Math 543 Class 1 (Wednesday, 01 September 2004)

  • Goals to accomplish during class
  • Homework for after class
  • Activities to do during class
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    Goals to accomplish during class

    1. Get an account set up on the UNIX server "clam".
    2. Get used to manipulating windows (moving, resizing, raising, lowering, iconizing, etc.)
    3. Be able to send and to read electronic mail (email).
    4. Be able to do simple editing of text files.
    5. Be able to process a simple LaTeX file, preview it on the screen, and print hard copy.

    Homework for after class

    Of course, you may start on the homework during class if you have time!

    1. Send the instructor email stating your name, mathematics courses you have taken in college, areas of mathematics you would like to know more about, and your hobbies or special interests.
    2. Write a short article in LaTeX2e to present the story that will be handed to you. Title the document "LaTeX text exercise" and make yourself the author.

    Activities to do during class

    Help your neighbors!

    Computers can be frustrating; if the person next to you looks lost, offer assistance. If you are both lost, get your instructor's attention.

    Computer accounts

    If you do not have an account, ask your instructor how to set up an account.

    Editing

    Here is a little game to make sure that you can perform basic editing tasks. Use the mouse to cut out the following: Izalp3aalp3ak Walp3alotwoedelotwoeatwo wrdelotwoeaotwoebeotwoea, "Atwoglgammatwog malp3ay bbeotwoea 2alp3agammad otwoedelotwoea bbeotwoea 2delotwoea lgammakbeotwoea otwoe3beotwoea malp3aotwoe3beotwoeamalp3aotwoegammac2, otwoe3alp3aotwoe gammaotwoe calp3atwo twobeotwoeavbeotwoear bbeotwoea fep2ilotwolly lbeotwoeaalp3artwootwoe." and paste it into your text editor. To unscramble this mishmash, use the editor to make the following global substitutions in this order: 3->h, 2->s, two->n, one->t, epsilon->u, delta->o, gamma->i, beta->e, alpha->a. What does it say?

    LaTeX

    The first section of Leslie Lamport's book LaTeX is titled "How to avoid reading this book." There he suggests looking at two sample LaTeX input files and comparing them with the corresponding output. Your instructor has copies of these input files on paper for you. Your first LaTeX exercise is to examine these files, process them, and preview the output on the screen.

    First, you should open a second window from your Web browser, so that you do not lose track of the instructions you are now reading. In the second window, look at the file small2e.tex. Now save the file to disk, naming it small2e.tex. You can destroy the second browser window now.

    Open a terminal window and issue the command latex small2e. You will get some messages from TeX (the program underlying LaTeX). When the UNIX prompt returns, issue the command xdvi small2e. A preview window should open which shows the processed file as it will appear when printed. (The printed file will look better than the screen image because the screen does not have very high resolution.)

    Now compare the screen output with the input file on paper. You should get a basic idea of how LaTeX works as a "mark-up language."

    Now try the same procedure with the longer file sample2e.tex.

    How do you get hard copy of the LaTeX output? First issue the command dvips small2e or dvips sample2e. This will produce a PostScript file named small2e.ps or sample2e.ps. This PostScript file is what you send to the printer to get hard copy on paper.

    Finished?

    If you have done all the above activities, and there is still time left, here are some other activities you can do.

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    Last modified: August 31, 2004

    Martin Karel