[comp.text] TeX macros for small footnotes and multiple columns

darrell@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (Darrell Long) (12/21/86)

Hello.  I'm looking for a set of macros to do  small  type  foot-
notes,  multi-column format, double spacing (without tweeking the
footnotes) and macros to increase/decrease the point  size   (I'd
like to say \bigger or \smaller)

I'm using Plain TeX (I find it easier than  fighting  with  LaTeX
and someone else's notion of what conference referees should see)
If you have such macros, please mail them to me --  I'll  collect
the best of them and post them if there is sufficient interest.

DL
--
Darrell Long
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, C-014
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, California  92093

ARPA: Darrell@Beowulf.UCSD.EDU
UUCP: sdcsvax!beowulf!darrell

rcb@rti-sel.UUCP (Random) (12/22/86)

In article <2378@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU> darrell@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (Darrell Long) writes:
>Hello.  I'm looking for a set of macros to do  small  type  foot-
>notes,  multi-column format, double spacing (without tweeking the
>footnotes) and macros to increase/decrease the point  size   (I'd
>like to say \bigger or \smaller)
>

The TeXbook describes one way to do multicolumn formatting, But I don't like
it. I wanted something that could do column balancing. So, here it is.
I warn you now that it is crude and designed for only one application, but
should be modifiable to whatever you like


\parskip=10pt plus 6pt minus 6pt
\hsize=3.2in
\vsize=17in
\topskip=0pt
%% 
%%  Define output routine
%% 
\output={%
    \shipout\vbox{
	\vbox to 36pt{
	    \hbox to 6.5in{\hbox{\firstmark}\hfil
		\hbox{\ifnum\pageno>0 \folio\fi}
	    }
	    \vfil
	}
	\splittopskip=\topskip
	\setbox254=\vbox{\unvbox255}
	\ifdim0.5\ht254>8.5in \dimen250=8.5in \else \dimen250=0.5\ht254 \fi
	\setbox253=\vsplit254 to \dimen250
	\vbox to \dimen250{%
	    \hbox{%
		\vtop to \dimen250{\unvbox253\ifnum\pageno=0 \vfil\fi}%
		\hbox to 0.1in{}%
		\vtop to \dimen250{\unvbox254\ifnum\pageno=0 \vfil\fi}%
	    }%
	    \vskip 0pt minus 10pt
	}
    }
    \global\advance\pageno by 1
}

-- 
					Random (Randy Buckland)
					Research Triangle Institute
					...!mcnc!rti-sel!rcb

public@sci.UUCP (Public temp) (12/31/86)

I think that there are convienient macros for multi-column formatting
in the HPTeX software (essentially a set of neato add-on macros to
Plain TeX).  You would say something like \begincolumns 3 to get three
columns on a page, followed by an \endcolumns.  They also have something
like a \balance command to fix all the columns done so far for chapter
headings or such.