[lug] How reasonable to reverse latex stylesheets?

[D. Stimits]

Ed Hill wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 2002-02-20 at 16:31, D. Stimits wrote:
> > > In all likelihood, what you want to write can be done in LaTeX without
> > > ever having to edit a classfile or "style file".  The tetex package that
> > > ships with many linux distros contains a bunch of "standard" classfiles
> > > that are probably sufficient.  And more can be downloaded from CTAN:
> > >
> > >   http://www.ctan.org/
> > >
> > > including ones for letters, books, slides, dissertations, resumes,
> > > business cards, etc.  I recommend purchasing a copy of Kopka and Daly's
> > > "A Guide to LaTeX2e":
> > >
> > >   http://www1.fatbrain.com/asp/bookinfo/bookinfo.asp?theisbn=020142777X
> > >
> > > which is an excellent and mostly up-to-date reference.
> >
> > I'm interested in using standard classes, not editing or creating new
> > ones. And although the book is probably nice, I'm unemployed and can no
> > longer purchase books or magazines. Thus the interest in figuring out
> > basic use of given classes via dissection. Or of course online examples,
> > but examples only go so far.
> >
> > My current interest is in viewing what the common variations of the
> > article.cls class can do, e.g., options for single or double column...if
> > it were C or C++ I could look at the declaration and figure out how to
> > use it. I'm kind of thinking about figuring out classes in LaTeX to try
> > out variations that I don't see in samples.
> 
> No manuals is a nasty handicap.  How about inter-library loan?
> 
> The classfiles tend to use TeX so get Knuth's book, too:
> 
>   http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/abcde.html
> 
> If you want, I have *lots* of LaTeX examples (which were unfortunately
> removed from the "wetlab2" server linked from my home-page when that
> machine was re-tasked).  And I have some modified classfiles, too.  I
> could bring them on CDR to the next LUG meeting.

I would like to see any LaTeX examples you migth have. My main interest
would be in article and book class, but really I'd like to have samples
of any of them just to see what they do.

I do have one out of date TeX book, but it isn't the Knuth book, and it
has no LaTeX in it. In fact I think it was written before the style
files were changed to class files, it is probably at least 15 years out
of date.

D. Stimits, stimits at idcomm.com

> 
> Ed
> 
> --
> Edward H. Hill III, PhD
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