[Rossoneri]

After some grappling around, I finally managed to produce my first proper document in LaTeX.

And now I am wondering why I didn't discover it earlier.

I spent half an hour on it, including looking up commands that I am still not used to. Same document would probably have taken me nearly an hour to produce in a word processor, not to mention grappling with Mathtype to produce all the fractions.

I'm pretty sure there are a few other LaTeX users around as well?

[helene_t]

Yes I use it as well.

It's not really my dream since I hate memorizing all those commands. I wrote my thesis in LaTeX for the simple reason that there was no alternative, given the amount of math and the amount of PS files to include. I kept struggling with margins and paper format issues, and also I still don't understand how to control the positioning of figures. Those particular aspect might have been easier with a word processor.

For html LaTeX seem to offer very strong advantages over the alternatives but I haven't made much html.

For quick-and-dirty-work I still prefer a word processor. I use Impress for Convention cards although for someone who makes many convention cards it would probably be worthwhile to make a LaTeX CC template. I also use Impress for beamer presentations although it would probably be better to use LaTeX. For posters I have no clue how to use LaTeX but I know some people do use it.

MathType is pretty useless but for serious documents that do not contain math, OpenOffice or WP are usable, if you make intensive use of the user-defined styles. IMHO.

[Gerben42]

I use it too for making documents, but at work the customers want everything in Word format...

I make my mini-convention card with a template for LaTeX also, I am working on one for the international CC too but it's not really high on my "to-do" list

[david_c]

Yes, lovely isn't it - I use it all the time. I find it's perfect for writing up system notes (if you want them to look nice). As well as trivial things like theses of course.

[whereagles]

Latex is great for typesetting mathematical formulas and citations, but totally sucks at display management. To put a pic in the text is insanely complicated and it never ends up where I want it.

Word isn't so pretty when it comes to formulas and it's full of bugs.. but at least stuff goes where I want it to go.

[Echognome]

Have any of you ever used the front-end LaTex application Scientific Workplace?

I used that throughout academia. It reads and writes LaTex, but it has a better "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" feel to it along with a math engine. (The latter made it ideal for typing up problem sets and solutions.) You also are back to being able to use hotkeys (like ctrl-F for fraction).

Again, it doesn't cross over if you have to produce something in Word and I don't know how well it would do at making a CC, but it's pretty good for math applications. One word of warning is that if you send a LaTex doc from Sci Workplace to a normal LaTex user, the code has a whole bunch of style files that may make it a pain for them.

[Dean]

I wrote the entire WBF CC card in Latex at one point.

Somewhere on CTAN there is the back page of the WBF CC card. Unforutnately I lost the front page.

Dean

[matmat]

use it. love it.

in addition to the scientific workplace that gnome mentions, there's also a freeware package called LyX.

The nice thing about SW was that it has Maple built in


(for those wondering, you can get raw latex to work on windows boxes too -- LyX and something called TeXnicCenter should work)

[helene_t]

I use TeXnicCenter for Windows and Kile for Ubuntu. Quite happy with both. Will try out SW, sounds interesting. Tx for the tip, Gnome.

[rogerclee]

matmat, on Feb 11 2008, 04:57 PM, said:

use it. love it.

in addition to the scientific workplace that gnome mentions, there's also a freeware package called LyX.

The nice thing about SW was that it has Maple built in


(for those wondering, you can get raw latex to work on windows boxes too -- LyX and something called TeXnicCenter should work)

I use both LyX and TeXnicCenter and like them both. LyX is good for easy stuff, but it is very unintelligent at

1) Doing custom things.
2) Importing custom things.

TeXnicCenter is handy.

Haven't used SW; is it better than LyX?

[kenberg]

I have been using LaTeX for what seems like forever. Some features that have been useful:

LaTeX source files work on any system. I have Windows at home, Linnux at the office. No problem. I guess this is more common now with most programs but only a few years back my wife was involved in a project where authors at different sites were writing in different versions of Word on different systems and she had to put the results together. What a mess! Lots of non-printing pages.

Journals provide style files to handle references and bibliography.

Students ask questions by email (I'm a math prof, sort of partially retired). If the math response doesn't fit well with straight email, I run a LaTeX file, convert it to pdf, attach it, off it goes. and they read it with Acrobat. Again, on virtually any system.

I am just starting to experiment with writing in LaTeX and using labels and reference commands that come up as hyperlinks in the pdf version.

Although most things are routine after a bit of practice, some things can be a bit of a challenge. As with computer things in general, the problems can arise when importing from other programs. But there seem to usually be folks who have gone down the path before. Matrix output from Matlab, for example, can be converted into Latex code by using some gadget or another. I've done it, I just don't quite remember the routine The graphics capabilities can be enhanced with PSTricks. If you are just starting out, such things are in the future. Don't panic when you get to it.

But I think it's great. Good luck.

[cherdano]

Can't live without vi+latex.

[pokerbids]

I must be a complete idiot and now I know I am. When I looked at the title I said to myself.....Hmmm a thread about latex - could it really be the one and only latex that I know of - How interesting I thought to myself and entered to find myself in a maze of theisis, mathematics and other stuff when all I was curious to find out was whether a new one was on the market that performed some miracle I was unaware of!!!!!! Curiosity will be the death of me one day and I promise I will never enter a thread that otherwise sounds interesting but at the end makes me realise what an idiot I really am. Honestly I always thought that all there was to computer knowledge was a knowledge of microsoft office and voila. Ahhh well

[sceptic]

What a disappointing thread

[Echognome]

cherdano, on Feb 11 2008, 08:50 PM, said:

Can't live without vi+latex.

Back in the day I used pico for email, and edited on unix with emacs, jove (joe's own version of emacs), vi, etc. Man that seems ages ago.

[Gerben42]

Why would you need a new LaTeX? The old one was fine as it is.

BTW why did we need a new version of Windows? I'd prefer the old one without the bugs rather than a new one with new bugs. I guess that's marketing.

To increase the usefulness of the thread:

http://www.trsteiner.../en/latex.shtml

[matmat]

Gerben42, on Feb 12 2008, 03:38 AM, said:

http://www.trsteiner.../en/latex.shtml

danke!

[kenberg]

matmat, on Feb 12 2008, 04:08 AM, said:

Gerben42, on Feb 12 2008, 03:38 AM, said:

http://www.trsteiner.../en/latex.shtml

danke!

ditto

[y66]

Jeff Goldsmith has used LaTeX and HTML for typesetting bridge stuff. Has some macros on his site.

http://www.gg.caltech.edu/~jeff/

[whereagles]

Gerben42, on Feb 12 2008, 08:38 AM, said:

BTW why did we need a new version of Windows? I'd prefer the old one without the bugs rather than a new one with new bugs. I guess that's marketing.

Yep, it's marketing. Office 2007 and Vista have the same engines and bugs as their previous versions. The only changes were cosmetic. For instance, Word keeps changing fonts and indentations at his own will.