idathon@uts.uni-c.dk (Hans O. Nymand) (04/30/91)
Hi I need a list of all the Tex commands. Their syntax and a short explanation! Do YOU know of such a one? Thanx / Hans Olav
tomb@hplsla.HP.COM (Tom Bruhns) (05/02/91)
idathon@uts.uni-c.dk (Hans O. Nymand) writes: > I need a list of all the Tex commands. Their syntax and a short explanation! > Do YOU know of such a one? I, too, would like a quick reference card (preferably in .tex format, so I could edit and print it myself ;-). But I realize that this may be a somewhat difficult request since there are so many macro packages out there. But something like this would really help us novices. It's really frustrating to know I've read something in Knuth or elsewhere, and not remember the exact name of what I want. TeXBook's index seems to me to be rather terse; it's tough to find something when you only know what it does, kinda, and don't remember the name. I envision the reference card being arranged in groups of commands: e.g., 'Fonts', 'Line format', 'Rules', ... I'm sure an expert or guru could figure out the best arrangement. Or does it already exist???
raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) (05/03/91)
I've found that many of the TeX misunderstandings are not problems
with primitives and macros, but rather with the more fundamental way
TeX scans and expands tokens. For example, what's wrong with the
following?
example 1:
\eqalign{
\catcode`\#=12
#3 &= #4 + #6 \cr
#7 &= #1 + #2 \cr
}
example 2:
\def\ifempty#1{\ifx#1\empty} % intended to be used like \ifempty{}
example 3:
Normal size print that goes on for a while.
But there is some fine print.
\sevenrm \baselineskip8pt
Fine print that goes on for several lines.
Fine print that goes on for several lines.
Fine print that goes on for several lines.
\tenrm \baselineskip12pt
That's the end of the fine print.
Now some regular sized print for a while., \par
Now that you know what's wrong with them, how would you put the
information into a reference card?damrau@sscux1.ssc.gov (Jackie Damrau) (05/03/91)
In article <10950001@hplsla.HP.COM> tomb@hplsla.HP.COM (Tom Bruhns) writes: >idathon@uts.uni-c.dk (Hans O. Nymand) writes: > >> I need a list of all the Tex commands. Their syntax and a short explanation! >> Do YOU know of such a one? > >I, too, would like a quick reference card (preferably in .tex format, so >I could edit and print it myself ;-). But I realize that this may be a >somewhat difficult request since there are so many macro packages out >there. But something like this would really help us novices. It's >really frustrating to know I've read something in Knuth or elsewhere, >and not remember the exact name of what I want. TeXBook's index seems >to me to be rather terse; it's tough to find something when you only >know what it does, kinda, and don't remember the name. I envision the >reference card being arranged in groups of commands: e.g., 'Fonts', >'Line format', 'Rules', ... I'm sure an expert or guru could figure >out the best arrangement. Or does it already exist??? The publication, "A First Grade TeX" has a very nice compendium of TeX commands and is about 20 pages long. It can be purchased from the TeX Users Group. Contact them via e-mail at tug@math.ams.com. -- Jackie Damrau, SSC Laboratory Computer Operations Group, MS-1011, 2550 Beckleymeade Avenue, Dallas TX Internet: damrau@sscvx1.ssc.gov
eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) (05/03/91)
tomb@hplsla.HP.COM (Tom Bruhns) writes: >idathon@uts.uni-c.dk (Hans O. Nymand) writes: >> I need a list of all the Tex commands. Their syntax and a short explanation! >> Do YOU know of such a one? >I, too, would like a quick reference card (preferably in .tex format, so >I could edit and print it myself ;-). [...] >I envision the >reference card being arranged in groups of commands: e.g., 'Fonts', >'Line format', 'Rules', ... I'm sure an expert or guru could figure >out the best arrangement. Or does it already exist??? Time for some advertising. 1/ TeX for the impatient by Abrahams, Berry & Hargreaves has an index by topic, that I think is pretty decent. The book itself is quite nice, especially for novices. 2/ Tug (tug@math.ams.com) has announced the publication of 'A permuted index for TeX and LaTeX', which I've seen and which is also not too bad. Descriptions are only one line long, so don't expect miracles. 3/ Watch out for my upcoming book (tentative title:) 'A TeXnician's reference guide' which is as systematic as I could make it. Probably to appear late this year. Victor.
wjin@superman.cs.uh.edu (Woochang Jin) (05/03/91)
>idathon@uts.uni-c.dk (Hans O. Nymand) writes: > >> I need a list of all the Tex commands. Their syntax and a short explanation! >> Do YOU know of such a one? > >I, too, would like a quick reference card (preferably in .tex format, so >I could edit and print it myself ;-). But I realize that this may be a > ......... >out the best arrangement. Or does it already exist??? I have a file called 'refcard.tex'. In the head, it says (c)1986 Samuel Bent. I don't remember where and how I got it. It was floating around a few years ago. It consists of about 20 pages and seems to summerize all TeX commands. If Mr. Bent is reading this news, could you send me a mail about the copyright status ? Is it freely distributable ? ____ ____ ____ ____________________________________________________________ | | | | | | Woochang Jin (wjin@cs.uh.edu) Office - PGH574, PGH592 | | | |__| | Grad, System Administration. Wed,Fri: 9:00-1:00 | | | | Department of Computer Science 713-749-1748 (office) \ |---| |--| | University of Houston 713-747-2130 (home) \____/|__| |__| ____________________________________________________________