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Every LaTeX document begins with the \documentclass command. The parameter passed to this command specifies what kind of document you want to write. The basic document classes are described in Table 19.2.
| Document Class | Description |
|---|---|
| article | Used for short reports, reference cards, presentations, scientific journals, and so on. |
| book | Used for complete books. |
| report | Used for reports having several chapters, theses, and so on. |
To create a very basic LaTeX document, simply place some words between the two commands \begin{document} and \end{document}. The text that precedes the \begin{document} command is called the preamble, and the text that comes after is known as the body. So, you can create a very simple document such as the following:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
What a small document this is.
\end{document}
To process this document (which you will edit in a file called gloves.tex), use the following command:
% latex gloves
This produces a dvi file and a log file in the same manner used by TeX. The dvi file can either be converted to PostScript, or viewed directly using xdvi.
You can specify options with the type of document in the \documentclass command using the following format:
\documentclass[option]{document class}
These options relate to the physical structure of the document. Some of the more common ones are listed in Table 19.3.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| 10pt, 11pt, 12pt | The default font for the document, which is 10ptif not otherwise stated. |
| fleqn | Displays formulas as left-justified instead of centered. |
| leqno | Numbers formulas on the left side. |
| letterpaper, a4 paper | The paper size, which is letterpaper by default. |
| openright, openany | Starts the first page of a chapter on the right side, or on the next available page. |
| titlepage, notitlepage | Does or does not start a new page after the title. |
| twocolumn | Splits each page into two columns (useful for newsletters). |
| twoside, oneside | Generates double- or single-sided output. |
Some of the differences between document classes are encapsulated by the defaults that they use for the options mentioned. For instance, articles and reports are single-sided by default, whereas books are not. Articles do not use the options for title pages and starting right-sided chapters because they do not understand what a chapter is. Thus, the document classes in LaTeX are smart enough to do the kind of layout that you expect for the type of document you need.
LaTeX also has the \usepackage command, which enables you to extend the capabilities of LaTeX even further by using an external package of features. The format is as follows:
\usepackage{package name}
package name can be any of several available packages. For instance, the doc package is used for the documentation of LaTeX programs, and the makeidx package provides support for the production of indexes.
You can also control what page styles LaTeX applies to your document by using the \pagestyle command. Table 19.4 describes the basic page styles available.
| Style | Description |
|---|---|
| empty | Sets the header and footers to be empty. |
| headings | Prints the current chapter heading and page number on each page with an empty footer. |
| plain | Prints the page number centered in the footer (the default page style). |
You can also vary page styles in your document using the \thispagestyle command. This applies the supplied page style to the current page only.
LaTeX supports the use of international characters, such as umlauts (..) and circumflexes (^). These characters are generated using a command variant on the letter itself. For example, the text
What a na\”\i ve fj\o rd you are!
produces the following:
What a naïve fjörd you are!
International spacing can also be applied using the \frenchspacing command. This command tells LaTeX not to insert the usual extra space after a period.
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