[comp.text] LaTeX---Two

rleng@gara.une.oz (Ronald Leng BMNU) (06/06/89)

Can anyone help me, please, with two problems I have with
LaTeX?

Problem 1: Figure headings.
When setting a figure, our LaTeX produces, eg., 
Figure 6.3: The quick brown fox...
and the only option is on the font type for The quick brown
fox.

How can I produce
Fig 6.3 The quick brown fox...
with an option on the font type for the entire label?

Problem 2: Pagestyles.
I'd like to produce a page with
(1) a number at the foot and
(2) a heading only---no page number--on the RHS only.
In other words, a combination of \pagestyle{plain} and
\pagestyle{headings}. Any suggestions 
on how this could be done?

leichter@CS.YALE.EDU (Jerry Leichter (LEICHTER-JERRY@CS.YALE.EDU)) (06/06/89)

	In article <799@gara.une.oz>, rleng@gara.une.oz (Ronald Leng BMNU)
	writes...

	Can anyone help me, please, with two problems I have with
	LaTeX?
	 
	Problem 1: Figure headings.
	When setting a figure, our LaTeX produces, eg., 
	Figure 6.3: The quick brown fox...
	and the only option is on the font type for The quick brown
	fox.
	 
	How can I produce
	Fig 6.3 The quick brown fox...
	with an option on the font type for the entire label?

You, as style user, can't.  The formatting of a label is up to the style de-
signer, who chooses whether to say "Fig." or "Figure", in what fonts, how to
place things, and so on.  If you want to change this, you will have to become
a style designer, at least in a small way.  The particular macro you need to
look at is \@makecaption, which can be found in the "root" files for the stan-
dard styles (e.g., report.doc/sty, article.doc/sty).

	Problem 2: Pagestyles.
	I'd like to produce a page with
	(1) a number at the foot and
	(2) a heading only---no page number--on the RHS only.
	In other words, a combination of \pagestyle{plain} and
	\pagestyle{headings}. Any suggestions 
	on how this could be done?

Again, you can't unless you are willing to modify the style to define your
own page style.  In this case, the job is simpler, however, since someone
(Piet van Oostrum, to be exact) has created a style which gives you pretty
direct control over what goes where.  Take a look at the "fancyheadings"
style, available from the LaTeX style file archives at Clarkson.

Obviously, all the usual warnings about doing document design apply.  Doing
a good job takes skill, taste, and experience.  Think long and hard about it
before deciding that you absolutely MUST change the professionally-designed
conventions that LaTeX follows.  If you decide to go ahead, at least look
closely at examples of professionally-designed layouts similar to what you
are trying to produce.

Changing page headers and footers is generally a pretty simple matter, though
it can obviously be done badly.  (Probably the most important single thing to
watch out for is that the header and footer are visually distinct from the
body of the page, so that people aren't lead to try to read them as part of
the text!)  Captions may be more significant, since they do need to be found
and read easily.  Be consistent - don't make every caption a new adventure in
font selection!
							-- Jerry
						(Not by any means a pro!)