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<html> <p><h1>What is LaTeX?</h1> <a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeX”>TeX</a> is a powerful typesetting system that is especially useful for mathematical expressions. A system called LaTeX (which is TeX with many additional “macros”) is used by most mathematicians. Either <a href=“http://abel.math.harvard.edu/computing/latex/manual/texman.html”>An Introduction to Using TeX</a> or <a href=“http://www.mecheng.adelaide.edu.au/~will/texstart/”>TeX on Mac OS X</a> might get you started quickly. See also “Diving into LaTeX quickly” below.</p> <p><h1>Examples and Templates</h1></p> <p>Before beginning the tutorial, we present a selection of example LaTeX files.</p> <p><table border=1 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0>
<tr> <td><a href="samplearticle.tex">samplearticle.tex</a></td> <td>A LaTeX sample that shows some basics so you can copy and learn by example.</td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="quals_proposal_template.tex">quals_proposal_template.tex</a></td> <td>A template for a proposal for the qualifying exam.</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 align=center><b>The fast-growing list of <a href="http://galois.math.ucdavis.edu/UsefulGradInfo/HelpfulAdvice/WritingYourThesis">dissertation templates</a> has moved.</b></td> </tr>
</table></p> <p>A great place to find many examples of LaTeX source code is the <a href=“http://front.math.ucdavis.edu”>arXiv</a>. Virtually every preprint on the arXiv is typeset using LaTeX and has source code available for download from the summary page.</p> <p><h1>Diving into LaTeX quickly</h1></p> <p>Decide whether you're going to use the department computers (Linux) or your own (Windows, Mac, or Linux). Get a valid LaTeX file (such as “samplearticle.tex” above). Follow the instructions below specific to your operating system (Windows, Mac, or Linux) to typeset/compile the file.</p> <p>Compare the LaTeX file to the PDF file to see how the correspond. Once you mostly get the LaTeX file, you can try making some changes, save, and recompile!</p> <p><a name=“Mac”></a><h2>LaTeX on Macintosh</h2></p> <p>Install <a href=“http://www.tug.org/mactex/”>MacTeX</a>, which includes <a href=“http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop/texshop.html”>TeXShop</a>. Open a LaTeX file in TeXShop and click the “Typeset” button. You can make changes in the editing window and view the results in the PDF preview window.</p> <p></p> <p><a name=“Windows”></a><h2>LaTeX on Windows</h2></p> <p>Install <a href=“http://www.tug.org/protext/”>proTeXt</a>.</p> <p><a name=“linux”></a><h2>LaTeX on Linux</h2></p> <p>Using a terminal, change into the directory where your LaTeX file is. If your file is called “myfile.tex”, then run the command “pdflatex myfile.tex”. In the same directory should be “myfile.pdf”. You can make changes using any text editor (or retransfer / download your updated LaTeX file) and rerun “pdflatex”.</p> <p>If you get a “command doesn't exist” error, some of the “local machines” (like the math department computers in the grab lab) don't have TeX/LaTeX installed. First, SSH into one point/round/line/tangent, cd to the right directory, and try again. If you're running Linux on your own computer at home, you might need to first install tetex.</p> <p><h3>Escaping from error messages on Linux</h3></p> <p>An error message indicates invalid LaTeX. When you get a message like</p> <p><blockquote>
! LaTeX Error: Bad math environment delimiter.
</p> <p>
See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for explanation.
<br> <tt>Type H <return> for immediate help.</tt><br>
...
<br></p> <p>
l.12 \begin{displaymath}
</p> <p>
?
</blockquote></p> <p>Enter either
q
or
x
to get out. LaTeX suggests the error is at line 12. In reality, it may be on some line nearbay.</p> <p><h1>Packages</h1> Everything before the line \begin{document} is called the <i>preamble</i>. You may have noticed that some
LaTeX
preambles contain lines starting with \usepackage. This is how you load packages, which are even more macros that work on top of the basic
LaTeX
setup. For example, the diagrams package below enables easier-to-use commands to create commutative diagrams than in standard
LaTeX
.</p> <p>Some of these packages may already be installed in your version of
TeX
.</p> <dl> <dt><a href=“diagrams.sty”>diagrams.sty</a></dt> <dd>this is <a href=“http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~pt/diagrams/index.html”>Paul Taylor's</a> commutative diagrams package</dd> <dt>hyperref</dt> <dd>Use this to typeset urls and create (internal and external) hyperlinks in your documents. Download the package and manual <a href=“http://www.tug.org/applications/hyperref/”>from TUG</a>; your
TeX
distribution will most likely already have this installed.</dd> <dt>setspace</dt> <dd>Use this to create one-and-a-half spacing, double-spacing, etc. Download (via ftp) <a href=“ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/setspace/setspace.sty”>from CTAN</a>; your
TeX
distribution will most likely already have this installed.</dd> </dl> <p><a name=“References”></a><H2>Further reading</H2></p> <p>There are many resources there for learning LaTeX:</p>
<ul> <li>As their name suggests, the website for the <a href=“http://www.tug.org/”>
TeX
Users' Group</a> (TUG) is a good place to look for all things related to using (
La
)
TeX
. In particular, TUG maintains the also aptly named <a href=“http://www.tug.org/ctan.html”>Comprehensive
TeX
Archive Network</a> (CTAN), which contains many files for learning about and extending the capabilities of
LaTeX
.<br /><br /></li> <li><a href=“http://www.loria.fr/”>Loria Labs</a> maintains a useful online <a href=“http://tex.loria.fr/”>(
La
)
TeX
encyclopaedia</a><br /><br /></li> <li><a href=“http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/”>The Art of Problem Solving</a> maintains a well-organized <A HREF=“http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Wiki/index.php/LaTeX:About”>
LaTeX
Tutorial</A>.<br /><br /></li> <li><a href=“http://www.giss.nasa.gov/”>Goddard Institute for Space Studies</a> (a subdivision of NASA) has online descriptions of most <a href=“http://www.giss.nasa.gov/latex/ltx-2.html”>standard
LaTeX
commands</a>.<br /><br /></li> <li>There are also many books of varying quality that one can buy, the most popular being <cite><a href=“http://research.microsoft.com/users/lamport/pubs/pubs.html#latex”>
LaTeX
: A Document Preparation System</a></cite>, by
LaTeX
creator <a href=“http://research.microsoft.com/users/lamport/”>Leslie Lamport</a>.<br /><br /></li> <li>Another popular book is <a href=“http://www.maths.umanitoba.ca/homepages/gratzer/”>George Grätzer</a>'s <cite>Math into
LaTeX
</cite>, the <a href=“http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/mil/mil.pdf”>first part</a> of which is available online. (This file contains a rather comprehensive introduction for getting started with
LaTeX
as well as well-formated tables of special characters.)</li>
<li>A popular reference, especially for those just starting to use LaTeX, is the <a href=“http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf”>(Not so) Short guide to Latex</a>.
It has pages of sample math codes and tables of math symbols including arrows, binary relations, and more. </li>
<li><a href=“http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=cv”>CV</a> resources</li>
</ul> <p><a name=“bottom”></a> </p> </html>