LaTeX Script by Fachschaft WIAI

The material contained in this repository introduces the most fundamental LaTeX mechanisms to get learners started. It comprises both a script and hands-on exercises for our LaTeX workshop, a LaTeX introduction aimed at students from various backgrounds. The following topics are covered:

• general introduction to the LaTeX system
• basic document structure
• structuring a more complex project
• special characters
• text markup
• formatting paragraphs
• lists
• maths and formulas
• graphics
• tables
• footnotes
• references
• literature management
• source code listings (listings with an optional minted part)

Most chapters contain exercises to practically apply the aspects that are introduced by the text.

Getting started

For beginners

This project contains three different documents:

1. a script containing all of the chapters we cover in the workshop (main-script),
2. an exercise script with practical tasks to apply what you have learned (main-exercises), and
3. a solution script that you can refer to for your self-study (main-solutions).

A PDF version of all of these documents can be found in the “releases” section. You may use the script to delve into the realms of LaTeX on your own. It will give you an overview of how to approach any, but especially this LaTeX project. To get your hands dirty, have a look at the exercise script, especially the “First steps with LaTeX” section.

Optionally, the minted package can be used for source code listings. This requires some additional configuration (including the installation of Python3). Please refer to the chapter on “Source code listings” in the aforementioned PDF file.

Command line usage

Each document in this project can be compiled by running a LaTeX compiler on main-script.tex (or any of the other two main files, respectively). A simple command would be:

$ pdflatex main-script.tex

Run the command twice to generate the table of contents and other registers. Once the literature tasks are being worked on, compilation requires an additional call to BibTeX:

$ pdflatex main-script.tex
$ bibtex main-script.aux
$ pdflatex main-script.tex
$ pdflatex main-script.tex

If you decide to use the optional minted package (see section above), don't forget to add the --shell-escape flag:

$ pdflatex --shell-escape main.tex

Read more about the potentially dangerous implications of this flag in the script.

Project Structure

latex-script/
├── commands.tex
├── compile_listings
├── compile_tasks
├── content
│   ├── basic-document-structure.tex
│   ├── basic-functionality.tex
│   └── …
├── exercises
│   ├── basic-document-structure
│   ├── footnotes
│   └── …
├── first-steps-with-latex.tex
├── graphics
│   ├── benzene-ring.pdf
│   ├── cc-by-sa.png
│   └── …
├── imprint.tex
├── LICENSE
├── listings
│   ├── basic-document-structure
│   ├── formatting-paragraphs
│   └── …
├── main-exercises.tex
├── main-script.tex
├── main-solutions.tex
├── Makefile
├── praeamble.tex
├── public
├── setup.tex
├── README.md
├── titlepage-exercises.tex
├── titlepage-solutions.tex
└── titlepage.tex

Relevant files for learners

In this repository, we provide an exercise script in which you can practically apply what you have learned. These files will be needed:

• main-exercises.tex is the entry point for the exercise part. It includes the preamble (preamble.tex), our custom commands (commands.tex) as well as all sections.
• exercises contains one sub-folder for each chapter. Within these folders, there are the LaTeX files you will have to modify to complete an exercise.

Additional material

Besides the exercise part, we also provide the script detailing all of the information we give you during our workshop. This script can be used as a reference, a refresher, and a source of inspiration. Moreover, it is a practical example of how LaTeX can be brought to good use. This is why we offer you the full source code, structured like this:

• The content folder comprises the individual chapters of the script.
• They are bound together by main-script.tex, which also includes our preamble (preamble.tex) and our custom commands (commands.tex).
• Further folders (e.g., listings and graphics) contain additional resources like images and source code listings used in the script.

Please don't feel overwhelmed by the amount of files in this repository. You will get to know the most important parts of the project step by step by following the script or our workshop. What's more, by using this larger project you get accustomed to the complexity of real LaTeX projects – bachelor's/master's theses and the like.

Further information for maintainers

Listings mode

setup.tex is used to configure which package to use for source code listings. All listings in the script are set using custom commands that can internally switch between the listings and the minted package.

listings-mode.tex is the file that determines the listings mode. If this file is non-existent or contains the line \newcommand\listingsmode{default}, listings is used. \newcommand\listingsmode{minted} switches it to minted. We decided to add this abstraction to deal with learners having trouble to install Pygments on their machine.

Including rendered images of source code

compile_listings and compile_commands are two utility bash scripts. They produce a rendered and cropped PDF version of all .tex files within the listings/exercises folders and their sub folders. Rendered listings remain in listings whereas exercise renderings are moved to the graphics folder afterwards.

The compiled tasks are necessary for students who receive the project archive, but should not be given the source code of tasks, e. g., if an exercise demands them to code up a table based on a pre-coded example.

Publishing the script

public is the folder where all packed-up versions of the script are moved to, once they have been created using the Makefile and the command make publication. There are two zip archives of this repository (one containing only the exercises and one with solutions included) as well as three PDF versions (one with the content only, one with exercises, and one with exercises and solutions).

Contributing

You are welcome to contribute to this project by creating issues, opening pull requests, or reporting bugs. Note that our goal is to keep the content rather condensed, so we might not choose to incorporate further sections.

These are the main contributors so far:

• Evelyn Fradtschuk
• Jessica Klarmann
• Florian Knoch
• Theresa Knoll
• Christian Kremitzl
• Bernhard Luedtke
• Jochen Mehlich

License

The LaTeX Script has been assembled by the Student Council of the Faculty of Information Systems and Applied Computer Sciences (Fachschaft WIAI) at University of Bamberg. It is licensed under Creative Commons “Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International” (CC BY-SA 4.0): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Upon request, allowances exceeding the limitations of this license may be granted.