lab4

ATTENTION for latex exercise

make sure you have created a
  1. lab4 directory in aero361
  2. report directory in lab4

<bash> cd aero361
<bash> mkdir -p lab4/report


BACKGROUND AND PRACTICE ON TAR

A directory that needs to be archived is tar'd in a unix platform. The tar format is very common and useful for archiving and transferring files on line. The tar command is used to create and unroll tar files. In the past one could not ftp directories or directory structures so a way was created whereby an entire directory structure was converted into a single file. This conversion was done using the tar command. The file was then transferred via the net through a mail program or ftp. Now days one used scp since it is secure and faster. Examples below illustrate how to use the tar command

<bash> tar cvf [path]/filename.tar directory[name]
 converting a chosen directory into a tar archive called filename.tar
<bash> tar xvf filename.tar
 unrolling filename.tar into its original directory structure or some other location

  • Exercise on tar: lets say you want to archive aero361 dir. The tar file will be aero361.tar. Need to be in a directory that when you list the contents of that dir aero361 shows up. Refer to the tables below for commands and options.
    • creating a tar file and placing it in the /remote/aere/joeusr dir
      • <bash>tar cvf /remote/aere/joeusr/aero361.tar aero361
      • <bash>cd /remote/aere/joeusr
    • Compress the tar file using the bzip2 command
      • <bash>bzip2 aero361.tar
    • unrolling a tar file in /remote/aere/joeusr
      • <bash>bunzip2 aero361.tar.bz2
      • <bash>tar xvf aero361.tar

tar OPTION FLAGS

OPTION
 DESCRIPTION
-c, --create create a new archive
-d, --diff, --compare find differences between archive and file system
--delete delete from the archive (not for use on mag tapes!)
 -r, --append append files to the end of an archive
-t, --list list the contents of an archive
-u, --update only append files that are newer than copy in archive
-x, --extract, --ge

COMPRESSION UTILITIES

The predecessor to the bzip2 compression command is "gzip". Whenever a tar file is created it is compressed using either one of these utilities shown below.
compression command
 what it does
 final result
<bash>gzip file
 compress file with gzip
 file.gz
<bash>bzip2 file
 compress file with bzip2
 file.bz2
<bash>gunzip file.gz
 uncompress file file.gz
 file
<bash>bunzip2
 uncompress file file.bz2
 file
<bash>unzip
 unzips zip files


Now that you have practiced the tar and compression commands, you are ready for the latex part of the lab.

Latex-Document Text Processing for reports



The aere Report

THE texmf STENCIL

The texmf directory will contain all the stencils and class files that set the report format. There is a texmf directory in the Latex directory in the system, but that cannot be edited by the user. The user creates a texmf directory in the $HOME for all user specific type of formats. Whenever the user creates his/her stencil or class file the files are placed in the $HOME/texmf directory tree. The Aero report stencil was created by Bruce (LaTex Guru) for aeros. The stencil is extremely capable and very appealing. It can generate reports for
  1. aero 361 class projects
  2. aero 461 and aero 462 projects
  3. aero 491/492 senior projects
The aere report stencil is an extension to the isuthesis stencil. In the past we used the isuthesis stencil for the undergraduate classes, later on Bruce decided to create the aere stencil that uses the isuthesis stencil. The isuthesis stencil is a creation of Joe Strauss, another LaTex Guru.
  • download the texmf.tar.bz2 file into your $HOME (/home/joeusr) directory
<bash> cd make sure you are in your /home/joeusr dir
<bash>bunzip2 texmf.tar.bz2 use the bunzip2 utility to uncompress the tar file
<bash>tar xvf texmf.tar extract the files and dirs from the tar archive
<bash> rm -i texmf.tar remove the tar archive
<bash> cd texmf/ cd into the newly extracted texmf dir
<bash> texhash execute the texhash command that allows latex to search for the packages in $HOME/texmf if it cannot find them in its default system dir. Anytime you add a new .sty or .cls or .def file insert in $HOME/texmf/tex/latex where all the .sty files are located and use texhash from $HOME/texmf to update the ls-R file. The ls-R file tells latex where to look for the packaged that are user specific.

LATEX FILES

Make sure you have created a directory lab4
down load the file.tar.bz2 file into lab4 directory. Unzip and unroll that compressed file as you did in the previous step. When you download the file it will show up as Bruce_new_aere.tar.bz2: Bruce is the main architect of this laTex stencil which is a derivative of the isu thesis stencil created by Joe Strauss. This laTex stencil by Bruce can be used in aero461 and beyond.
When you unroll this file a directory called Files will show up. In this dir all your latex files and figures.dir directory will reside. Whenever you do a new project just copy the files/ dir to the appropriate report/ dir of the new project
  • <bash> bunzip2 Bruce_new.aere.tar.bz2
  • <bash> tar xvf Bruce_new.aere.tar
  • <bash> rm -i Bruce_new.aere.tar
  • <bash> cd files/
Once the file has be unrolled it will show up as a directory called files/. In this directory there will be a list of *.tex files that are commonly used for the report. The preamble or main file that calls all the other files is called main.tex. All LaTex documents must have a main.tex which starts and ends the document class.

title.tex
 Author's name, title of the project, name of professor and class name will require editing in this file. Read through this file and play around with the fields and see what happens
%
 This symbol stands for comment like ! for f90

LaTex Editor: Kile

kile is a laTex editor that is gui based. You are encouraged to use this application since its easy to use and pretty quick to learn. It has its own dictionary of symbols and its help page is extremely useful. Before starting a new report make sure the previous projects files are all not in the tabbed list. You need to start fresh. However, you will have to learn this application on your own. The Instructors of this class are "command line oriented" and so they shy away from most GUI applications, unless its CFD type post-processing. Almost all the basic commands and some advanced commands that reside in books is available a click away from the menus and side bar panels in kile, e.g., math symbols menu
  • <bash> kile &
Steps using kile
  1. bring up kile from menu or from shell as shown above
  2. select the file open menu to select all the requisite files for the report: click me
  3. select the main.tex file and mark it as the master document: click me
  4. Edit the files use various menus to insert equations and text
  5. compile the file by clicking the latex icon: click me
  6. preview the file in dvi form by clicking the icon: click me
  7. from the kdvi preview browser go back into edit mode by clicking the pen at the right end of the main menu: click me
The main menu
 click me
The selection of the Master Document: the main.tex file is the master document
 click me
The compile or latex button
 click me
The dvi viewer button
 click me

Here is the menu locations of common fields that you would require. The tool is pretty is easy!
  1. Equations
  2. tables
  3. figures and menu

HOW TO BUILD A LATEX REPORT

There a two main steps in building a latex report for viewing. The main.tex file is like the main program it "includes" all the other files representing each chapter of the report. Every time a new file is created it needs to be included into the main.tex file at the appropriate place using "\include{new file}". From the command line here are the three basic steps. If there are errors after the "latex" step the dvi file may be corrupted. The "latex" step is synonymous to the compile step in fortran.

latex command

<bash> latex main.tex

<bash> xdvi main.dvi

<bash> dvips -f main.dvi > main.ps

To convert a dvi report into pdf the following command is used

<bash> dvipdf main.dvi

It will convert the main.dvi into a main.pdf file with indexing

NOTE

to set the xdvi window to the actual page width and height use the -s 0 option as shown below

<bash> xdvi -s 0 main.dvi

Trouble Shooting: Quitting and Continueing from the latex command

Latex will try to auto correct errors in syntax, missing braces, incomplete fields and etc. However, its always good to have the least number of errors in the file. When latex encounters an error or some missing package it will stop and give a reason. Latex will give the line number and the file where the error occurred.
  • To continue on with the latex process and see the final result type
    • <bash> r
    • <bash> xdvi or kdvi main.dvi
  • Toexit the latex process type
    • <bash> x

pdf and teTex: Refer to PDF support page

Acrobat documents in pdf format can be built from teTex except the latex command cannot be used in the so called compile step. The latex command can only be used when "eps" type figures are being used in the document. The latex command cannot recognize any other picture format other than "ps" or "eps". If the report contains "jpeg", "png", "tiff" or "gif" type formatted images but no "eps" or "ps" type images then pdflatex command is used to build the report. So remember when using pdflatex command make sure that all images are in formats other than "eps" or "ps". The pdflatex command will create a main.pdf file.

<bash> pdflatex main.tex

<bash> acroread main.pdf

HOW TO DRAW FIGURES FOR LATEX using xfig


main menu
 drawing objects
editing objects
 object attributes
add tangent line

There is a powerful package that allows the user to draw pictures with latex style equations called "xfig". Before the next lab you are to tinker with xfig. Use the help page on xfig to get an idea how to use the commands. The next step will be to export and figure in .pstex/.pstex_t format so that latex can import the figure with symbols.

To create diagrams with latex type equations you can use the latex tool "xfig". Type xfig in a shell or you can access it through "kile". This ps/tex combined export mode allows the user to create figures with latex type equations. The latex file will input the figure as shown below. In the \input field the .pstex_t file is accessed which in turn uses the .pstex file pertaining to the file. When ever you export the ps/tex file make sure there is a .pstex_t and .pstex file.

CAUTION: Whenever you spend time building a figure make sure the figure is saved (click on the save or save as button and name it file.fig)

\begin{figure} [ht]
 \centering
 \scalebox{1.0}{\input{fig2.pstex_t}}
 \caption{My figure}
 \label{the-label-for-cross-referencing}
\end{figure}

Download these files and bring example.fig file in xfig. The math symbols are written as $........$ in the text field window.
  • <bash> xfig
Compile the main.tex file and use xdvi on main.dvi
CAUTION: when exporting the .pstex and .pstex_t files do not put them in the figure.dir directory. It will be messy but at the moment place all these .pstex and .pstex_t files where the .tex files reside i.e. files/ dir

Hypertext with LaTeX
Essential LaTeX++ pdf ps
A LaTeX survival guide for Unix systems pdf ps
LaTeX symbols pdf ps
The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List shows many symbols available in LaTeX. pdf
The Short Math Guide for LaTeX is a concise summary of the essential features in LaTeX for writing math formulas, including features provided by the packages amssymb and amsmath. pdf ps