | 23 | Certainly, there must be some way to somewhat create a list of words suggested to be included in an index.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Is there an automatic process to create index creation? | false | As others have mentioned, trying to automate this task would be close to impossible. But if you want to get some very rough hints of words for yourself, this is something I would try (note, requires some scripting):
Use `detex` or something to strip the TeX markup and then write a small script that counts the number of time each word has been used in the document. The top words in the list will probably be useless words like `a`, `the`, `is`, etc. But, after those, you might be able to find a few promising words.
| 12 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/169 | 864 | 592 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/855 | 56 | If so, how? Do I need any additional software?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Can I create music sheets with LaTeX? | false | There's also [MusiXTeX](https://icking-music-archive.org/software/htdocs/) or old site <https://icking-music-archive.org/software/indexmt6-2012-12.html> for the actual typesetting ([CTAN](http://tug.ctan.org/cgi-bin/ctanPackageInformation.py?id=musixtex)). A bit of searching turned up [this page](http://noteedit.berlios.de/doc/musixtex_export_appendix.html) about exporting from LilyPond to MusiXTeX.
| 24 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/86 | 865 | 593 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/855 | 56 | If so, how? Do I need any additional software?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Can I create music sheets with LaTeX? | false | In addition to MusiXTeX, there's also [GregorioTeX](http://gregorio-project.github.io/gregoriotex/) for gregorian chant. It's apparently very well suited to typesetting this particular type of scores, and is actively maintained.
| 20 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/170 | 866 | 594 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/867 | 62 | Is there any way to include Python code in a LaTeX file and automatically color its syntax? Is it possible to do syntax coloring with any other language? If yes what packages can I use to do that?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/230 | Syntax Coloring in LaTeX | true | The standard way of doing this is to use the [`listings`](http://ctan.org/pkg/listings) package. It allows a wide range of formatting for the output, can choose to display only part of an input file and so on. The package also comes with a number of predefined languages it understands, including Python.
| 44 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/73 | 869 | 595 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/868 | 13 | This is a follow-up to [this question](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/854/how-can-i-contribute-to-ctan) on contributing to CTAN, but it applies to the situation when writing ones own package for private use. In brief, the question is:
>
> Is there a way to avoid name-clashes with defining macros?
>
>
>
In a bit more detail, I know that `\newcommand` checks this, but I find that I need the flexibility of `\def`. Also, I tend to define a lot of *internal* commands that then get used in various ways in the ones that the user actually uses and I suspect that many others do the same. It's a lot harder to go through every package and check that every command is "clean", especially since many will be defined via the `\csname` construction. On the other hand, because most of the commands are internal, I'd be quite happy to simply add a unique prefix to each of them to avoid such a conflict. For example, at the moment all my internal commands are prefixed `\my@` and external ones `\my` (with the exception of one package that was written specifically for one paper which gets `\hopf@` and `\hopf` respectively).
So, expanding on my question above:
>
> 1. Is there a convention on CTAN to avoid conflicting names?
> 2. Is there an automatic way to avoid conflicts when loading a package?
>
>
>
(I should confess that I strongly doubt that there is a positive answer to the second question since so many packages rely on being able to redefine macros defined by other packages; still, the programmers seem to be able to cope with this so I do wonder if TeXperts can as well.)
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/86 | How do I avoid clashes with macro names in packages? | true | It's impossible to check everything, as you say. One way people work when they need the power of `\def` is to use `\newcommand` first:
```
\newcommand\wibble{}
\def\wibble#1stuff#2{%
...
```
Alternatively, you can use `\@ifundefined` to do the testing.
For internal macros, the usual method is to pick a prefix that you hope no-one else is using. This tends to work best if you simply use the package name you've picked, which of course you can check on CTAN:
```
\def\mypkg@internal@one{%
...
```
For user macros, some people use a similar approach, especially if the macros are only used rarely: something like `\MyPkgMacroNameOne`. Of course, this can be rather awkward as the names get quite long.
With my LaTeX3 'hat' on, I'd point out that we are trying to come up with a scheme for LaTeX3 that will be more flexible and reliable. I can't say we have a definitive answer at the moment, and so suggestions are welcome!
| 13 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/73 | 870 | 596 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/843 | 60 | Maybe TeX isn't the best for this particular problem, but any teachers out there use a particular class or package to plan lessons? Right now I'm just using a spreadsheet, but I always find myself wishing there was a 'lessonplan.sty' or 'classschedule.sty' file out there somewhere so I could still use the LaTeX for equations, tables, lists etc.
A bit of searching yielded a few results, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus. Anyone used any of these:
<http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/calendar/>
<http://www.sultanik.com/LaTeX_calendar_style>
<http://tug.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/termcal/>
Any recommendations from anyone on best way to make calendar-based class schedules and/or lesson plans?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/90 | LaTeX Classes or Styles for Schedules and/or Calendars? | false | I don't know of one, but a few years' back I developed a layout for a scheme-of-work. It's a bit long to cut-and-paste here so I've put the [tex file](https://docs.mathforge.org/scheme_of_work_example.tex) and [pdf file](https://docs.mathforge.org/scheme_of_work_example.pdf) on my website.
It's not very sophisticated: at heart, it's simply a big table and a load of wrapper commands to make it obvious how to put the right pieces in to the right places. If it's of any use, you're welcome to use it!
| 10 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/86 | 871 | 597 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/855 | 56 | If so, how? Do I need any additional software?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Can I create music sheets with LaTeX? | false | I'd go for Lilypond, myself (see Ben Alpert's answer), but note that there's a [TeX FAQ page of discussion about the alternatives](https://texfaq.org/FAQ-music)
| 15 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/96 | 873 | 598 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/875 | 104 | What's the best way to draw UML class diagrams in LaTeX?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/97 | Typesetting UML class diagrams | false | While I guess there are nicer ways to do it, I recently came across [this example on texample.net](http://www.texample.net/tikz/examples/class-diagram/) on one way to produce UML diagrams with TikZ.
| 7 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/83 | 876 | 599 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/874 | 27 | India has recently introduced a new symbol for its currency, the Indian rupee -- see <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_rupee_sign>. How can I typeset this in TeX / LaTeX?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/232 | Indian rupee symbol | true | [Linux Libertine](http://ctan.org/pkg/libertine) v4.8.4 already supports the new rupee sign. From the [changelog](http://mirror.ctan.org/fonts/libertine/doc/fonts/libertine/ChangeLog.txt):
>
> Changes to version 4.8.0 regular(-) &
> italic(/) & capitals (C) (20100430)
>
>
> ...
>
>
> * new Indian Rupee symbol uni20A8
>
>
>
| 21 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 879 | 600 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/872 | 40 | I once saw a maths journal which offered PDFs of published papers, where the bibliographic references were formatted as PDF annotations: if you moused over a reference in the text, the bibliography entry would appear in a pop-up window, without having to jump to the end of the file and inevitably have to spend ages re-finding where you were in the text.
Does anyone know of a way of producing this effect automatically using BibTeX?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/232 | Pop-up references in PDF output | true | Pop-up annotations can be made using the [`pdfcomment` package](http://ctan.org/pkg/pdfcomment), but I haven't seen an automatic way yet. But you could redefine a cite macro to use, for instance, `\pdfmarkupcomment` for the output.
| 27 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 880 | 601 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/45 | 105 | The slowest part is a dozen of diagrams in `TikZ.`
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/69 | How to speed up LaTeX compilation with several TikZ pictures? | false | If it's your TikZ graphics that are taking a long time, use the [`standalone`](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/standalone/) package to have them in a separate file.
As for more general hints, if you are compiling a big document, but you only really need part of it to compile (e.g. if you're compiling a book, but only chapter 3 has changed) split the file into several files and use `\include` to put it all together. Then you can use `\includeonly{chapter3}` for example, and only chapter 3 will be compiled. This is useful for compulsive recompiliers like me...
| 8 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/215 | 881 | 602 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/875 | 104 | What's the best way to draw UML class diagrams in LaTeX?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/97 | Typesetting UML class diagrams | true | * [MetaUML](https://github.com/ogheorghies/MetaUML) is a MetaPost library for typesetting UML diagrams with a human-friendly textual notation. Another useful package is emp. It allows to embed Metapost code and therefore MetaUML inside a LaTeX document
* [`pst-uml`](http://ctan.org/pkg/pst-uml) is a PSTricks package providing support for drawing UML diagrams.
* [`uml`](http://ctan.org/pkg/uml) is another package using PSTricks implementing at least a subset
* [pgf/TikZ](http://ctan.org/pkg/pgf) is so feature rich that it can be used for typesetting UML diagrams as well
* [`tikz-uml`](https://perso.ensta-paris.fr/%7Ekielbasi/tikzuml/index.php?lang=en) is a UML-specialized TikZ package
| 83 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 882 | 603 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/875 | 104 | What's the best way to draw UML class diagrams in LaTeX?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/97 | Typesetting UML class diagrams | false | (Lifted from Dima's answer to [my question on flowcharts](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/723/how-to-typeset-flowcharts-in-latex).) You can also use the Dot language and [GraphViz](http://www.graphviz.org/). With [UMLGraph](http://www.umlgraph.org/) you can generate GraphViz specs, and use [dot2tex](http://www.fauskes.net/nb/introducing-dot2tex/) or Mark Aufflick's [graphviz.sty](http://mark.aufflick.com/blog/2007/03/25/embedding-graphviz-in-latex-documents) to embed the graphs into LaTeX.
| 8 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/119 | 884 | 604 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/885 | 78 | I need to generate documents from a web application and would like to do this using the Python language and LaTeX, are there any tools that will help me?
**Edit**
This Application will be hosted on Linux, we can run any external commands using popen, there is currently no defined input document format, nor any storage format, but output to the end user should be PDF.
**Edit 2**
These documents will have complex tables, graphs, and require typeset equations - hence the reason to use LaTeX. We would also prefer not to use intermediate files such as xml->html->pdf
Ideally I would like something like pyTeX or plasTeX that could render directly to PDF.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/43 | How can I use LaTeX from Python. | false | [PyTeX](http://www.pytex.org/) is an Open Source project allowing to use TeX from within Python.
| 16 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 886 | 605 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/349 | 100 | I understand that some packages (like PSTricks) can't be used with pdflatex.
Are there any other differences between these tools?
Can we say that pdflatex is better if we don't care about ps?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/69 | What is the practical difference between latex and pdflatex? | false | The most important practical difference for me is that with *pdflatex* I can use PDF images instead of EPS.
| 18 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/30 | 887 | 606 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/485 | 87 |
>
> **Possible Duplicate:**
>
> [How to add a forced line break inside a table cell](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/2441/how-to-add-a-forced-line-break-inside-a-table-cell)
>
>
>
In a table I would like to have a line break in the text inside a cell. Is there an easy way to do so, or do I have to create a new line without borders? The same holds true for other situations such as breaking a line in a caption for instance.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/124 | How to break a line in a table | false | Regarding line breaks in captions: if you use the `caption` package `\\` works. In the optional argument you should protect it. Here's a demonstration example:
```
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[font=small,labelfont=bf]{caption}
\begin{document}
\listoffigures
\bigskip
\begin{figure}[hb]
\centering Test
\caption[Short\protect\\text]{Test\\example}
\end{figure}
\end{document}
```
Because the `caption` package provides a lot of features regarding justification and customization I would not work without it. But if you really wish to avoid this package, it can also be done using `\parbox`. The optional positioning parameter `t` might be useful:
```
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\listoffigures
\bigskip
\begin{figure}[hb]
\centering Test
\caption[Short\protect\\text]{\parbox[t]{0.2\textwidth}{Just a Test\\example}}
\end{figure}
\end{document}
```
| 5 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/213 | 888 | 607 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/885 | 78 | I need to generate documents from a web application and would like to do this using the Python language and LaTeX, are there any tools that will help me?
**Edit**
This Application will be hosted on Linux, we can run any external commands using popen, there is currently no defined input document format, nor any storage format, but output to the end user should be PDF.
**Edit 2**
These documents will have complex tables, graphs, and require typeset equations - hence the reason to use LaTeX. We would also prefer not to use intermediate files such as xml->html->pdf
Ideally I would like something like pyTeX or plasTeX that could render directly to PDF.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/43 | How can I use LaTeX from Python. | false | While I love LaTeX, you probably don't want or need TeX to solve your problem. Check out [ReportLab Toolkit](http://www.reportlab.com/software/opensource/rl-toolkit/)
| 7 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/242 | 889 | 608 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/341 | 385 | I want to create posters for my poster presentation on a conference. What tools or LaTeX classes are available for preparing posters ?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/183 | How to create posters using LaTeX | false | [`a0poster`](http://www.ctan.org/pkg/a0poster) and [`sciposter`](http://www.ctan.org/pkg/sciposter) are two document classes that are designed to help you make posters. `a0poster` worked better for me.
| 22 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/215 | 890 | 609 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/492 | 12 | The current guides online and in texdoc that I could find did not deal with the problem I have.
1. How to generate font metrics for system installed TrueType and OpenType fonts?
2. How to generate font maps? What is a difference between font maps for regular T1, TrueType and OpenType fonts?
3. Where to place those things and what "databases" do I need to update to make latex and friends "see" those fonts?
4. How to generate raster fonts for TrueType and OpenType fonts and how to install them?
The current documentation I could find didn't answer quickly and straight to the point about it. I don't want "programmers" guide to fonts. I want "user's and packaging" guide to fonts. Please point to existing resource or provided references to pages / section from texdoc.
**EDIT**
Dead-end or not deadend, in the end of the day I need to generate PDF/A documents with embedded metadata. The PDF/A metadata is only possible with pdfTeX engine and pdf-x package. And I want embedded custom ttf fonts in those PDF/A documents.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/137 | Where to find nitty-gritty details about TeX and friends' font handling systems? | false | Use LuaTeX + luaotfload + fontspec. Don't waste your time trying to learn a dead end technology. I have been doing a lot of font installation (also for money). This is awful.
| 2 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/243 | 891 | 610 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/856 | 23 | Certainly, there must be some way to somewhat create a list of words suggested to be included in an index.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Is there an automatic process to create index creation? | false | In addition to what Juan A. Navarro suggested, I'd say that words which occur in chapter and section titles are likely candidates for indexing. *E.g.,* if section 2.3 is entitled "The Virasoro Algebra", then that's probably a sufficiently important topic that other occurrences of "Virasoro algebra" should be indexed. You could write a script (in your favourite scripting language) to pull out the arguments to `\section` commands and the like, throw out the prepositions and articles and sort the remainder by frequency. How your script will know that the words *Virasoro* and *algebra* go together . . . well, either you [call `import skynet` and live with the consequences](http://xkcd.com/521/), or you do some manual work with its output.
Other things to check could include words which are capitalized when not at the beginning of a sentence and words set in emphatic type.
| 6 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/112 | 892 | 611 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/885 | 78 | I need to generate documents from a web application and would like to do this using the Python language and LaTeX, are there any tools that will help me?
**Edit**
This Application will be hosted on Linux, we can run any external commands using popen, there is currently no defined input document format, nor any storage format, but output to the end user should be PDF.
**Edit 2**
These documents will have complex tables, graphs, and require typeset equations - hence the reason to use LaTeX. We would also prefer not to use intermediate files such as xml->html->pdf
Ideally I would like something like pyTeX or plasTeX that could render directly to PDF.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/43 | How can I use LaTeX from Python. | false | [PyX](http://pyx.sourceforge.net/) is a useful package if you want graphs and charts.
| 7 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/251 | 893 | 612 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/326 | 100 | Aside from CTAN, what are good resources/repositories for Latex templates? In particular, I'm looking for some pretty Thesis templates (I'm familiar with classicthesis)
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/171 | LaTeX templates for writing a thesis | false | There is an unofficial class [sapthesis](http://biccari.altervista.org/c/informatica/latex/sapthesis.php) for the Laurea, Laurea Specialistica and Dottorato degrees at the *La Sapienza* university of Rome.
| 5 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/260 | 894 | 613 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/895 | 11 |
>
> **Possible Duplicate:**
>
> [LaTeX template for resume/curriculum vitae](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/80/latex-template-for-resume-curriculum-vitae)
>
>
>
Which class do you recommend to write a CV? The answer will probably be different depending on the CV being used in the academia or in an external context (the former will probably be more "serious", and certainly it will not include a photo).
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/260 | Class for Curriculum Vitae | false | I've been using [moderncv](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/moderncv/) so far -- it gets the job done and has some pretty neat templates to get started.
| 3 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/267 | 896 | 614 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/867 | 62 | Is there any way to include Python code in a LaTeX file and automatically color its syntax? Is it possible to do syntax coloring with any other language? If yes what packages can I use to do that?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/230 | Syntax Coloring in LaTeX | false | While `listings` package is good, it has some deficiencies, especially in Unicode support. I'd recommend trying out [`minted`](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/minted/), which uses the output of [Pygments](http://pygments.org/), which is more likely to get grammar updates than `listings`.
| 48 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/267 | 898 | 615 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/867 | 62 | Is there any way to include Python code in a LaTeX file and automatically color its syntax? Is it possible to do syntax coloring with any other language? If yes what packages can I use to do that?
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/230 | Syntax Coloring in LaTeX | false | Another package to consider is [`fancyvrb`](https://www.ctan.org/pkg/fancyvrb). It is a bit more general than `listings` as it provides an expanded verbatim environment where listings focuses specifically on formatting source code- this means you can pull some tricks with `listings` that are not possible with `fancyvrb`. However, `fancyvrb` is the package used by the [Sphinx](http://sphinx.pocoo.org/) documentation generator to highlight source code in PDF output.
If you are documenting some Python code, you may want to look into using Sphinx anyway- it is the bee's knees.
Another package that looks promising is [`minted`](https://www.ctan.org/pkg/minted). This package allows you to format code using [Pygments](http://pygments.org/) which is a very sophisticated syntax highlighter written in Python.
| 5 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/17 | 899 | 616 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/856 | 23 | Certainly, there must be some way to somewhat create a list of words suggested to be included in an index.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/63 | Is there an automatic process to create index creation? | true | I suggest you look at the script [make-index.py](https://github.com/stacks/stacks-project/blob/master/scripts/make_index.py) (and related files) in the scripts folder of the download page at the Stacks Project (<http://www.math.columbia.edu/algebraic_geometry/stacks-git/>). The index it generates isn't really ideal, but at least their strategy will give you some idea how to get started. They seem to take the approach that (in a gigantic math textbook) the things which most deserve to be in the index are the italicized word(s) or phrase(s) in each definition environment. In my experience using math books, the most common reason I look something up in the index is to learn its definition, so this seems appropriate, although maybe not for books in other subjects. However you might be able to use the Stacks Project script as a guide to automate the creation of an index which suits your own needs, even if they are very different.
| 13 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/259 | 900 | 617 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/895 | 11 |
>
> **Possible Duplicate:**
>
> [LaTeX template for resume/curriculum vitae](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/80/latex-template-for-resume-curriculum-vitae)
>
>
>
Which class do you recommend to write a CV? The answer will probably be different depending on the CV being used in the academia or in an external context (the former will probably be more "serious", and certainly it will not include a photo).
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/260 | Class for Curriculum Vitae | false | I usually use `currvita`:
```
\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage[openbib]{currvita}
\begin{document}
\begin{cv}{CV}
\begin{cvlist}{Personal Data}
\item Name
\item Address
\end{cvlist}
\begin{cvlist}{Occupation}
\item[1999--2003] CEO of FooBar Inc.
\end{cvlist}
\cvplace{Teh Internetz}
\date{\today{}}
\end{cv}
\end{document}
```
| 2 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/201 | 901 | 618 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/492 | 12 | The current guides online and in texdoc that I could find did not deal with the problem I have.
1. How to generate font metrics for system installed TrueType and OpenType fonts?
2. How to generate font maps? What is a difference between font maps for regular T1, TrueType and OpenType fonts?
3. Where to place those things and what "databases" do I need to update to make latex and friends "see" those fonts?
4. How to generate raster fonts for TrueType and OpenType fonts and how to install them?
The current documentation I could find didn't answer quickly and straight to the point about it. I don't want "programmers" guide to fonts. I want "user's and packaging" guide to fonts. Please point to existing resource or provided references to pages / section from texdoc.
**EDIT**
Dead-end or not deadend, in the end of the day I need to generate PDF/A documents with embedded metadata. The PDF/A metadata is only possible with pdfTeX engine and pdf-x package. And I want embedded custom ttf fonts in those PDF/A documents.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/137 | Where to find nitty-gritty details about TeX and friends' font handling systems? | false | simplefonts module provides fontspec-like functionality in ConTeXt (MkIV).
| 0 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/99 | 902 | 619 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/895 | 11 |
>
> **Possible Duplicate:**
>
> [LaTeX template for resume/curriculum vitae](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/80/latex-template-for-resume-curriculum-vitae)
>
>
>
Which class do you recommend to write a CV? The answer will probably be different depending on the CV being used in the academia or in an external context (the former will probably be more "serious", and certainly it will not include a photo).
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/260 | Class for Curriculum Vitae | false | Minimalia has a nice LaTeX [tutorial](http://web.archive.org/web/20131029090732/http://stefano.italians.nl/archives/5) for CV. Pretty nice cover letter also.
| 3 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/279 | 904 | 620 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/815 | 11 | I'm using multibib to typeset two "bibliographies": references and bibliographies. My supervisors don't want any keys/number in the text nor in the bibliographies section. I'm using `\nocite{key}` to suppress the key appearance in the text, but this still generates citations keys in the bibliography section. How do I simply insert full citation without a key (inverse of what is printed by the `\cite`)?
**Example**
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.[1] Vivamus urna nisi, mattis eget convallis eget, sollicitudin eget quam. Duis lobortis odio vitae nulla vestibulum id suscipit ante elementum. Nulla vitae justo nec risus vehicula commodo.[2] Aenean commodo diam eget mi tincidunt condimentum. Nunc dolor nibh, mollis in vehicula auctor, porta aliquam lorem. Ut sagittis ipsum vel lorem sagittis sed bibendum ipsum molesti
**References**
[1] *Citation*
[2] *Citation*
**Bibliography**
*Citation*
*Citation* - This one is best to read last.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/137 | How to instert full citation, instead of citation key? List of Author's publication? | false | I expect that there's a package that would do it better, and I second the suggestion to check `natbib`. However, if nothing turns up, here's a hack that does it. I copied the definition of the `thebibliography` environment from `article.cls` and removed the bit where it prints a label (the empty first argument to the `\list{}%` line). With two bibliographies, you will probably want to keep the original bibliography environment as well so you should give this one a unique name. If you're using the `\bibliography` command to import the bibliographies rather than specifying them in the document then you will need to hack one of them to use the new command rather than the original one (unless the `multibib` thing that you mention does this automatically).
```
\documentclass{article}
\makeatletter
\renewenvironment{thebibliography}[1]
{\section*{\refname}%
\@mkboth{\MakeUppercase\refname}{\MakeUppercase\refname}%
\list{}%
{\settowidth\labelwidth{\@biblabel{#1}}%
\leftmargin\labelwidth
\advance\leftmargin\labelsep
\@openbib@code
\usecounter{enumiv}%
\let\p@enumiv\@empty
\renewcommand\theenumiv{\@arabic\c@enumiv}}%
\sloppy
\clubpenalty4000
\@clubpenalty \clubpenalty
\widowpenalty4000%
\sfcode`\.\@m}
{\def\@noitemerr
{\@latex@warning{Empty `thebibliography' environment}}%
\endlist}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\begin{thebibliography}{KPMS82}
\bibitem{bm}
Michael Barr.
\newblock Coalgebras over a commutative ring.
\newblock {\em J. Algebra}, 32(3):600--610, 1974.
\end{thebibliography}
\end{document}
```
| 2 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/86 | 905 | 621 |
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/815 | 11 | I'm using multibib to typeset two "bibliographies": references and bibliographies. My supervisors don't want any keys/number in the text nor in the bibliographies section. I'm using `\nocite{key}` to suppress the key appearance in the text, but this still generates citations keys in the bibliography section. How do I simply insert full citation without a key (inverse of what is printed by the `\cite`)?
**Example**
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.[1] Vivamus urna nisi, mattis eget convallis eget, sollicitudin eget quam. Duis lobortis odio vitae nulla vestibulum id suscipit ante elementum. Nulla vitae justo nec risus vehicula commodo.[2] Aenean commodo diam eget mi tincidunt condimentum. Nunc dolor nibh, mollis in vehicula auctor, porta aliquam lorem. Ut sagittis ipsum vel lorem sagittis sed bibendum ipsum molesti
**References**
[1] *Citation*
[2] *Citation*
**Bibliography**
*Citation*
*Citation* - This one is best to read last.
| https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/137 | How to instert full citation, instead of citation key? List of Author's publication? | false | Maybe the `jurabib` packages/bibstyle together with `\nocite` for the "bibliography" bibliography provides what you want?
| 0 | https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/83 | 906 | 622 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.