utmthesis Project

Adjusting spacings etc. in itemize, enumerate and description environments

2009-11-10T15:54:00.001+08:00

The standard listmaking environments are defined as special versions of the `list` environment. The `list` environment contains a large number of adjustable parameters, setting the margins, spacing between items etc. etc. Some of these, such as `\itemsep` can be set immediately after the `\begin` command:

\begin{itemize}\addtolength{\itemsep}{-0.5\baselineskip}

p/s: copied from http://dcwww.camd.dtu.dk/~schiotz/comp/LatexTips/LatexTips.html#tweaklist

Lists: Enumerate, itemize, description and how to change them

2009-11-10T15:51:00.001+08:00

Latex distinguishes between three different enumeration/itemization environments. Each of them provide four levels, which means you can have nested lists of up to four levels.

Enumerate:

\begin{enumerate} \item ... \end{enumerate}

The enumerate-environment is used to create numbered lists.
If you like to change the appearance of the enumerator, the simplest way to change is to use the enumerate-package, giving you the possibility to optionally choose an enumerator.

\usepackage{enumerate} ... \begin{enumerate}[I]%for capital roman numbers. \item \end{enumerate}

\begin{enumerate}[(a)]%for small alpha-characters within brackets. \item \end{enumerate}

Itemize:

\begin{itemize} \item ... \end{itemize}

Itemization is probably the mostly used list in Latex. It also provides four levels. The bullets can be changed for each level using the following command:

\renewcommand{\labelitemi}{$\bullet$} \renewcommand{\labelitemii}{$\cdot$} \renewcommand{\labelitemiii}{$\diamond$} \renewcommand{\labelitemiv}{$\ast$}

Amongst the more commonly used ones are $\bullet$ (), $\cdot$ (), $\diamond$ (), $-$ (), $\ast$ () and $\circ$ ().

Description:

\begin{description} \item[] ... \end{description}

The description list might be the least known. It comes in very handy if you need to explain notations or terms. Its neither numbered nor bulleted.

Example:

\begin{description} \item[Biology] Study of life. \item[Physics] Science of matter and its motion. \item[Psychology] Scientific study of mental processes and behaviour. \end{description}

And in a PDF it would look like this:

Example of a description list.

Note:

The space between different items can be controlled with the \itemsep command (can only be added just after “begin”):

\begin{itemize}\itemsep2pt \item \end{itemize}

p/s: This post is created by thurnherr

How to convert latex to word? Try tex4ht

2009-08-20T11:44:00.002+08:00

Install Guide

TEX4HT is included in MIKTEX and, if you selected the total installation, already on your hard disk for usage. However, if you find an improvement in the change log of TEX4HT on http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~gurari/TeX4ht/bugfixes.html20 that you want to use (like I do usually), you should download the current package from that site.

The precondition for TEX4HT on the one hand is GHOSTSCRIPT that we installed in a previous section, and on the other hand IMAGEMAGICK, which gets configured as follows:

Get the Windows executable from the IMAGEMAGICK web site under Downloads21 and install it. Simply acknowledge the defaults, then the converter program is added to your search path.

For safety the MIKTEX packages for TEX4HT should be removed. Call the MikTeX package manager (mpm.exe) and un-install the packages tex4ht and miktex-tex4ht-bin. Simply select and click the minus sign.

Now we start installing the literal TEX4HT. For this, get the latest package from the TEX4T bugfix page http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~gurari/TeX4ht/bugfixes.html22 , it has a name like tex4ht-x.y.jjjj_mm_dd_hhss.tar.gz. Unpack it to C:\. All recent packers should accept and process.tar.gz. In C:\ you now should have a directory named similar to tex4ht-x.y.jjjj_mm_dd_hhss. Rename this directory to tex4ht.

Then move the contents of the subdirectory C:\tex4ht\texmf\tex to c:\texmf\tex. You may have to create the target directory first.

For making the new files known to the TEX-System, open a command line (Start → Run → "cmd") and call:
initexmf -u (make sure close all the programs first)

Then the executables have to be added to the search path. As in other places an entry to the environment variable PATH has to be added. So again utilize Start → Settings → Control Panel → System → Advanced → Environment Variables and edit the variable PATH of User Environment to include C:\tex4ht\bin\win32;C:\tex4ht\bin\ht\win32;C:\texmf\tex\generic\tex4ht;

Finally adapt the configuration file of TEX4HT. For this, open the file c:\tex4ht\texmf\tex4ht\base\win32\tex4ht.env, search the line
tc:\path\tfm!

and replace it by the following23 :
tc:\Progra~1\MikTeX~1.7\fonts\tfm! (for window xp user and miktex 2.7)
tc:\Progra~2\MikTeX~1.8\fonts\tfm! (for window 7 user and miktex 2.8, note if the miktex is install on the path C:/Program Files (x86)/...)

TEX4HT is now installed and can be used. If you want to employ the OPENOFFICE.ORG export of TEX4HT, a Zip packer has to be available in the system. I apply INFO-ZIP24 for this, but only copy the file zip.exe to a directory already covered by the search path. After first use of oolatex.bat, if you discover that the generated file is corrupt, you can remedy by editing again the file c:\tex4ht\texmf\tex4ht\base\win32\tex4ht.env and replace the tags and by bzw. and vice versa, for activating an alternative processing. (note for window base, it can be as simple as download from http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gnuwin32/zip-3.0-setup.exe and install it)

Installation complete

Congratulation! TEX4HT is now installed and the TEX system can generate all important outputs.

What about an export to Word? In principle there is no reason to export LATEX to Word, but there are programs that convert LATEX to the Rich Text Format (.rtf), which you can open in Word then. I sense the best way is via HTML or OPENOFFICE.ORG. This means: convert LATEX with TEX4HT to HTML orOPENOFFICE.ORG, and then open the output in Word resp. OPENOFFICE.ORG.

TeX4ht usage

TEX4HT is a flexible tool for converting LATEX to HTML, but with the loads of options one easily looses overview at the beginning. With a little practice, nevertheless, you can accomplish everything you imagine.

The TEX4HT documentation delivered is not so luxuriant. A comprehensive list of options, written to the log file, you get by calling
htlatex.bat myfile.tex "info"

at the command line for a arbitrary LATEX file. Be sure to call htlatex.bat, not just htlatex, as this starts a MikTeX program instead.

Because I want XHTML as clear and as small files as possible, I tend to invoke by
htlatex.bat myfile.tex "xhtml,2,fn-in,NoFonts,fonts,graphics-,sections+,next"

for the conversion. This generates XHTML, separate files for two levels of sections, no special font information but basic logical formatting, non-scaled graphics and helpful hyperlinks. If you like to have a more precise reproduction of the fonts, skip the option NoFonts, which of course leads to bigger files. For a monolithic file specify a 0 instead of 2.

p/s: Special thanks to Dr. Joachim Schlosser, most of the information are obtained from his document. http://schlosser.info/latexsystem-en.html.

utmthesis.cls Version 2.2 Now Available!

2009-08-07T19:43:00.003+08:00

Hi everyone,

We wanted to let all of you know that the utmthesis.cls Version 2.2 is now available.

Special thanks to our new group member, Dr. Nadzir from FKE, UTM. Some of the notable improvements are:

* Font changed to Times.
* Forcing Uppercase for Chapter titles and such.
* Spacing in list of figures and list of tables.
* The Appendix margin (thesis manual 2007 is confusing).
* Title page thesis type (laporan, tesis, dissertation, and such.
* Degree type (master/phd by course/research).
* Declaration type.
* Typsetting ToC for correct appendices entries.
* Added better thesis sample (easier to understand).
* Changed sample.tex to thesis.tex for no reason :)
* Removed unnecesary folders (tests) and files (build.xml) in the
final build that confuse new users.

If you'd like more details on the contents of the release, please see the Release Notes.

To get the feel of the new release, you can download from here, utmthesis 2.2.zip.

Finally, please do not hesitate to ask us the question and also give us suggestion.

Cheers,
Simon, on behalf of the utmthesis Project Team

Latex Note: Convert Any MS Office Charts To .EPS Files

2009-04-17T10:43:00.001+08:00

THIS TIP APPLIES TO ANY CHART FROM MS OFFICE.

In short, in order to insert charts from Excel to your Latex document, you need to (1) print your chart from MS Office into an eps file; (2) modify the bounding box in the output.

You need to install Generic Postscript Printer from Adobe first. Link the printer to the port FILE: . After installation, set its output option from Property -> Printing preferences... -> Advanced -> Postscript options -> Postscript output opion to encapsulated postscript format (eps).

This printer can be used to print the chart to an eps file.

The EPS file contains borders which defines where the chart is. Use postscript to open this EPS file, then use a text editor to open it simultaneously. Tick options -> eps clip from postscript. Then edit the line %%BoundingBox: ... from the text editor. Adjust the size of the chart in eps so that the clip fits well to the chart. Then save EPS.

Now you are done. Insert the chart into latex!

Note: This post is created by Yue Zhang. Thanks a lot.

Adobe Reader messing with print size

2009-02-16T10:23:00.002+08:00

Printing from Adobe Reader shrinks the page "to fit" (by default). Unfortunately, its calculation doesn't consider the existing margins of the document, so that it shrinks what it believes is your whole page onto what it believes is its output page. The effect typically looks as if your margins have expanded.

Solve this problem by adjusting the Reader's default in the print dialogue; unfortunately, this dialogue varies from one version to the next. On Reader version 7, there are two entries to check:

Page Scaling (default: "Fit to printer margins") — change to "None", and
Scale (default 95% of Normal size) — change to "100%".

Join our mailing list today!

2009-01-08T23:03:00.004+08:00

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LaTeX Install Fest - 10 Jan (Sat) 9am

2009-01-05T21:40:00.009+08:00

Date: 10 January 2009 (Saturday)
Time: Come anytime between 9.00am - 12.00noon
Venue: Find a seat around FSKSM N28 foyer (2nd floor)

What to expect

a small, very informal & unofficial meetup. So, lets lower our volume, be gentle to others who surf internet at foyer floor.
find a seat, boot up your laptop.
only a few CDs will be passed around the tables. Please copy the CD and kindly pass to others.

What's inside the CD?
1. LaTeX related installers for Windows user,
2. umthesis-2.0.zip (contains a thesis sample)
3. and hopefully, a step-by-step installation guide document (~~we're working on it,~~ and it's done!)
our goal is simple, yet ambitious: everyone who comes will...
- go back with their laptop running LaTeX and feel happy :-)
- have learned how-to compile the thesis sample sucessfully,
- and have joined utmthesis mailing list for further discussions/posting questions.
so, when you come, keep this goal in mind and help us to make it happens.

What to bring

bring your laptop (with CD-ROM drive). If you don't have a laptop, come with a friend who does, and bring your USB disk/pendrive.
a power extension cable if possible, so that we don't quickly run out of power sockets.
an open-mind, knowing that it is okay to ask for help and helping others during the fest. Be gentle and know what you are doing when handling laptop belongs to others.

Volunteering
We know there are a number of LaTeX users and gurus hidden around UTM campus :-) Please come and join the fest, guide the new users through their first LaTeX experience.

Questions?
Please send your questions to utmthesis-discuss mailing list. Before you can post a question, you need to subscribe the mailing list.

To subscribe, send an empty email to

utmthesis-discuss-subscribe@googlegroups.com

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