LaTeX is a document-preparation system, widely used in the scientific and engineering communities, that was devised in the mid-1980's by Leslie Lamport to make the creation of professionally typeset documents a little easier. LaTeX is built on top of a typesetting system called TeX created by Donald Knuth. While TeX is very good at positioning characters on a page in a manner that creates an aesthetically pleasing document, most writers do not want to deal with such a low level of detail. LaTeX is a collection of TeX macros that allow authors to concentrate more on the content of their files, rather than worrying about the exact formatting characteristics required by their publisher.
LaTeX2e (teTeX 2.0.2) is available on the Unix platforms that ITC supports: Sun Solaris, SGI IRIX (see ITC's Unix Lab ), and IBM AIX (blue.unix).
Although ITC does not currently support it, a version of LaTeX, based on teTeX, for the Windows platform called MiKTeX is available for download free of charge.
The "AMS-LaTeX" extensions for LaTeX are part of the LaTeX installation and can be accessed with the command \usepackage{amssymb,amsmath} in the LaTeX document.
The LaTeX slide environment Prosper is also available to create scientific presentations in PDF format.
TeX/LaTeX is also available for Mac OSX. A version that is easy to install can be obtained at http://www.rna.nl/tex.html.
Upgrade Announcement
Announcement concerning the most recent upgrade of LaTeX.
Access from Unix Platforms
- The filesystem /common should be mounted from the Unix server jeeves.itc.virginia.edu to the Unix platforms (Sun Solaris, SGI IRIX, IBM AIX, Linux) that you are logged into. In addition, the directory for the appropriate platform (e.g. /solaris or /linux) should also be mounted from jeeves.itc and a symbolic link created from the uva subdirectory of the platform directory (e.g. /linux/i386/glibc2.1/uva) to /uva on the host machine. This is done by default on all ITC maintained Unix machines.
Make sure /uva/bin is part of your PATH variable.
You can obtain a unix account on the RS/6000 cluster blue.unix from the Accounts webpage. You should log into blue.unix using the X-server software Exceed (available in ITC Public Labs) to establish a graphical interface.
- Use a file editor like emacs, jove, vi, or nedit to create a LaTeX formatted file (say filename.tex). Many of these editors can be configured specifically for LaTeX format file creation. A WYSIWYG LaTeX document processor called LyX can also be used.
- Compile the file with the command latex, e.g.
latex filename.texThis will generate filename.dvi.
- Assuming you are logged into your account using an X-window graphical user interface, you can preview the document using the xdvi command:
xdvi filename.dvi
- To generate a postscript version of your document, type:
dvips filename.dviThis will generate a postscript file named filename.ps.
- To print the postscript file to the printer printer_name type:
lpr -Pprinter_name filename.psUsers who wish to use LaTeX on a PC running Windows can download and install the MiKTeX package free of charge.
A LaTeX compatible file editor that can be used on the Windows platform is Winedt and can be downloaded for a nominal fee. The WYSIWYG LaTeX document processor LyX has also been ported to the Windows platform.
WinShell is a free graphical user interface for working with LaTeX or TeX. Another is TeXnicCenter. Both are integrated development environments that include a text editor, different tool bars and user configuration options. Both require an additional LaTeX package for Windows such as MiKTeX.
Although not licensed through UVA, Scientific Word, Scientific Workplace and Scientific Notebook are commercial products for working with LaTeX and TeX. Academic rates are available and these products may be purchased from Mackichan Software
You can access information on LaTeX (teTeX) on Unix platforms via the man command. The "man" command provides information in Unix manual format and you must first modify your MANPATH variable (e.g. in your .variables.ksh) to include the path /common/teTeX1.0/man. You can then access the on-line information (e.g. for xdvi) by typing "man xdvi" at the Unix prompt.
The following books on LaTeX are available for browsing at the Research Computing Support Center in Wilson Hall 244.
A Guide to LaTeX by KopKa and DaleyAdditional LaTeX references are avaiable through the Science and Engineering Library.
The LaTeX Graphics Companion by Goossens, Rahtz, and Mittelbach
The LaTeX Web Companion by Goossens, and Rahtz .
Tutorial Documents
Isabelle Hurbain's Latex Course
First three chapters in pdf for those new to the world of LaTeX.Text Processing using LaTeX
University of Cambridge LaTeX help webpage containing several tutorial links.
If users cannot find the answers to their questions in the online documentation, they can email their questions to ITC Research Computing Support.
Local FAQ
Frequently asked (or interesting) questions about Matlab the have been submitted to ITC.TeX, LaTeX, etc.: Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions from the comp.text.tex newsgroup.UK List of Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions of the UK TeX Users' Group.
LaTeX for Word Processor Users
In addition to the examples contained in the tutorial links above, the following link is to a PDF formatted document containing main types of LaTeX templates.
LaTeX in Wikipedia
A good overview of LaTeX with many links on associated tools and packages.
Powerdot
An upgraded version of the Prosper document class for slide presentations.
AMS-LaTeX
The software distributed under the name "AMS-LaTeX" consists of various extensions for LaTeX. AMS-LaTeX is part of the standard LaTeX distribution, and is also mirrored on CTAN.
Why is TeX not a WYSIWYG system?
The TeX document preparation environment.
Importing Graphics into LaTeX
Getting memory-efficient, pretty-looking, robust graphics with very fancy robust labels into LaTeX.
Using Imported Graphics in LaTeX and pdfLaTeX
Extensive document on importing graphics at the CTAN site.
TeX-friendly editors and shells
There are good TeX-writing environments and editors for most operating systems.
LaTeX Style and BiBTeX Bibliography Formats for Molecular Biologists: TeX and LaTeX Resources
There are good TeX-writing environments and editors for most operating systems.
The latex2html converter
A perl based latex to html converter.
The LyX Latex Word Processor
LyX provides an easy-to-use, WYSIWYG interface to the latex package.
Why Latex?
And why WYSIWYGs may not be a good thing.
CTAN Homepage
WWW Interface to the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network.
TeX Users Group
The TeX Users Group home page.
LaTeX Newsgroup
Newsgroup devoted to issues involving use of LaTeX.