TYPING LATEX

auctex.vim

Vim is an excellent vi-type editor which I use for typing latex. The auctex.vim is a vim macro file is loosely based on the auctex package from emacs and xemacs.

citation.py,

This is a python program which speeds up downloading bibtex citations. It is also part of tex-launcher.py, below. Here's a version for python 3.

custom-latex.el

Include this file when using emacs or xemacs and auctex. It adds several keybindings I've found useful.

GENERAL PROGRAMS

tex-launcher.tar.gz

This is a program to select a file and start editing it. It also starts the tex viewer. Currently, it's designed for Unix. You must have python installed, along with the Tkinter module. Here's a version for python 3. To set up the program on Unix,

  1. Type "tar xvzf tex-launcher.tar.gz" to unpack the files. It will create a directory called "Tex-Launcher".
  2. Edit the files "Tex-Launcher/Files/latex-template.tex" and "Tex-Launcher/Files/letter-template.tex". You may wish to keep the line "$Xdvi_Extra", since this will automatically be replaced by a command that allows inverse searching.
  3. To launch the program, type "python Tex-Launcher/tex-launcher.py".
  4. If your editor is xemacs, "Tex-Launcher/init.el" can be moved or added to your ".xemacs/init.el" file.
  5. To do further customization, start the program and go to the menu item "Help" and "Edit the Initialization File". In particular, you may want to change "EDITOR" to your favorite editor.
You can set up an icon for launching the program. On Windowmaker, do the following.
  1. Type "xterm -name tex-launcher". An xterm icon should appear.
  2. Move the xterm icon to the dock, and close the xterm.
  3. Right click on the xterm icon, click settings, and change "Application path and arguments" to "python Tex-Launcher/tex-launcher.py"
  4. Click on the "Browse" button to choose a new icon image. Included in the Tex-Launcher directory is the icon "TeXViewColor1.xpm". You can move it to the directory "GNUstep/Library/Icons/" to make it accessible.
Here are some brief instructions for the program. I hope it is mostly self-explanatory.
  1. Clicking on a tex file will run latex (twice) on the file, and open an editor and a viewer.
  2. You can run latex by pressing the button that appears when you launch a file (unless you have disabled that option).
  3. Clicking on a directory will change to that directory.
  4. Shift-Left-Click on a file will select it without opening an editor or viewer. This is useful if you simply want to print a file.
  5. Right clicking on a file will open a dialogue to delete the file
  6. Middle-button clicking on a file will open a dialogue to copy or rename the file
  7. Explore the menus for other commands. A letter in parentheses means that simply typing that letter will start the action, even if the menu is closed. For instance, typing "q" will kill the program.
  8. To change default values, for instance to use your favorite edior, click on the menu item "Help->Edit the Initalization File".