TeXhax@cs.washington.edu (TeXhax Digest) (08/18/89)
TeXhax Digest Tuesday, August 1, 1989 Volume 89 : Issue 72
Moderators: Tiina Modisett and Pierre MacKay
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Today's Topics:
Organizing a volunteer corps of LaTeX question answerers
Source of "nabla" in TeXbook?
Multilingual capabilities in LaTeX
BibTeX v0.99c available for anonymous FTP
Tex vs troff & DWB
Re: TeXhax Digest V89 #70
Catcode non-bug with \char
Pronunciation of (LaTeX)
Pronunciation, Pt. 3 (Leslie Takes Manhattan)
Re: Pronunciation of TeX
Pronunciation of pstex
Electronic AMS Abstracts
PS in LaTeX
IBM 3820 output on MVS (response)
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%% Moderator's note: Judging from the number of submissions concerning
%% the simplicity of some of the questions included in TeXhax, it appears
%% to be a good time to clarify the objectives of the TeXhax Digest.
%% Since the Digest is dedicated to the support and the expansion of
%% TeX, LaTeX, etc., it seems only reasonable to include queries from
%% novices as well as experienced users. The list of subscribers is
%% growing by leaps and bounds, and while we DO answer numerous
%% privately, when they occur frequently we include them in the Digest,
%% hoping that others may benefit.
%%
%% Unfortunately, it is difficult to assess the needs and interests of
%% such a diverse population. There seems to be a general reluctance to
%% waste time answering the queries of novices, but no shortage of
%% interest in the correct pronunciation of TeX, LaTeX, etc.
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1989 15:14:47 PDT
From: Max Hailperin <mxh@sumex-aim.stanford.edu>
Subject: Organizing a volunteer corps of LaTeX question answerers
Keywords: LaTeX, general
I would like to organize a volunteer corps of LaTeX question answerers.
(Naturally, I intend to be among the volunteers).
TeXHaX has become clogged with uninteresting questions from
novice LaTeX users, e.g. the oft-repeated figure-referencing problem caused
by putting the \label command in the wrong place. We all have to read through
these. Many of us choose to respond--just in case no one else does--flooding
the poor questioner with replies. Then Dr. Lamport, who is a saint, feels
obliged to post his own reply. [Imagine what else he could be doing instead.]
None of these questions should make it past the local site guru; the problem
is that the proliferation of personal-computer versions of LaTeX has resulted
in many new users *without* local site gurus, or even "local sites".
I for one would prefer to read say 90% fewer of these messages in return for
being committed to replying to the 10% I do read. This would be possible
if nine like-minded others would join with me in accepting them in a
round-robin fashion (which could be automated).
Naturally, we would still encourage people to read the manual and consult
local experts. But the traffic on TeXHaX makes it clear that this doesn't
suffice.
Please reply to me if you are interested in volunteering (you may condition
it on a minimum number of other volunteers, if you are worried about being
one of only two of us). I will post to TeXHaX again once I've got the
cooperative established. Presumably I'll announce a mail address at that
point (though the TeXHaX moderators could also bounce stuff to us).
Naturally we'd pass on anything that surpassed our abilities or was especially
interesting.
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Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 15:12:55 EDT
From: smith%cherubim@harvard.harvard.edu (Steven Smith)
Subject: Source of "nabla" in TeXbook?
Keywords: nabla
The TeXbook uses the name `nabla' for the gradient or backwards-difference
symbol. I have only encountered this name in the TeXbook, and cannot find
it in any dictionary (summer indolence prevents me from exploring further).
Does anyone know its source?
Steven Smith
smith@sandalphon.harvard.edu
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Date: Tue, 1 Aug 89 17:35:01 +0200
From: shapiro@corto.inria.fr
Subject: Multilingual capabilities in LaTeX
Keywords: LaTeX, languages
%% Moderator's note: Due to the length of the following submission,
%% we could not include the style files in the Digest.
%% They are available as part of the UNIX distribution.
I have made a few simple changes to the basic LaTeX styles to
allow them to format texts in many languages. Basically, all the
strings (like "Table of contents") which are hardwired in the
style files are replaced by macros. This allows to change languages in
an option file.
You will find below the patches for the style files (Unix diff -c).
Follows a style option file 'french.sty' to show how it's used.
I propose that this be included in the `babel' portion of the Unix
distribution.
Marc Shapiro
INRIA, B.P. 105, 78153 Le Chesnay Cedex, France. Tel.: +33 (1) 39-63-53-25
e-mail: shapiro@sor.inria.fr (internet)
...!inria!shapiro (uucp)
inria!shapiro@uunet.uu.net (non-standard)
Organization: INRIA, BP 105, F-78153 Le Chesnay Cedex, France
telephone +33(1)39-63-55-11, telex 697033 F, telecopy +33(1)39-63-53-30
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Date: Thu, 3 AUG 89 16:57:22 BST
From: TEX%rmcs.cranfield.ac.uk@NSFnet-Relay.AC.UK
Subject: BibTeX v0.99c available for anonymous FTP
Keywords: BibTeX, ftp
Luis Soltero <luis@rice.edu> has kindly offered to host my implementation of
BibTeX for the IBM PC. The files, combined as a Unix tar file are available
for anonymous FTP from:
host: titan.rice.edu (128.42.1.30)
directory: ~ftp/public
file: PC-BibTeX.tar (393216 bytes)
Niel Kempson
| JANET: tex@uk.ac.cranfield.rmcs |
| BITNET: tex%uk.ac.cranfield.rmcs@ukacrl |
| INTERNET: tex%uk.ac.cranfield.rmcs@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk |
| Smail: School of Electrical Engineering & Science, Royal Military |
| College of Science, Shrivenham, SWINDON SN6 8LA, U.K. |
| Phone: Swindon (0793) 785687 (UK), +44-793-785687 (International) |
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Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 10:03:38 EDT
From: Steve Lesh (ISC | howard) <lesh@BRL.MIL>
Subject: Tex vs troff & DWB
Keywords: TeX, troff, DWB, UNIX, MS-DOS
Our office is investigating typesetting software suitable for use
with laser printers to publish software documentation. We are looking
for software which will run under both UNIX and MSDOS. It should be able
to store interim text with its formatting commands in ASCII so it can be
controlled under SCCS. Or it must have some SCCS-like version control
system.
I would appreciate any comments anyone might care to contribute
on the relative merits of 'Tex' vs the UNIX Documentors Workbench software.
Comments addressing the following questions would be appreciated:
1) why 'Tex' if when DWB software is the "UNIX standard"
typesetting software package (and would presumably be available for
most UNIX systems)?
2) does 'Tex' have anything equivalent to the DWB pre-processor
programs 'pic' and 'tbl' or the macro packages;
3) is there a specific environment for which 'Tex' is best?
We are just interested in publishing software suitable for things
like users and programmers manuals.
4) how does 'Tex' compare with 'troff' in terms of quirks and
bugs?
5) what books give the best introduction to 'Tex'?
6) what are the most bug-free implementations for UNIX V and
MSDOS?
Thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to respond to this
long-winded request for information!!
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Date: Tue, 1 Aug 89 14:32:17 EDT
From: jlong@afit-ab.arpa (Jeffrey K. Long)
Subject: Re: TeXhax Digest V89 #70
Keywords: Status of RUMJET driver?
Does anyone know the status of the program "RUMJET" ?
I believe it was a PD program for the MS-DOS machines that was designed to
drive an HP DeskJet printer using a machine with less than 1Meg of memory.
There was a posting in TeXhax about 5 months ago from the authors in
Germany stating that the source would be released shortly. Does anyone
have any further updates of this badly needed program. I am still waiting
for N. Beebe to release source code of his PD drivers family V3.X and want
to get a .dvi driver working for the Atari-ST line of computers!
| Jeff Long jlong@blackbird.afit.af.mil (ARPA net) |
| |
| humble (and getting humbler by the day) graduate student; |
| The Air Force Institute of Technology (what a great way of life??) |
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Date: Mon, 31 Jul 89 19:48 PDT
From: <ASND%TRIUMFER.BITNET@UWAVM.ACS.WASHINGTON.EDU>
Subject: Catcode non-bug with \char
Keywords: TeX, catcode
In Texhax #70 Wayne Sulivan wonders about an endless loop encountered with
\def_{\char`\_}
$ _ $.
The endless loop is not deep within TeX, but is a case of recursive macro
expansion. This can be shown by putting \tracingall in the test file.
There are at least two very subtle issues raised though.
1) Why didn't the stack overflow like it usually does?? TeX uses
"tail-recursion" when possible, as mentioned in the Dirty Tricks
chapter of the TeXbook. This means that nothing is left on the stack
if the recursion happens at the very end of a macro, as it does in
the definition of _. To illustrate this, try the same test with
\def_{\char`\_*} and see the input-stack overflow.
2) Why does it work in horizontal mode but not in math mode??
The _ is ALWAYS active in math mode because its mathcode is "8000 (hex).
The loop would still happen with
\def_{\char`\_}
\catcode`\_=12 %(other)
$ _ $ !!
Unfortunately in this case the mathcode is applied, not just to the
input characters, but to the result of the \char command:
"TeX looks at the mathcode only when it is typesetting a character
whose catcode is 11 (letter) or 12 (other), or when it encounters
a character that is given explicitly as \char<number>." (TeXbook
p. 155).
Donald Arseneau
asnd@triumfcl (.bitnet)
arseneau@mtsg.ubc.ca
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Date: Tue 1 Aug 89 16:51:24-EST
From: bbeeton <BNB@MATH.AMS.COM>
Subject: Pronunciation of (LaTeX)
Keywords: LaTeX, pronunciation
a few years ago, i heard leslie lamport give a talk about LaTeX, and
he digressed briefly onto the subject of how to pronounce its name.
he cited three "acceptable" and one "unacceptable" pronunciations,
as follows (with *...* indicating the stressed syllable, and TeX
to be pronounced in the knuthian manner):
"*Lah*TeX or *Lay*TeX or Lah*TeX*, anything but
Ell-Ay-TeX"
he then proceeded to give the rest of his talk alternating among the
three acceptable pronunciations randomly, about the same frequency of
each, if anyone was counting. so there *is* guidance, though not very
helpful.
-- bb
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Date: Tue, 1 Aug 89 09:13 EDT
From: Matthew Wall <WALL%BRANDEIS.BITNET@UWAVM.ACS.WASHINGTON.EDU>
Subject: Pronunciation, Pt. 3 (Leslie Takes Manhattan)
Keywords: LaTeX, pronunciation
Utter common sense from Lamport:
``One of the hardest things about using \LaTeX is deciding how to
pronounce it. This is also one of the few things I'm not going to tell you
about \LaTeX, since pronunciation is best determined by usage, not fiat.''
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Date: Tue, 1 Aug 89 10:10:13 +0200
From: mcvax!gmv.es!jsanchez@uunet.UU.NET (Julio Sanchez / GMV)
Subject: Re: Pronunciation of TeX
Keywords: TeX, prnunciation
I cannot resist giving my opinion either:
Spanish is my native tongue. There is no possible confusion about
what a 'j' is in Spanish since several centuries ago. There is
some variation, being pronounced more like the 'h' in 'home' in many
many places (Southern Spain, Canary Islands, most of S. America).
The usual pronunciation in Spain is much stronger, and in the
line of the examples below.
I also know that 'chi' in greek was (and is) pronounced the way
we pronounce a 'j'.
I also know some German and I know that 'ch' in 'ach' (not in 'ich')
is pronounced roughly the same way.
I also know that Russian names that are transcribed with 'kh' into
English, take a 'j' in Spanish transcriptions (e.g. Jruschev). BTW,
that also happens with Arabic names (e.g. Jaled).
I don't know what 'blecchhh' rhymes with, nor how to pronounce 'loch'
in Scottish (though I think I heard it once with a similar sound to
our 'j'). But I think I have enough examples of what Knuth meant.
BTW, that sound also appears in Dutch (maybe some Dutch would
contradict me) with some g's (e.g. gaarden) and some ch's
(e.g. Schiphol).
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Date: Mon, 31 Jul 89 15:52:38 PDT
From: Neil Hunt <neil@teleos.com>
Subject: Pronunciation of pstex
Keywords: PSTeX, pronunciation
The name of the program pstex, announced in the last version of TeXhax,
is to be pronounced `pee-ess-\TeX', where \TeX is pronounced in the
manner of your choice according to local language and customs. In non
english usage, the first two syllables may be replaced by the appropriate
verbalisation of the letters P and S. I hope this avoids any possible
confusion! Thankyou
Neil/.
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Date: Wed 2 Aug 89 14:21:00-EST
From: pub-submit@math.ams.com
Subject: Electronic AMS Abstracts
Keywords: AMS, electronic abstracts
An inquiry in issue #19 regarding TeX or LaTeX macros for the American Mathe-
matical Society's abstract form was answered in part by Sebastian Rahtz in
issue #31. The following is a full statement of current AMS practice.
Abstracts will be accepted in electronic form either on diskette or by elec-
tronic mail provided they have been written to conform to the AMS production
system. Authors can receive instructions, the necessary macros and an
electronic form to be used to submit abstracts, by sending a request to
ABS-REQUEST@MATH.AMS.COM (Internet)
This request should specify whether the macros should be sent by e-mail or on
IBM or Macintosh diskettes, and whether the macros should be for plain TeX,
AMS-TeX or LaTeX.
When the abstract is ready submission can be made by sending e-mail to
ABS-SUBMIT@MATH.AMS.COM or by sending an IBM or Macintosh diskette to
American Mathematical Society
Abstracts
P. O. Box 6248
Providence, RI 02940
Failure to use the prescribed form, or submission to any other address at the
AMS may result in processing delays. Failure to deliver a working TeX/AMS-
TeX/LaTeX file may incur a charge if rekeying is required.
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS TO OTHER AMS PUBLICATIONS
For any other AMS publication series the paper must first be accepted for
publication by the appropriate editor. Once accepted by the editor electronic
manuscripts can be sent by e-mail to PUB-SUBMIT@MATH.AMS.COM, or on IBM or
Macintosh diskettes to the Society's Editorial Department at the above address.
Questions of a general nature regarding submission procedures may also be
directed to PUB-SUBMIT.
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Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 19:58:22 BST
From: a_kowald%NIMR.MRC.AC.UK@UWAVM.ACS.WASHINGTON.EDU (Axel Kowald)
Subject: PS in LaTeX
Keywords: PostScript, LaTeX
Hi
In the last time I started to use LaTeX and I am quite satisfied. Now I want
to include Postscript files in a LaTeX document, and have the following
problem:
I am using the following LaTeX construction:
\begin{figure}
\vspace*{10cm}
\special{psfile=file.ps}
\caption{Legend}
\end{figure}
If I am including a very primitive postscript file it works fine. For instance:
newpath
144 72 moveto
144 144 lineto
stroke
showpage
But when I am using a complicated postscript file generated by GKS it is not
working.
WHY ?
Has it something to do with encapsulated postscript ?
And what is encapsulated postscript ?
Any ideas are welcome.
Axel
Thanks,
Axel Kowald JANET: a-kowald@uk.ac.mrc.nimr
Div. Mathematical Biology UUCP:
Nat. Inst. Medical Research DARPA: a-kowald%mrc.nimr@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk
The Ridgeway
Mill Hill
LONDON NW7 1AA Tel: (+44) 01-959 3666
U.K. ext. 2396
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Date: 89/08/04 at 11H13M30 (French time)
From: UCIR001%FRORS31.BITNET@UWAVM.ACS.WASHINGTON.EDU (Bernard GAULLE at CIRCE)
Subject: IBM 3820 output on MVS (response)
Keywords: IBM 3820, MVS
(as i see more questions than answers on TeXhax, i'll try to answer
to Louis M. McDonald's question of TeXhax V89 #71).
I'm very pleased to recommend the usage of DVIIBM product of
Gesellschaft fur Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung mbh;
Institut fur Informationstechnische Infrastukturen (Bereich Bonn).
developped by W. Porten <GRZ049@DBNGMD21.BITNET>
This DVI to IBM mainframe laser printers runs with all printers
of the family 38xx and also with the 4250. Many facilities are
given at parameter level. PSEG images may be included.
It works fine for me.
They also have developped a DVIGDDM product that is able to
display DVI on all IBM graphic terminals. It runs fast and is
pretty.
These products which are cheap are running under IBM-MVS.
Bernard GAULLE
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