TeXhax Digest Thursday, September 17, 1987 Volume 87 : Issue 76 [SCORE.STANFORD.EDU]TEXHAX76.87 Editor: Malcolm Brown Today's Topics: Dynamic creation of TeX Macros. modification of BELLMAC formletter macros Your question re. SliTEX STY files and Editors for TeXtures needed Vortex Almost like \item, but ... VMS Tektronix 4010 preview Re: special line treatment LaTeX Notes (Re: TeXhax Digest V87 #70) LaTeX Picture Environment LaTeX Notes (Re: TeXhax Digest V87 #74) Information on jTeX & jLaTeX wanted. Query: How to aligning tables on decimal points Contents of LaTeX style collection, 15th September 1987 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 Sep 87 09:58:52 PDT From: Jim Boyce To: labrea!texhax%score@labrea.stanford.edu Subject: Dynamic creation of TeX Macros. You want the following definition: \def\mahmacro#1#2{\expandafter\def\csname#1\endcsname{#2}} See the TeXbook, p213 (\csname) p215 (where expansion doesn't happen) p213 (\expandafter) -jim ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Sep 87 17:02 EST From: (Bob Jantzen, BITNET:JANTZEN@VUVAXCOM) Subject: modification of BELLMAC formletter macros To: TeXhax@score.stanford.edu In TeXhax27.87 of 17 April I asked if anyone could help me with a grouping problem in a naive formletter macro which avoids the \read command. No one replied so I've faced up to the BELLMAC macro described in the TUGboat and TeXhax24.87. I still do not like using 6 lines for the name information in the address file and would prefer to read in a single line with 6 strings separated by `\ ' or `\\' or `!' which can then be fed into a 6 argument macro which individually assigns the values to the 6 macros of BELLMAC associated with a person's name. The naive solution of course does not work: \def\nameinfo#1!#2!#3!#4!#5!#6!{\let\title=#1 \let\firstname=#2 \let\nickname=#3 \let\middlename=#4 \let\lastname=#5 \let\textt=#6 \ifx\textt\blank\def\jr{}\else\def\jr{, \textt}\fi } \read\addressfile to\text \nameinfo{\text} where the line being read is: Dr.!Robert!Bob!T.!Jantzen! ! It gives a runaway argument warning for \nameinfo, and besides, the \read command immediately converts the line read into a token list. Can anyone help this time? ------------------------------ Date: Wed 9 Sep 87 21:55:15-PDT From: Eric M. Berg Subject: Your question re. SliTEX To: texhax@Score.Stanford.EDU The "invisible" fonts are available in .MF format (METAFONT input files) and should be part of the standard TeX/LaTeX distribution for your system. They're also available via Internet FTP from Score.Stanford.EDU in the directory. Perhaps someone at your campus is on the Internet and could FTP them for you? If so, you should grab all the *.MF files from that directory, which include the special LaTeX fonts as well as the SliTeX "invisible" fonts. The file SFONTS.TEX in the same directory on Score contains the information you need to use the CM fonts. Eric M. Berg Computer Facility Graduate School of Business Stanford University ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Sep 87 07:09 EDT From: Subject: STY files and Editors for TeXtures needed To: texhax@score.stanford.edu We have a Pre-release version of TeXture for the Macintosh I wanted to insert some .STY type of files from our VAXs, which take care of formatting and pagelayouts for the dissertation and reports. I would be glad if someone could send pointers as to how this could be done. ?? Also the editor for inputing the file on Texture lacks a global replace function which is very crucial in changing errors that are frequently committed across the board. Is there anyone who has hacked this beast so that microEmacs or other editors might be used instead ? Thanks Dr Ravi Kulkarni Deptt of Mathematics Queens College ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Sep 87 16:14:23 edt From: Dr. Rouben Rostamian (MATH) To: texhax@score.stanford.edu In issue 70 of TeXhax Robert McLay writes: > In my department we tend to write a vector with a tilde under the letter: > V > ~ >I know that there are other choices to show that it is a vector but it would >be nice to be able to have a function that would work in math mode to do >this. Say \utilde{v} => V > ~ Here is a macro that does it: % The command underwiggle puts a `wiggle' under the corresponding character. % It is an adaptation of the TeX command \underbrace (TeXbook, page359) \def\underwiggle#1{\mathop{\vtop{\ialign{##\crcr $\hfil\displaystyle{#1}\hfil$\crcr\noalign{\kern2pt\nointerlineskip} $\scriptscriptstyle\sim$\crcr\noalign{\kern2pt}}}}\limits} Rouben Rostamian Department of Mathematics University of Maryland Baltimore County ------------------------------ To: texhax@score Subject: Vortex Date: Thu, 10 Sep 87 12:32:49 PDT From: Richard Roy I am interested in getting some info on the Vortex package Berkeley is distributing? More specifically, is there a version up and running at Stanford I might be able to play with for a while? Details of interest are: 1) does it use the new cmr fonts, in GF, PK, PXL, or some other format? 2) what kind of \special file inclusion mechanism is included in the previewer? 3) does it understand postscript, impress, etc. graphics languages? 4) if it includes a TeX/LaTeX module, are they the latest (TeX 2.2, LaTeX 2.09 20 July 87 or later)? Thanks - RR dick@isl.stanford.edu 725-5698 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Sep 87 01:17 CDT From: (Lee Cox) Subject: Almost like \item, but ... To: texhax@score.stanford.edu I would like to produce some text like the following: F.Y.I. - This is an example of the kind of text I would like to produce. It starts out with an introductory identifier (in this case, "F.Y.I - ", then continues with text that is right-justified with the left-side being flush with the end of the introductory identifier. I thought \item would do this, but \item sticks the identifier off in the left margin. How do I get something like this that lines up within the regular margins without knowing the exact width of the identifier? (If this is something that should be painfully obvious, please feel free to flame me most heartily.) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Sep 87 09:01 N From: Subject: VMS Tektronix 4010 preview To: texhax@score.stanford.edu Scott Miller (SMiller@HI-MULTICS.ARPA) asked for a VMS hosted previewer for Tektronix 4010/4014. The Kellerman & Smith TeX tape contains a DVItoVDU program, that, among others, will allow previewing on a VT640-terminal. DEC's VT640 is a combination of VT100 and Tektronix 4010. We use it on our VT640-emulation program on IBM-compatible PC. I think it is worth trying to convert the VT640 part to Tek4010 alone. Good luck. Herman F. Vogt University of Groningen Computing Centre Earn/Bitnet: VOGT@HGRRUG5 ------------------------------ Date: 11. September 1987, 14:33:58 (CET) From: XITIJSCH%DDATHD21.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu Subject: Re: special line treatment To: TEXHAX@score.stanford.edu There were several questions about the possibility to put a string or something like this before or behind each line in a paragraph. People who want to do this should typeset every paragraph into a \vbox (this can be done automatically with \everypar and a redefinition of \par) and should \vsplit this box to 0pt until it is void. The result of each \vsplit will be a line (or a couple of lines with a penalty of 10000 between them) and this line can be connected with prefixes or suffixes, e.g. change bars. Don't forget to set \vbadness to 10000 while splitting the \vbox or you will get a bunch of ``Underfull \vbox while \output is active'' messages. Joachim Schrod TH Darmstadt Institut fuer Theoretische Informatik Joachim Schrod Alexanderstr. 24 D-6100 Darmstadt West Germany Bitnet: XITIJSCH@DDATHD21 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Sep 87 10:34:52 pdt From: lamport@src.DEC.COM (Leslie Lamport) To: TeXhax@Score.Stanford.edu Subject: LaTeX Notes (Re: TeXhax Digest V87 #70) John Lavagnino writes: I find that the tabular environment sometimes generates uneven spacing between rows when the p{wd} specifier is used. Consider: \begin{tabular}{p{2.5in}} Jesus \\ Mary \\ Joseph \end{tabular} The vertical space between Mary and Joseph turns out to be greater than that between Jesus and Mary. There are no letters with descenders in "Jesus", but there are in "Mary"; other tests seem to suggest that letters with descenders trigger this problem. I haven't seen it when I use the other specifiers and not p{}. Sigh... Sometimes I think that the `p' option wasn't worth the bother, and that I have should required users to put in explicit \parbox commands. There doesn't seem to be any way that TeX will allow me to correct this problem. You'll have to do it yourself by adding negative vertical space. Leslie Lamport ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Sep 87 15:16:43 est From: munnari!csadfa.oz!gyp@uunet.UU.NET (Patrick Tang) To: texhax@score.stanford.edu Subject: LaTeX Picture Environment I need help with the following problems, (1) Is it possible to draw circles with diameter much greater than 1/2" using the LaTeX picture environment? (2) Drawing a real oval using picture environment rather than the current \oval which produces just a rectangle with round corners. (3) A program that will translate postscript format (namely postscript from MacDraw) to LaTeX picture Environment? Thanks for you help. Tang Guan Yaw/Patrick International:+61 62 68 8185 Local: (062)68 8185 Dept. Computer Science ACSNET/CSNET: gyp@csadfa.oz Telex:ADFADM AA62030 University College, ADFA, ARPA: gyp%csadfa.oz@SEISMO.ARPA Canberra. ACT. 2600, AUSTRALIA. UUCP: ...!seismo!munnari!csadfa.oz!gyp ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Sep 87 16:16:28 pdt From: lamport@src.DEC.COM (Leslie Lamport) To: TeXhax@Score.Stanford.edu Subject: LaTeX Notes (Re: TeXhax Digest V87 #74) Rick Zaccone writes: In Volume 87, issue 9 of the TeXhax Digest (Feb. 10, 1987), Leslie Lamport made a suggestion for producing full page figures. His idea involved using a \vbox to move the caption to the bottom of the page. This technique for producing full page figures can lead to some unexpected results. Consider the following example... which indicates that \label'ing the figure doesn't work right. For an explanation, see section C.10.2 of the manual, plus section C.1.4 for an explanation of the scope of the \refstepcounter declaration. That will explain why the \label command must appear within the \vbox in Mr. Zaccone's example. Yvonne Van Olphen writes: The problem I have is regarding the eqnarray. I want those two columns to be left justified, rather than the first one being right justified and the second one being centered. I don't know why the author wants the columns left-justified---I'm a typist, not a mathematician. I don't really understand the purpose of having the column justification fixed in eqnarray, unlike array, where you can specify it {lcr}. Additionally, I don't understand why the middle column is typeset in textstyle (according to the manual). The eqnarray environment is designed to handle the most common case in the easiest possible fashion. Most of the time, it's a mistake to format sequences of equations differently, The particular formatting that Ms. Van Olphen wanted was reasonable. Given the number of requests I've had for a more general eqnarray environment, I'm willing to believe that not providing it was a mistake. However, it's a mistake made too long ago to grieve over. The easiest way to obtain the desired result is with the tabbing environment, but that's not particularly elegant. Perhaps someone is willing to write the more general environment and provide it as a document substyle. I'm afraid I don't have time to do it myself now. Leslie Lamport ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Sep 87 16:47 N From: Subject: Information on jTeX & jLaTeX wanted. To: texhax@score.stanford.edu Hi TeXHax-people ! I am a beginning TeX-user, and have the following questions for you: - Can someone tell me how to get the source-files of jTeX and jLaTeX ? I would like to port the software to our VAX-VMS 8350. If there is already a version running on a VAX, please let me know ! - Where can I get the the fonts for jTeX and jLaTeX ? - Does someone have a list with version-numbers mentioning all kinds of LaTex, BiBTeX, TeXware etc. for the VAX-VMS & IBMPC-AT ? - Is there a TeXtutor available ? - Does somebody know where I can get information on ArborText's 'The Publisher'. Is it already available in Holland ? Thanks for your help ! Leon Oninckx RCGBBALO@HEITHE5.BITNET Univ. of Technology Eindhoven Holland ------------------------------ Date: Mon 14 Sep 87 18:18:51-MDT From: "Nelson H.F. Beebe" Subject: Query: How to aligning tables on decimal points To: texhax@SCORE.STANFORD.EDU A colleague at the National Bureau of Standards raised the following LaTeX question. How does one produce a table in which column entries are aligned on decimal points, when the number of figures following the point is variable, i.e. a table with a column like this: --------- x.x x.xx xx.xxxx xxx.x --------- I can think of a hack that would redefine some little-used character to be a phantom character, so one would have something like this in the input file: x.x@@@ x.xx@@ xx.xxxx xxx.x@@@ This would be rather tedious to type, however. One might also imagine a scheme whereby one replaced "." by ".&" (& = LaTeX alignment character), and introduced a hack to remove intercolumn space between the two columns which would be set as right and left justified, respectively. (See LaTeX book Appendix C.9.2 for suggestions as to how this could be done). This would be less tedious to type. I have not investigated either of these possiblities. Does anyone have a clean solution to this problem? The poser of the question notes that this facility is available in some processors, and has been used in mathematical tables. Some published examples are: * table on p. 698 of Handbook of Mathematical Functions, NBS Applied Math series #55; * tables in Hart et al, Computer Approximations; * many tables in the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. ------------------------------ To: texhax@score.stanford.edu Subject: Contents of LaTeX style collection, 15th September 1987 Date: Mon, 14 Sep 87 21:19:32 -0400 From: Ken Yap The LaTeX style collection now has the files listed below. More submissions are very welcome. 00directory fullpage.sty spacecites.doc 00index geophysics.sty spacecites.sty 00readme german.sty suthesis.doc a4.sty ieeetr.bst suthesis.sty a4wide.sty ist21.sty texindex.doc aaai-instructions.tex latex.bug texindex.pas aaai-named.bst layout.readme texindex.sty aaai.sty layout.tex texnames.doc acm.bst lcustom.tex texnames.sty agugrl.sample lfonts_ams.readme textyl-doc.shar1 agugrl.sty lfonts_ams.tex textyl-doc.shar2 agujgr.sample lgraph.shar textyl-doc.shar3 agujgr.sty local.suppl textyl-fonts.shar1 amssymbols.sty memo.sty textyl-fonts.shar2 art10.txt mfr.sty textyl-fonts.shar3 art11.txt mitthesis.sample textyl-unix.shar1 art12.txt mitthesis.sty textyl-unix.shar2 article.txt natsci.bst textyl-unix.shar3 biihead.sty natsci.sty textyl-vms.shar1 ctex.readme newalpha.bst textyl-vms.shar2 ctex.shar1 nl.sty textyl-vms.shar3 ctex.shar2 nopagenumbers.doc textyl.readme ctex.shar3 nopagenumbers.sty textyl.shar1 ctex.shar4 remark.sty tgrind.sty ctex.shar5 resume.sample threepart.sty ctex.shar6 resume.sty titlepage.txt cyrillic.sty rscsencode.shar trademark.sty dayofweek.tex sc21-wg1.sty uct10.doc deproc.sty sc21.sty uct11.doc deprocldc.tex sfwmac.sty uct12.doc docsty.c showlabels.sty ucthesis.doc docsty.readme siam.bib ucthesis.readme doublespace.sty siam.bst uuencode.shar draft.sty siam.doc vdm.doc drafthead.sty siam.sty vdm.sty dvidoc.shar1 siam.tex vdm.tex dvidoc.shar2 siam10.doc ws87.p epic.shar1 siam10.sty wsltex.c epic.shar2 siam11.sty wsltex.p espo.sty siam12.sty xxxcustom.tex format.sty slem.doc xxxslides.sty fullpage.doc slem.sty 1. For Internet users - how to ftp: Here is an example session. Disclaimer: ftp syntax varies from host to host. Your syntax may be different. The syntax presented here is that of Unix ftp. Comments in parentheses. % ftp cayuga.cs.rochester.edu (a.k.a. cs.rochester.edu, a.k.a. 192.5.53.209) ... (general blurb) user: anonymous password: ftp> cd public/latex-style (where the files are) ftp> ls (to see what is there) ... (lots of output) ftp> get 00index ... (more blurb) ftp> quit 2. Non-Internet users - how to retrieve by mail: An archive server has been installed. Send a piece of mail to LaTeX-Style (@rochester.arpa, @cs.rochester.edu, via uucp or your favourite gateway) in the following format: Subject line should contain the phrase "@file request". Body of the mail should start with a line containing only an @ (at) sign. The first line following should be a mail address FROM rochester TO you. Then follow by the names of the files you want, either one to each line, or many to each line, separated by spaces. End with a line containing only an @ sign. Case is not significant. For example, if you are user at site.bitnet, this is what you should send: To: latex-style@rochester.arpa Subject: @file request @ user%site.bitnet@wiscvm.wisc.edu (don't forget your address!) 00readme 00index @ Caveat: our mailer is pretty ignorant of BITNET, CSNET or UUCP addresses unless they are in registered domains. It is best that you supply explicit gateway routes. Also use the new domainized form of addresses whenever possible because the old .ARPA addresses are fading away. user%site.bitnet@wiscvm.wisc.edu user%site.csnet@relay.cs.net (not csnet-relay.arpa anymore) site!user@seismo.css.gov (not seismo.arpa anymore) Long UUCP paths are discouraged. System administrators get upset and your turnaround is very slow anyway. If the Subject: line looks like: Subject: @file request uuencode or Subject: @file request rscsencode then the mail will be encoded with the requested scheme before sending. This _might_ help sites that get mail through gateways with unfriendly EBCDIC/ASCII mappings. You can find sources for the two types of en/decoders in the collection. You may have to do some porting of sources. Do not include any messages in the mail. It will not be seen by human eyes. Be patient as the server is actually a batch program run once a day. Files will be sent in batches, each not exceeding 100kbytes in size. Ftp and mail archive users note: 00directory contains a reverse time sorted list of files. This may help you keep your collection in sync with LaTeX-Style. 3. IBM PC and clone users - how to get a distribution: David Hopper of Toronto, Canada is offering copies of the style collection on diskettes. This is not a commercial enterprise. David is doing this in his own time as a favour to the TeX community. The entire set of style files, not including the C-TeX files, as of June 1st, fits on one 1.2 MB diskette or three 360KB diskettes. No subsetting, please. Send David 1. Formatted diskettes, 2. Indication of the format required, 3. A self-addressed mailer, and 4. A $5.00 donation per set of files, to cover postage and equipment wear & tear. (If you live outside North America, airmail delivery will probably require more postage. You should probably contact David for details.) David's address: David W. Hopper, 446 Main Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4C 4Y2 Thanks, David. Ken LaTeX-Style@Rochester.Arpa LaTeX-Style@cs.Rochester.Edu ..!rochester!latex-style ------------------------------ %%% %%% subscriptions, address changes to: texhax-request@score.stanford.edu %%% %%% submissions to: texhax@score.stanford.edu %%% %%% BITNET redistribution: TEX-L@TAMVM1.BITNET (list server) %%% %%%\bye %%% ------------------------------ End of TeXhax Digest ************************** -------