LaTeX Reference

Everything LaTeX numbers for you has a counter associated with it. The name of the counter is the same as the name of the environment or command that produces the number, except with no \. (enumi - enumiv are used for the nested enumerate environment.) Below is a list of the counters used in LaTeX's standard document classes to control numbering.

 part            paragraph       figure          enumi
 chapter         subparagraph    table           enumii
 section         page            footnote        enumiii
 subsection      equation        mpfootnote      enumiv
 subsubsection

• \addtocounter: Add a quantity to a counter.
• \alph: Print value of a counter using letters.
• \arabic: Print value of a counter using numerals.
• \fnsymbol: Print value of a counter using symbols.
• \newcounter: Define a new counter.
• \refstepcounter: Add to counter, resetting subsidiary counters.
• \roman: Print value of a counter using roman numerals.
• \setcounter: Set the value of a counter.
• \stepcounter: Add to counter, resetting subsidiary counters.
• \usecounter: Use a specified counter in a list environment.
• \value: Use the value of a counter in an expression.

\addtocounter

\addtocounter{counter}{value}

The \addtocounter command increments the counter by the amount specified by the value argument. The value argument can be negative.

\alph

\alph{counter}

This command causes the value of the counter to be printed in alphabetic characters. The \alph command uses lower case alphabetic alphabetic characters, i.e., a, b, c... while the \Alph command uses upper case alphabetic characters, i.e., A, B, C....

\arabic

\arabic{counter}

The \arabic command causes the value of the counter to be printed in Arabic numbers, i.e., 3.

\fnsymbol

\fnsymbol{counter}

The \fnsymbol command causes the value of the counter to be printed in a specific sequence of nine symbols that can be used for numbering footnotes.

eg. From 1-9:

NB. counter must have a value between 1 and 9 inclusive.

\newcounter

\newcounter{foo}[counter]

The \newcounter command defines a new counter named foo. The counter is initialized to zero.

The optional argument [counter] causes the counter foo to be reset whenever the counter named in the optional argument is incremented.

\refstepcounter

\refstepcounter{counter}

The \refstepcounter command works like \stepcounter See section \stepcounter, except it also defines the current \ref value to be the result of \thecounter.

\roman

\roman{counter}

This command causes the value of the counter to be printed in Roman numerals. The \roman command uses lower case Roman numerals, i.e., i, ii, iii..., while the \Roman command uses upper case Roman numerals, i.e., I, II, III....

\stepcounter

\stepcounter{counter}

The \stepcounter command adds one to the counter and resets all subsidiary counters.

\setcounter

\setcounter{counter}{value}

The \setcounter command sets the value of the counter to that specified by the value argument.

\usecounter

\usecounter{counter}

The \usecounter command is used in the second argument of the list environment to allow the counter specified to be used to number the list items.

\value

\value{counter}

The \value command produces the value of the counter named in the mandatory argument. It can be used where LaTeX expects an integer or number, such as the second argument of a \setcounter or \addtocounter command, or in:

        \hspace{\value{foo}\parindent}

It is useful for doing arithmetic with counters.

One reason for numbering things like figures and equations is to refer the reader to them, as in "See Figure 3 for more details."

• \label: Assign a symbolic name to a piece of text.
• \pageref: Refer to a page number.
• \ref: Refer to a section, figure or similar.

\label

\label{key}

A \label command appearing in ordinary text assigns to the key the number of the current sectional unit; one appearing inside a numbered environment assigns that number to the key.

A key can consist of any sequence of letters, digits, or punctuation characters. Upper and lowercase letters are different.

To avoid accidentally creating two labels with the same name, it is common to use labels consisting of a prefix and a suffix separated by a colon. The prefixes conventionally used are

• cha for chapters
• sec for lower-level sectioning commands
• fig for figures
• tab for tables
• eq for equations

Thus, a label for a figure would look like fig:bandersnatch.

\pageref

\pageref{key}

The \pageref command produces the page number of the place in the text where the corresponding \label command appears. ie. where \label{key} appears.

\ref

\ref{key}

The \ref command produces the number of the sectional unit, equation number, ... of the corresponding \label command.

• \newcommand: Define a new command.
• \newenvironment: Define a new environment.
• \newtheorem: Define a new theorem-like environment.
• \newfont: Define a new font name.

\newcommand

 \newcommand{cmd}[args]{definition}
 \newcommand{cmd}[args][default]{definition}
 \renewcommand{cmd}[args]{definition}
 \renewcommand{cmd}[args][default]{definition}

These commands define (or redefine) a command.

cmd

A command name beginning with a \. For \newcommand it must not be already defined and must not begin with \end; for \renewcommand it must already be defined.

args

An integer from 1 to 9 denoting the number of arguments of the command being defined. The default is for the command to have no arguments.

def

If this optional parameter is present, it means that the command's first argument is optional. The default value of the optional argument is def.

definition

The text to be substituted for every occurrence of cmd; a parameter of the form #n in cmd is replaced by the text of the nth argument when this substitution takes place.

\newenvironment

 \newenvironment{nam}[args]{begdef}{enddef}
 \newenvironment{nam}[args][default]{begdef}{enddef}
 \renewenvironment{nam}[args]{begdef}{enddef}

These commands define or redefine an environment.

nam

The name of the environment. For \newenvironment there must be no currently defined environment by that name, and the command \nam must be undefined. For \renewenvironment the environment must already be defined.

args

An integer from 1 to 9 denoting the number of arguments of the newly-defined environment. The default is no arguments.

default

If this is specified, the first argument is optional, and default gives the default value for that argument.

begdef

The text substituted for every occurrence of \begin{nam}; a parameter of the form #n in cmd is replaced by the text of the nth argument when this substitution takes place.

enddef

The text substituted for every occurrence of \end{nam}. It may not contain any argument parameters.

\newtheorem

 \newtheorem{env_name}{caption}[within]
 \newtheorem{env_name}[numbered_like]{caption}

This command defines a theorem-like environment.

env_name

The name of the environment to be defined. A string of letters. It must not be the name of an existing environment or counter.

caption

The text printed at the beginning of the environment, right before the number. This may simply say "Theorem", for example.

within

The name of an already defined counter, usually of a sectional unit. Provides a means of resetting the new theorem counter within the sectional unit.

numbered_like

The name of an already defined theorem-like environment.

The \newtheorem command may have at most one optional argument.

\newfont

\newfont{cmd}{font_name}

Defines the command name cmd, which must not be currently defined, to be a declaration that selects the font named font_name to be the current font.

Valid LaTeX document classes include:

• article
• report
• letter
• book
• slides

Other document classes are often available. They are selected with the following command:

\documentclass [options] {class}

All the standard classes (except slides) accept the following options for selecting the typeface size (10 pt is default):

10pt, 11pt, 12pt

All classes accept these options for selecting the paper size (default is letter):

a4paper, a5paper, b5paper, letterpaper, legalpaper, executivepaper

Miscellaneous options:

• landscape -- selects landscape format. Default is portrait.
• titlepage, notitlepage -- selects if there should be a separate title page.
• leqno -- equation number on left side of equations. Default is right side.
• fleqn -- displayed formulas flush left. Default is centred.
• openbib -- use "open" bibliography format.
• draft, final -- mark/do not mark overfull boxes with a rule. Default is final.

These options are not available with the slides class:

• oneside, twoside -- selects one- or twosided layout. Default is oneside, except for the book class.
• openright, openany -- determines if a chapter should start on a right-hand page. Default is openright for book.
• onecolumn, twocolumn -- one or two columns. Defaults to one column.

The slides class offers the option clock for printing the time at the bottom of each note.

If you specify more than one option, they must be separated by a comma.

Additional packages are loaded by a

\usepackage[options]{pkg}

command. If you specify more than one package, they must be separated by a comma.

Any options given in the \documentclass command that are unknown by the selected document class are passed on to the packages loaded with \usepackage.

Miscellaneous commands for controlling the general layout of the page.

• \flushbottom: Make all text pages the same height.
• \onecolumn: Use one-column layout.
• \raggedbottom: Allow text pages of differing height.
• \twocolumn: Use two-column layout.

\flushbottom

The \flushbottom declaration makes all text pages the same height, adding extra vertical space when necessary to fill out the page.

This is the standard if twocolumn mode is selected.

\onecolumn

The \onecolumn declaration starts a new page and produces single-column output.

\raggedbottom

The \raggedbottom declaration makes all pages the height of the text on that page. No extra vertical space is added.

\twocolumn

\twocolumn[text]

The \twocolumn declaration starts a new page and produces two-column output. If the optional text argument is present, it is typeset in one-column mode.

LaTeX provides a number of different paragraph-making environments. Each environment begins and ends in the same manner.

        \begin{environment-name}
        .
        .
        .
        \end{environment-name}

• array: Math arrays.
• center: Centred lines.
• description: Labelled lists.
• enumerate: Numbered lists.
• eqnarray: Sequences of aligned equations.
• equation: Displayed equation.
• figure: Floating figures.
• flushleft: Flushed left lines.
• flushright: Flushed right lines.
• itemize: Bulleted lists.
• letter: Letters.
• list: Generic list environment.
• minipage: Miniature page.
• picture: Picture with text, arrows, lines and circles.
• quotation: Indented environment with paragraph indentation.
• quote: Indented environment with no paragraph indentation.
• tabbing: Align text arbitrarily.
• table: Floating tables.
• tabular: Align text in columns.
• thebibliography: Bibliography or reference list.
• theorem: Theorems, lemmas, etc.
• titlepage: For hand crafted title pages.
• verbatim: Simulating typed input.
• verse: For poetry and other things.

array

\begin{array}{col1col2...coln}
column 1 entry & column 2 entry ... & column n entry \\
 .
 .
 .
\end{array}

Math arrays are produced with the array environment. It has a single mandatory argument describing the number of columns and the alignment within them. Each column, coln, is specified by a single letter that tells how items in that row should be formatted.

• c -- for centred
• l -- for flush left
• r -- for flush right

Column entries must be separated by an &. Column entries may include other LaTeX commands. Each row of the array must be terminated with the string \\.

Note that the array environment can only be used in math mode, so normally it is used inside an equation environment.

center

 \begin{center}
 Text on line 1 \\
 Text on line 2 \\
 .
 .
 .
 \end{center}

The center environment allows you to create a paragraph consisting of lines that are centred within the left and right margins on the current page. Each line must be terminated with the string \\.

• \centering: The declaration form of the center environment.

\centering

This declaration corresponds to the center environment. This declaration can be used inside an environment such as quote or in a parbox. The text of a figure or table can be centred on the page by putting a \centering command at the beginning of the figure or table environment.

Unlike the center environment, the \centering command does not start a new paragraph; it simply changes how LaTeX formats paragraph units. To affect a paragraph unit's format, the scope of the declaration must contain the blank line or \end command (of an environment like quote) that ends the paragraph unit.

description

 \begin{description}
 \item [label] First item
 \item [label] Second item
 .
 .
 .
 \end{description}

The description environment is used to make labelled lists. The label is bold face and flushed right.

enumerate

 \begin{enumerate}
 \item First item
 \item Second item
 .
 .
 .
 \end{enumerate}

The enumerate environment produces a numbered list. Enumerations can be nested within one another, up to four levels deep. They can also be nested within other paragraph-making environments.

Each item of an enumerated list begins with an \item command. There must be at least one \item command within the environment.

The enumerate environment uses the enumi through enumiv counters (see section Counters). The type of numbering can be changed by redefining \theenumi etc.

eqnarray

 \begin{eqnarray}
 math formula 1 \\
 math formula 2 \\
 .
 .
 .
 \end{eqnarray}

The eqnarray environment is used to display a sequence of equations or inequalities. It is very much like a three-column array environment, with consecutive rows separated by \\ and consecutive items within a row separated by an &.

An equation number is placed on every line unless that line has a \nonumber command.

The command \lefteqn is used for splitting long formulas across lines. It typesets its argument in display style flush left in a box of zero width.

equation

 \begin{equation}
  math formula
 \end{equation}

The equation environment centres your equation on the page and places the equation number in the right margin.

figure

 \begin{figure}[placement]

  body of the figure

 \caption{figure title}
 \end{figure}

Figures are objects that are not part of the normal text, and are usually "floated" to a convenient place, like the top of a page. Figures will not be split between two pages.

The optional argument [placement] determines where LaTeX will try to place your figure. There are four places where LaTeX can possibly put a float:

1. h (Here) - at the position in the text where the figure environment appears.
2. t (Top) - at the top of a text page.
3. b (Bottom) - at the bottom of a text page.
4. p (Page of floats) - on a separate float page, which is a page containing no text, only floats.

The standard report and article classes use the default placement tbp.

The body of the figure is made up of whatever text, LaTeX commands, etc. you wish. The \caption command allows you to title your figure.

flushleft

 \begin{flushleft}
 Text on line 1 \\
 Text on line 2 \\
 .
 .
 .
 \end{flushleft}

The flushleft environment allows you to create a paragraph consisting of lines that are flushed left, to the left-hand margin. Each line must be terminated with the string \\.

• \raggedright: The declaration form of the flushleft environment.

\raggedright

This declaration corresponds to the flushleft environment. This declaration can be used inside an environment such as quote or in a parbox.

Unlike the flushleft environment, the \raggedright command does not start a new paragraph; it simply changes how LaTeX formats paragraph units. To affect a paragraph unit's format, the scope of the declaration must contain the blank line or \end command (of an environment like quote) that ends the paragraph unit.

flushright

 \begin{flushright}
 Text on line 1 \\
 Text on line 2 \\
 .
 .
 .
 \end{flushright}

The flushright environment allows you to create a paragraph consisting of lines that are flushed right, to the right-hand margin. Each line must be terminated with the string \\.

• \raggedleft: The declaration form of the flushright environment.

\raggedleft

This declaration corresponds to the flushright environment. This declaration can be used inside an environment such as quote or in a parbox.

Unlike the flushright environment, the \raggedleft command does not start a new paragraph; it simply changes how LaTeX formats paragraph units. To affect a paragraph unit's format, the scope of the declaration must contain the blank line or \end command (of an environment like quote) that ends the paragraph unit.

itemize

 \begin{itemize}
 \item First item
 \item Second item
 .
 .
 .
 \end{itemize}

The itemize environment produces a "bulleted" list. Itemizations can be nested within one another, up to four levels deep. They can also be nested within other paragraph-making environments.

Each item of an itemized list begins with an \item command. There must be at least one \item command within the environment.

The itemize environment uses the itemi through itemiv counters (see section Counters). The type of numbering can be changed by redefining \theitemi etc.

letter

This environment is used for creating letters. See section Letters.

list

The list environment is a generic environment which is used for defining many of the more specific environments. It is seldom used in documents, but often in macros.

 \begin{list}{label}{spacing}
 \item First item
 \item Second item
 .
 .
 .
 \end{list}

The {label} argument specifies how items should be labelled. This argument is a piece of text that is inserted in a box to form the label. This argument can and usually does contain other LaTeX commands.

The {spacing} argument contains commands to change the spacing parameters for the list. This argument will most often be null, i.e., {}. This will select all default spacing which should suffice for most cases.

minipage

 \begin{minipage}[position]{width}
  text
 \end{minipage}

The minipage environment is similar to a \parbox command. It takes the same optional position argument and mandatory width argument. You may use other paragraph-making environments inside a minipage.

Footnotes in a minipage environment are handled in a way that is particularly useful for putting footnotes in figures or tables. A \footnote or \footnotetext command puts the footnote at the bottom of the minipage instead of at the bottom of the page, and it uses the mpfootnote counter instead of the ordinary footnote counter See section Counters.

NOTE: Don't put one minipage inside another if you are using footnotes; they may wind up at the bottom of the wrong minipage.

picture

 \begin{picture}(width,height)(x offset,y offset)
  .
  .
  picture commands
  .
  .
 \end{picture}

The picture environment allows you to create just about any kind of picture you want containing text, lines, arrows and circles. You tell LaTeX where to put things in the picture by specifying their coordinates. A coordinate is a number that may have a decimal point and a minus sign -- a number like 5, 2.3 or -3.1416. A coordinate specifies a length in multiples of the unit length \unitlength, so if \unitlength has been set to 1cm, then the coordinate 2.54 specifies a length of 2.54 centimetres. You can change the value of \unitlength anywhere you want, using the \setlength command, but strange things will happen if you try changing it inside the picture environment.

A position is a pair of coordinates, such as (2.4,-5), specifying the point with x-coordinate 2.4 and y-coordinate -5. Coordinates are specified in the usual way with respect to an origin, which is normally at the lower-left corner of the picture. Note that when a position appears as an argument, it is not enclosed in braces; the parentheses serve to delimit the argument.

The picture environment has one mandatory argument, which is a position. It specifies the size of the picture. The environment produces a rectangular box with width and height determined by this argument's x- and y-coordinates.

The picture environment also has an optional position argument, following the size argument, that can change the origin. (Unlike ordinary optional arguments, this argument is not contained in square brackets.) The optional argument gives the coordinates of the point at the lower-left corner of the picture (thereby determining the origin). For example, if \unitlength has been set to 1mm, the command

   \begin{picture}(100,200)(10,20)

produces a picture of width 100 millimeters and height 200 millimeters, whose lower-left corner is the point (10,20) and whose upper-right corner is therefore the point (110,220). When you first draw a picture, you will omit the optional argument, leaving the origin at the lower-left corner. If you then want to modify your picture by shifting everything, you just add the appropriate optional argument.

The environment's mandatory argument determines the nominal size of the picture. This need bear no relation to how large the picture really is; LaTeX will happily allow you to put things outside the picture, or even off the page. The picture's nominal size is used by LaTeX in determining how much room to leave for it.

Everything that appears in a picture is drawn by the \put command. The command

   \put (11.3,-.3){...}

puts the object specified by ... in the picture, with its reference point at coordinates (11.3,-.3). The reference points for various objects will be described below.

The \put command creates an LR box. You can put anything in the text argument of the \put command that you'd put into the argument of an \mbox and related commands. When you do this, the reference point will be the lower left corner of the box.

Picture commands:

• \circle: Draw a circle.
• \dashbox: Draw a dashed box.
• \frame: Draw a frame around an object.
• \framebox (picture): Draw a box with a frame around it.
• \line: Draw a straight line.
• \linethickness: Set the line thickness.
• \makebox (picture): Draw a box of the specified size.
• \multiput: Draw multiple instances of an object.
• \oval: Draw an ellipse.
• \put: Place an object at a specified place.
• \shortstack: Make a pile of objects.
• \vector: Draw a line with an arrow.

\circle

\circle[*]{diameter}

The \circle command produces a circle with a diameter as close to the specified one as possible. If the *-form of the command is used, LaTeX draws a solid circle.

Note that only circles up to 40 pt can be drawn.

\dashbox

Draws a box with a dashed line.

\dashbox{dash_length}(width,height){...}

The \dashbox has an extra argument which specifies the width of each dash. A dashed box looks best when the width and height are multiples of the dash_length.

\frame

\frame{...}

The \frame command puts a rectangular frame around the object specified in the argument. The reference point is the bottom left corner of the frame. No extra space is put between the frame and the object.

\framebox

\framebox(width,height)[position]{...}

The \framebox command is exactly the same as the \makebox command, except that it puts a frame around the outside of the box that it creates.

The framebox command produces a rule of thickness \fboxrule, and leaves a space \fboxsep between the rule and the contents of the box.

\line

\line(x slope,y slope){length}

The \line command draws a line of the specified length and slope.

Note that LaTeX can only draw lines with slope = x/y, where x and y have integer values from -6 through 6.

\linethickness

\linethickness{dimension}

Declares the thickness of horizontal and vertical lines in a picture environment to be dimension, which must be a positive length. It does not affect the thickness of slanted lines and circles, or the quarter circles drawn by \oval to form the corners of an oval.

\makebox

\makebox(width,height)[position]{...}

The \makebox command for the picture environment is similar to the normal \makebox command except that you must specify a width and height in multiples of \unitlength.

The optional argument, [position], specifies the quadrant that your text appears in. You may select up to two of the following:

• t - Moves the item to the top of the rectangle
• b - Moves the item to the bottom
• l - Moves the item to the left
• r - Moves the item to the right

See section \makebox.

\multiput

\multiput(x coord,y coord)(delta x,delta y){number of copies}{object}

The \multiput command can be used when you are putting the same object in a regular pattern across a picture.

\oval

\oval(width,height)[portion]

The \oval command produces a rectangle with rounded corners. The optional argument, [portion], allows you to select part of the oval.

• t - Selects the top portion
• b - Selects the bottom portion
• r - Selects the right portion
• l - Selects the left portion

Note that the "corners" of the oval are made with quarter circles with a maximum radius of 20 pt, so large "ovals" will look more like boxes with rounded corners.

\put

\put(x coord,y coord){ ... }

The \put command places the item specified by the mandatory argument at the given coordinates.

\shortstack

\shortstack[position]{... \\ ... \\ ...}

The \shortstack command produces a stack of objects. The valid positions are:

• r - Moves the objects to the right of the stack
• l - Moves the objects to the left of the stack
• c - Moves the objects to the center of the stack (default)

\vector

\vector(x slope,y slope){length}

The \vector command draws a line with an arrow of the specified length and slope. The x and y values must lie between -4 and +4, inclusive.

quotation

 \begin{quotation}
  text
 \end{quotation}

The margins of the quotation environment are indented on the left and the right. The text is justified at both margins and there is paragraph indentation. Leaving a blank line between text produces a new paragraph.

quote

 \begin{quote}
  text
 \end{quote}

The margins of the quote environment are indented on the left and the right. The text is justified at both margins. Leaving a blank line between text produces a new paragraph.

tabbing

 \begin{tabbing}
 text \= more text \= still more text \= last text \\
 second row \>  \> more \\
 .
 .
 .
 \end{tabbing}

The tabbing environment provides a way to align text in columns. It works by setting tab stops and tabbing to them much the way you do with an ordinary typewriter.

It is best suited for cases where the width of each column is constant and known in advance.

This environment can be broken across pages, unlike the tabular environment.

The following commands can be used inside a tabbing environment:

\=

Sets a tab stop at the current position.

\>

Advances to the next tab stop.

\<

This command allows you to put something to the left of the local margin without changing the margin. Can only be used at the start of the line.

\+

Moves the left margin of the next and all the following commands one tab stop to the right.

\-

Moves the left margin of the next and all the following commands one tab stop to the left.

\'

Moves everything that you have typed so far in the current column, i.e. everything from the most recent \>, \<, \', \\, or \kill command, to the right of the previous column, flush against the current column's tab stop.

\`

Allows you to put text flush right against any tab stop, including tab stop 0. However, it can't move text to the right of the last column because there's no tab stop there. The \` command moves all the text that follows it, up to the \\ or \end{tabbing} command that ends the line, to the right margin of the tabbing environment. There must be no \> or \' command between the \` and the command that ends the line.

\kill

Sets tab stops without producing text. Works just like \\ except that it throws away the current line instead of producing output for it. The effect of any \=, \+ or \- commands in that line remain in effect.

\pushtabs

Saves all current tab stop positions. Useful for temporarily changing tab stop positions in the middle of a tabbing environment.

\pushtabs

Restores the tab stop positions saved by the last \pushtabs.

\a

In a tabbing environment, the commands \=, \' and \` do not produce accents as normal. Instead, the commands \a=, \a' and \a` are used.

This example typesets a Pascal function in a traditional format:

        \begin{tabbing}
        function \= fact(n : integer) : integer;\\
                 \> begin \= \+ \\
                       \> if \= n $>$ 1 then \+ \\
                                fact := n * fact(n-1) \- \\
                          else \+ \\
                                fact := 1; \-\- \\
                    end;\\
        \end{tabbing}

table

 \begin{table}[placement]

  body of the table

 \caption{table title}
 \end{table}

Tables are objects that are not part of the normal text, and are usually "floated" to a convenient place, like the top of a page. Tables will not be split between two pages.

The optional argument [placement] determines where LaTeX will try to place your table. There are four places where LaTeX can possibly put a float:

• h : Here - at the position in the text where the table environment appears.
• t : Top - at the top of a text page.
• b : Bottom - at the bottom of a text page.
• p : Page of floats - on a separate float page, which is a page containing no text, only floats.

The standard report and article classes use the default placement [tbp].

The body of the table is made up of whatever text, LaTeX commands, etc., you wish. The \caption command allows you to title your table.

tabular

 \begin{tabular}[pos]{cols}
 column 1 entry & column 2 entry ... & column n entry \\
 .
 .
 .
 \end{tabular}

or

 \begin{tabular*}{width}[pos]{cols}
 column 1 entry & column 2 entry ... & column n entry \\
 .
 .
 .
 \end{tabular*}

These environments produce a box consisting of a sequence of rows of items, aligned vertically in columns. The mandatory and optional arguments consist of:

width

Specifies the width of the tabular* environment. There must be rubber space between columns that can stretch to fill out the specified width.

pos

Specifies the vertical position; default is alignment on the center of the environment.

• t - align on top row
• b - align on bottom row

cols

Specifies the column formatting. It consists of a sequence of the following specifiers, corresponding to the sequence of columns and intercolumn material.

• l - A column of left-aligned items.
• r - A column of right-aligned items.
• c - A column of centred items.
• | - A vertical line the full height and depth of the environment.
• @{text} - This inserts text in every row. An @-expression suppresses the intercolumn space normally inserted between columns; any desired space between the inserted text and the adjacent items must be included in text. An \extracolsep{wd} command in an @-expression causes an extra space of width wd to appear to the left of all subsequent columns, until countermanded by another \extracolsep command. Unlike ordinary intercolumn space, this extra space is not suppressed by an @-expression. An \extracolsep command can be used only in an @-expression in the cols argument.
• p{wd} - Produces a column with each item typeset in a parbox of width wd, as if it were the argument of a \parbox[t]{wd} command. However, a \\ may not appear in the item, except in the following situations:
  1. inside an environment like minipage, array, or tabular.
  2. inside an explicit \parbox.
  3. in the scope of a \centering, \raggedright, or \raggedleft declaration. The latter declarations must appear inside braces or an environment when used in a p-column element.
• *{num}{cols} - Equivalent to num copies of cols, where num is any positive integer and cols is any list of column-specifiers, which may contain another *-expression.

These commands can be used inside a tabular environment:

• \cline: Draw a horizontal line spanning some columns.
• \hline: Draw a horizontal line spanning all columns.
• \multicolumn: Make an item spanning several columns.
• \vline: Draw a vertical line.

\cline

\cline{i-j}

The \cline command draws horizontal lines across the columns specified, beginning in column i and ending in column j, which are identified in the mandatory argument.

\hline

The \hline command will draw a horizontal line the width of the table. It's most commonly used to draw a line at the top, bottom, and between the rows of the table.

\multicolumn

\multicolumn{cols}{pos}{text}

The \multicolumn is used to make an entry that spans several columns. The first mandatory argument, cols, specifies the number of columns to span. The second mandatory argument, pos, specifies the formatting of the entry; c for centred, l for flushleft, r for flushright. The third mandatory argument, text, specifies what text is to make up the entry.

\vline

The \vline command will draw a vertical line extending the full height and depth of its row. An \hfill command can be used to move the line to the edge of the column. It can also be used in an @-expression.

thebibliography

 \begin{thebibliography}{widest-label}
 \bibitem[label]{cite_key}
 .
 .
 .
 \end{thebibliography}

The thebibliography environment produces a bibliography or reference list. In the article class, this reference list is labelled "References"; in the report class, it is labelled "Bibliography".

• widest-label: Text that, when printed, is approximately as wide as the widest item label produces by the \bibitem commands.

• \bibitem: Specify a bibliography item.
• \cite: Refer to a bibliography item.
• \nocite: Include an item in the bibliography.
• Using BibTeX: Automatic generation of bibliographies.

\bibitem

\bibitem[label]{cite_key}

The \bibitem command generates an entry labelled by label. If the label argument is missing, a number is generated as the label, using the enumi counter. The cite_key is any sequence of letters, numbers, and punctuation symbols not containing a comma. This command writes an entry on the `.aux' file containing cite_key and the item's label. When this `.aux' file is read by the \begin{document} command, the item's label is associated with cite_key, causing the reference to cite_key by a \cite command to produce the associated label.

\cite

\cite[text]{key_list}

The key_list argument is a list of citation keys. This command generates an in-text citation to the references associated with the keys in key_list by entries on the `.aux' file read by the \begin{document} command.

The optional text argument will appear after the citation, i.e. \cite[p. 2]{knuth} might produce `[Knuth, p. 2]'.

\nocite

\nocite{key_list}

The \nocite command produces no text, but writes key_list, which is a list of one or more citation keys, on the `.aux' file.

Using BibTeX

If you use the BibTeX program by Oren Patashnik (highly recommended if you need a bibliography of more than a couple of titles) to maintain your bibliography, you don't use the thebibliography environment. Instead, you include the lines

        \bibliographystyle{style}
        \bibliography{bibfile}

where style refers to a file style.bst, which defines how your citations will look. The standard styles distributed with BibTeX are:

alpha

Sorted alphabetically. Labels are formed from name of author and year of publication.

plain

Sorted alphabetically. Labels are numeric.

unsrt

Like plain, but entries are in order of citation.

abbrv

Like plain, but more compact labels.

In addition, numerous other BibTeX style files exist tailored to the demands of various publications.

The argument to \bibliography refers to the file bibfile.bib, which should contain your database in BibTeX format. Only the entries referred to via \cite and \nocite will be listed in the bibliography.

theorem

 \begin{theorem}
  theorem text
 \end{theorem}

The theorem environment produces "Theorem x" in boldface followed by your theorem text.

titlepage

 \begin{titlepage}
  text
 \end{titlepage}

The titlepage environment creates a title page, i.e. a page with no printed page number or heading. It also causes the following page to be numbered page one. Formatting the title page is left to you. The \today command comes in handy for title pages.

Note that you can use the \maketitle (see section \maketitle) command to produce a standard title page.

verbatim

 \begin{verbatim}
  text
 \end{verbatim}

The verbatim environment is a paragraph-making environment that gets LaTeX to print exactly what you type in. It turns LaTeX into a typewriter with carriage returns and blanks having the same effect that they would on a typewriter.

• \verb: The macro form of the verbatim environment.

\verb

\verb char literal_text char

\verb*char literal_text char

Typesets literal_text exactly as typed, including special characters and spaces, using a typewriter (\tt) type style. There may be no space between \verb or \verb* and char (space is shown here only for clarity). The *-form differs only in that spaces are printed as `\verb*| |'.

verse

 \begin{verse}
  text
 \end{verse}

The verse environment is designed for poetry, though you may find other uses for it.

The margins are indented on the left and the right. Separate the lines of each stanza with \\, and use one or more blank lines to separate the stanzas.

Footnotes can be produced in one of two ways. They can be produced with one command, the \footnote command. They can also be produced with two commands, the \footnotemark and the \footnotetext commands. See the specific command for information on why you would use one over the other.

• \footnote: Insert a footnote.
• \footnotemark: Insert footnote mark only.
• \footnotetext: Insert footnote text only.

\footnote

\footnote[number]{text}

The \footnote command places the numbered footnote text at the bottom of the current page. The optional argument, number, is used to change the default footnote number. This command can only be used in outer paragraph mode; i.e., you cannot use it in sectioning commands like \chapter, in figures, tables or in a tabular environment.

\footnotemark

The \footnotemark command puts the footnote number in the text. This command can be used in inner paragraph mode. The text of the footnote is supplied by the \footnotetext command.

This command can be used to produce several consecutive footnote markers referring to the same footnote by using

\footnotemark[\value{footnote}]

after the first \footnote command.

\footnotetext

\footnotetext[number]{text}

The \footnotetext command produces the text to be placed at the bottom of the page. This command can come anywhere after the \footnotemark command. The \footnotetext command must appear in outer paragraph mode.

The optional argument, number, is used to change the default footnote number.

A length is a measure of distance. Many LaTeX commands take a length as an argument.

• \newlength: Define a new length.
• \setlength: Set the value of a length.
• \addtolength: Add a quantity to a length.
• \settodepth: Set a length to the depth of something.
• \settoheight: Set a length to the height of something.
• \settowidth: Set a length to the width of something.
• Predefined lengths: Lengths that are, like, predefined.

\newlength

\newlength{\gnat}

The \newlength command defines the mandatory argument, \gnat, as a length command with a value of 0in. An error occurs if a \gnat command already exists.

\setlength

\setlength{\gnat}{length}

The \setlength command is used to set the value of a length command. The length argument can be expressed in any terms of length LaTeX understands, i.e., inches (in), millimeters (mm), points (pt), etc.

\addtolength

\addtolength{\gnat}{length}

The \addtolength command increments a "length command" by the amount specified in the length argument. It can be a negative amount.

\settodepth

\settodepth{\gnat}{text}

The \settodepth command sets the value of a length command equal to the depth of the text argument.

\settoheight

\settoheight{\gnat}{text}

The \settoheight command sets the value of a length command equal to the height of the text argument.

\settowidth

\settowidth{\gnat}{text}

The \settowidth command sets the value of a length command equal to the width of the text argument.

Predefined lengths

\width

\height

\depth

\totalheight

These length parameters can be used in the arguments of the box-making commands See section Spaces & Boxes. They specify the natural width etc. of the text in the box. \totalheight equals \height + \depth. To make a box with the text stretched to double the natural size, e.g., say

\makebox[2\width]{Get a stretcher}

You can use LaTeX to typeset letters, both personal and business. The letter document class is designed to make a number of letters at once, although you can make just one if you so desire.

Your `.tex' source file has the same minimum commands as the other document classes, i.e., you must have the following commands as a minimum:

 \documentclass{letter}
 \begin{document}
  ... letters ...
 \end{document}

Each letter is a letter environment, whose argument is the name and address of the recipient. For example, you might have:

 \begin{letter}{Mr. Joe Smith\\ 2345 Princess St.
      \\ Edinburgh, EH1 1AA}
   ...
 \end{letter}

The letter itself begins with the \opening command. The text of the letter follows. It is typed as ordinary LaTeX input. Commands that make no sense in a letter, like \chapter, do not work. The letter closes with a \closing command.

After the closing, you can have additional material. The \cc command produces the usual "cc: ...". There's also a similar \encl command for a list of enclosures. With both these commands, use \\ to separate the items.

These commands are used with the letter class:

• \address: Your return address.
• \cc: Cc list.
• \closing: Saying goodbye.
• \encl: List of enclosed material.
• \location: Your organization's address.
• \makelabels: Making address labels.
• \name: Your name, for the return address.
• \opening: Saying hello.
• \ps: Adding a postscript.
• \signature: Your signature.
• \startbreaks: Allow page breaks.
• \stopbreaks: Disallow page breaks.
• \telephone: Your phone number.

\address

\address{Return address}

The return address, as it should appear on the letter and the envelope. Separate lines of the address should be separated by \\ commands. If you do not make an \address declaration, then the letter will be formatted for copying onto your organization's standard letterhead. If you give an \address declaration, then the letter will be formatted as a personal letter.

\cc

\cc{Kate Schechter\\Rob McKenna}

Generate a list of other persons the letter was sent to. Each name is printed on a separate line.

\closing

\closing{text}

The letter closes with a \closing command, i.e.,

 \closing{Best Regards,}

\encl

\encl{CV\\Certificates}

Generate a list of enclosed material.

\location

\location{address}

This modifies your organization's standard address. This only appears if the firstpage pagestyle is selected.

\makelabels

\makelabels{number}

If you issue this command in the preamble, LaTeX will create a sheet of address labels. This sheet will be output before the letters.

\name

\name{June Davenport}

Your name, used for printing on the envelope together with the return address.

\opening

\opening{text}

The letter begins with the \opening command. The mandatory argument, text, is whatever text you wish to start your letter, i.e.,

 \opening{Dear Joe,}

\ps

\ps

Use this command before a postscript.

\signature

\signature{Harvey Swick}

Your name, as it should appear at the end of the letter underneath the space for your signature. Items that should go on separate lines should be separated by \\ commands.

\startbreaks

\startbreaks

Used after a \stopbreaks command to allow page breaks again.

\stopbreaks

\stopbreaks

Inhibit page breaks until a \startbreaks command occurs.

\telephone

\telephone{number}

This is your telephone number. This only appears if the firstpage pagestyle is selected.

The first thing LaTeX does when processing ordinary text is to translate your input file into a string of glyphs and spaces. To produce a printed document, this string must be broken into lines, and these lines must be broken into pages. In some environments, you do the line breaking yourself with the \\ command, but LaTeX usually does it for you.

• \\: Start a new line.
• \- (hyphenation): Insert explicit hyphenation.
• \cleardoublepage: Start a new right-hand page.
• \clearpage: Start a new page.
• \enlargethispage: Enlarge the current page a bit.
• \fussy: Be fussy about line breaking.
• \hyphenation: Tell LaTeX how to hyphenate a word.
• \linebreak: Break the line.
• \newline: Break the line prematurely.
• \newpage: Start a new page.
• \nolinebreak: Don't break the current line.
• \nopagebreak: Don't make a page break here.
• \pagebreak: Please make a page break here.
• \sloppy: Be sloppy about line breaking.

\\

\\[*][extra-space]

The \\ command tells LaTeX to start a new line. It has an optional argument, extra-space, that specifies how much extra vertical space is to be inserted before the next line. This can be a negative amount.

The \\* command is the same as the ordinary \\ command except that it tells LaTeX not to start a new page after the line.

\-

The \- command tells LaTeX that it may hyphenate the word at that point. LaTeX is very good at hyphenating, and it will usually find all correct hyphenation points. The \- command is used for the exceptional cases.

Note that when you insert \- commands in a word, the word will only be hyphenated at those points and not at any of the hyphenation points that LaTeX might otherwise have chosen.

\cleardoublepage

The \cleardoublepage command ends the current page and causes all figures and tables that have so far appeared in the input to be printed. In a two-sided printing style, it also makes the next page a right-hand (odd-numbered) page, producing a blank page if necessary.

\clearpage

The \clearpage command ends the current page and causes all figures and tables that have so far appeared in the input to be printed.

\enlargethispage

\enlargethispage{size}

\enlargethispage*{size}

Enlarge the \textheight for the current page by the specified amount; e.g. \enlargethispage{\baselineskip} will allow one additional line.

The starred form tries to squeeze the material together on the page as much as possible. This is normally used together with an explicit \pagebreak.

\fussy

\fussy

This declaration (which is the default) makes TeX more fussy about line breaking. This can avoids too much space between words, but may produce overfull boxes.

This command cancels the effect of a previous \sloppy command. section \sloppy

\hyphenation

\hyphenation{words}

The \hyphenation command declares allowed hyphenation points, where words is a list of words, separated by spaces, in which each hyphenation point is indicated by a - character.

\linebreak

\linebreak[number]

The \linebreak command tells LaTeX to break the current line at the point of the command. With the optional argument, number, you can s

Footnotes can be produced in one of two ways. They can be produced with one command, the \footnote command. They can also be produced with two commands, the \footnotemark and the \footnotetext commands. See the specific command for information on why you would use one over the other.

• \footnote: Insert a footnote.
• \footnotemark: Insert footnote mark only.
• \footnotetext: Insert footnote text only.

\footnote

\footnote[number]{text}

The \footnote command places the numbered footnote text at the bottom of the current page. The optional argument, number, is used to change the default footnote number. This command can only be used in outer paragraph mode; i.e., you cannot use it in sectioning commands like \chapter, in figures, tables or in a tabular environment.

\footnotemark

The \footnotemark command puts the footnote number in the text. This command can be used in inner paragraph mode. The text of the footnote is supplied by the \footnotetext command.

This command can be used to produce several consecutive footnote markers referring to the same footnote by using

\footnotemark[\value{footnote}]

after the first \footnote command.

\footnotetext

\footnotetext[number]{text}

The \footnotetext command produces the text to be placed at the bottom of the page. This command can come anywhere after the \footnotemark command. The \footnotetext command must appear in outer paragraph mode.

The optional argument, number, is used to change the default footnote number.

A length is a measure of distance. Many LaTeX commands take a length as an argument.

• \newlength: Define a new length.
• \setlength: Set the value of a length.
• \addtolength: Add a quantity to a length.
• \settodepth: Set a length to the depth of something.
• \settoheight: Set a length to the height of something.
• \settowidth: Set a length to the width of something.
• Predefined lengths: Lengths that are, like, predefined.

\newlength

\newlength{\gnat}

The \newlength command defines the mandatory argument, \gnat, as a length command with a value of 0in. An error occurs if a \gnat command already exists.

\setlength

\setlength{\gnat}{length}

The \setlength command is used to set the value of a length command. The length argument can be expressed in any terms of length LaTeX understands, i.e., inches (in), millimeters (mm), points (pt), etc.

\addtolength

\addtolength{\gnat}{length}

The \addtolength command increments a "length command" by the amount specified in the length argument. It can be a negative amount.

\settodepth

\settodepth{\gnat}{text}

The \settodepth command sets the value of a length command equal to the depth of the text argument.

\settoheight

\settoheight{\gnat}{text}

The \settoheight command sets the value of a length command equal to the height of the text argument.

\settowidth

\settowidth{\gnat}{text}

The \settowidth command sets the value of a length command equal to the width of the text argument.

Predefined lengths

\width

\height

\depth

\totalheight

These length parameters can be used in the arguments of the box-making commands See section Spaces & Boxes. They specify the natural width etc. of the text in the box. \totalheight equals \height + \depth. To make a box with the text stretched to double the natural size, e.g., say

\makebox[2\width]{Get a stretcher}

You can use LaTeX to typeset letters, both personal and business. The letter document class is designed to make a number of letters at once, although you can make just one if you so desire.

Your `.tex' source file has the same minimum commands as the other document classes, i.e., you must have the following commands as a minimum:

 \documentclass{letter}
 \begin{document}
  ... letters ...
 \end{document}

Each letter is a letter environment, whose argument is the name and address of the recipient. For example, you might have:

 \begin{letter}{Mr. Joe Smith\\ 2345 Princess St.
      \\ Edinburgh, EH1 1AA}
   ...
 \end{letter}

The letter itself begins with the \opening command. The text of the letter follows. It is typed as ordinary LaTeX input. Commands that make no sense in a letter, like \chapter, do not work. The letter closes with a \closing command.

After the closing, you can have additional material. The \cc command produces the usual "cc: ...". There's also a similar \encl command for a list of enclosures. With both these commands, use \\ to separate the items.

These commands are used with the letter class:

• \address: Your return address.
• \cc: Cc list.
• \closing: Saying goodbye.
• \encl: List of enclosed material.
• \location: Your organization's address.
• \makelabels: Making address labels.
• \name: Your name, for the return address.
• \opening: Saying hello.
• \ps: Adding a postscript.
• \signature: Your signature.
• \startbreaks: Allow page breaks.
• \stopbreaks: Disallow page breaks.
• \telephone: Your phone number.

\address

\address{Return address}

The return address, as it should appear on the letter and the envelope. Separate lines of the address should be separated by \\ commands. If you do not make an \address declaration, then the letter will be formatted for copying onto your organization's standard letterhead. If you give an \address declaration, then the letter will be formatted as a personal letter.

\cc

\cc{Kate Schechter\\Rob McKenna}

Generate a list of other persons the letter was sent to. Each name is printed on a separate line.

\closing

\closing{text}

The letter closes with a \closing command, i.e.,

 \closing{Best Regards,}

\encl

\encl{CV\\Certificates}

Generate a list of enclosed material.

\location

\location{address}

This modifies your organization's standard address. This only appears if the firstpage pagestyle is selected.

\makelabels

\makelabels{number}

If you issue this command in the preamble, LaTeX will create a sheet of address labels. This sheet will be output before the letters.

\name

\name{June Davenport}

Your name, used for printing on the envelope together with the return address.

\opening

\opening{text}

The letter begins with the \opening command. The mandatory argument, text, is whatever text you wish to start your letter, i.e.,

 \opening{Dear Joe,}

\ps

\ps

Use this command before a postscript.

\signature

\signature{Harvey Swick}

Your name, as it should appear at the end of the letter underneath the space for your signature. Items that should go on separate lines should be separated by \\ commands.

\startbreaks

\startbreaks

Used after a \stopbreaks command to allow page breaks again.

\stopbreaks

\stopbreaks

Inhibit page breaks until a \startbreaks command occurs.

\telephone

\telephone{number}

This is your telephone number. This only appears if the firstpage pagestyle is selected.

The first thing LaTeX does when processing ordinary text is to translate your input file into a string of glyphs and spaces. To produce a printed document, this string must be broken into lines, and these lines must be broken into pages. In some environments, you do the line breaking yourself with the \\ command, but LaTeX usually does it for you.

• \\: Start a new line.
• \- (hyphenation): Insert explicit hyphenation.
• \cleardoublepage: Start a new right-hand page.
• \clearpage: Start a new page.
• \enlargethispage: Enlarge the current page a bit.
• \fussy: Be fussy about line breaking.
• \hyphenation: Tell LaTeX how to hyphenate a word.
• \linebreak: Break the line.
• \newline: Break the line prematurely.
• \newpage: Start a new page.
• \nolinebreak: Don't break the current line.
• \nopagebreak: Don't make a page break here.
• \pagebreak: Please make a page break here.
• \sloppy: Be sloppy about line breaking.

\\

\\[*][extra-space]

The \\ command tells LaTeX to start a new line. It has an optional argument, extra-space, that specifies how much extra vertical space is to be inserted before the next line. This can be a negative amount.

The \\* command is the same as the ordinary \\ command except that it tells LaTeX not to start a new page after the line.

\-

The \- command tells LaTeX that it may hyphenate the word at that point. LaTeX is very good at hyphenating, and it will usually find all correct hyphenation points. The \- command is used for the exceptional cases.

Note that when you insert \- commands in a word, the word will only be hyphenated at those points and not at any of the hyphenation points that LaTeX might otherwise have chosen.

\cleardoublepage

The \cleardoublepage command ends the current page and causes all figures and tables that have so far appeared in the input to be printed. In a two-sided printing style, it also makes the next page a right-hand (odd-numbered) page, producing a blank page if necessary.

\clearpage

The \clearpage command ends the current page and causes all figures and tables that have so far appeared in the input to be printed.

\enlargethispage

\enlargethispage{size}

\enlargethispage*{size}

Enlarge the \textheight for the current page by the specified amount; e.g. \enlargethispage{\baselineskip} will allow one additional line.

The starred form tries to squeeze the material together on the page as much as possible. This is normally used together with an explicit \pagebreak.

\fussy

\fussy

This declaration (which is the default) makes TeX more fussy about line breaking. This can avoids too much space between words, but may produce overfull boxes.

This command cancels the effect of a previous \sloppy command. section \sloppy

\hyphenation

\hyphenation{words}

The \hyphenation command declares allowed hyphenation points, where words is a list of words, separated by spaces, in which each hyphenation point is indicated by a - character.

\linebreak

\linebreak[number]

The \linebreak command tells LaTeX to break the current line at the point of the command. With the optional argument, number, you can s

Footnotes can be produced in one of two ways. They can be produced with one command, the \footnote command. They can also be produced with two commands, the \footnotemark and the \footnotetext commands. See the specific command for information on why you would use one over the other.

• \footnote: Insert a footnote.
• \footnotemark: Insert footnote mark only.
• \footnotetext: Insert footnote text only.

\footnote

\footnote[number]{text}

The \footnote command places the numbered footnote text at the bottom of the current page. The optional argument, number, is used to change the default footnote number. This command can only be used in outer paragraph mode; i.e., you cannot use it in sectioning commands like \chapter, in figures, tables or in a tabular environment.

\footnotemark

The \footnotemark command puts the footnote number in the text. This command can be used in inner paragraph mode. The text of the footnote is supplied by the \footnotetext command.

This command can be used to produce several consecutive footnote markers referring to the same footnote by using

\footnotemark[\value{footnote}]

after the first \footnote command.

\footnotetext

\footnotetext[number]{text}

The \footnotetext command produces the text to be placed at the bottom of the page. This command can come anywhere after the \footnotemark command. The \footnotetext command must appear in outer paragraph mode.

The optional argument, number, is used to change the default footnote number.

A length is a measure of distance. Many LaTeX commands take a length as an argument.

• \newlength: Define a new length.
• \setlength: Set the value of a length.
• \addtolength: Add a quantity to a length.
• \settodepth: Set a length to the depth of something.
• \settoheight: Set a length to the height of something.
• \settowidth: Set a length to the width of something.
• Predefined lengths: Lengths that are, like, predefined.

\newlength

\newlength{\gnat}

The \newlength command defines the mandatory argument, \gnat, as a length command with a value of 0in. An error occurs if a \gnat command already exists.

\setlength

\setlength{\gnat}{length}

The \setlength command is used to set the value of a length command. The length argument can be expressed in any terms of length LaTeX understands, i.e., inches (in), millimeters (mm), points (pt), etc.

\addtolength

\addtolength{\gnat}{length}

The \addtolength command increments a "length command" by the amount specified in the length argument. It can be a negative amount.

\settodepth

\settodepth{\gnat}{text}

The \settodepth command sets the value of a length command equal to the depth of the text argument.

\settoheight

\settoheight{\gnat}{text}

The \settoheight command sets the value of a length command equal to the height of the text argument.

\settowidth

\settowidth{\gnat}{text}

The \settowidth command sets the value of a length command equal to the width of the text argument.

Predefined lengths

\width

\height

\depth

\totalheight

These length parameters can be used in the arguments of the box-making commands See section Spaces & Boxes. They specify the natural width etc. of the text in the box. \totalheight equals \height + \depth. To make a box with the text stretched to double the natural size, e.g., say

\makebox[2\width]{Get a stretcher}

You can use LaTeX to typeset letters, both personal and business. The letter document class is designed to make a number of letters at once, although you can make just one if you so desire.

Your `.tex' source file has the same minimum commands as the other document classes, i.e., you must have the following commands as a minimum:

 \documentclass{letter}
 \begin{document}
  ... letters ...
 \end{document}

Each letter is a letter environment, whose argument is the name and address of the recipient. For example, you might have:

 \begin{letter}{Mr. Joe Smith\\ 2345 Princess St.
      \\ Edinburgh, EH1 1AA}
   ...
 \end{letter}

The letter itself begins with the \opening command. The text of the letter follows. It is typed as ordinary LaTeX input. Commands that make no sense in a letter, like \chapter, do not work. The letter closes with a \closing command.

After the closing, you can have additional material. The \cc command produces the usual "cc: ...". There's also a similar \encl command for a list of enclosures. With both these commands, use \\ to separate the items.

These commands are used with the letter class:

• \address: Your return address.
• \cc: Cc list.
• \closing: Saying goodbye.
• \encl: List of enclosed material.
• \location: Your organization's address.
• \makelabels: Making address labels.
• \name: Your name, for the return address.
• \opening: Saying hello.
• \ps: Adding a postscript.
• \signature: Your signature.
• \startbreaks: Allow page breaks.
• \stopbreaks: Disallow page breaks.
• \telephone: Your phone number.

\address

\address{Return address}

The return address, as it should appear on the letter and the envelope. Separate lines of the address should be separated by \\ commands. If you do not make an \address declaration, then the letter will be formatted for copying onto your organization's standard letterhead. If you give an \address declaration, then the letter will be formatted as a personal letter.

\cc

\cc{Kate Schechter\\Rob McKenna}

Generate a list of other persons the letter was sent to. Each name is printed on a separate line.

\closing

\closing{text}

The letter closes with a \closing command, i.e.,

 \closing{Best Regards,}

\encl

\encl{CV\\Certificates}

Generate a list of enclosed material.

\location

\location{address}

This modifies your organization's standard address. This only appears if the firstpage pagestyle is selected.

\makelabels

\makelabels{number}

If you issue this command in the preamble, LaTeX will create a sheet of address labels. This sheet will be output before the letters.

\name

\name{June Davenport}

Your name, used for printing on the envelope together with the return address.

\opening

\opening{text}

The letter begins with the \opening command. The mandatory argument, text, is whatever text you wish to start your letter, i.e.,

 \opening{Dear Joe,}

\ps

\ps

Use this command before a postscript.

\signature

\signature{Harvey Swick}

Your name, as it should appear at the end of the letter underneath the space for your signature. Items that should go on separate lines should be separated by \\ commands.

\startbreaks

\startbreaks

Used after a \stopbreaks command to allow page breaks again.

\stopbreaks

\stopbreaks

Inhibit page breaks until a \startbreaks command occurs.

\telephone

\telephone{number}

This is your telephone number. This only appears if the firstpage pagestyle is selected.

The first thing LaTeX does when processing ordinary text is to translate your input file into a string of glyphs and spaces. To produce a printed document, this string must be broken into lines, and these lines must be broken into pages. In some environments, you do the line breaking yourself with the \\ command, but LaTeX usually does it for you.

• \\: Start a new line.
• \- (hyphenation): Insert explicit hyphenation.
• \cleardoublepage: Start a new right-hand page.
• \clearpage: Start a new page.
• \enlargethispage: Enlarge the current page a bit.
• \fussy: Be fussy about line breaking.
• \hyphenation: Tell LaTeX how to hyphenate a word.
• \linebreak: Break the line.
• \newline: Break the line prematurely.
• \newpage: Start a new page.
• \nolinebreak: Don't break the current line.
• \nopagebreak: Don't make a page break here.
• \pagebreak: Please make a page break here.
• \sloppy: Be sloppy about line breaking.

\\

\\[*][extra-space]

The \\ command tells LaTeX to start a new line. It has an optional argument, extra-space, that specifies how much extra vertical space is to be inserted before the next line. This can be a negative amount.

The \\* command is the same as the ordinary \\ command except that it tells LaTeX not to start a new page after the line.

\-

The \- command tells LaTeX that it may hyphenate the word at that point. LaTeX is very good at hyphenating, and it will usually find all correct hyphenation points. The \- command is used for the exceptional cases.

Note that when you insert \- commands in a word, the word will only be hyphenated at those points and not at any of the hyphenation points that LaTeX might otherwise have chosen.

\cleardoublepage

The \cleardoublepage command ends the current page and causes all figures and tables that have so far appeared in the input to be printed. In a two-sided printing style, it also makes the next page a right-hand (odd-numbered) page, producing a blank page if necessary.

\clearpage

The \clearpage command ends the current page and causes all figures and tables that have so far appeared in the input to be printed.

\enlargethispage

\enlargethispage{size}

\enlargethispage*{size}

Enlarge the \textheight for the current page by the specified amount; e.g. \enlargethispage{\baselineskip} will allow one additional line.

The starred form tries to squeeze the material together on the page as much as possible. This is normally used together with an explicit \pagebreak.

\fussy

\fussy

This declaration (which is the default) makes TeX more fussy about line breaking. This can avoids too much space between words, but may produce overfull boxes.

This command cancels the effect of a previous \sloppy command. section \sloppy

\hyphenation

\hyphenation{words}

The \hyphenation command declares allowed hyphenation points, where words is a list of words, separated by spaces, in which each hyphenation point is indicated by a - character.

\linebreak

\linebreak[number]

The \linebreak command tells LaTeX to break the current line at the point of the command. With the optional argument, number, you can s

Footnotes can be produced in one of two ways. They can be produced with one command, the \footnote command. They can also be produced with two commands, the \footnotemark and the \footnotetext commands. See the specific command for information on why you would use one over the other.

• \footnote: Insert a footnote.
• \footnotemark: Insert footnote mark only.
• \footnotetext: Insert footnote text only.

\footnote

\footnote[number]{text}

The \footnote command places the numbered footnote text at the bottom of the current page. The optional argument, number, is used to change the default footnote number. This command can only be used in outer paragraph mode; i.e., you cannot use it in sectioning commands like \chapter, in figures, tables or in a tabular environment.

\footnotemark

The \footnotemark command puts the footnote number in the text. This command can be used in inner paragraph mode. The text of the footnote is supplied by the \footnotetext command.

This command can be used to produce several consecutive footnote markers referring to the same footnote by using

\footnotemark[\value{footnote}]

after the first \footnote command.

\footnotetext

\footnotetext[number]{text}

The \footnotetext command produces the text to be placed at the bottom of the page. This command can come anywhere after the \footnotemark command. The \footnotetext command must appear in outer paragraph mode.

The optional argument, number, is used to change the default footnote number.

A length is a measure of distance. Many LaTeX commands take a length as an argument.

• \newlength: Define a new length.
• \setlength: Set the value of a length.
• \addtolength: Add a quantity to a length.
• \settodepth: Set a length to the depth of something.
• \settoheight: Set a length to the height of something.
• \settowidth: Set a length to the width of something.
• Predefined lengths: Lengths that are, like, predefined.

\newlength

\newlength{\gnat}

The \newlength command defines the mandatory argument, \gnat, as a length command with a value of 0in. An error occurs if a \gnat command already exists.

\setlength

\setlength{\gnat}{length}

The \setlength command is used to set the value of a length command. The length argument can be expressed in any terms of length LaTeX understands, i.e., inches (in), millimeters (mm), points (pt), etc.

\addtolength

\addtolength{\gnat}{length}

The \addtolength command increments a "length command" by the amount specified in the length argument. It can be a negative amount.

\settodepth

\settodepth{\gnat}{text}

The \settodepth command sets the value of a length command equal to the depth of the text argument.

\settoheight

\settoheight{\gnat}{text}

The \settoheight command sets the value of a length command equal to the height of the text argument.

\settowidth

\settowidth{\gnat}{text}

The \settowidth command sets the value of a length command equal to the width of the text argument.

Predefined lengths

\width

\height

\depth

\totalheight

These length parameters can be used in the arguments of the box-making commands See section Spaces & Boxes. They specify the natural width etc. of the text in the box. \totalheight equals \height + \depth. To make a box with the text stretched to double the natural size, e.g., say

\makebox[2\width]{Get a stretcher}

You can use LaTeX to typeset letters, both personal and business. The letter document class is designed to make a number of letters at once, although you can make just one if you so desire.

Your `.tex' source file has the same minimum commands as the other document classes, i.e., you must have the following commands as a minimum:

 \documentclass{letter}
 \begin{document}
  ... letters ...
 \end{document}

Each letter is a letter environment, whose argument is the name and address of the recipient. For example, you might have:

 \begin{letter}{Mr. Joe Smith\\ 2345 Princess St.
      \\ Edinburgh, EH1 1AA}
   ...
 \end{letter}

The letter itself begins with the \opening command. The text of the letter follows. It is typed as ordinary LaTeX input. Commands that make no sense in a letter, like \chapter, do not work. The letter closes with a \closing command.

After the closing, you can have additional material. The \cc command produces the usual "cc: ...". There's also a similar \encl command for a list of enclosures. With both these commands, use \\ to separate the items.

These commands are used with the letter class:

• \address: Your return address.
• \cc: Cc list.
• \closing: Saying goodbye.
• \encl: List of enclosed material.
• \location: Your organization's address.
• \makelabels: Making address labels.
• \name: Your name, for the return address.
• \opening: Saying hello.
• \ps: Adding a postscript.
• \signature: Your signature.
• \startbreaks: Allow page breaks.
• \stopbreaks: Disallow page breaks.
• \telephone: Your phone number.

\address

\address{Return address}

The return address, as it should appear on the letter and the envelope. Separate lines of the address should be separated by \\ commands. If you do not make an \address declaration, then the letter will be formatted for copying onto your organization's standard letterhead. If you give an \address declaration, then the letter will be formatted as a personal letter.

\cc

\cc{Kate Schechter\\Rob McKenna}

Generate a list of other persons the letter was sent to. Each name is printed on a separate line.

\closing

\closing{text}

The letter closes with a \closing command, i.e.,

 \closing{Best Regards,}

\encl

\encl{CV\\Certificates}

Generate a list of enclosed material.

\location

\location{address}

This modifies your organization's standard address. This only appears if the firstpage pagestyle is selected.

\makelabels

\makelabels{number}

If you issue this command in the preamble, LaTeX will create a sheet of address labels. This sheet will be output before the letters.

\name

\name{June Davenport}

Your name, used for printing on the envelope together with the return address.

\opening

\opening{text}

The letter begins with the \opening command. The mandatory argument, text, is whatever text you wish to start your letter, i.e.,

 \opening{Dear Joe,}

\ps

\ps

Use this command before a postscript.

\signature

\signature{Harvey Swick}

Your name, as it should appear at the end of the letter underneath the space for your signature. Items that should go on separate lines should be separated by \\ commands.

\startbreaks

\startbreaks

Used after a \stopbreaks command to allow page breaks again.

\stopbreaks

\stopbreaks

Inhibit page breaks until a \startbreaks command occurs.

\telephone

\telephone{number}

This is your telephone number. This only appears if the firstpage pagestyle is selected.

The first thing LaTeX does when processing ordinary text is to translate your input file into a string of glyphs and spaces. To produce a printed document, this string must be broken into lines, and these lines must be broken into pages. In some environments, you do the line breaking yourself with the \\ command, but LaTeX usually does it for you.

• \\: Start a new line.
• \- (hyphenation): Insert explicit hyphenation.
• \cleardoublepage: Start a new right-hand page.
• \clearpage: Start a new page.
• \enlargethispage: Enlarge the current page a bit.
• \fussy: Be fussy about line breaking.
• \hyphenation: Tell LaTeX how to hyphenate a word.
• \linebreak: Break the line.
• \newline: Break the line prematurely.
• \newpage: Start a new page.
• \nolinebreak: Don't break the current line.
• \nopagebreak: Don't make a page break here.
• \pagebreak: Please make a page break here.
• \sloppy: Be sloppy about line breaking.

\\

\\[*][extra-space]

The \\ command tells LaTeX to start a new line. It has an optional argument, extra-space, that specifies how much extra vertical space is to be inserted before the next line. This can be a negative amount.

The \\* command is the same as the ordinary \\ command except that it tells LaTeX not to start a new page after the line.

\-

The \- command tells LaTeX that it may hyphenate the word at that point. LaTeX is very good at hyphenating, and it will usually find all correct hyphenation points. The \- command is used for the exceptional cases.

Note that when you insert \- commands in a word, the word will only be hyphenated at those points and not at any of the hyphenation points that LaTeX might otherwise have chosen.

\cleardoublepage

The \cleardoublepage command ends the current page and causes all figures and tables that have so far appeared in the input to be printed. In a two-sided printing style, it also makes the next page a right-hand (odd-numbered) page, producing a blank page if necessary.

\clearp