I just managed to make a working (at least so far) port of LaTeX for AOS4. I would like to ask from ppl who are familiar with latex to test it. So far I tested these applications: latex/elatex/tex/etex compilers, dvips/dvipdfm. No dvi viewer yet.
atm the file is being uploaded, the url (this is being posted before the upload complete): http://ae-www.technion.ac.il/~jack/tmp/os4/ file: tetex-3.0_build_alpha1.tar.gz size: 166616126 bytes (~159 MB) md5sum: d5a7a9d2ba64ea6565220404ff3377ac
Requirements: SDK with up-to-date abc-shell.
Please note that this is work in progress and the packaging is not finished and installation inistructions might be incomplete. Begin with README.amiga
Edit: etex file that replaces older broken etex that slipped into the above archive (same url) file: tetex-3.0_build_alpha1_etex_only.tar.gz
Jack
Edited by Jack on 2007/10/26 8:50:14 Edited by Jack on 2007/10/26 9:22:04 Edited by Jack on 2007/10/26 10:25:31
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
It's a typesetting system for documents. I used to use it until I was forced to use Word by certain conferences. You write documents in a script-like fashion and it will generate the end document for you, automatically laying out the document according to a template. The most annoying thing is having to use codes for everything you want (e.g. \textcolor[red]{Hello, this is red}) and not being able to see the end result as you're creating the document (it's not WYSIWYG). Another big problem is that all images have to be in EPS format, which is a real pain if you're using windows. I had to print to file using a PS printer driver, and then run the resulting EPS file through GhostScript's EPS function to fix it.
The advantages are: - it takes care of layout and usually puts things in sensible locations. It's layout engine is better than MS Word's, IMHO. - you don't have to fight to have figures put in the right spot (and numbered correctly) like you do in Word. I'm continually fighting with word to keep figures where I want them, and numbered correctly - Auto numbering of Equations in the proper way. MS Word still doesn't handle this properly; you have to use a workaround - Auto referencing via BibTex. This is great. You create a database of references and refer to them in your document via \cite{DOC_REF_CODE} and it will automatically use your template to correctly cite the reference in your text, and build a bibliography or table of references in the right format and order. I use bibtex4word to gain that functionality in Word.
In reality, I wish that I had Latex's auto layout and bibtex referencing system, with a WYSIWYG interface.
Fixed version of "setup" file is in the same url named "teTeX_amiga_setup", I'll modify it online when there'll be need for changes
@Hans
Quote:
Another big problem is that all images have to be in EPS format, which is a real pain if you're using windows. I had to print to file using a PS printer driver, and then run the resulting EPS file through GhostScript's EPS function to fix it.
Imho, it's a huge pro when doing scientific documents (where images are usually graphs that are "made of" text, lines and dots) or other vector graphics. To use butmap gfx files, pdftex is needed, but I didn't include it since it opposed my attempts to port it
Now it's time to tackle the viewer issue. there's "ShowDvi" for m68k. And "specialhost" for displaying PS/EPS, but without complete PS support. Afair, Olaf Barthel was actively involved there, probably it's co-author. Will check possibility to revive it.
Jack
Edited by Jack on 2007/10/28 0:20:43 Edited by Jack on 2007/10/28 0:21:39
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
I'll pass. 156MB is outside the administration limits!
Will split file help?
Jack
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
The executable part is 24MB. The whole stuff is 360MB, with sources if the packages, fonts, documentation. Full install on windows is 500MB. One probably won't need most of it, but I put the complete stuff there anyway. Once I get to producton packaging, I'll split it into executable part, runtime and sources.
@snuffy
I'll see if I can remove the sources for a smaller package Edit: It is there, with the fixed setup and etex file. Juts run rehash_amiga inside "sh" after installation.
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
You forgot to mention these : - macro packages that can do nifty things, mostly related to scienctific fields - ability to create presentations - referecning, not only bibliography, but equations/figures/tables: one can label(example: \label{eq:Schroedinger}) these and reffer to them from anywhere in the text priducing the correct number of the object (\ref{eq:Schroedinger} will be replaced by the correct nuber of the equation) - programming your own macros - incredible stability and flexibility with huge documents (one can split the document into several parts, include them (like C #include) into main file and comment out the parts that you do not work atm to focus on the relevant part only). Latex runs well on low-end systems.
@all
I've seen them all: M$ Word, AmigaWriter/FinalWriter/Wordworth. As I feel comfortable with programming, I prefer LaTeX anytime since it is a "programming language". It is more difficult to setup a short document, it is not WYSIWYG, but in every other case it does the job very well. There are lot of templates, hyphenation support, commands for graphics etc.
I own a copy of AmigaWriter, and in last 6.5 years, since I discovered latex, I used AmigaWriter only once, a week ago before I managed to get latex working.
Jack
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
More development: got ShowDvi going (m68k, the one that appeared in pastex and amiweb2c) with teTeX. The font generation for preview is done by native metafont so it's should be speedy enough. Will have to iron it out and then I'll release fixed callmf and friends arexx scripts
Things are getting better Will see if there's a chance to make use of gs in specialhost for picture generation, if not, I'll try to make a script that produces PostScript compatible with post.library in specialhost.
If anyone has some ideas suggestion, they are wellcome. The only thing I'm affraid of now is that changing specialhost is beyond my abilities atm (seems to me that there's some use of assembler in PostScript-related code). Jack
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
Contains the setup instructions and modified files for m68k ShowDVI. Specialhost wasn't tested yet, so it migh have to be disabled if it is loaded automatically in your existing setup. Note again: this is "fresh from the oven". It works for me, should work for you. More tidy installation process will be derived from your experiences.
Jack
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
A teaser screenshot for Amiga LaTeX users, maybe that will encourage you to install and feed back the feedbacks. LaTeX + ShowDVI and shell it's running in and Annotate with partial latex syntax parser :
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
1. dvipdfm should be used in amiga shell to include gfx properly
2. fake "zcat" for inclusion of eps/ps gfx by dvipdfm is online
3. newer rehash_amiga is online
4. Bakoma fonts howto is online too (see ISSUES)
Happy LaTeX-ing Jack
Edited by Jack on 2007/11/1 19:50:49 Edited by Jack on 2007/11/1 19:51:40
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
Files are in chronologically ascending order (newest at the bottom). Please backup the old versions, copy new and test.
Jack
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
Major fixes are there again (whole binary part + some stuff and showdvi integration package)
Jack
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
Another snapshot of ShowDVI integration (#4): more bugfixes and howto isolate the application (ShowDVI) from Amiweb2c/Pastex by Daniel Westerberg.
Jack
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg