No References!
„ and files
Ñ a handy mark menu for navigating and outlining large LaTeX files
Ñ a nifty install program (written by Tom Pollard) lets you choose
between LaTeX 2e (the default) and LaTeX 2.09 (the old standard)
Ñ follows closely the terminology and organization of L. Lamport's
LaTeX: A Document Preparation System
Documentation
Besides this help file, there is also the file "LaTeX Key Bindings" on the
Help menu that contains an alphabetical listing of all the command keys
bound to the various LaTeX commands. In addition to these on-line help
files, there are other documentation files stored in Alpha's LaTeX folder
called "latex_macros.tex" and "latex_bindings.tex", which contain numerous
tables summarizing the commands on the LaTeX menu and their key bindings.
These files can viewed or printed with your favorite LaTeX application.
Be sure to run "latex_macros.tex" through LaTeX twice, so that the table
of contents is properly typeset. (If you're using LaTeX 2.09, look for
"latex_commands.tex" and "latex_keys.tex" in the LaTeX 2.09 folder.)
The LaTeX Menu
Upon entering TeX mode, either manually (by choosing 'TeX' from the pop-up
mode menu on the toolbar at the right) or automatically (whenever a .tex or
.sty file is opened or saved), a new menu appears in the menu bar. The
LaTeX menu provides access to scores of procedures loaded automatically the
first time 'TeX' mode is entered.
Their are two LaTeX menus to choose from, one short and the other long.
You get a long menu by default. To install the short menu, simply choose
'shortLaTeXMenu' from the LaTeX Utilities submenu. To reinstall the long
menu, choose 'shortLaTeXMenu' again.
The LaTeX menu follows closely the organization and terminology of
L. Lamport's _LaTeX: A Document Preparation System_ [second edition,
Addison-Wesley, 1994], especially chapter 3. Many people agree that the
_LaTeX_ book is still the definitive LaTeX reference. In conjunction with
_The LaTeX Companion_ by Goossens, Mittlebach and Samarin [Addison-Wesley,
1994], these two books constitute the "official" LaTeX 2e documentation.
These books, as well as Knuth's classic _TeXbook_ [Addison-Wesley, 1986],
should be on every serious LaTeX user's desk.
LaTeX 2e
Beginning with version 2.2, the Alpha LaTeX macros support LaTeX 2e, a
superset of LaTeX 2.09. LaTeX 2e will compile a 2.09 document
automatically, using what is called "compatibility mode". Most of the
LaTeX 2.09 commands and environments have been preserved in 2e, making the
transition from 2.09 to 2e relatively painless (from the user's point of
view, at least).
For those who have not yet upgraded to LaTeX 2e, the old LaTeX 2.09 macros
are still available. Just choose 'install:LaTeX 2.09' on the Config menu
and follow the prompts to install the old version. Note, however, that all
present and future enhancements to the Alpha LaTeX macros will be directed
towards LaTeX 2e users, and so you are encouraged to upgrade your TeX
implementation as soon as possible.
Installation
Alpha is configured to use the LaTeX macros right out of the box, so there
is no installation process per se. However, there are a number of flags
and variables that control the inner workings of latex.tcl that may be
changed at the user's discretion. Simply pull down the Config menu and
open the Flags dialog on the Current Mode submenu to see the list
of possibilities.
Flags:
deleteObjectNoisily — One of the basic latex.tcl operations is to
insert an object into the current document. If, at the time the
insertion command is issued, there is a selection (i.e., text is
highlighted), then the program behaves differently depending
on the value of the flag 'deleteObjectNoisily'. If set to true,
the user will be prompted before any selected text is deleted.
If, on the other hand, this flag is false, then the selection is
replaced quietly and without warning (although it may be undone).
By default, 'deleteObjectNoisily' is set to true. NOTE: Not all
objects are "inserted" into the document since sometimes there is
an attempt to "wrap" the current selection. See the section
Basic Operations for more information.
deleteEnvironmentNoisily — Before an environment is inserted into the
document, the program checks to see if there is a selection. If so,
and the flag 'deleteEnvironmentNoisily' is set to true, the user is
asked whether or not the current selection should be replaced;
if false, the current selection is deleted without warning. Note
that the default value of 'deleteEnvironmentNoisily' has been set to
true. Like objects, environments may wrap, so sometimes the
current selection is treated differently. See the Basic Operations
section for more information.
promptNoisily — Some environment commands prompt the user for input.
As mentioned below, if 'useStatusBar' is set to true, the prompt is
displayed on the thin status bar at the bottom of the screen. This
is less obtrusive than an alert, but may go unnoticed at first, so
if 'promptNoisily' is set to true (which it is, by default) and
'useStatusBar' is enabled, the program beeps prior to displaying
the prompt. You can turn off this annoying sound by invoking the
"check" pop-up menu on the toolbar at the right and removing the
tick on 'promptNoisily'.
runTeXInBackground — If true, typesetting will occur in the
background. This flag is false by default.
searchNoisily — Many commands cause latex.tcl to search the
current document. If a search fails, and 'searchNoisily' is set
to true, the program displays a message on the status bar and
beeps. If, on the other hand, 'searchNoisily' is set to false,
only the message is displayed. By default, 'searchNoisily' is set
to true.
smartDots — By default, latex.tcl replaces three consecutively
typed dots (...) with the LaTeX command .... To escape
the effect of 'smartDots', press the <Delete> key on-the-fly.
smartQuotes — In LaTeX documents, quoted text is written as `...'
or ``...''. If 'smartQuotes' is set to true, pressing the single
quote key (') will generate ` or ' automatically depending on the
context. Similarly, pressing the double quote key (") generates
`` or '', whichever is required. Set 'smartQuotes' to false if
you want the ' and " keys to insert these characters literally,
or press the <Delete> key to escape the effect of 'smartQuotes'
on-the-fly.
smartScripts — When this flag is enabled (which it is by
default), the ^ and _ keys on a US keyboard are bound to
'formulas:superscript' and 'formulas:subscript', respectively.
Press the <Delete> key to escape the effect of 'smartScripts'
on-the-fly.
useBoxMacro — If true, the body of a figure environment includes a
call to the box-making macro stored in the variable 'boxMacroName'
(see below); if false, the body of a figure environment is left
blank, unless there is a current selection, in which case the
selection is wrapped.
useDollarSigns — Support is provided for both the TeX and LaTeX
methods of invoking math mode (see the Math Modes submenu for the
various options), but only one of these is bound to command keys
(which are <Ctl Cmd M> and <Ctl Opt Cmd M> by default). This is
what the flag 'useDollarSigns' does. If set to true, latex.tcl
uses dollar signs to delimit math mode ( ... and
...
),
whereas if it is false, LaTeX notation will be used ( ... and
...
). By default, 'useDollarSigns' is set to false—the
LaTeX way of doing things.
useStatusBar — This flag determines whether or not the status
bar is used when prompting for user input. (The status bar
is a long, thin message area at the bottom of your screen.)
Use of Alpha's status bar is enabled in TeX mode, by default.
See the related flag 'promptNoisily' above.
wordwrap — If this flag is set to true, the program automatically
inserts a carriage return as the cursor nears the end of the line
(the length of which is defined by the variable 'fillcolumn'
described below); otherwise, the line extends indefinitely to the
right. By default, 'wordwrap' is turned on in TeX mode. See
the Variables section in the Alpha Manual for more information.
Variables:
boxMacroName — the name of the box-making macro used in the body
of a figure environment. This variable is dimmed if the flag
'useBoxMacro' (see above) is set to false. The default value of
'boxMacroName' is "includegraphics", the name of a standard macro
included as part of the LaTeX 2e graphics package.
citeCommands — Any command listed as a cite command is automatically
command-double-clickable. The standard LaTeX commands [#!cite!#]
and re included in this list by default.
fillColumn, leftFillColumn — see the Fill Routines section of
the Alpha Manual on the Help menu.
funcExpr — in TeX mode, 'funcExpr' is a regular expression used to
search for a subsection header (see the commands 'nextSubsection'
and 'prevSubsection' below and on the Goto submenu).
funcExprAlt — a regular expression used to search for a section
header (see the commands 'nextSection' and 'prevSection' below and
on the Goto submenu).
prefixString — used in conjunction with the 'commentLine' command
on Alpha's Text menu. In TeX mode, this string is set to "