TeXhax Digest Friday, April 1, 1988 Volume 88 : Issue 33 Editor: Malcolm Brown Today's Topics: WEB for Ada BibTeX "management" utilities? TeX Users on Apollo hung punctuation; index for texhax location of mf.vms_changes alternate bibliography styles Problem: Multi-lingual parallel text LaTeX Notes (Re: TeXhax Digest V88 #29) LaTeX version number Plain TeX and VMS TeX Installation Problems TeXas needs Triangles Tex on Decnet: errata Help for LISTSERV Painless way to typeset EVERYTHING in sans-serif Microsoft Rich Text Format MetaFont and Postscript. TeX on Apollo workstations FLAME! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: trwrb!trwspp!spp3!simpson@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Scott Simpson) Date: 23 Mar 1988 1008-PST (Wednesday) Subject: WEB for Ada Does anyone have a pointer to a WEB for Ada? I don't know if such a beast exists. Scott Simpson TRW Space and Defense Sector ...{decvax,ihnp4,ucbvax}!trwrb!trwspp!spp3!simpson (UUCP) trwspp!spp3!simpson@trwrb.dsd.trw.com (Internet) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Mar 88 14:06:19 EST From: bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu Subject: BibTeX "management" utilities? Forgive me if this is an oft-heard question, but I am new to this list and fairly new to TeX. Does anyone have a set of utility programs for managing, listing, searching, etc. BIB files (akin to the UNIX refer utilities)? I figured I'd ask before attempting to re-invent the wheel. Much thanks... Dave Bernholdt bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu bernhold@ufpine.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Thu 24 Mar 88 14:56:21-PST From: LMCDONALD@ECLA.USC.EDU Subject: TeX Users on Apollo I am interested in corresponding with TeX users who are based on Apollos. My lab at Hughes Aircraft recently purchased a site license from Arbortext. We are also based on VAX/VMS (with Talaris version). The Arbortext product has been very good (especially the Previewer). At one time, TUG had a site admin for Apollos (B. Gropp I believe). It is possibly that the site admin for UNIX will be okay for Apollo. Anyway, I would like to find out about Apollo based sites, and what software they have. I am interested in getting Metafont on the Apollo. We have developed a number of formats for TeX, including a RUNOFFish version. This is currently being revised to something called TeXOFF. My plan is to make this available for public distribution (don't tell my boss) Louis McDonald 213-616-3134 lmcdonald@ecla.usc.edu or mcdonald%olymps%engvax.scg.hac.com@relay.cs.net ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Mar 88 11:54 EST From: (Bob Jantzen, BITNET:JANTZEN@VUVAXCOM) Subject: hung punctuation; index for texhax Can anyone tell me where to find the texhax submission describing hung punctuation, i.e., punctuation which extends over the edge of the margin, as in the case of quotes? I didn't think I was interested when I read it, but someone else is now and I cannot find it by looking back at hard copy. This brings up an important issue. A nearly current index to texhax would be very useful. Is it really too low in priority to do? Last time I looked the volume 87 index at the bitnet listserver was still the old one which cut off after April. Any comments? --bob ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Mar 88 14:29:06 AST From: ejones%TUNS.BITNET@CORNELLC.CCS.CORNELL.EDU (Ed Jones , TUNS, Computer Services) Subject: location of mf.vms_changes Hello, A METAFONT question. Does anyone know how to get hold of the file MF.VMS_CHANGES, written by Jane Coleman at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories. This file is mentioned in the "TeX User Guide", included in the Kellerman and Smith distribution of TeX, in the "Changes in TeX 2.0.0" section. It is supposed to produce a version of METAFONT on VMS capable of graphical output on Tektronix 4014 look-alikes. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ed Ed Jones EJONES@TUNS.bitnet Manager, User Services ED@VAX1.TUNS.cdn Computer Services Dept. Technical University of Nova Scotia ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Mar 88 15:57:03 +0100 From: Marc Shapiro Subject: alternate bibliography styles From: uglevine@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Jeremy Levine) Subject: Style files for bib The only ones available heree are plain --> [1] .... alpha --> [Sha87] ... and some variations on sorting... However, if one wanted [Shapiro 1987] ..... then the labels have to be changed. One can do this easily in \thebibliography, however if one is using .bib files one needs to define a style. Anybody tried this? I have the bibliography style files you need for that, and to do more nice things. You may get them either from the latex-style archive at Rochester, or directly from me. Marc Shapiro INRIA, B.P. 105, 78153 Le Chesnay Cedex, France. Tel.: +33 (1) 39-63-53-25 e-mail: shapiro@inria.inria.fr or: ...!mcvax!inria!shapiro ------------------------------ Date: 23 March 88, 11:01:13 EDT From: Fred Schiff 607/777-7577 TJW0300 at BINGTJW To: TEXHAX Subject: Problem: Multi-lingual parallel text Hello. I'm resending this because I don't think it made it the first time. Here is a problem for TexHax; it is not something I need to do, but simply something I was wondering about. I have a book, The Linz Cafe by Christopher Alexander which has parallel texts in English and German. The texts are aligned so that one text doesn't get too far away from another; in other words the paragraphs are aligned so the translation of each paragraph can be seen easily. The paragraphs are not aligned right next to each other, but with the same paragraphs on the same page in different columns. If one paragraph is too long, it continues onto the next page with blank space next to it in the other language with the next paragraph starting at the same point for both languages. It looks like this: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x English paragraph 1 xx x German paragraph 1 xxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx English paragraph 2 x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx German paragraph 2 xx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -------------------------------------------------- page break xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x English paragraph 3 xx x German paragraph 3 xxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This happens to look good in the book because the pages are small with (relatively) narrow columns, plus large German paragraphs which overlap to the next page do not occur very often. (The book also has very nice photographs which complement the text.) The problem is to write macros to typeset such a parallel text for 2 languages (3 languages would be extra credit, but I do not think the format would be as nice.) If someone has already solved this, my apologies. Note that this is different from the problem on p. 387 of Appendix D, where the same number of lines is wanted on each page. I want the paragraphs to be aligned on each page but not necessarily by altering the widths of the columns or the vskip between successive lines. The width of the columns can be the same or different, but it will not change during the run of the book, because those values would be set by the book designer. Fred Schiff SUNY Binghamton, Watson School Binghamton, NY 13901 TJW0300 at BINGTJW The morning glory another thing that will never be my friend -Basho ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Mar 88 12:33:23 PST From: lamport@src.dec.com (Leslie Lamport) Subject: LaTeX Notes (Re: TeXhax Digest V88 #29) freels@utkvx1.bitnet asks Is there a simple way to convert the default font from \rm to say \sf for Sans Serif? ... I still get section titles, page numbers, equation numbers, etc. appearing in \rm. So then I went into the style files which I am using, such as article.sty and art12.sty, and redefined what section, subsection, etc.. This worked but seemed like a lot of trouble. The section titles were probably appearing in \bf not \rm. I would guess that equation numbers weren't changed because they are made in math mode and the definition of \rm didn't change the appropriate math mode font. Look in lfonts.tex for the definition of \rm to see what should be done. I don't know recall how page numbers are made, but a look in the style files should reveal why they didn't get changed. In any case, I guess that it doesn't seem like all that much trouble for so drastic a change--especially since it was probably a silly thing to do. I don't know why he wanted sans serif fonts instead of serifs; I expect it's because it looks more modern. Sans serif fonts are used in trendy coffee table books because it looks so trendy and in the fine print in ads and warranties because you can fit more text in the same space with sans serif than with roman type. Sans serif fonts are seldom used in books meant to be read because it is less readable. The additional information conveyed by the serifs make roman type easier to read than sans serif type. Therefore, it is recommended only when you want to discourage people from reading your document. Karl Berry writes In the transcript files of a LateX job, all the page numbers seem to come out as, e.g., [1 ] or something like that. Is this intentional (or at least explicable), or should I go make a triptex? This is normal behavior. I forget exactly why it happens, but it has to do with some kludgery to make sure that marks and/or labels get attached to the right page in certain exceptional cases. Klaus Wacker asks It seems that LaTeX doesn't hyphenate automatically when in font \tt. ... Is this a bug or a feature? How can I get LaTeX to hyphenate in font \tt? This is a feature, implemented by setting \hyphenchar of the tt fonts to -1. You can undo it by explicitly resetting \hyphenchar--see the TeXbook for details. However, I can't help wondering why he wants to do this. In the customary uses for \tt fonts, one does not want TeX to insert any hyphens. Leslie Lamport ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Mar 88 15:48:23 EST From: Pedro de Rezende Subject: LaTeX version number May I suggest that LaTeX version 2.09 of 14 Feb 88 be regarded as LaTeX version 2.09880214 while LaTeX version 2.09 of 03 Oct 89 be regarded as LaTeX version 2.09891003? (Get the pattern?) This way, those fond of version numbers can be satisfied while Dr. Lamport keeps the correspondence between functionality and the description in the current version of the manual. Note that version numbers remain unique unless LaTeX's functionality does not change in 100 years! Pedro J. de Rezende rezende@corwin.ccs.northeastern.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Mar 88 16:24:15 PST From: zar@XHMEIA.Caltech.Edu (Daniel M. Zirin) Subject: Plain TeX and VMS TeX Installation Problems I'm about to start teaching beginning TeX to DECUS types in May, July, and August at various sites in the Eastern US. I'd like to get some feedback from people in the "real" TeX world. A few years ago, I got discouraged that people starting using LaTeX instead of learning "Plain" TeX first. As a result, I starting teaching plain TeX at Caltech and geared the course toward non-programming and non-technical users (these were the class of users that felt it necessary to start with LaTeX instead of plain TeX). The course notes were a combination of self-prepared notes and "The TeXBook". The result is/was excellent! Many of you, possibly Mr. Lamport as well, may be asking why expose new non-technical users to plain TeX first. My reasons are: 1) If a site has the TeX WP System installed, plain TeX is the first thing to work. LaTeX requires system types to fixup style files (in some earlier versions, the LaTeX .EXE for VMS didn't even work on some local systems so LaTeX was run by constantly loading the LPLAIN format (.FMT) file with a command like "TEX &LPLAIN inputfile"). 2) LaTeX is a completely separate environment and once you start to want "extras" plain TeX starts to shine. 3) LaTeX was developed to reduce the overhead of page format setups that plain TeX requires. In my evaluation, a properly taught beginning plain TeX class should give the user {\bf more than enough} background to make specialized setups. Page setups also seem to me to take little effort once you have a few templates. 4) Portability. LaTeX users may have to carry around style files to make sure it will work the same on another system (this may have changed recently, but I started with pre-TeX80). Plain TeX users have *nothing* to worry about with this regard. It may seem like I dislike LaTeX, but this is not true. LaTeX has its place and I have been known to even suggest certain people use it. Anyway, since the above few points are ideas of mine that aren't cast in stone, I'd like to here from others why it is good or bad to start a poor slimy new user on LaTeX vs Plain TeX (or vice-a-versa). I was also going to mention documentation differences between these two, but its been a while since I've reread the LaTeX Users Guide. Second, I'd like to hear comments from system types that have installed VMS TeX from Maria Code concerning problems you had to overcome. This is in preparation for a DECUS talk on installin TeX on VMS this May. Please reply SOON! Dan Zirin (The Great Zar) ZAR @ CITCHEM.bitnet, ZAR @ XHMEIA.Caltech.Edu, XHMEIA::ZAR (span 5.920) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Mar 88 00:05 CDT From: Subject: TeXas needs Triangles Howdy: For those of y'all who were kind enough to inform me that the solution for my problem with \immediate and \write is actually covered in Exercise 21.10 of the TeX book, a Texas sized thanks! I could never figure out how to reply to those who mail me solutions from U.K. (even though I reply to their proper address, the mail always comes back as undeliverable) and so I would like to thank them through texhax. Now, since I have the \immediate and \write problem under control, I will be much obliged if someone could give me some hints on how I could draw filled and unfilled triangles (with or without using slashes) in TeX (yes, TeX and not LaTeX!). I can stack up \hrule(s) with appropriate widths to form a triangle but the sides come out stepped for obvious reasons. Could someone give me a hand with this, please. Thank you again. Murali Krishnamurthi MURALI@TAMLSR.BITNET ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Mar 88 08:31 N From: Subject: Tex on Decnet: errata Please note that the correct DECNET/SPAN number of Marisa Luvisetto is: 39947::luvisetto Max Calvani ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Mar 88 08:55 N From: Subject: Help for LISTSERV I tryed to get the list of what is available on LISTSERV@tamvmi.bitnet. Can anyone please tell me: 1) why most material is missing 2) how can I get those files which were advertised in Texhax as being sent to TEX-l. If I ask for "GET TEX FILELIST" the filelist I receive just ends before the content. -------------------------- last part of it ------------------------- * * Miscellaneous TeX-related files * ------------------------------- * * rec last - change * filename filetype GET PUT -fm lrecl nrecs date time * -------- -------- --- --- --- ----- ----- -------- -------- -------------------------- that's all! ------------------------------ Thanks for ANY help Max Calvani ------------------------------ Date: 25 MAR 88 21:04- From: RALPH%UHHEPG.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU Subject: Painless way to typeset EVERYTHING in sans-serif Im sure this question has been asked hundred times already, but I still don't know how to do it (forgive a beginner); Using standard LaTeX, what is the simplest way to have a ``whole'' document typeset using only \sf type fonts ? Everything means: everything, except math italic and math symbol. I tried the real stupid approach: \def\rm$\sf. That works quite well. What is left are: - \it, \sf and therefore \em, they switch to italic/slanted ROMAN - \bf (used extensively in chapter headings and such), switches to boldface roman, - footnotemarks. As they are typeset as $$number$ they use math numbers, which are in roman again. The last one I know how to take care of (redefine the command which makes the footnote mark), the first two I don't. The real hassle is the following: I wouldn't mind some characters being from the wrong font (at this early stage, I sure will mind later), but the laser printer has to load a whole set of roman font, just because of a chapter heading and some emphesized text, so it can't do a single page without having to reload fonts all the time. I would love to get rid of that. Thanks a lot in advance ! Ralph Becker-Szendy RALPH@UHHEPG.BITNET University of Hawaii / High Energy Physics Group (808)948-7391 Watanabe Hall #203, 2505 Correa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822 "Hawaii - it's not just for tourists. People actually live and work there." ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Mar 88 20:45:09 EST From: dow@wjh12.harvard.edu (Dominik Wujastyk) Subject: Microsoft Rich Text Format While I was waiting for a plane in Chicago O'Hare airport on Wednesday, I leafed through a book called "More File Formats". Among others, it described Microsoft's "Rich Text Format". Strike me! (An English remark.) If it wasn't TeX in heavy disguise. "A control word is a string of text beginning with a backslash, and ending in a space, with intervening alphabetic characters; a control symbol consists of a backslash followed by a non- alphabetic character ..." and so on. Wow! I can translate my MS Word (4.0) documents straight into Rich Text, because it says so in the Manual. Then I can knock up a simple macro package, and bingo! Word-talks-to-TeX. But when I got home I found that although a program to translate Word documents to RTF (not RFT, which is DCA) is described in the Ref. Manual, it is not on the disk. Phone MS. "Yes, sir, people have been puzzled by that. All I can suggest is that you write to the RTF project manager." So I have. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, does anyone else know more about all this? Is RTF in fact derived from TeX? Has anyone got any documentation? If RTF is as close to TeX as it seems ({\i xxxx} for italics, {\bf xxx} for bold, \footnote{... } for footnotes, and so on), then Word users are going to be laughing. Dominik bitnet: user DOW on the bitnet node HARVUNXW arpanet: dow@wjh12.harvard.edu csnet: dow@wjh12.harvard.edu uucp: ...!ihnp4!wjh12!dow ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Mar 88 10:19:02 +0200 From: Malka Cymbalista Subject: TeX on Apollo workstations Is anybody out there successfully running TeX on an Apollo? Any information - where to get software, previewer facilities, available device drivers - will be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Malki Cymbalista VUMALKI at WEIZMANN.BITNET ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Mar 88 09:05:00 Greenwich Mean Time From: Subject: FLAME! During the last months many people (including me) have inquired how to get TeXware via BITNET. Apart from a few responses from individuals nothing has happened. I see people talking about TeX 2.7 and METAFONT 1.2 or LaTeX of February 88 but I am still unable to get the most recent LaTeX version or the updates to TeX-the program. Megabytes of interesting software packages are announced via TeXhax to be ftp'ed somewhere---but what's the use for those not being able to do it? You might object that (at least) LaTeX diffs were distributed by Pierre MacKay and forwarded to BITNET. True. But it doesn't help very much to get the diffs from January to February if you have LaTeX of November 87. * FLAME ON * Will you please take notice of the fact that there *ARE* actually people (even inside the US) who can send only mail around (either electronic or SNAIL) and who cannot afford paying money for tapes--- even if it's only $100 ! I'm tired of repeatedly sending requests to people to kindly provide me with this or that. A vast number of mail-based servers exists out there in NETland---so why not for TeXware? I know that it's not so easy to acquire some Megabytes of disk space to set up such a beast. What bothers me is that all I want lies there at Stanford waiting for me but I cannot reach it! * FLAME OFF * I think I've made my point clear enough. Rainer Schoepf Inst. f. Physik Univ. Mainz Staudinger Weg 7 D-6500 Mainz West Germany ------------------------------ %%% %%% Concerning subscriptions, address changes, unsubscribing: %%% BITNET: send a one-line mail message to LISTSERV@TAMVM1.BITNET: %%% SUBSCRIBE TEX-L % to subscribe %%% UNSUBSCRIBE TEX-L % to cancel subscription %%% %%% All others: send mail to %%% texhax-request@score.stanford.edu %%% please send a valid arpanet address!! %%% %%% %%% All submissions to: texhax@score.stanford.edu %%% %%%\bye %%% ------------------------------ End of TeXhax Digest ************************** -------