Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 17, 2011, at 12:52 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 A template is a means, not an end. As soon as you finish tailoring the
 sketch of a document (using the class that you've chosen) to your
 likes, then you're good to go: start writing and filling it up with
 actual content. When you finish writing the document and you're ready
 to submit it, if you are happy with the looks of the final output and
 anticipate to create such documents later, _then_ you may consider
 carving out of it a template, put it into the LyX templates folder (or
 any other folder, for the matter), and re-use whenever the needs
 arise.

Thanks, Liviu. I was assuming that a template might be developed incrementally 
starting from a document formatted with one of the classes. E.g., I have been 
formatting and printing drafts of sections of a paper that I'm working on. So 
far, each time I go to print a draft, I have to reformat it from scratch. I was 
hoping that I would be able to save the format each time so it would be 
available for the next printing, and that with periodic tweaks I could 
gradually work my way toward a format that required minimal tweaking. As I read 
you, you're saying it only makes sense to create a template from a 
complete/final draft document. 

I guess part of what's going on is that it's easier me to think of formatting 
in relation to content, and I assumed that with LyX I could easily check the 
effect of particular formatting instructions. No?

Something else that may be relevant is that I don't write in LyX. I write 
elsewhere and import into LyX for formatting and printing.

Regards,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 17, 2011, at 12:52 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 A template is a means, not an end. As soon as you finish tailoring the
 sketch of a document (using the class that you've chosen) to your
 likes, then you're good to go: start writing and filling it up with
 actual content. When you finish writing the document and you're ready
 to submit it, if you are happy with the looks of the final output and
 anticipate to create such documents later, _then_ you may consider
 carving out of it a template, put it into the LyX templates folder (or
 any other folder, for the matter), and re-use whenever the needs
 arise.

Thanks, Liviu. I was assuming that a template might be developed incrementally 
starting from a document formatted with one of the classes. E.g., I have been 
formatting and printing drafts of sections of a paper that I'm working on. So 
far, each time I go to print a draft, I have to reformat it from scratch. I was 
hoping that I would be able to save the format each time so it would be 
available for the next printing, and that with periodic tweaks I could 
gradually work my way toward a format that required minimal tweaking. As I read 
you, you're saying it only makes sense to create a template from a 
complete/final draft document. 

I guess part of what's going on is that it's easier me to think of formatting 
in relation to content, and I assumed that with LyX I could easily check the 
effect of particular formatting instructions. No?

Something else that may be relevant is that I don't write in LyX. I write 
elsewhere and import into LyX for formatting and printing.

Regards,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 17, 2011, at 12:52 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

> A template is a means, not an end. As soon as you finish tailoring the
> sketch of a document (using the class that you've chosen) to your
> likes, then you're good to go: start writing and filling it up with
> actual content. When you finish writing the document and you're ready
> to submit it, if you are happy with the looks of the final output and
> anticipate to create such documents later, _then_ you may consider
> carving out of it a template, put it into the LyX templates folder (or
> any other folder, for the matter), and re-use whenever the needs
> arise.

Thanks, Liviu. I was assuming that a template might be developed incrementally 
starting from a document formatted with one of the classes. E.g., I have been 
formatting and printing drafts of sections of a paper that I'm working on. So 
far, each time I go to print a draft, I have to reformat it from scratch. I was 
hoping that I would be able to save the format each time so it would be 
available for the next printing, and that with periodic tweaks I could 
gradually work my way toward a format that required minimal tweaking. As I read 
you, you're saying it only makes sense to create a template from a 
complete/final draft document. 

I guess part of what's going on is that it's easier me to think of formatting 
in relation to content, and I assumed that with LyX I could easily check the 
effect of particular formatting instructions. No?

Something else that may be relevant is that I don't write in LyX. I write 
elsewhere and import into LyX for formatting and printing.

Regards,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

Hello

On Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 9:26 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:

 OK, I have a simple document, of a kind I create frequently. I've selected a 
 document class -- koma-script article -- as a basis on which to begin 
 building a template, have made some changes to the document, and have saved a 
 copy of it in the templates folder.

 I am not certain that is sufficient to make it a template. It doesn't look 
 like a template, certainly not like the ones that come with LyX. It has 
 content. I've barely started working toward the formatting I'd eventually 
 like to become standard for documents produced with this template.

 Nor am I certain I know to use it as a template. Till now I've been importing 
 documents compiled to LaTeX from Scrivener. May be mistaken, but I don't 
 believe I can import such a document into a template. How do I get it into my 
 template?

Perhaps we were a bit cryptic about the value of templates.

A template is a means, not an end. As soon as you finish tailoring the
sketch of a document (using the class that you've chosen) to your
likes, then you're good to go: start writing and filling it up with
actual content. When you finish writing the document and you're ready
to submit it, if you are happy with the looks of the final output and
anticipate to create such documents later, _then_ you may consider
carving out of it a template, put it into the LyX templates folder (or
any other folder, for the matter), and re-use whenever the needs
arise.

Again, templates are optional. If you manage to create a sketch (of a
document) that you like, then go on and write up the entire document.
Later on decide if you need it as a template.

Cheers
Liviu


 I've worked my way through the tutorial. I've read through the user guide and 
 skimmed it reasonably carefully again before beginning to compose this 
 message. Help would be appreciated.

 Thanks,
 --
 Eric Weir
 Decatur, GA  USA
 eew...@bellsouth.net







-- 
Do you know how to read?
http://www.alienetworks.com/srtest.cfm
http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/xfce4-dict#speed-reader
Do you know how to write?
http://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/e.htm#e-mail

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

Hello

On Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 9:26 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:

 OK, I have a simple document, of a kind I create frequently. I've selected a 
 document class -- koma-script article -- as a basis on which to begin 
 building a template, have made some changes to the document, and have saved a 
 copy of it in the templates folder.

 I am not certain that is sufficient to make it a template. It doesn't look 
 like a template, certainly not like the ones that come with LyX. It has 
 content. I've barely started working toward the formatting I'd eventually 
 like to become standard for documents produced with this template.

 Nor am I certain I know to use it as a template. Till now I've been importing 
 documents compiled to LaTeX from Scrivener. May be mistaken, but I don't 
 believe I can import such a document into a template. How do I get it into my 
 template?

Perhaps we were a bit cryptic about the value of templates.

A template is a means, not an end. As soon as you finish tailoring the
sketch of a document (using the class that you've chosen) to your
likes, then you're good to go: start writing and filling it up with
actual content. When you finish writing the document and you're ready
to submit it, if you are happy with the looks of the final output and
anticipate to create such documents later, _then_ you may consider
carving out of it a template, put it into the LyX templates folder (or
any other folder, for the matter), and re-use whenever the needs
arise.

Again, templates are optional. If you manage to create a sketch (of a
document) that you like, then go on and write up the entire document.
Later on decide if you need it as a template.

Cheers
Liviu


 I've worked my way through the tutorial. I've read through the user guide and 
 skimmed it reasonably carefully again before beginning to compose this 
 message. Help would be appreciated.

 Thanks,
 --
 Eric Weir
 Decatur, GA  USA
 eew...@bellsouth.net







-- 
Do you know how to read?
http://www.alienetworks.com/srtest.cfm
http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/xfce4-dict#speed-reader
Do you know how to write?
http://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/e.htm#e-mail

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

Hello

On Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 9:26 PM, Eric Weir  wrote:
>
> OK, I have a simple document, of a kind I create frequently. I've selected a 
> document class -- koma-script article -- as a basis on which to begin 
> building a template, have made some changes to the document, and have saved a 
> copy of it in the templates folder.
>
> I am not certain that is sufficient to make it a template. It doesn't look 
> like a template, certainly not like the ones that come with LyX. It has 
> content. I've barely started working toward the formatting I'd eventually 
> like to become standard for documents produced with this "template".
>
> Nor am I certain I know to use it as a template. Till now I've been importing 
> documents compiled to LaTeX from Scrivener. May be mistaken, but I don't 
> believe I can import such a document into a template. How do I get it into my 
> "template"?
>
Perhaps we were a bit cryptic about the value of templates.

A template is a means, not an end. As soon as you finish tailoring the
sketch of a document (using the class that you've chosen) to your
likes, then you're good to go: start writing and filling it up with
actual content. When you finish writing the document and you're ready
to submit it, if you are happy with the looks of the final output and
anticipate to create such documents later, _then_ you may consider
carving out of it a template, put it into the LyX templates folder (or
any other folder, for the matter), and re-use whenever the needs
arise.

Again, templates are optional. If you manage to create a sketch (of a
document) that you like, then go on and write up the entire document.
Later on decide if you need it as a template.

Cheers
Liviu


> I've worked my way through the tutorial. I've read through the user guide and 
> skimmed it reasonably carefully again before beginning to compose this 
> message. Help would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> --
> Eric Weir
> Decatur, GA  USA
> eew...@bellsouth.net
>
>
>
>



-- 
Do you know how to read?
http://www.alienetworks.com/srtest.cfm
http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/xfce4-dict#speed-reader
Do you know how to write?
http://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/e.htm#e-mail

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

OK, I have a simple document, of a kind I create frequently. I've selected a 
document class -- koma-script article -- as a basis on which to begin building 
a template, have made some changes to the document, and have saved a copy of it 
in the templates folder. 

I am not certain that is sufficient to make it a template. It doesn't look like 
a template, certainly not like the ones that come with LyX. It has content. 
I've barely started working toward the formatting I'd eventually like to become 
standard for documents produced with this template. 

Nor am I certain I know to use it as a template. Till now I've been importing 
documents compiled to LaTeX from Scrivener. May be mistaken, but I don't 
believe I can import such a document into a template. How do I get it into my 
template? 

I've worked my way through the tutorial. I've read through the user guide and 
skimmed it reasonably carefully again before beginning to compose this message. 
Help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

OK, I have a simple document, of a kind I create frequently. I've selected a 
document class -- koma-script article -- as a basis on which to begin building 
a template, have made some changes to the document, and have saved a copy of it 
in the templates folder. 

I am not certain that is sufficient to make it a template. It doesn't look like 
a template, certainly not like the ones that come with LyX. It has content. 
I've barely started working toward the formatting I'd eventually like to become 
standard for documents produced with this template. 

Nor am I certain I know to use it as a template. Till now I've been importing 
documents compiled to LaTeX from Scrivener. May be mistaken, but I don't 
believe I can import such a document into a template. How do I get it into my 
template? 

I've worked my way through the tutorial. I've read through the user guide and 
skimmed it reasonably carefully again before beginning to compose this message. 
Help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

OK, I have a simple document, of a kind I create frequently. I've selected a 
document class -- koma-script article -- as a basis on which to begin building 
a template, have made some changes to the document, and have saved a copy of it 
in the templates folder. 

I am not certain that is sufficient to make it a template. It doesn't look like 
a template, certainly not like the ones that come with LyX. It has content. 
I've barely started working toward the formatting I'd eventually like to become 
standard for documents produced with this "template". 

Nor am I certain I know to use it as a template. Till now I've been importing 
documents compiled to LaTeX from Scrivener. May be mistaken, but I don't 
believe I can import such a document into a template. How do I get it into my 
"template"? 

I've worked my way through the tutorial. I've read through the user guide and 
skimmed it reasonably carefully again before beginning to compose this message. 
Help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

I've found the LyX layouts folder. In /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts. 
How do I make use of them? Through documents  settings? If so, where exactly?

Through documents  settings  document class I see a collection of document 
classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools  tex information  
latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in LyX? 
If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. How do I 
get it included. 

I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
class? 

Thanks,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

Hello

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 3:18 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:

 I've found the LyX layouts folder. In 
 /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts. How do I make use of them? Through 
 documents  settings? If so, where exactly?

 Through documents  settings  document class I see a collection of document 
 classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools  tex information 
  latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in 
 LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. How 
 do I get it included.

 I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
 class?

A document class is a LaTeX package. A layout is file that allows LyX
to understand that LaTeX document class. (For the moment, don't worry
about *.layout files; you use them automatically.) To use a given
LaTeX class select it in Document  Settings  Class. If koma-script
is unavailable, you need to install the appropriate LaTeX package (the
LyX layout should already be available on your system).

Most of your questions should already be answered in either of these
three documents in Help: Intro, Tutorial and User's Guide. (For
example, User's Guide  Section 3.1.2.2 explains why some classes
would be tagged as 'unavailable'.) If you still have questions after
reading them (and re-reading, if necessary), please post back here.
Liviu


 Thanks,
 --
 Eric Weir
 Decatur, GA  USA
 eew...@bellsouth.net








-- 
Do you know how to read?
http://www.alienetworks.com/srtest.cfm
http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/xfce4-dict#speed-reader
Do you know how to write?
http://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/e.htm#e-mail

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Stephan Witt]

Am 14.07.2011 um 15:18 schrieb Eric Weir:

 
 I've found the LyX layouts folder. In /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts.

Are you sure? It should be /Applications/LyX.app/Contents/Resources/layouts.

 How do I make use of them? Through documents  settings? If so, where exactly?
 
 Through documents  settings  document class I see a collection of document 
 classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools  tex information 
  latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in 
 LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. How 
 do I get it included. 

You may try to reconfigure: LyX - Reconfigure.

I have document class book (Koma-Script) available.
Which classes are available depends on your LaTeX installation.

 I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
 class? 

AFAIK, you choose a document class not a layout. 

You may find information about that in the Customization manual 5.2 Types of 
layout files.

Stephan

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 10:47 AM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 Most of your questions should already be answered in either of these
 three documents in Help: Intro, Tutorial and User's Guide. (For
 example, User's Guide  Section 3.1.2.2 explains why some classes
 would be tagged as 'unavailable'.) If you still have questions after
 reading them (and re-reading, if necessary), please post back here.

Thanks, Liviu. I'll reread, and reread more carefully. 

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Richard Heck]

On 07/13/2011 08:58 PM, Eric Weir wrote:

 The sort of thing
 you want to do would probably be quite easy with the memoir class, or
 perhaps with one of the koma-script classes (probably the article one,
 since it looks as if you do not need chapters here), all of which
 provide hooks for customizing the appearance of the headings, title,
 etc. Both of these have extensive documentation (memman.pdf,
 scrguien.pdf), and various people here have plenty of experience with
 these classes.
 I'm intrigued by both memoir and koma. And maybe the standard classes are as 
 good a place to start?

 The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] much 
 less so. The former does not even obviously address installation. 

These classes should be installed automatically with your TeX
distribution. If not, then I presume whatever OSX thing you are using
has some kind of GUI for doing this. I don't know Mac, though.

Richard

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Trevor Jenkins]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:

The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien]
 much less so.


Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it even
exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author themselves.
Other users especially those trying to get started are overlooked. LyX has
the tutorial document, which is a good start. LaTeX has been around for so
long that beginners' documentation is rarely provided; we are all assumed to
be experts.

Regards, Trevor.

 Re: deemed!

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 10:59 AM, Stephan Witt wrote:

 Am 14.07.2011 um 15:18 schrieb Eric Weir:
 
 I've found the LyX layouts folder. In 
 /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts.
 
 Are you sure? It should be /Applications/LyX.app/Contents/Resources/layouts.

Thanks, Stephan. I was careless.

 Through documents  settings  document class I see a collection of document 
 classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools  tex information 
  latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in 
 LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. 
 How do I get it included. 
 
 You may try to reconfigure: LyX - Reconfigure.
 
 I have document class book (Koma-Script) available.
 Which classes are available depends on your LaTeX installation.

Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many other 
new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list revealed 
in tools  tex information  latex classes koma is still missing. 

 I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
 class? 
 
 AFAIK, you choose a document class not a layout. 

Thanks again. That helps. 

In addition to reading more carefully, as suggested by Liviu, I guess I need to 
find a class that appears somewhat relevant to my needs and get started seeing 
what I can do with it. I think I can do that now.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Richard Heck]

On 07/14/2011 11:42 AM, Eric Weir wrote:

 Through documents  settings  document class I see a collection of 
 document classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools  tex 
 information  latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these 
 available for use in LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script 
 is not among them. How do I get it included. 
 You may try to reconfigure: LyX - Reconfigure.

 I have document class book (Koma-Script) available.
 Which classes are available depends on your LaTeX installation.
 Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
 other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
 revealed in tools  tex information  latex classes koma is still missing. 

These classes have names like: scrartcl.cls, scrbook.cls, etc. Don't ask
me why.

rh

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Steve Litt]

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:42:09 AM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
 On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net
 wrote:
 
 The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma
 [scrguien]
 
  much less so.
 
 Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it
 even exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author
 themselves. Other users especially those trying to get started are
 overlooked. LyX has the tutorial document, which is a good start.
 LaTeX has been around for so long that beginners' documentation is
 rarely provided; we are all assumed to be experts.

:-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so 
important. It assumes few prerequisites.

SteveT


 
 Regards, Trevor.
 
  Re: deemed!

-- 
Steve Litt
Author: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/key_excellence.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:42 AM, Trevor Jenkins wrote:

 On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:
 
 The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] much 
 less so.
 
 Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it even 
 exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author themselves. 
 Other users especially those trying to get started are overlooked. LyX has 
 the tutorial document, which is a good start. LaTeX has been around for so 
 long that beginners' documentation is rarely provided; we are all assumed to 
 be experts. 

I think I'm gonna go with koma, Trevor. For one, the documentation strikes me 
as excellent. Certainly compared to memoir.

Don't remember where I accessed them at the moment, or which ones, but I did 
take a look at a few class documents. There were a couple relatively simple 
ones that I could make rough sense of. Many were overwhelming. I'd like to have 
at least some idea what I'm working with, and to be able to refer back to the 
class document while I'm working with it to see if I can learn how it works. 

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:35 AM, Richard Heck wrote:

 n 07/13/2011 08:58 PM, Eric Weir wrote:
 
 
 I'm intrigued by both memoir and koma. And maybe the standard classes are as 
 good a place to start?
 
 The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] 
 much less so. The former does not even obviously address installation. 
 
 
 These classes should be installed automatically with your TeX
 distribution. If not, then I presume whatever OSX thing you are using
 has some kind of GUI for doing this. I don't know Mac, though.

Reconfiguring, as suggested by Stephan, helped, Richard. I now have several 
koma classes.

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:49 AM, Richard Heck wrote:

 Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
 other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
 revealed in tools  tex information  latex classes koma is still missing. 
 
 
 These classes have names like: scrartcl.cls, scrbook.cls, etc. Don't ask
 me why.

Thanks, Richard. In checking out koma I did notice reference to those names. I 
see there are seven classes in that list that begin with the letters src. It 
may be that reconfiguring has made them all available to me in document  
settings. At least there are several more than previously.

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:

 On Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:42:09 AM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
 
 Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it
 even exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author
 themselves. Other users especially those trying to get started are
 overlooked. LyX has the tutorial document, which is a good start.
 LaTeX has been around for so long that beginners' documentation is
 rarely provided; we are all assumed to be experts.
 
 :-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so 
 important. It assumes few prerequisites.

I do recall there being significant content at your site related to LaTeX, 
Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links on the home page. Must 
be deeper in?

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Trevor Jenkins]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:19 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:


 On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:



:-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so
 important. It assumes few prerequisites.


 I do recall there being significant content at your site related to LaTeX,
 Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links on the home page.
 Must be deeper in?


So still some prerequisites being assumed then.

Regards, Trevor.

 Re: deemed!

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Steve Litt]

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 12:19:31 PM you wrote:
 On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:
  On Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:42:09 AM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
  Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if
  it even exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class
  author themselves. Other users especially those trying to get
  started are overlooked. LyX has the tutorial document, which is
  a good start. LaTeX has been around for so long that beginners'
  documentation is rarely provided; we are all assumed to be
  experts.
  
  :-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so
  
  important. It assumes few prerequisites.
 
 I do recall there being significant content at your site related to
 LaTeX, Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links on
 the home page. Must be deeper in?

That's good information. People might be missing my stuff.

At Troubleshooters.Com, click Linux-Linux_desktop-Office_apps-LyX.

HTH

SteveT

Steve Litt
Author: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/key_excellence.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Steve Litt]

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 12:23:36 PM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
 On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:19 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net 
wrote:
  On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:
 :-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so
 :
  important. It assumes few prerequisites.
  
  I do recall there being significant content at your site related
  to LaTeX, Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links
  on the home page. Must be deeper in?
 
 So still some prerequisites being assumed then.
 
 Regards, Trevor.

Yes. The person has to know how to use a computer. They have to know 
something about how to use a wordprocessor (for want of a better word, 
but even familiarity with MS Word.

The person should have had a little experience with some computer 
programming, even if it's excel macros or something, so he/she can 
understand what I'm saying about LaTeX. And the person must have an 
open mind.

But in my opinion, LyX or LaTeX experience isn't essential for using 
the LyX docs on my website.

SteveT



Steve Litt
Author: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/key_excellence.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:42 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:
 Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
 other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
 revealed in tools  tex information  latex classes koma is still missing.

Some times Tools  Reconfigure and Tools  TeX info  Rescan are not
in sync. Try hitting 'rescan', too; but if what you're trying to do
works, then don't worry about the TeX info thingy.


 In addition to reading more carefully, as suggested by Liviu, I guess I need 
 to find a class that appears somewhat relevant to my needs and get started 
 seeing what I can do with it. I think I can do that now.

Rob has a book cooking, on Open Source Writing Tools, and to my
knowledge it will include some extensive info on LyX and on (a subset
of) the various LaTeX classes available, with their drawbacks,
advantages and intended usage.

Additionally, should it be of any help, you can also check the 'LyX
Essentials' [1], which is a brief introduction to creating a first
document in LyX.
[1] https://sites.google.com/site/tsewiki/resources/latex

Regards
Liviu

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:58 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:
 I think I'm gonna go with koma, Trevor. For one, the documentation strikes
 me as excellent. Certainly compared to memoir.

Another source of documentation may be the templates and examples
folders shipped with LyX. They will often contain templates for the
various document classes available. Start with File  New from
template.
Liviu

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 2:36 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:42 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:
 Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
 other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
 revealed in tools  tex information  latex classes koma is still missing.
 
 Some times Tools  Reconfigure and Tools  TeX info  Rescan are not
 in sync. Try hitting 'rescan', too; but if what you're trying to do
 works, then don't worry about the TeX info thingy.

They may be in better sync than first appeared. As Richard pointed out, the 
koma classes all have names beginning with src, or apparently all. I have 
several of those in the tools  tex info  latex classes. So maybe I do have 
the full koma class after all. 

 In addition to reading more carefully, as suggested by Liviu, I guess I need 
 to find a class that appears somewhat relevant to my needs and get started 
 seeing what I can do with it. I think I can do that now.
 
 
 Rob has a book cooking, on Open Source Writing Tools, and to my
 knowledge it will include some extensive info on LyX and on (a subset
 of) the various LaTeX classes available, with their drawbacks,
 advantages and intended usage.
 
 Additionally, should it be of any help, you can also check the 'LyX
 Essentials' [1], which is a brief introduction to creating a first
 document in LyX.
 [1] https://sites.google.com/site/tsewiki/resources/latex

Thanks for the references. The latter might help, and sounds like the former 
definitely would.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 2:39 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 Another source of documentation may be the templates and examples
 folders shipped with LyX. They will often contain templates for the
 various document classes available. Start with File  New from
 template.

Yes, I noticed that about the templates and have had them in mind, but I'd 
forgotten about the examples. [Which is evident from the fact that I said it'd 
be nice if there were some. Well there are!] 

I just checked out the simplecv example. It is simple, and it looks like I 
might be able to modify it into one type of document that I commonly create 
without a great deal of difficult, i.e., into a template, not a new class. 

In checking out parameters in document  settings it would be helpful if the 
actual default values for the class were displayed instead of just default. 
To get them I guess I'll have to locate the original document class document. 
[Or just see what effects changes have in LyX!]  

Thanks, 
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

I've found the LyX layouts folder. In /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts. 
How do I make use of them? Through documents  settings? If so, where exactly?

Through documents  settings  document class I see a collection of document 
classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools  tex information  
latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in LyX? 
If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. How do I 
get it included. 

I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
class? 

Thanks,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

Hello

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 3:18 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:

 I've found the LyX layouts folder. In 
 /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts. How do I make use of them? Through 
 documents  settings? If so, where exactly?

 Through documents  settings  document class I see a collection of document 
 classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools  tex information 
  latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in 
 LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. How 
 do I get it included.

 I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
 class?

A document class is a LaTeX package. A layout is file that allows LyX
to understand that LaTeX document class. (For the moment, don't worry
about *.layout files; you use them automatically.) To use a given
LaTeX class select it in Document  Settings  Class. If koma-script
is unavailable, you need to install the appropriate LaTeX package (the
LyX layout should already be available on your system).

Most of your questions should already be answered in either of these
three documents in Help: Intro, Tutorial and User's Guide. (For
example, User's Guide  Section 3.1.2.2 explains why some classes
would be tagged as 'unavailable'.) If you still have questions after
reading them (and re-reading, if necessary), please post back here.
Liviu


 Thanks,
 --
 Eric Weir
 Decatur, GA  USA
 eew...@bellsouth.net








-- 
Do you know how to read?
http://www.alienetworks.com/srtest.cfm
http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/xfce4-dict#speed-reader
Do you know how to write?
http://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/e.htm#e-mail

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Stephan Witt]

Am 14.07.2011 um 15:18 schrieb Eric Weir:

 
 I've found the LyX layouts folder. In /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts.

Are you sure? It should be /Applications/LyX.app/Contents/Resources/layouts.

 How do I make use of them? Through documents  settings? If so, where exactly?
 
 Through documents  settings  document class I see a collection of document 
 classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools  tex information 
  latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in 
 LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. How 
 do I get it included. 

You may try to reconfigure: LyX - Reconfigure.

I have document class book (Koma-Script) available.
Which classes are available depends on your LaTeX installation.

 I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
 class? 

AFAIK, you choose a document class not a layout. 

You may find information about that in the Customization manual 5.2 Types of 
layout files.

Stephan

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 10:47 AM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 Most of your questions should already be answered in either of these
 three documents in Help: Intro, Tutorial and User's Guide. (For
 example, User's Guide  Section 3.1.2.2 explains why some classes
 would be tagged as 'unavailable'.) If you still have questions after
 reading them (and re-reading, if necessary), please post back here.

Thanks, Liviu. I'll reread, and reread more carefully. 

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Richard Heck]

On 07/13/2011 08:58 PM, Eric Weir wrote:

 The sort of thing
 you want to do would probably be quite easy with the memoir class, or
 perhaps with one of the koma-script classes (probably the article one,
 since it looks as if you do not need chapters here), all of which
 provide hooks for customizing the appearance of the headings, title,
 etc. Both of these have extensive documentation (memman.pdf,
 scrguien.pdf), and various people here have plenty of experience with
 these classes.
 I'm intrigued by both memoir and koma. And maybe the standard classes are as 
 good a place to start?

 The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] much 
 less so. The former does not even obviously address installation. 

These classes should be installed automatically with your TeX
distribution. If not, then I presume whatever OSX thing you are using
has some kind of GUI for doing this. I don't know Mac, though.

Richard

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Trevor Jenkins]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:

The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien]
 much less so.


Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it even
exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author themselves.
Other users especially those trying to get started are overlooked. LyX has
the tutorial document, which is a good start. LaTeX has been around for so
long that beginners' documentation is rarely provided; we are all assumed to
be experts.

Regards, Trevor.

 Re: deemed!

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 10:59 AM, Stephan Witt wrote:

 Am 14.07.2011 um 15:18 schrieb Eric Weir:
 
 I've found the LyX layouts folder. In 
 /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts.
 
 Are you sure? It should be /Applications/LyX.app/Contents/Resources/layouts.

Thanks, Stephan. I was careless.

 Through documents  settings  document class I see a collection of document 
 classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools  tex information 
  latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in 
 LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. 
 How do I get it included. 
 
 You may try to reconfigure: LyX - Reconfigure.
 
 I have document class book (Koma-Script) available.
 Which classes are available depends on your LaTeX installation.

Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many other 
new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list revealed 
in tools  tex information  latex classes koma is still missing. 

 I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
 class? 
 
 AFAIK, you choose a document class not a layout. 

Thanks again. That helps. 

In addition to reading more carefully, as suggested by Liviu, I guess I need to 
find a class that appears somewhat relevant to my needs and get started seeing 
what I can do with it. I think I can do that now.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Richard Heck]

On 07/14/2011 11:42 AM, Eric Weir wrote:

 Through documents  settings  document class I see a collection of 
 document classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools  tex 
 information  latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these 
 available for use in LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script 
 is not among them. How do I get it included. 
 You may try to reconfigure: LyX - Reconfigure.

 I have document class book (Koma-Script) available.
 Which classes are available depends on your LaTeX installation.
 Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
 other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
 revealed in tools  tex information  latex classes koma is still missing. 

These classes have names like: scrartcl.cls, scrbook.cls, etc. Don't ask
me why.

rh

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Steve Litt]

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:42:09 AM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
 On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net
 wrote:
 
 The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma
 [scrguien]
 
  much less so.
 
 Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it
 even exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author
 themselves. Other users especially those trying to get started are
 overlooked. LyX has the tutorial document, which is a good start.
 LaTeX has been around for so long that beginners' documentation is
 rarely provided; we are all assumed to be experts.

:-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so 
important. It assumes few prerequisites.

SteveT


 
 Regards, Trevor.
 
  Re: deemed!

-- 
Steve Litt
Author: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/key_excellence.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:42 AM, Trevor Jenkins wrote:

 On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:
 
 The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] much 
 less so.
 
 Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it even 
 exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author themselves. 
 Other users especially those trying to get started are overlooked. LyX has 
 the tutorial document, which is a good start. LaTeX has been around for so 
 long that beginners' documentation is rarely provided; we are all assumed to 
 be experts. 

I think I'm gonna go with koma, Trevor. For one, the documentation strikes me 
as excellent. Certainly compared to memoir.

Don't remember where I accessed them at the moment, or which ones, but I did 
take a look at a few class documents. There were a couple relatively simple 
ones that I could make rough sense of. Many were overwhelming. I'd like to have 
at least some idea what I'm working with, and to be able to refer back to the 
class document while I'm working with it to see if I can learn how it works. 

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:35 AM, Richard Heck wrote:

 n 07/13/2011 08:58 PM, Eric Weir wrote:
 
 
 I'm intrigued by both memoir and koma. And maybe the standard classes are as 
 good a place to start?
 
 The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] 
 much less so. The former does not even obviously address installation. 
 
 
 These classes should be installed automatically with your TeX
 distribution. If not, then I presume whatever OSX thing you are using
 has some kind of GUI for doing this. I don't know Mac, though.

Reconfiguring, as suggested by Stephan, helped, Richard. I now have several 
koma classes.

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:49 AM, Richard Heck wrote:

 Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
 other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
 revealed in tools  tex information  latex classes koma is still missing. 
 
 
 These classes have names like: scrartcl.cls, scrbook.cls, etc. Don't ask
 me why.

Thanks, Richard. In checking out koma I did notice reference to those names. I 
see there are seven classes in that list that begin with the letters src. It 
may be that reconfiguring has made them all available to me in document  
settings. At least there are several more than previously.

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:

 On Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:42:09 AM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
 
 Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it
 even exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author
 themselves. Other users especially those trying to get started are
 overlooked. LyX has the tutorial document, which is a good start.
 LaTeX has been around for so long that beginners' documentation is
 rarely provided; we are all assumed to be experts.
 
 :-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so 
 important. It assumes few prerequisites.

I do recall there being significant content at your site related to LaTeX, 
Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links on the home page. Must 
be deeper in?

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Trevor Jenkins]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:19 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:


 On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:



:-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so
 important. It assumes few prerequisites.


 I do recall there being significant content at your site related to LaTeX,
 Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links on the home page.
 Must be deeper in?


So still some prerequisites being assumed then.

Regards, Trevor.

 Re: deemed!

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Steve Litt]

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 12:19:31 PM you wrote:
 On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:
  On Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:42:09 AM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
  Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if
  it even exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class
  author themselves. Other users especially those trying to get
  started are overlooked. LyX has the tutorial document, which is
  a good start. LaTeX has been around for so long that beginners'
  documentation is rarely provided; we are all assumed to be
  experts.
  
  :-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so
  
  important. It assumes few prerequisites.
 
 I do recall there being significant content at your site related to
 LaTeX, Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links on
 the home page. Must be deeper in?

That's good information. People might be missing my stuff.

At Troubleshooters.Com, click Linux-Linux_desktop-Office_apps-LyX.

HTH

SteveT

Steve Litt
Author: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/key_excellence.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Steve Litt]

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 12:23:36 PM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
 On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:19 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net 
wrote:
  On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:
 :-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so
 :
  important. It assumes few prerequisites.
  
  I do recall there being significant content at your site related
  to LaTeX, Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links
  on the home page. Must be deeper in?
 
 So still some prerequisites being assumed then.
 
 Regards, Trevor.

Yes. The person has to know how to use a computer. They have to know 
something about how to use a wordprocessor (for want of a better word, 
but even familiarity with MS Word.

The person should have had a little experience with some computer 
programming, even if it's excel macros or something, so he/she can 
understand what I'm saying about LaTeX. And the person must have an 
open mind.

But in my opinion, LyX or LaTeX experience isn't essential for using 
the LyX docs on my website.

SteveT



Steve Litt
Author: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/key_excellence.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:42 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:
 Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
 other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
 revealed in tools  tex information  latex classes koma is still missing.

Some times Tools  Reconfigure and Tools  TeX info  Rescan are not
in sync. Try hitting 'rescan', too; but if what you're trying to do
works, then don't worry about the TeX info thingy.


 In addition to reading more carefully, as suggested by Liviu, I guess I need 
 to find a class that appears somewhat relevant to my needs and get started 
 seeing what I can do with it. I think I can do that now.

Rob has a book cooking, on Open Source Writing Tools, and to my
knowledge it will include some extensive info on LyX and on (a subset
of) the various LaTeX classes available, with their drawbacks,
advantages and intended usage.

Additionally, should it be of any help, you can also check the 'LyX
Essentials' [1], which is a brief introduction to creating a first
document in LyX.
[1] https://sites.google.com/site/tsewiki/resources/latex

Regards
Liviu

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:58 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:
 I think I'm gonna go with koma, Trevor. For one, the documentation strikes
 me as excellent. Certainly compared to memoir.

Another source of documentation may be the templates and examples
folders shipped with LyX. They will often contain templates for the
various document classes available. Start with File  New from
template.
Liviu

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 2:36 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:42 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:
 Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
 other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
 revealed in tools  tex information  latex classes koma is still missing.
 
 Some times Tools  Reconfigure and Tools  TeX info  Rescan are not
 in sync. Try hitting 'rescan', too; but if what you're trying to do
 works, then don't worry about the TeX info thingy.

They may be in better sync than first appeared. As Richard pointed out, the 
koma classes all have names beginning with src, or apparently all. I have 
several of those in the tools  tex info  latex classes. So maybe I do have 
the full koma class after all. 

 In addition to reading more carefully, as suggested by Liviu, I guess I need 
 to find a class that appears somewhat relevant to my needs and get started 
 seeing what I can do with it. I think I can do that now.
 
 
 Rob has a book cooking, on Open Source Writing Tools, and to my
 knowledge it will include some extensive info on LyX and on (a subset
 of) the various LaTeX classes available, with their drawbacks,
 advantages and intended usage.
 
 Additionally, should it be of any help, you can also check the 'LyX
 Essentials' [1], which is a brief introduction to creating a first
 document in LyX.
 [1] https://sites.google.com/site/tsewiki/resources/latex

Thanks for the references. The latter might help, and sounds like the former 
definitely would.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 2:39 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 Another source of documentation may be the templates and examples
 folders shipped with LyX. They will often contain templates for the
 various document classes available. Start with File  New from
 template.

Yes, I noticed that about the templates and have had them in mind, but I'd 
forgotten about the examples. [Which is evident from the fact that I said it'd 
be nice if there were some. Well there are!] 

I just checked out the simplecv example. It is simple, and it looks like I 
might be able to modify it into one type of document that I commonly create 
without a great deal of difficult, i.e., into a template, not a new class. 

In checking out parameters in document  settings it would be helpful if the 
actual default values for the class were displayed instead of just default. 
To get them I guess I'll have to locate the original document class document. 
[Or just see what effects changes have in LyX!]  

Thanks, 
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

I've found the LyX layouts folder. In /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts. 
How do I make use of them? Through documents > settings? If so, where exactly?

Through documents > settings > document class I see a collection of document 
classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools > tex information > 
latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in LyX? 
If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. How do I 
get it included. 

I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
class? 

Thanks,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

Hello

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 3:18 PM, Eric Weir  wrote:
>
> I've found the LyX layouts folder. In 
> /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts. How do I make use of them? Through 
> documents > settings? If so, where exactly?
>
> Through documents > settings > document class I see a collection of document 
> classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools > tex information 
> > latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in 
> LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. How 
> do I get it included.
>
> I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
> class?
>
A document class is a LaTeX package. A layout is file that allows LyX
to understand that LaTeX document class. (For the moment, don't worry
about *.layout files; you use them automatically.) To use a given
LaTeX class select it in Document > Settings > Class. If koma-script
is unavailable, you need to install the appropriate LaTeX package (the
LyX layout should already be available on your system).

Most of your questions should already be answered in either of these
three documents in Help: Intro, Tutorial and User's Guide. (For
example, User's Guide > Section 3.1.2.2 explains why some classes
would be tagged as 'unavailable'.) If you still have questions after
reading them (and re-reading, if necessary), please post back here.
Liviu


> Thanks,
> --
> Eric Weir
> Decatur, GA  USA
> eew...@bellsouth.net
>
>
>
>
>



-- 
Do you know how to read?
http://www.alienetworks.com/srtest.cfm
http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/xfce4-dict#speed-reader
Do you know how to write?
http://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/e.htm#e-mail

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Stephan Witt]

Am 14.07.2011 um 15:18 schrieb Eric Weir:

> 
> I've found the LyX layouts folder. In /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts.

Are you sure? It should be /Applications/LyX.app/Contents/Resources/layouts.

> How do I make use of them? Through documents > settings? If so, where exactly?
> 
> Through documents > settings > document class I see a collection of document 
> classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools > tex information 
> > latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in 
> LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. How 
> do I get it included. 

You may try to reconfigure: LyX -> Reconfigure.

I have document class "book (Koma-Script)" available.
Which classes are available depends on your LaTeX installation.

> I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
> class? 

AFAIK, you choose a document class not a layout. 

You may find information about that in the Customization manual "5.2 Types of 
layout files".

Stephan

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 10:47 AM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

> Most of your questions should already be answered in either of these
> three documents in Help: Intro, Tutorial and User's Guide. (For
> example, User's Guide > Section 3.1.2.2 explains why some classes
> would be tagged as 'unavailable'.) If you still have questions after
> reading them (and re-reading, if necessary), please post back here.

Thanks, Liviu. I'll reread, and reread more carefully. 

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Richard Heck]

On 07/13/2011 08:58 PM, Eric Weir wrote:
>
>> The sort of thing
>> you want to do would probably be quite easy with the memoir class, or
>> perhaps with one of the koma-script classes (probably the article one,
>> since it looks as if you do not need chapters here), all of which
>> provide "hooks" for customizing the appearance of the headings, title,
>> etc. Both of these have extensive documentation (memman.pdf,
>> scrguien.pdf), and various people here have plenty of experience with
>> these classes.
> I'm intrigued by both memoir and koma. And maybe the standard classes are as 
> good a place to start?
>
> The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] much 
> less so. The former does not even obviously address installation. 
>
These classes should be installed automatically with your TeX
distribution. If not, then I presume whatever OSX thing you are using
has some kind of GUI for doing this. I don't know Mac, though.

Richard

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Trevor Jenkins]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Eric Weir  wrote:

The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien]
> much less so.


Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it even
exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author themselves.
Other users especially those trying to get started are overlooked. LyX has
the tutorial document, which is a good start. LaTeX has been around for so
long that beginners' documentation is rarely provided; we are all assumed to
be experts.

Regards, Trevor.

<>< Re: deemed!

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 10:59 AM, Stephan Witt wrote:

> Am 14.07.2011 um 15:18 schrieb Eric Weir:
> 
>> I've found the LyX layouts folder. In 
>> /applications/lyx.app/resources/layouts.
> 
> Are you sure? It should be /Applications/LyX.app/Contents/Resources/layouts.

Thanks, Stephan. I was careless.

>> Through documents > settings > document class I see a collection of document 
>> classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools > tex information 
>> > latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these available for use in 
>> LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script is not among them. 
>> How do I get it included. 
> 
> You may try to reconfigure: LyX -> Reconfigure.
> 
> I have document class "book (Koma-Script)" available.
> Which classes are available depends on your LaTeX installation.

Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many other 
new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list revealed 
in tools > tex information > latex classes koma is still missing. 

>> I see how to use a template. How do I use a layout? How do I use a document 
>> class? 
> 
> AFAIK, you choose a document class not a layout. 

Thanks again. That helps. 

In addition to reading more carefully, as suggested by Liviu, I guess I need to 
find a class that appears somewhat relevant to my needs and get started seeing 
what I can do with it. I think I can do that now.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Richard Heck]

On 07/14/2011 11:42 AM, Eric Weir wrote:
>
>>> Through documents > settings > document class I see a collection of 
>>> document classes. Many are identified as unavailable. Through tools > tex 
>>> information > latex classes I see a huge list of classes. Are these 
>>> available for use in LyX? If not, how do I make them available? Koma-script 
>>> is not among them. How do I get it included. 
>> You may try to reconfigure: LyX -> Reconfigure.
>>
>> I have document class "book (Koma-Script)" available.
>> Which classes are available depends on your LaTeX installation.
> Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
> other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
> revealed in tools > tex information > latex classes koma is still missing. 
>
These classes have names like: scrartcl.cls, scrbook.cls, etc. Don't ask
me why.

rh

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Steve Litt]

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:42:09 AM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Eric Weir 
> wrote:
> 
> The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma
> [scrguien]
> 
> > much less so.
> 
> Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it
> even exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author
> themselves. Other users especially those trying to get started are
> overlooked. LyX has the tutorial document, which is a good start.
> LaTeX has been around for so long that beginners' documentation is
> rarely provided; we are all assumed to be experts.

:-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so 
important. It assumes few prerequisites.

SteveT


> 
> Regards, Trevor.
> 
> <>< Re: deemed!

-- 
Steve Litt
Author: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/key_excellence.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:42 AM, Trevor Jenkins wrote:

> On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Eric Weir  wrote:
> 
> The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] much 
> less so.
> 
> Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it even 
> exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author themselves. 
> Other users especially those trying to get started are overlooked. LyX has 
> the tutorial document, which is a good start. LaTeX has been around for so 
> long that beginners' documentation is rarely provided; we are all assumed to 
> be experts. 

I think I'm gonna go with koma, Trevor. For one, the documentation strikes me 
as excellent. Certainly compared to memoir.

Don't remember where I accessed them at the moment, or which ones, but I did 
take a look at a few class documents. There were a couple relatively simple 
ones that I could make rough sense of. Many were overwhelming. I'd like to have 
at least some idea what I'm working with, and to be able to refer back to the 
class document while I'm working with it to see if I can learn how it works. 

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:35 AM, Richard Heck wrote:

> n 07/13/2011 08:58 PM, Eric Weir wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> I'm intrigued by both memoir and koma. And maybe the standard classes are as 
>> good a place to start?
>> 
>> The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] 
>> much less so. The former does not even obviously address installation. 
>> 
> 
> These classes should be installed automatically with your TeX
> distribution. If not, then I presume whatever OSX thing you are using
> has some kind of GUI for doing this. I don't know Mac, though.

Reconfiguring, as suggested by Stephan, helped, Richard. I now have several 
koma classes.

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:49 AM, Richard Heck wrote:

>> Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
>> other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
>> revealed in tools > tex information > latex classes koma is still missing. 
>> 
> 
> These classes have names like: scrartcl.cls, scrbook.cls, etc. Don't ask
> me why.

Thanks, Richard. In checking out koma I did notice reference to those names. I 
see there are seven classes in that list that begin with the letters "src". It 
may be that reconfiguring has made them all available to me in document > 
settings. At least there are several more than previously.

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:

> On Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:42:09 AM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
>> 
>> Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if it
>> even exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class author
>> themselves. Other users especially those trying to get started are
>> overlooked. LyX has the tutorial document, which is a good start.
>> LaTeX has been around for so long that beginners' documentation is
>> rarely provided; we are all assumed to be experts.
> 
> :-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so 
> important. It assumes few prerequisites.

I do recall there being significant content at your site related to LaTeX, 
Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links on the home page. Must 
be deeper in?

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Trevor Jenkins]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:19 PM, Eric Weir  wrote:

>
> On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:
>

>
:-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so
>> important. It assumes few prerequisites.
>>
>
> I do recall there being significant content at your site related to LaTeX,
> Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links on the home page.
> Must be deeper in?
>

So still some prerequisites being assumed then.

Regards, Trevor.

<>< Re: deemed!

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Steve Litt]

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 12:19:31 PM you wrote:
> On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:
> > On Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:42:09 AM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
> >> Sadly this seems to be the modern tradition. Documentation, if
> >> it even exists, is targeted to the advanced user or the class
> >> author themselves. Other users especially those trying to get
> >> started are overlooked. LyX has the tutorial document, which is
> >> a good start. LaTeX has been around for so long that beginners'
> >> documentation is rarely provided; we are all assumed to be
> >> experts.
> >> 
> > :-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so
> > 
> > important. It assumes few prerequisites.
> 
> I do recall there being significant content at your site related to
> LaTeX, Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links on
> the home page. Must be deeper in?

That's good information. People might be missing my stuff.

At Troubleshooters.Com, click Linux->Linux_desktop->Office_apps->LyX.

HTH

SteveT

Steve Litt
Author: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/key_excellence.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Steve Litt]

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 12:23:36 PM Trevor Jenkins wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:19 PM, Eric Weir  
wrote:
> > On Jul 14, 2011, at 11:52 AM, Steve Litt wrote:
> :-) That's why the documentation on Troubleshooters.Com is so
> :
> >> important. It assumes few prerequisites.
> > 
> > I do recall there being significant content at your site related
> > to LaTeX, Steve, but I don't find it when I mouse over the links
> > on the home page. Must be deeper in?
> 
> So still some prerequisites being assumed then.
> 
> Regards, Trevor.

Yes. The person has to know how to use a computer. They have to know 
something about how to use a wordprocessor (for want of a better word, 
but even familiarity with MS Word.

The person should have had a little experience with some computer 
programming, even if it's excel macros or something, so he/she can 
understand what I'm saying about LaTeX. And the person must have an 
open mind.

But in my opinion, LyX or LaTeX experience isn't essential for using 
the LyX docs on my website.

SteveT



Steve Litt
Author: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/key_excellence.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:42 PM, Eric Weir  wrote:
> Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
> other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
> revealed in tools > tex information > latex classes koma is still missing.
>
Some times Tools > Reconfigure and Tools > TeX info > Rescan are not
in sync. Try hitting 'rescan', too; but if what you're trying to do
works, then don't worry about the TeX info thingy.


> In addition to reading more carefully, as suggested by Liviu, I guess I need 
> to find a class that appears somewhat relevant to my needs and get started 
> seeing what I can do with it. I think I can do that now.
>
Rob has a book cooking, on Open Source Writing Tools, and to my
knowledge it will include some extensive info on LyX and on (a subset
of) the various LaTeX classes available, with their drawbacks,
advantages and intended usage.

Additionally, should it be of any help, you can also check the 'LyX
Essentials' [1], which is a brief introduction to creating a first
document in LyX.
[1] https://sites.google.com/site/tsewiki/resources/latex

Regards
Liviu

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:58 PM, Eric Weir  wrote:
> I think I'm gonna go with koma, Trevor. For one, the documentation strikes
> me as excellent. Certainly compared to memoir.
>
Another source of documentation may be the templates and examples
folders shipped with LyX. They will often contain templates for the
various document classes available. Start with File > New from
template.
Liviu

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 2:36 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

> On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:42 PM, Eric Weir  wrote:
>> Reconfigure seems to have helped. I now have five koma classes. And many 
>> other new ones. However -- and I don't if this matters -- in the huge list 
>> revealed in tools > tex information > latex classes koma is still missing.
>> 
> Some times Tools > Reconfigure and Tools > TeX info > Rescan are not
> in sync. Try hitting 'rescan', too; but if what you're trying to do
> works, then don't worry about the TeX info thingy.

They may be in better sync than first appeared. As Richard pointed out, the 
koma classes all have names beginning with src, or apparently all. I have 
several of those in the tools > tex info > latex classes. So maybe I do have 
the full koma class after all. 

> In addition to reading more carefully, as suggested by Liviu, I guess I need 
> to find a class that appears somewhat relevant to my needs and get started 
> seeing what I can do with it. I think I can do that now.
>> 
> 
> Rob has a book cooking, on Open Source Writing Tools, and to my
> knowledge it will include some extensive info on LyX and on (a subset
> of) the various LaTeX classes available, with their drawbacks,
> advantages and intended usage.
> 
> Additionally, should it be of any help, you can also check the 'LyX
> Essentials' [1], which is a brief introduction to creating a first
> document in LyX.
> [1] https://sites.google.com/site/tsewiki/resources/latex

Thanks for the references. The latter might help, and sounds like the former 
definitely would.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 14, 2011, at 2:39 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

> Another source of documentation may be the templates and examples
> folders shipped with LyX. They will often contain templates for the
> various document classes available. Start with File > New from
> template.

Yes, I noticed that about the templates and have had them in mind, but I'd 
forgotten about the examples. [Which is evident from the fact that I said it'd 
be nice if there were some. Well there are!] 

I just checked out the simplecv example. It is simple, and it looks like I 
might be able to modify it into one type of document that I commonly create 
without a great deal of difficult, i.e., into a template, not a new class. 

In checking out parameters in document > settings it would be helpful if the 
actual default values for the class were displayed instead of just "default." 
To get them I guess I'll have to locate the original document class document. 
[Or just see what effects changes have in LyX!]  

Thanks, 
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

I have been dancing around moving to LyX/LaTeX for formatting and printing 
documents. I have the MacTeX installation of the full TeX Live package and LyX 
2.0. For longer writing projects I use Scrivener, which can compile 
Multimarkdown encoded documents to LaTeX.  I am a complete novice regarding 
LyX/LaTeX, having completed about half of the LyX tutorial, and tried 
importing, formatting and printing a few simple shorter and longer documents. I 
plan to devote the day to completing the tutorial. 

My writing is mostly letters, memos, short to medium length reports, and longer 
projects including proposals and articles. I always keep formatting to the 
simplest minimum possible. I would like to make the break and actually start 
using LyX/LaTeX, focusing initially on shorter documents. So far this has 
involved importing text or LaTeX coded documents into LyX, modifying the format 
to suit my tastes using the menu and toolbar. My ability to make documents look 
the way I want them to is limited. In addition, I have to start from scratch 
with each document. I am not developing what I think in LyX/LaTeX are called 
layouts that could be used repeatedly.  

I am conscious of the fact that this may be the kind of excessively broad 
question that makes it difficult for knowledgeable people to be helpful. 
Nevertheless, since I am to a large extent at a loss regarding the answer I 
will ask it: Where do I start? Perhaps better, how do I go about creating a 
layout for a document type. At this point the document would be very simple, 
e.g., a few pages, a flush left title with up to three lines of single spaced 
bold text using the same font only slightly larger than the body text, and a 
few flush left bolded section heads using the same font the same size as the 
body text. 

I understand that to getting conversant with LyX/LaTeX will require more than a 
little reading and study. My experience with software has been that I learn 
best in the context of trying to actually use the software.

If anyone can venture a suggestion that would help me get going I would be very 
grateful.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Richard Heck]

On 07/13/2011 09:34 AM, Eric Weir wrote:
 I am conscious of the fact that this may be the kind of excessively broad 
 question that makes it difficult for knowledgeable people to be helpful. 
 Nevertheless, since I am to a large extent at a loss regarding the answer I 
 will ask it: Where do I start? Perhaps better, how do I go about creating a 
 layout for a document type. At this point the document would be very simple, 
 e.g., a few pages, a flush left title with up to three lines of single spaced 
 bold text using the same font only slightly larger than the body text, and a 
 few flush left bolded section heads using the same font the same size as the 
 body text. 

This is an advanced matter. I'd guess that very few LyX users ever
venture into writing full layouts for documents; I'd even guess that
most never write any layout at all, even simple modules. Rather, most
LyX users choose a document class and let it do the formatting for them,
without worrying too much about how the document looks, precisely. Of
course, if you're self-publishing a book, or typesetting one for a
publisher, or whatever, you have different sorts of requirements. I
recently had to write a document class for a book I'm publishing with
Oxford University Press, for example. It had to match, more or less, the
specifications for one of their book designs. It took a while to get
right, but now I have it, and others can use it, too.

LyX uses LaTeX to do all the formatting, so customizing document
appearance means getting one's hands dirty with LaTeX. The sort of thing
you want to do would probably be quite easy with the memoir class, or
perhaps with one of the koma-script classes (probably the article one,
since it looks as if you do not need chapters here), all of which
provide hooks for customizing the appearance of the headings, title,
etc. Both of these have extensive documentation (memman.pdf,
scrguien.pdf), and various people here have plenty of experience with
these classes. (Not me.) You can also ask questions on comp.text.tex.

As I said, that is the LaTeX side of things. On the LyX side, you have
to write a layout file for your new class. If it's based on the
koma-script article class, scrartcl.cls, say, then this is fairly easy.
Let's say your new class is myclass.cls. Then you copy scrartcl.layout
to myclass.layout and make a few modifications, so the document looks in
LyX kind of like it looks when printed. In fact, you do not even have to
make those modifications, if you don't want to do so. How things look in
LyX does not control how they look when printed. If they look different
in LyX, oh well. This part is documented in LyX's Customization manual.

Richard

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Trevor Jenkins]

I'm a Mac user too and make extensive use of both Scrivener and LyX/LaTeX.
But they are no competitive products. LyX is at the end of the pre-press
cycle; it's about presentation. Don't get me wrong its f***ing good
presentation given that LaTeX is behind it but none the less it's primarily
about presentation.

Scrivener is near the beginning through to almost the end of that cycle. It
is for research, for organisation, for establishing logical flow though the
document. I wouldn't use LyX for any of those tasks because it maintains the
entire text on the screen at all times even with the (unless I'm away from
my Mac-based intranet and LyX is all I have).

More than once my use of Scrivener has made me realise that I'm duplicating
something in the narrative flow of the document (through using the corkboard
or outliner displays). The Navigate menu in LyX is not a patch on neither
can it hold a candle up to Scriveners corkboard and outliner modes. The
document binder means it is trivial to restructure a document.

There's also the GUI issue. LyX is a portable product. Scrivener was written
for Mac OS X and is (has been) tightly coupled to it. Being a Mac zealot I
find LyX menus, structures and personalisation more difficult to adapt to on
Macs. As a product it does what it is supposed to and does it well enough in
an OS X environment (certainly better than than having to run the X server
as other writing tools would require) but I wouldn't use LyX as my primary
writing tool. Scrivener is that tool and from it I Multimarkdown the
near-completed document for a final burnish with LyX before publication.
This Mac OS X-ness may change with the recent announcement that Scrivener
now exists in a Windows version.

As an aside I use Journler as a commonplace book for keeping quotations,
reflections and general ideas prior to writing documents. When writing a
document I copy-and-paste the quotes from Journler to Scrivener. Some quotes
and reflections never get out of the commonplace setting but they ready for
me to access. Sadly Journler is no longer maintained.

Again I wouldn't be without LyX for what it does but I don't beleive it is a
tool that covers the entire writing task. Keep both I say and make the best
of Lyx and of Scrivener.

Remember though that the final presentation of your document has little to
do with LyX itself and everything to do with LaTeX. If you want to create
your own presentation formats then concentrate on that first. Then adapt LyX
to support your requirements. Personally I concentrate on the document
content and leave the presentation to the defaults of the various LaTeX
document classes I have available (everything from TeXlive 2010 in fact).

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 2:34 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:


 I have been dancing around moving to LyX/LaTeX for formatting and printing
 documents. I have the MacTeX installation of the full TeX Live package and
 LyX 2.0. For longer writing projects I use Scrivener, which can compile
 Multimarkdown encoded documents to LaTeX.  I am a complete novice regarding
 LyX/LaTeX, having completed about half of the LyX tutorial, and tried
 importing, formatting and printing a few simple shorter and longer
 documents. I plan to devote the day to completing the tutorial.

 My writing is mostly letters, memos, short to medium length reports, and
 longer projects including proposals and articles. I always keep formatting
 to the simplest minimum possible. I would like to make the break and
 actually start using LyX/LaTeX, focusing initially on shorter documents. So
 far this has involved importing text or LaTeX coded documents into LyX,
 modifying the format to suit my tastes using the menu and toolbar. My
 ability to make documents look the way I want them to is limited. In
 addition, I have to start from scratch with each document. I am not
 developing what I think in LyX/LaTeX are called layouts that could be used
 repeatedly.

 I am conscious of the fact that this may be the kind of excessively broad
 question that makes it difficult for knowledgeable people to be helpful.
 Nevertheless, since I am to a large extent at a loss regarding the answer I
 will ask it: Where do I start? Perhaps better, how do I go about creating a
 layout for a document type. At this point the document would be very simple,
 e.g., a few pages, a flush left title with up to three lines of single
 spaced bold text using the same font only slightly larger than the body
 text, and a few flush left bolded section heads using the same font the same
 size as the body text.

 I understand that to getting conversant with LyX/LaTeX will require more
 than a little reading and study. My experience with software has been that I
 learn best in the context of trying to actually use the software.

 If anyone can venture a suggestion that would help me get going I would be
 very grateful.

 Sincerely,

 

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Anders Host-Madsen]

 My ability to make documents look the way I want them to is limited. 

In my personal opinion, this is the weakness of LaTeX/LyX. 
LaTeX is great when you write for a medium 
with a defined formatting, e.g., a journal, and they give you a 
style file to use. Then you just fill out the 
contents. But if you a free to format your document, and have 
specific ideas on how it should look like, it's 
not that convenient. I found the easiest way is to use 
LaTeX packages such as enumitem, fancyhdr, and 
titlesec. Once you have formatted one document, you 
can use it as template for following documents.

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Torquil Macdonald Sørensen]

On 13/07/11 16:38, Anders Host-Madsen wrote:

My ability to make documents look the way I want them to is limited.


In my personal opinion, this is the weakness of LaTeX/LyX.
LaTeX is great when you write for a medium
with a defined formatting, e.g., a journal, and they give you a
style file to use. Then you just fill out the
contents. But if you a free to format your document, and have
specific ideas on how it should look like, it's
not that convenient. I found the easiest way is to use
LaTeX packages such as enumitem, fancyhdr, and
titlesec. Once you have formatted one document, you
can use it as template for following documents.



Not to imply that LyX is lacking in any way in this area (simply because I don't 
know), but I know that LyX is at least great for people like me, who are 
completely content to use a basic/default/ordinary LaTeX formatting :-) I just 
use it in order to have the power of LaTeX with less difficulty and better 
readability while I write.


So I'm glad that I can automatically get a great looking document without having 
to do any formatting work.


- Torquil

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Richard Heck]

On 07/13/2011 10:48 AM, Torquil Macdonald Sørensen wrote:
 On 13/07/11 16:38, Anders Host-Madsen wrote:
 My ability to make documents look the way I want them to is limited.

 In my personal opinion, this is the weakness of LaTeX/LyX.
 LaTeX is great when you write for a medium
 with a defined formatting, e.g., a journal, and they give you a
 style file to use. Then you just fill out the
 contents. But if you a free to format your document, and have
 specific ideas on how it should look like, it's
 not that convenient. I found the easiest way is to use
 LaTeX packages such as enumitem, fancyhdr, and
 titlesec. Once you have formatted one document, you
 can use it as template for following documents.


 Not to imply that LyX is lacking in any way in this area (simply
 because I don't know), but I know that LyX is at least great for
 people like me, who are completely content to use a
 basic/default/ordinary LaTeX formatting :-) I just use it in order to
 have the power of LaTeX with less difficulty and better readability
 while I write.

 So I'm glad that I can automatically get a great looking document
 without having to do any formatting work.

Let's put it this way: If you want every document you write to look
different, then LaTeX is not your tool. But if you want to write (edit,
publish) a lot of documents that look pretty much the same, then LaTeX
is exactly your tool. Of course there are times for creative
presentation, and there are other tools for that. But LyX (to return to
it) is intended primarily for academic and technical writing, where
content is the main thing and presentation is secondary, and most of us
are perfectly happy to have a fairly small number of choices as far as
presentation is concerned.

Word and its ilk have made people think they can do creative
typesetting, when in fact what they tend to do is make a mess of things.
I personally think it's a *good* thing that LyX does not make this easy.

Richard

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 13, 2011, at 1:58 PM, Richard Heck wrote:

 On 07/13/2011 10:48 AM, Torquil Macdonald Sørensen wrote:
 On 13/07/11 16:38, Anders Host-Madsen wrote:
 My ability to make documents look the way I want them to is limited.
 
 In my personal opinion, this is the weakness of LaTeX/LyX.
 LaTeX is great when you write for a medium
 with a defined formatting, e.g., a journal, and they give you a
 style file to use. Then you just fill out the
 contents. But if you a free to format your document, and have
 specific ideas on how it should look like, it's
 not that convenient. I found the easiest way is to use
 LaTeX packages such as enumitem, fancyhdr, and
 titlesec. Once you have formatted one document, you
 can use it as template for following documents.
 
 
 Not to imply that LyX is lacking in any way in this area (simply
 because I don't know), but I know that LyX is at least great for
 people like me, who are completely content to use a
 basic/default/ordinary LaTeX formatting :-) I just use it in order to
 have the power of LaTeX with less difficulty and better readability
 while I write.
 
 So I'm glad that I can automatically get a great looking document
 without having to do any formatting work.
 
 Let's put it this way: If you want every document you write to look
 different, then LaTeX is not your tool. But if you want to write (edit,
 publish) a lot of documents that look pretty much the same, then LaTeX
 is exactly your tool. Of course there are times for creative
 presentation, and there are other tools for that. But LyX (to return to
 it) is intended primarily for academic and technical writing, where
 content is the main thing and presentation is secondary, and most of us
 are perfectly happy to have a fairly small number of choices as far as
 presentation is concerned.

Thanks Richard, Torquil, and Anders,

I think Richard has described my case. I routinely create only a few types of 
documents. I mentioned them in my original post. My formatting is as simple as 
I can make it, with sensitivity primarily to alerting readers to transitions 
and producing a neat not unattractive document. My formatting preferences are 
definitely minimalist. I have no interesting in making every document look 
different. 

I've finished the tutorial, even the math section, though the likelihood that I 
will ever need to format any formulas or equations is slim. My thought now is 
to check out classes for the simplest types of documents from at least a couple 
families. I would not be surprised that one of the letter classes could be 
tweaked into the simplest type of document I create, which I also described in 
my original post, and then saved as a template. That would solve the problem of 
a large portion of my writing. The thought is that I could then gradually work 
into those that are only slightly more complicated. I suspect my greatest 
challenge will be learning to do citations and bibliography, especially getting 
a references/citations/bibliography manager to work together with LyX. [In that 
connection does LyX work with BibDesk? My understanding is that it is simply a 
Mac front-end for BibTex.]

Regarding checking out the different families of document classes, I am 
familiar with Koma and Memoir. There are a few Koma document classes in my LyX 
installations and only one from Memoir. That surprises me, since I have the 
full TeX Live package, and my understanding was that it left nothing out. How 
do I make it available? And are there other families besides these two that I 
might check out?

One last comment, an anxiety I have about tweaking document classes arising 
from my very limited experience actually using LyX: I have found it difficult 
to get changes to stick, e.g., using paragraph settings to specify single 
spacing, left alignment, and no indenting. 

Thanks again.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 7:58 PM, Richard Heck rgh...@comcast.net wrote:
 Word and its ilk have made people think they can do creative
 typesetting, when in fact what they tend to do is make a mess of things.
 I personally think it's a *good* thing that LyX does not make this easy.

I agree. I prefer LyX primarily because it knows (via LaTeX) how to
nicely typeset things simply by using default settings. A related
reason is that Word (et al.) sucks at typesetting even when you know
what you do. And as a general rule of thumb I suck at typesetting
documents (along with ~99% of Word users). Default LaTeX classes as a
benchmark for a well typeset document is probably a good start; then
you can sharpen some rough edges, here and there, often by using some
other LaTeX packages or functionalities. Or you can leave things as
they are, and they'll still be better than Word output.

Regards
Liviu

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 3:34 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:
 My writing is mostly letters, memos, short to medium length reports, and 
 longer projects including proposals and articles. I always keep formatting to 
 the simplest minimum possible. I would like to make the break and actually 
 start using LyX/LaTeX, focusing initially on shorter documents. So far this 
 has involved importing text or LaTeX coded documents into LyX, modifying the 
 format to suit my tastes using the menu and toolbar. My ability to make 
 documents look the way I want them to is limited. In addition, I have to 
 start from scratch with each document. I am not developing what I think in 
 LyX/LaTeX are called layouts that could be used repeatedly.

To modify aspects of your documents you do not need to create new
'layouts'. You can take a class, create the backbone of your desired
document (also by taking into account your personal idiosyncrasies, as
far as LyX and LaTeX let you to), and save it as a template (say,
'template_101.lyx'). Then you can re-use this template as many times
as you want.
Liviu

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 4:19 PM, Trevor Jenkins bslwann...@gmail.com wrote:
 I'm a Mac user too and make extensive use of both Scrivener and LyX/LaTeX.
 But they are no competitive products.

Soon they will be, we all hope. Rob has made some progress on his
LyX-Outline project [1], which intends to provide LyX with some of the
features of Scrivener, including a corkboard and a fancier outline
pane. At the moment the code can be tested, but fingers crossed for a
future beta release.

Regards
Liviu

[1] http://www.oak-tree.us/lyx-outline/

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

 On Jul 13, 2011, at 9:52 AM, Richard Heck wrote:
 
 
 
 
 On 07/13/2011 09:34 AM, Eric Weir wrote:
 
 Where do I start? Perhaps better, how do I go about creating a layout for a 
 document type. 
 
 This is an advanced matter

Hadn't considered that, Richard. I assumed starting with simple document types 
it might not be so difficult. On the other hand, maybe what I'm talking about 
is not writing layouts but creating templates. Is it possible this might not 
even require looking at layouts?

 The sort of thing
 you want to do would probably be quite easy with the memoir class, or
 perhaps with one of the koma-script classes (probably the article one,
 since it looks as if you do not need chapters here), all of which
 provide hooks for customizing the appearance of the headings, title,
 etc. Both of these have extensive documentation (memman.pdf,
 scrguien.pdf), and various people here have plenty of experience with
 these classes.

I'm intrigued by both memoir and koma. And maybe the standard classes are as 
good a place to start?

The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] much 
less so. The former does not even obviously address installation. 

 As I said, that is the LaTeX side of things. On the LyX side, you have
 to write a layout file for your new class. If it's based on the
 koma-script article class, scrartcl.cls, say, then this is fairly easy.
 Let's say your new class is myclass.cls. Then you copy scrartcl.layout
 to myclass.layout and make a few modifications, so the document looks in
 LyX kind of like it looks when printed. 

In my poking around on my system I have yet to come across a file with a layout 
extension. Where might I find them? 

And again, might simply creating templates in LyX accomplish what I need, at 
least for the short run, while I gradually learn more about LaTeX?

Regards,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 13, 2011, at 10:19 AM, Trevor Jenkins wrote:

 I'm a Mac user too and make extensive use of both Scrivener and LyX/LaTeX. 
 But they are no competitive products. LyX is at the end of the pre-press 
 cycle; it's about presentation

Thanks for the guidance, Trevor. I'm with you 100 percent -- except for being 
an absolute novice regarding LyX/LaTeX. For longer writing projects Scrivener 
is my application of choice, for its design, the way it works, the way it 
supports extended writing, and for the generous and helpful support available 
from the developer and the user community. I have not thought of LyZ as a 
replacement, or even as a writing tool, but just exactly the way you described 
it, for the presentation of the work when the writing is over. 

 As an aside I use Journler as a commonplace book for keeping quotations, 
 reflections and general ideas prior to writing documents. When writing a 
 document I copy-and-paste the quotes from Journler to Scrivener

I thought I knew about all the free-form database applications there were, but 
I've never heard of this one. I haven't found anything that's really 
satisfactory. I've had fairly long experience with a little self-contained, 
browser-based wiki, but support for it for me is problemmatic. I've just 
started experimenting with a wiki plugin for the editor Vim. I don't have a 
good sense yet how well it's going to work for me.

 Remember though that the final presentation of your document has little to do 
 with LyX itself and everything to do with LaTeX. If you want to create your 
 own presentation formats then concentrate on that first. Then adapt LyX to 
 support your requirements. 

I had thought that as a front-end for LaTeX LyX would be a way for me to get 
started with LaTeX, and to create styles for the mainly simple kinds of 
documents I create. Maybe not.

Regards,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 13, 2011, at 6:04 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 Default LaTeX classes as a
 benchmark for a well typeset document is probably a good start; then
 you can sharpen some rough edges, here and there, often by using some
 other LaTeX packages or functionalities. Or you can leave things as
 they are, and they'll still be better than Word output.

Thanks, Liviu. Guidance well taken.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 13, 2011, at 6:08 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 To modify aspects of your documents you do not need to create new
 'layouts'. You can take a class, create the backbone of your desired
 document (also by taking into account your personal idiosyncrasies, as
 far as LyX and LaTeX let you to), and save it as a template (say,
 'template_101.lyx'). Then you can re-use this template as many times
 as you want.

Thank you again, Liviu. As can be seen in my other responses, I've been 
wondering if that might not be a possible way to get where I want to go.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 13, 2011, at 6:15 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 Soon they will be, we all hope. Rob has made some progress on his
 LyX-Outline project [1], which intends to provide LyX with some of the
 features of Scrivener, including a corkboard and a fancier outline
 pane. At the moment the code can be tested, but fingers crossed for a
 future beta release.

Transition from Scrivener to LaTeX is pretty nearly seamless, at least in my 
limited experience of it, which I've already acknowledged is very limited.

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

I have been dancing around moving to LyX/LaTeX for formatting and printing 
documents. I have the MacTeX installation of the full TeX Live package and LyX 
2.0. For longer writing projects I use Scrivener, which can compile 
Multimarkdown encoded documents to LaTeX.  I am a complete novice regarding 
LyX/LaTeX, having completed about half of the LyX tutorial, and tried 
importing, formatting and printing a few simple shorter and longer documents. I 
plan to devote the day to completing the tutorial. 

My writing is mostly letters, memos, short to medium length reports, and longer 
projects including proposals and articles. I always keep formatting to the 
simplest minimum possible. I would like to make the break and actually start 
using LyX/LaTeX, focusing initially on shorter documents. So far this has 
involved importing text or LaTeX coded documents into LyX, modifying the format 
to suit my tastes using the menu and toolbar. My ability to make documents look 
the way I want them to is limited. In addition, I have to start from scratch 
with each document. I am not developing what I think in LyX/LaTeX are called 
layouts that could be used repeatedly.  

I am conscious of the fact that this may be the kind of excessively broad 
question that makes it difficult for knowledgeable people to be helpful. 
Nevertheless, since I am to a large extent at a loss regarding the answer I 
will ask it: Where do I start? Perhaps better, how do I go about creating a 
layout for a document type. At this point the document would be very simple, 
e.g., a few pages, a flush left title with up to three lines of single spaced 
bold text using the same font only slightly larger than the body text, and a 
few flush left bolded section heads using the same font the same size as the 
body text. 

I understand that to getting conversant with LyX/LaTeX will require more than a 
little reading and study. My experience with software has been that I learn 
best in the context of trying to actually use the software.

If anyone can venture a suggestion that would help me get going I would be very 
grateful.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Richard Heck]

On 07/13/2011 09:34 AM, Eric Weir wrote:
 I am conscious of the fact that this may be the kind of excessively broad 
 question that makes it difficult for knowledgeable people to be helpful. 
 Nevertheless, since I am to a large extent at a loss regarding the answer I 
 will ask it: Where do I start? Perhaps better, how do I go about creating a 
 layout for a document type. At this point the document would be very simple, 
 e.g., a few pages, a flush left title with up to three lines of single spaced 
 bold text using the same font only slightly larger than the body text, and a 
 few flush left bolded section heads using the same font the same size as the 
 body text. 

This is an advanced matter. I'd guess that very few LyX users ever
venture into writing full layouts for documents; I'd even guess that
most never write any layout at all, even simple modules. Rather, most
LyX users choose a document class and let it do the formatting for them,
without worrying too much about how the document looks, precisely. Of
course, if you're self-publishing a book, or typesetting one for a
publisher, or whatever, you have different sorts of requirements. I
recently had to write a document class for a book I'm publishing with
Oxford University Press, for example. It had to match, more or less, the
specifications for one of their book designs. It took a while to get
right, but now I have it, and others can use it, too.

LyX uses LaTeX to do all the formatting, so customizing document
appearance means getting one's hands dirty with LaTeX. The sort of thing
you want to do would probably be quite easy with the memoir class, or
perhaps with one of the koma-script classes (probably the article one,
since it looks as if you do not need chapters here), all of which
provide hooks for customizing the appearance of the headings, title,
etc. Both of these have extensive documentation (memman.pdf,
scrguien.pdf), and various people here have plenty of experience with
these classes. (Not me.) You can also ask questions on comp.text.tex.

As I said, that is the LaTeX side of things. On the LyX side, you have
to write a layout file for your new class. If it's based on the
koma-script article class, scrartcl.cls, say, then this is fairly easy.
Let's say your new class is myclass.cls. Then you copy scrartcl.layout
to myclass.layout and make a few modifications, so the document looks in
LyX kind of like it looks when printed. In fact, you do not even have to
make those modifications, if you don't want to do so. How things look in
LyX does not control how they look when printed. If they look different
in LyX, oh well. This part is documented in LyX's Customization manual.

Richard

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Trevor Jenkins]

I'm a Mac user too and make extensive use of both Scrivener and LyX/LaTeX.
But they are no competitive products. LyX is at the end of the pre-press
cycle; it's about presentation. Don't get me wrong its f***ing good
presentation given that LaTeX is behind it but none the less it's primarily
about presentation.

Scrivener is near the beginning through to almost the end of that cycle. It
is for research, for organisation, for establishing logical flow though the
document. I wouldn't use LyX for any of those tasks because it maintains the
entire text on the screen at all times even with the (unless I'm away from
my Mac-based intranet and LyX is all I have).

More than once my use of Scrivener has made me realise that I'm duplicating
something in the narrative flow of the document (through using the corkboard
or outliner displays). The Navigate menu in LyX is not a patch on neither
can it hold a candle up to Scriveners corkboard and outliner modes. The
document binder means it is trivial to restructure a document.

There's also the GUI issue. LyX is a portable product. Scrivener was written
for Mac OS X and is (has been) tightly coupled to it. Being a Mac zealot I
find LyX menus, structures and personalisation more difficult to adapt to on
Macs. As a product it does what it is supposed to and does it well enough in
an OS X environment (certainly better than than having to run the X server
as other writing tools would require) but I wouldn't use LyX as my primary
writing tool. Scrivener is that tool and from it I Multimarkdown the
near-completed document for a final burnish with LyX before publication.
This Mac OS X-ness may change with the recent announcement that Scrivener
now exists in a Windows version.

As an aside I use Journler as a commonplace book for keeping quotations,
reflections and general ideas prior to writing documents. When writing a
document I copy-and-paste the quotes from Journler to Scrivener. Some quotes
and reflections never get out of the commonplace setting but they ready for
me to access. Sadly Journler is no longer maintained.

Again I wouldn't be without LyX for what it does but I don't beleive it is a
tool that covers the entire writing task. Keep both I say and make the best
of Lyx and of Scrivener.

Remember though that the final presentation of your document has little to
do with LyX itself and everything to do with LaTeX. If you want to create
your own presentation formats then concentrate on that first. Then adapt LyX
to support your requirements. Personally I concentrate on the document
content and leave the presentation to the defaults of the various LaTeX
document classes I have available (everything from TeXlive 2010 in fact).

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 2:34 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:


 I have been dancing around moving to LyX/LaTeX for formatting and printing
 documents. I have the MacTeX installation of the full TeX Live package and
 LyX 2.0. For longer writing projects I use Scrivener, which can compile
 Multimarkdown encoded documents to LaTeX.  I am a complete novice regarding
 LyX/LaTeX, having completed about half of the LyX tutorial, and tried
 importing, formatting and printing a few simple shorter and longer
 documents. I plan to devote the day to completing the tutorial.

 My writing is mostly letters, memos, short to medium length reports, and
 longer projects including proposals and articles. I always keep formatting
 to the simplest minimum possible. I would like to make the break and
 actually start using LyX/LaTeX, focusing initially on shorter documents. So
 far this has involved importing text or LaTeX coded documents into LyX,
 modifying the format to suit my tastes using the menu and toolbar. My
 ability to make documents look the way I want them to is limited. In
 addition, I have to start from scratch with each document. I am not
 developing what I think in LyX/LaTeX are called layouts that could be used
 repeatedly.

 I am conscious of the fact that this may be the kind of excessively broad
 question that makes it difficult for knowledgeable people to be helpful.
 Nevertheless, since I am to a large extent at a loss regarding the answer I
 will ask it: Where do I start? Perhaps better, how do I go about creating a
 layout for a document type. At this point the document would be very simple,
 e.g., a few pages, a flush left title with up to three lines of single
 spaced bold text using the same font only slightly larger than the body
 text, and a few flush left bolded section heads using the same font the same
 size as the body text.

 I understand that to getting conversant with LyX/LaTeX will require more
 than a little reading and study. My experience with software has been that I
 learn best in the context of trying to actually use the software.

 If anyone can venture a suggestion that would help me get going I would be
 very grateful.

 Sincerely,

 

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Anders Host-Madsen]

 My ability to make documents look the way I want them to is limited. 

In my personal opinion, this is the weakness of LaTeX/LyX. 
LaTeX is great when you write for a medium 
with a defined formatting, e.g., a journal, and they give you a 
style file to use. Then you just fill out the 
contents. But if you a free to format your document, and have 
specific ideas on how it should look like, it's 
not that convenient. I found the easiest way is to use 
LaTeX packages such as enumitem, fancyhdr, and 
titlesec. Once you have formatted one document, you 
can use it as template for following documents.

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Torquil Macdonald Sørensen]

On 13/07/11 16:38, Anders Host-Madsen wrote:

My ability to make documents look the way I want them to is limited.


In my personal opinion, this is the weakness of LaTeX/LyX.
LaTeX is great when you write for a medium
with a defined formatting, e.g., a journal, and they give you a
style file to use. Then you just fill out the
contents. But if you a free to format your document, and have
specific ideas on how it should look like, it's
not that convenient. I found the easiest way is to use
LaTeX packages such as enumitem, fancyhdr, and
titlesec. Once you have formatted one document, you
can use it as template for following documents.



Not to imply that LyX is lacking in any way in this area (simply because I don't 
know), but I know that LyX is at least great for people like me, who are 
completely content to use a basic/default/ordinary LaTeX formatting :-) I just 
use it in order to have the power of LaTeX with less difficulty and better 
readability while I write.


So I'm glad that I can automatically get a great looking document without having 
to do any formatting work.


- Torquil

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Richard Heck]

On 07/13/2011 10:48 AM, Torquil Macdonald Sørensen wrote:
 On 13/07/11 16:38, Anders Host-Madsen wrote:
 My ability to make documents look the way I want them to is limited.

 In my personal opinion, this is the weakness of LaTeX/LyX.
 LaTeX is great when you write for a medium
 with a defined formatting, e.g., a journal, and they give you a
 style file to use. Then you just fill out the
 contents. But if you a free to format your document, and have
 specific ideas on how it should look like, it's
 not that convenient. I found the easiest way is to use
 LaTeX packages such as enumitem, fancyhdr, and
 titlesec. Once you have formatted one document, you
 can use it as template for following documents.


 Not to imply that LyX is lacking in any way in this area (simply
 because I don't know), but I know that LyX is at least great for
 people like me, who are completely content to use a
 basic/default/ordinary LaTeX formatting :-) I just use it in order to
 have the power of LaTeX with less difficulty and better readability
 while I write.

 So I'm glad that I can automatically get a great looking document
 without having to do any formatting work.

Let's put it this way: If you want every document you write to look
different, then LaTeX is not your tool. But if you want to write (edit,
publish) a lot of documents that look pretty much the same, then LaTeX
is exactly your tool. Of course there are times for creative
presentation, and there are other tools for that. But LyX (to return to
it) is intended primarily for academic and technical writing, where
content is the main thing and presentation is secondary, and most of us
are perfectly happy to have a fairly small number of choices as far as
presentation is concerned.

Word and its ilk have made people think they can do creative
typesetting, when in fact what they tend to do is make a mess of things.
I personally think it's a *good* thing that LyX does not make this easy.

Richard

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 13, 2011, at 1:58 PM, Richard Heck wrote:

 On 07/13/2011 10:48 AM, Torquil Macdonald Sørensen wrote:
 On 13/07/11 16:38, Anders Host-Madsen wrote:
 My ability to make documents look the way I want them to is limited.
 
 In my personal opinion, this is the weakness of LaTeX/LyX.
 LaTeX is great when you write for a medium
 with a defined formatting, e.g., a journal, and they give you a
 style file to use. Then you just fill out the
 contents. But if you a free to format your document, and have
 specific ideas on how it should look like, it's
 not that convenient. I found the easiest way is to use
 LaTeX packages such as enumitem, fancyhdr, and
 titlesec. Once you have formatted one document, you
 can use it as template for following documents.
 
 
 Not to imply that LyX is lacking in any way in this area (simply
 because I don't know), but I know that LyX is at least great for
 people like me, who are completely content to use a
 basic/default/ordinary LaTeX formatting :-) I just use it in order to
 have the power of LaTeX with less difficulty and better readability
 while I write.
 
 So I'm glad that I can automatically get a great looking document
 without having to do any formatting work.
 
 Let's put it this way: If you want every document you write to look
 different, then LaTeX is not your tool. But if you want to write (edit,
 publish) a lot of documents that look pretty much the same, then LaTeX
 is exactly your tool. Of course there are times for creative
 presentation, and there are other tools for that. But LyX (to return to
 it) is intended primarily for academic and technical writing, where
 content is the main thing and presentation is secondary, and most of us
 are perfectly happy to have a fairly small number of choices as far as
 presentation is concerned.

Thanks Richard, Torquil, and Anders,

I think Richard has described my case. I routinely create only a few types of 
documents. I mentioned them in my original post. My formatting is as simple as 
I can make it, with sensitivity primarily to alerting readers to transitions 
and producing a neat not unattractive document. My formatting preferences are 
definitely minimalist. I have no interesting in making every document look 
different. 

I've finished the tutorial, even the math section, though the likelihood that I 
will ever need to format any formulas or equations is slim. My thought now is 
to check out classes for the simplest types of documents from at least a couple 
families. I would not be surprised that one of the letter classes could be 
tweaked into the simplest type of document I create, which I also described in 
my original post, and then saved as a template. That would solve the problem of 
a large portion of my writing. The thought is that I could then gradually work 
into those that are only slightly more complicated. I suspect my greatest 
challenge will be learning to do citations and bibliography, especially getting 
a references/citations/bibliography manager to work together with LyX. [In that 
connection does LyX work with BibDesk? My understanding is that it is simply a 
Mac front-end for BibTex.]

Regarding checking out the different families of document classes, I am 
familiar with Koma and Memoir. There are a few Koma document classes in my LyX 
installations and only one from Memoir. That surprises me, since I have the 
full TeX Live package, and my understanding was that it left nothing out. How 
do I make it available? And are there other families besides these two that I 
might check out?

One last comment, an anxiety I have about tweaking document classes arising 
from my very limited experience actually using LyX: I have found it difficult 
to get changes to stick, e.g., using paragraph settings to specify single 
spacing, left alignment, and no indenting. 

Thanks again.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 7:58 PM, Richard Heck rgh...@comcast.net wrote:
 Word and its ilk have made people think they can do creative
 typesetting, when in fact what they tend to do is make a mess of things.
 I personally think it's a *good* thing that LyX does not make this easy.

I agree. I prefer LyX primarily because it knows (via LaTeX) how to
nicely typeset things simply by using default settings. A related
reason is that Word (et al.) sucks at typesetting even when you know
what you do. And as a general rule of thumb I suck at typesetting
documents (along with ~99% of Word users). Default LaTeX classes as a
benchmark for a well typeset document is probably a good start; then
you can sharpen some rough edges, here and there, often by using some
other LaTeX packages or functionalities. Or you can leave things as
they are, and they'll still be better than Word output.

Regards
Liviu

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 3:34 PM, Eric Weir eew...@bellsouth.net wrote:
 My writing is mostly letters, memos, short to medium length reports, and 
 longer projects including proposals and articles. I always keep formatting to 
 the simplest minimum possible. I would like to make the break and actually 
 start using LyX/LaTeX, focusing initially on shorter documents. So far this 
 has involved importing text or LaTeX coded documents into LyX, modifying the 
 format to suit my tastes using the menu and toolbar. My ability to make 
 documents look the way I want them to is limited. In addition, I have to 
 start from scratch with each document. I am not developing what I think in 
 LyX/LaTeX are called layouts that could be used repeatedly.

To modify aspects of your documents you do not need to create new
'layouts'. You can take a class, create the backbone of your desired
document (also by taking into account your personal idiosyncrasies, as
far as LyX and LaTeX let you to), and save it as a template (say,
'template_101.lyx'). Then you can re-use this template as many times
as you want.
Liviu

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Liviu Andronic]

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 4:19 PM, Trevor Jenkins bslwann...@gmail.com wrote:
 I'm a Mac user too and make extensive use of both Scrivener and LyX/LaTeX.
 But they are no competitive products.

Soon they will be, we all hope. Rob has made some progress on his
LyX-Outline project [1], which intends to provide LyX with some of the
features of Scrivener, including a corkboard and a fancier outline
pane. At the moment the code can be tested, but fingers crossed for a
future beta release.

Regards
Liviu

[1] http://www.oak-tree.us/lyx-outline/

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

 On Jul 13, 2011, at 9:52 AM, Richard Heck wrote:
 
 
 
 
 On 07/13/2011 09:34 AM, Eric Weir wrote:
 
 Where do I start? Perhaps better, how do I go about creating a layout for a 
 document type. 
 
 This is an advanced matter

Hadn't considered that, Richard. I assumed starting with simple document types 
it might not be so difficult. On the other hand, maybe what I'm talking about 
is not writing layouts but creating templates. Is it possible this might not 
even require looking at layouts?

 The sort of thing
 you want to do would probably be quite easy with the memoir class, or
 perhaps with one of the koma-script classes (probably the article one,
 since it looks as if you do not need chapters here), all of which
 provide hooks for customizing the appearance of the headings, title,
 etc. Both of these have extensive documentation (memman.pdf,
 scrguien.pdf), and various people here have plenty of experience with
 these classes.

I'm intrigued by both memoir and koma. And maybe the standard classes are as 
good a place to start?

The documentation for memoir [memman] is forbidding, for koma [scrguien] much 
less so. The former does not even obviously address installation. 

 As I said, that is the LaTeX side of things. On the LyX side, you have
 to write a layout file for your new class. If it's based on the
 koma-script article class, scrartcl.cls, say, then this is fairly easy.
 Let's say your new class is myclass.cls. Then you copy scrartcl.layout
 to myclass.layout and make a few modifications, so the document looks in
 LyX kind of like it looks when printed. 

In my poking around on my system I have yet to come across a file with a layout 
extension. Where might I find them? 

And again, might simply creating templates in LyX accomplish what I need, at 
least for the short run, while I gradually learn more about LaTeX?

Regards,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 13, 2011, at 10:19 AM, Trevor Jenkins wrote:

 I'm a Mac user too and make extensive use of both Scrivener and LyX/LaTeX. 
 But they are no competitive products. LyX is at the end of the pre-press 
 cycle; it's about presentation

Thanks for the guidance, Trevor. I'm with you 100 percent -- except for being 
an absolute novice regarding LyX/LaTeX. For longer writing projects Scrivener 
is my application of choice, for its design, the way it works, the way it 
supports extended writing, and for the generous and helpful support available 
from the developer and the user community. I have not thought of LyZ as a 
replacement, or even as a writing tool, but just exactly the way you described 
it, for the presentation of the work when the writing is over. 

 As an aside I use Journler as a commonplace book for keeping quotations, 
 reflections and general ideas prior to writing documents. When writing a 
 document I copy-and-paste the quotes from Journler to Scrivener

I thought I knew about all the free-form database applications there were, but 
I've never heard of this one. I haven't found anything that's really 
satisfactory. I've had fairly long experience with a little self-contained, 
browser-based wiki, but support for it for me is problemmatic. I've just 
started experimenting with a wiki plugin for the editor Vim. I don't have a 
good sense yet how well it's going to work for me.

 Remember though that the final presentation of your document has little to do 
 with LyX itself and everything to do with LaTeX. If you want to create your 
 own presentation formats then concentrate on that first. Then adapt LyX to 
 support your requirements. 

I had thought that as a front-end for LaTeX LyX would be a way for me to get 
started with LaTeX, and to create styles for the mainly simple kinds of 
documents I create. Maybe not.

Regards,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 13, 2011, at 6:04 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 Default LaTeX classes as a
 benchmark for a well typeset document is probably a good start; then
 you can sharpen some rough edges, here and there, often by using some
 other LaTeX packages or functionalities. Or you can leave things as
 they are, and they'll still be better than Word output.

Thanks, Liviu. Guidance well taken.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 13, 2011, at 6:08 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 To modify aspects of your documents you do not need to create new
 'layouts'. You can take a class, create the backbone of your desired
 document (also by taking into account your personal idiosyncrasies, as
 far as LyX and LaTeX let you to), and save it as a template (say,
 'template_101.lyx'). Then you can re-use this template as many times
 as you want.

Thank you again, Liviu. As can be seen in my other responses, I've been 
wondering if that might not be a possible way to get where I want to go.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Re: Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

On Jul 13, 2011, at 6:15 PM, Liviu Andronic wrote:

 Soon they will be, we all hope. Rob has made some progress on his
 LyX-Outline project [1], which intends to provide LyX with some of the
 features of Scrivener, including a corkboard and a fancier outline
 pane. At the moment the code can be tested, but fingers crossed for a
 future beta release.

Transition from Scrivener to LaTeX is pretty nearly seamless, at least in my 
limited experience of it, which I've already acknowledged is very limited.

--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net

Guidance in starting to use LyX/LaTex

[Eric Weir]

I have been dancing around moving to LyX/LaTeX for formatting and printing 
documents. I have the MacTeX installation of the full TeX Live package and LyX 
2.0. For longer writing projects I use Scrivener, which can compile 
Multimarkdown encoded documents to LaTeX.  I am a complete novice regarding 
LyX/LaTeX, having completed about half of the LyX tutorial, and tried 
importing, formatting and printing a few simple shorter and longer documents. I 
plan to devote the day to completing the tutorial. 

My writing is mostly letters, memos, short to medium length reports, and longer 
projects including proposals and articles. I always keep formatting to the 
simplest minimum possible. I would like to make the break and actually start 
using LyX/LaTeX, focusing initially on shorter documents. So far this has 
involved importing text or LaTeX coded documents into LyX, modifying the format 
to suit my tastes using the menu and toolbar. My ability to make documents look 
the way I want them to is limited. In addition, I have to start from scratch 
with each document. I am not developing what I think in LyX/LaTeX are called 
"layouts" that could be used repeatedly.  

I am conscious of the fact that this may be the kind of excessively broad 
question that makes it difficult for knowledgeable people to be helpful. 
Nevertheless, since I am to a large extent at a loss regarding the answer I 
will ask it: Where do I start? Perhaps better, how do I go about creating a 
layout for a document type. At this point the document would be very simple, 
e.g., a few pages, a flush left title with up to three lines of single spaced 
bold text using the same font only slightly larger than the body text, and a 
few flush left bolded section heads using the same font the same size as the 
body text. 

I understand that to getting conversant with LyX/LaTeX will require more than a 
little reading and study. My experience with software has been that I learn 
best in the context of trying to actually use the software.

If anyone can venture a suggestion that would help me get going I would be very 
grateful.

Sincerely,
--
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
eew...@bellsouth.net