Skill/Installing and running a Tex package.

TeX is the standard software used to produce publication-quality scientific documents. Freely available, for just about every computer operating system, and installed on almost every university computer system, TeX can be used to typeset mathematical documents very quickly, and with outstanding results.

This skill involves the following steps:

• Installing a Tex package on your personal computer, or finding a university computer with Tex installed.
  • As a compromise, you can install Tex onto a USB stick drive, and then use it on any windows computer (your own, or a university computer).
• Running a text editor, to create and save a LaTex file.
• Modifying the LaTex file, to add your name and insert an equation.
• Using Tex to compile this LaTex file to a PDF file.
• Viewing and printing this PDF file.

The instructions here are not meant to be a complete guide to LaTex. Many other guides are freely available, such as The Not-so-short Introduction to LaTex. Follow the directions in the tabs, depending on which operating system you work with (Windows, Mac, Linux) or if you want to use a USB drive.

Here are step-by-step instructions, if you are running a PC with Windows 2000, XP, Vista, or Server 2003. I assume that you have Acrobat Reader, to read PDF files on your computer. If not, it can be downloaded for free from [1].

If you don't wish to burden your own computer, you can install LaTex on a USB drive, as outlined on the "USB Drive" tab.

1. Download the free MiKTeX 2.7 Net Installer, at [2].
2. Run the installer. This will take up a lot of hard disk space, and the download may take a long time. Use a fast and reliable internet connection!
3. Install the free software TexMaker, available at [3].
4. Run TexMaker.
5. Go to the Options menu.
6. Go to "Configure TexMaker"
7. Click on "Quick Build"
8. Click on "PDFLatex + ViewPDF"
9. Close the "Configure TexMaker" window.
10. Create a new document, from the file menu.
11. Cut and paste the text from the tex template into your new document.
12. Save your new document on your computer, as "template.tex" or any filename ending in ".tex".
13. Now, press F1, or click on the "Quick Build button" (the one with a Q, on the toolbar).
14. Hold your breath. If everything is set up correctly, then a PDF file should pop up, with some math and text.
15. Close the PDF file. Play with the text. Try to modify it. Change the name. Play with math symbols (between dollar signs).

There are other available editors besides TexMaker. For example, WinEdt, available at [4]] is excellent, though it is not free (40 dollars for a personal copy, as of Sept. 5, 2008).

Here are step-by-step instructions, if you are running a Mac with OS 10.3, 10.4, or 10.5. More detailed information can be found at [5]

1. Download and install the full MacTex 2008 package, including (TexLive and TexShop), from [6]. This will take up a lot of hard disk space, and the download may take a long time. Use a fast and reliable internet connection!
2. Run TexShop.
3. Create a new document.
4. Cut and paste the text from the tex template into your new document.
5. Save your new document, for example as "template.tex".
6. Push the "typeset" button on the left toolbar.
7. Hold your breath. If everything is set up correctly, then a PDF file should pop up, with some math and text.
8. Play with the text. Try to modify it. Change the name. Play with math symbols (between dollar signs).

If you are using Linux, then you probably do not need help installing and running Tex. But here is some basic advice:

1. Install a full Tex installation on your computer.
2. Create a new text document (using vi or emacs, or whatever you want).
3. Cut and past the text from the tex template into your new document.
4. Save the file as "template.tex", or whatever you like, probably in its own directory to reduce clutter.
5. Run "pdflatex template.tex" to compile it into a PDF file.
6. Look at the PDF file. Enjoy.
7. Play with the text. Try to modify it. Change the name. Play with math symbols (between dollar signs).
8. It should be noted that the Texmaker editor is also available for Linux, at [7]. Try it out, if you like.

You can install LaTex on a USB drive (1GB and 2GB drives are available at office stores, computer/electronic stores, even drugstores these days), and then use it at any of the Windows computer labs.

Full instructions are given at: USBTex. Thanks to User:Benson yu for mentioning this on his user page. Try it out!

Here is a Tex template file, which you can use and modify as you wish.

% ----------------------------------------------------------------
% AMS-LaTeX Paper ************************************************
% **** -----------------------------------------------------------
\documentclass{amsart}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amscd}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{xy}
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
\vfuzz2pt % Don't report over-full v-boxes if over-edge is small
\hfuzz2pt % Don't report over-full h-boxes if over-edge is small
% THEOREMS -------------------------------------------------------
\newtheorem{thm}{Theorem}[section]
\newtheorem{cor}[thm]{Corollary}
\newtheorem{lem}[thm]{Lemma}
\newtheorem{prop}[thm]{Proposition}
\theoremstyle{definition}
\newtheorem{defn}[thm]{Definition}
\theoremstyle{remark}
\newtheorem{rem}[thm]{Remark}
\numberwithin{equation}{section}
% MATH -----------------------------------------------------------
\newcommand{\Matrix}[4]{ \left( \begin{array}{cc}  #1 & #2 \\  #3 & #4 \\ \end{array} \right) }
\newcommand{\norm}[1]{\left\Vert#1\right\Vert}
\newcommand{\abs}[1]{\left\vert#1\right\vert}
\newcommand{\set}[1]{\left\{#1\right\}}

\newcommand{\NN}{\mathbb N}
\newcommand{\ZZ}{\mathbb Z}
\newcommand{\QQ}{\mathbb Q}
\newcommand{\RR}{\mathbb R}
\newcommand{\CC}{\mathbb C}
\newcommand{\isom}{\cong}
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
\begin{document}

\title[]{A template file}%
\author{Student X}%
\address{Dept. of Mathematics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064}%
\email{studentx AT ucsc DOT edu}%

%\date{}%
%\dedicatory{}%
%\commby{}%
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
\begin{abstract}
This is an abstract.  An abstract is a short and useful description of a document.  This document is a template, used for the purposes of teaching students how to edit and compile LaTex documents.  
\end{abstract}
\maketitle
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
\section{The quadratic equation}
The following is the quadratic equation.
\begin{thm}
If $a,b,c,x \in \CC$, and $ax^2 + bx + c = 0$, and $a \neq 0$, then:
$$x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}.$$
\end{thm}

\end{document}
% ----------------------------------------------------------------

In order to assess this skill, a student should be required to follow the instructions to successfully install the software. Afterwards, the student should modify the template, to reflect his or her name and address. The student should compile the resulting file to create a PDF file, print the PDF file, and turn it in. The student passes this assessment, if the printout reflects the changes.