TeXhax@cs.washington.edu (TeXhax Digest) (10/20/89)
TeXhax Digest Tuesday, October 17, 1989 Volume 89 : Issue 93
Moderators: Tiina Modisett and Pierre MacKay
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Today's Topics:
***Announcing MS-Windows dvi previewer***
RE: Apple Laserwriter Drivers
Concerning Apple Laserwriter Drivers
Concerning Epic V1.2...
A LaTeX 'exercises' environment and 'list' counter handling
***BibTeX database tool***
Cross refs in BibTeX
Needed: BibTeX which accepts system parameter calls (VMS)
Stopping \uppercase
Re: JTeX, JTeX capable dvips
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 12:44:06 -0500
From: "J.D. McDonald " <mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: ***Announcing MS-Windows dvi previewer***
Keywords: MS-Windows, dviware, previewer, BETA_TEST
Announcing the availability of the first BETA_TEST version of a
new TeX dvi file previewer for the Microsoft Windows environment.
This is a Windows version of my dvivga previewer. It should run
under Windows on any display, though it will produce output
stretched vertically if you have a display without square pixels.
It looks really bad only on CGA. On my 600x800 vga display it is
quite lovely - you can view many files with 145 d.p.i. fonts that
look really great (click on that size before opening a file).
If you are interested in helping me test this thing please send
e-mail to me at mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu. You will need
Internet anonymous ftp capability to get the fonts from
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil, unless you already have dvivga fonts.
The final release version of dvimswin will be freely distributable
for non-commecial purposes. The beta-test version is not intended to
get beyond those I send it to, as the possibility of it being bug-free is
zero, though **I** can't find any bugs.
Just as for dvivga, and other Windows programs in general, the
faster the computer the better. On a plain XT it will be very
slow indeed.
Doug McDonald
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 10:28 EST
From: <RICH%SUHEP.BITNET@UWAVM.ACS.WASHINGTON.EDU> (Richard S. Holmes)
Subject: RE: Apple Laserwriter Drivers
Keywords: Apple Laserwriter, drivers
Peter King <pjbk%cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk@NSFnet-Relay.AC.UK> writes:
>Yesterday, more from curiosity than need, I ran testpage.tex (which
>comes with LaTeX) through latex, and then printed it on our Apple
>Laserwiter Plus.
>[...]
>More worrying was the fact that the frame which is supposed
>to be 6.5 inches x 9 inches was, when measured (with a ruler, nothing fancy),
>6.58 inches by 8.94 inches.
>
>Since all three drivers give the same size frame, it looks as if the bug is in
>one of three places
>[...]
> c) the mechanics of the LW
>
>None of these seems very likely -- has anyone else tried this test?
What makes c) seem unlikely? Have you tried printing other types of output
(e.g. MacDraw) and verified they are the right size? I've had Laserwriter
printout come out at only approximately the nominal size on a few occasions.
- Rich Holmes
rich@suhep.bitnet or rich@suhep.phy.syr.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 13:42:42 -0400
From: chris@cs.UMD.EDU (Chris Torek)
Subject: Concerning Apple Laserwriter Drivers
Keywords: Apple Laserwriter, drivers
In TeXhax Digest V89 #91 <pjbk%cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk@NSFnet-Relay.AC.UK>
(Peter King) writes:
>... Each driver positioned the [testpage] frame in a different position
>on the page! One can live with that, since all the drivers give one the
>power to displace the image on the page. More worrying was the fact that
>the frame which is supposed to be 6.5 inches x 9 inches was, when
>measured (with a ruler, nothing fancy), 6.58 inches by 8.94 inches.
The Apple LaserWriter uses the Canon print engine, but this problem is
not specfic to that particular printer. In fact, it occurs on almost
all laser printers, to some extent. Cheaper printers are more likely
to have odd aspect ratios, particulary if they are kept in typical
office environments.
There are many factors that affect the aspect ratio in one of these
engines, and while it is possible to `tune up' the hardware to get
almost exactly 300 dpi in each direction, the tuning is not likely to
last long, unless you put your printer in a stable environment.
Temperature and humidity changes will throw it off.
As to the offset: most likely one of the drivers is wrong, another
assumes that (0,0) is really the edge of the paper, and the third
carefully preserves the offset from the initial transform matrix.
PostScript specifies that the point (0,0) (in initial user coordinates)
corresponds to the lower left corner of the page. If you examine the
initial transform matrix, however, you will find that the offsets
stored in the printer are typically up to 1/4 inch more or less than
zero. These offsets can be adjusted; see the back of the Red Book.
You must know the server password stored in the LaserWriter EEPROM.
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163)
Domain: chris@cs.umd.edu Path: uunet!mimsy!chris
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 18:15 MET
From: "Johannes L. Braams" <BRAAMS%pttrnl.nl@UWAVM.ACS.WASHINGTON.EDU>
Subject: Concerning Epic V1.2...
Keywords: style file, EPIC V1.2
Hi all,
Today I noticed something I didn't quite like. The file
epic.sty contains a \makeatother at the bottom (as well
as a makeatletter at the top, but that's harmless). The effect
of this is, that style files read after epic break (missing
\begin{document} as soon as TeX encounters an @).
***FLAME ON***
It is a *BAD* habit to put \makeatother at the end of .sty file,
because this might break other .sty files read after yours.
It is not necessary either because the @ has the catcode
of a letter when your file is read. If you want to use
the file as input to TeX as well as for LaTeX, you'd better
check the \catcode of the @ (\ifcat @ someother) and set
a switch accordingly to make it other when it was at the time
your file was read in
***FLAME OFF**
It may be that there is a newer version floating around of which
I'm not aware. If that's the case, could someone tell me?
Regards,
Johannes Braams
PTT Research Neher Laboratorium, P.O. box 421,
2260 AK Leidschendam, The Netherlands.
Phone : +31 70 435051 E-mail will be : JL_Braams@pttrnl.nl
E-mail was :
EARN/BITnet : BRAAMS@HLSDNL5 UUCP : hp4nl!dnlunx!johannes
SURFnet : DNLTS::BRAAMS INTERnet : BRAAMS%HLSDNL5@CUNYVM.cuny.edu
PSS (DATAnet1) : +204 1170358::BRAAMS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Friday, 13 October 1989 1406-EST
From: DAVID@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU
Subject: A LaTeX 'exercises' environment and 'list' counter handling
Keywords: LaTeX, exercises, lists
I had a request from a user putting together a textbook for an
'exercises' environment that would number items in the form
'c.i', where c is the chapter number and i is an item number that
would increase continuously throughout a given chapter. That is,
its starts at 1 with the first item in a chapter, but if there is
more than one 'exercises' environment the first item of one is numbered
consecutively with the last item of the previous one.
I first attempted to do it with defined LaTeX external interfaces:
\newcounter{exercises}[chapter]
\renewcommand{\theexercises}{\thechapter.\arabic{exercises}}
\newenvironment{exercises}
{\begin{list}{\refstepcounter{exercises}\theexercises}{}}
{\end{list}}
This almost worked, but the exercises were numbered 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, etc..
It turns out that \item will sometimes execute the first argument
to the 'list' environment more than once in the process of constructing
a label. I won't say this is a bug, since the manual does not say
that *anything* is allowed in the argument to 'list'. On the other hand,
it does not say that there is anything that may not go there....
My final solution is as follows (sorry, I don't have time right now to
write up a full blown style file complete with formal comments):
%R. David Murray, 1989Oct12
%
%Create an 'exercises' environment. This environment has no
%arguments. It is equivalent to an enumerate environment except
%that the default item numbers have the form 'c.i', where c is
%the current value of \thechapter and i is the value of a counter
%named 'exercises' in arabic numbers. The counter is set to zero
%when the chapter number changes, and is continuous throughout the
%chapter (that is, the first item of a second exercises environment
%will be one greater than the last item of the first exercises
%environment.
\def\usecounternoreset#1%
{\@nmbrlisttrue\def\@listctr{#1}}
\newcounter{exercises}[chapter]
\def\theexercises{\thechapter.\arabic{exercises}}
\newenvironment{exercises}%
{\begin{list}{\theexercises}{\usecounternoreset{exercises}}}%
{\end{list}}
Hope this isn't too trivial a posting . . . :-) . . . I thought
someone else might find it useful.
-- R. David Murray (DAVID@PENNDRLS.BITNET, DAVID@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 16:24:15 CDT
From: Tom Conte <conte@wacky.csg.uiuc.edu>
Subject: ***BibTeX database tool***
Keywords: BibTeX, database tool
I have a tool for searching BibTeX databases. Contact me via e-mail
if you are interested. I need someone to offer to put the sources on
an anonymous-FTP reachable host.
Here's the manual page:
NAME
lookbibtex - search a BibTeX file for a pattern
SYNOPSIS
lookbibtex bibtex-file ...
DESCRIPTION
Lookbibtex is an interactive BibTeX record searching tool.
It is modeled after lookbib(1). The user invokes lookbibtex
with a list of BibTeX bibliography files to search (an
extension of ``.bib'' is assumed). The program prompts with
a colon, at which point the user enters a command line com-
posed of requests. Requests take the form,
field = pattern, or
@entry
where field is a field of a BibTeX entry (e.g., ``author''),
entry is a BibTeX entry type (e.g., ``inproceedings''), and
pattern is a regular expression (see grep(1)). If a pattern
is entered alone, it is equivalent to ``title = pattern.''
All BibTeX entries that match the request specifications are
output. Requests may be combined with the logical conjunc-
tive, ``&&'', and disjunctive, ``||''. An output file can
be speficified by appending ``> file'' to the end of a com-
mand line.
For example, to search a BibTeX database for entries with
``Conte'' as the author, that have the keyword ``lookbib-
tex'' in the title and that are in manuals, the user would
enter
: author = Conte && [lL]ookbibtex && @manual > this.bib
Note that the searches are case sensitive, hence `[lL]' is
used. The output in this example was sent to the file
``this.bib''.
To implement the search, lookbibtex constructs an awk(1)
script for each command line. It then starts an inferior
shell to execute awk(1).
FILES
/tmp/lbt* The awk(1) script generated
SEE ALSO
grep(1), lookbib(1), awk(1)
AUTHOR
Tom Conte
BUGS
The field's entry's are not checked for validity. (In such
a case the search will just fail, so the user gets his just
rewards for not paying attention.)
The redirection output file specified in a search is not
checked for validity in any way by lookbibtex. This is left
to the inferior shell.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 89 05:26:00 PDT
From: KARNEY%PPC.MFENET@CCC.NMFECC.GOV
Subject: Cross refs in BibTeX
Keywords: BibTeX, cross references
In TeXhaxV89 #91, Bengt Martensson complains that BibTeX automatically
inserts an entry to cross referenced material. I also find this is usually
not what I want. One way to prevent this from happening is to recompile
BibTeX with min_crossrefs=<some large number> (instead of the default value
of 2). I have done with our version at PPPL. However, this is clearly
unsatisfactory, since now our version of BibTeX is nonstandard. (A user
who moves his .bib files to another site will obtain different .bbl files.)
I asked Oren Patashnik about this last year (see below) and he said he will
give the user control over this "feature" via the .bst style files in
BibTeX 1.0 "if he has the time".
>From: PATASHNIK%Score.Stanford.EDU@ccc.mfenet
>Subject: Re: Cross refs in BibTeX
>Date: Mon 14 Mar 88 06:11:09-PST
>To: KARNEY%PPC.MFENET@CCC.NMFECC.GOV
>> People here want to use crossrefs just to fill out missing fields in an
>> entry. They don't want the "In Foo \cite{foo}" business in the .BBL file.
>> For present, I've recompiled with min_crossrefs set to infinity. However,
>> it strikes me that this should be under the control of the BST file. So...
>> how about making min_crossrefs settable in the BST file?
>I agree that it should be settable in the .BST file, but there was no
>easy way to do that and I had already spent far too much time on the
>BibTeX update, so I decided to punt on it for version 0.99. If I have
>the time when I do the "frozen" version (1.00) I'll include a
>mechanism for setting min_crossrefs.
> --Oren
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 1989 08:21:08.87 CST
From: <bed_gdg%SHSU.BITNET@UWAVM.ACS.WASHINGTON.EDU> (George D. Greenwade)
Subject: Needed: BibTeX which accepts system parameter calls (VMS)
Keywords: BibTeX, VMS, parameter calls
I am looking for a version of BibTeX (0.99) which accepts system parameter
calls in a VAX/VMS environment, allowing the issuance of the command:
BIBTEX FILENAME
This was possible under our copy of the 0.98 version, but is not possible under
our copy of the 0.99c version. Our 0.99c version give the following prompt on
the issuance of the command BIBTEX (or BIBTEX FILENAME):
Please type input file name (no extensions)--
I would like to have this prompt *only* in the that event I have not specified
the filename at the command level so that an iterative command file can run the
necessary LaTeX->BibTeX->LaTeX->LaTeX sequence for me.
Thanks in advance.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
George D. Greenwade, Director Bitnet: BED_GDG@SHSU
Center for Business and Economic Research THEnet: SHSU::BED_GDG
Sam Houston State University Voice: (409) 294-1518
Huntsville, TX 77341-2056 Internet: bed_gdg%shsu.decnet@utadnx.cc.utexas.edu
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 16:15 GMT + 1200
From: "Graeme McKinstry, TeXnician" <GRAEME@otago.ac.nz>
Subject: Stopping \uppercase
Keywords: TeX, \uppercase
TeXhackers,
Any suggestions on how I might stop \uppercase'ing a footnote in
\author{Graeme McKinstry\footnote{This should be upper- and lowercase}}
and I want the author to appear in UPPERCASE, i.e., defined as:
\def\author#1{\def\@author{\expandafter\uppercase{#1}}}
(\@author is used in producing the title).
So my problem is that the footnote gets \uppercase'd along with the author
(I know I could generate the footnote mark and the footnote text separately
but I would like a more general solution).
This is part of a LaTeX document (the real command is \thanks rather than
\footnote) but the solution will undoubtedly rely on Plain TeX.
Graeme McKinstry
Computing Services Centre
University of Otago,
Dunedin,
New Zealand.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1989 13:56:59 JST
From: isozaki@madokasun.ntt.jp
Reply-To: isozaki@ntt-20.ntt.jp
Subject: Re: JTeX, JTeX capable dvips
Keywords: JTeX, dvips
> Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 17:23:28 PDT
> From: steven@pacific.csl.uiuc.edu
> There is a description of a publicly-available japanese TeX in
> font.memo, but I do not seem to be able find further references to JTeX or
> a usable dvips (one that doesn't expect a postscript printer with japanese
> fonts pre-loaded.) I was directed by one individual to russell.stanford.edu,
> but the file there seems to be in a very strange format. If anyone knows
> of a US and/or internet-reachable source for JTeX and the appropriate
> dvips, I'd really appreciate the information.
I suppose JTeX dvi2ps is not so strange.
By the way, we received the following mail a few month ago.
As I have not tried it yet, I don't know whether it works or not.
If you fail to get dvi2ps from this site, or are not satisfied with it
(it is "minimum" JTeX), please send an e-mail to me
(isozaki%ntt-20.ntt.jp@relay.cs.net).
We will find another site (or medium) for you.
>Date: Mon 31 Jul 89 17:58:10-MDT
>From: "Nelson H.F. Beebe"
>Subject: JTeX tape installed successfully
>
>The JTeX tape arrived this afternoon and has been installed
>successfully on science.utah.edu [128.110.192.2] (a DEC-20/60
>running TOPS-20) in the directories
>
>nd20:<tex.jtex.jisfont>
>nd20:<tex.jtex.minijtex>
>
>Files can be retrieved by anonymous ftp in tenex mode (NOT binary
>mode) as follows (a UNIX system is used as an example):
>
>% ftp science.utah.edu
>ftp>log anonymous
>ftp>Password: guest
>ftp>tenex
>ftp>cd nd20:<tex.jtex.minijtex>
>ftp>get 00readme.jis
>ftp>exit
Name: Hideki ISOZAKI
Organization: NTT Software Research Laboratory
Address: 9-11, Midori-Cho 3-chome, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180, Japan
Telephone: +81 422 59 2079 (voice) +81 422 59 4369 (fax)
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