% Appendix A

\chapter{Introduction to Latex}
\label{AppendixA}
\lhead{Appendix A. \emph{Introduction to Latex}}

The material provided in this appendix is taken from \\
\href{http://www.sunilpatel.co.uk/thesistemplate.php}{\texttt{http://www.sunilpatel.co.uk/thesistemplate.php}}

\section{Learning \LaTeX{}}

\LaTeX{} is not a WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) program, unlike word processors such as Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect. Instead, a document written for \LaTeX{} is actually a simple, plain text file that contains \emph{no formatting}. You tell \LaTeX{} how you want the formatting in the finished document by writing in simple commands amongst the text, for example, if I want to use \emph{italic text for emphasis}, I write the `$\backslash$\texttt{emph}\{\}' command and put the text I want in italics in between the curly braces. This means that \LaTeX{} is a ``mark-up'' language, very much like HTML.

\subsection{A (not so short) Introduction to \LaTeX{}}

If you are new to \LaTeX{}, there is a very good eBook -- freely available online as a PDF file -- called, ``The Not So Short Introduction to \LaTeX{}''. The book's title is typically shortened to just ``lshort''. You can download the latest version (as it is occasionally updated) from here:\\
\href{http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf}{\texttt{http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf}}

It is also available in several other languages. Find yours from the list on this page:\\
\href{http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/}{\texttt{http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/}}

It is recommended to take a little time out to learn how to use \LaTeX{} by creating several, small `test' documents. Making the effort now means you're not stuck learning the system when what you \emph{really} need to be doing is writing your thesis.

\subsection{A Short Math Guide for \LaTeX{}}

If you are writing a technical or mathematical thesis, then you may want to read the document by the AMS (American Mathematical Society) called, ``A Short Math Guide for \LaTeX{}''. It can be found online here:\\
\href{http://www.ams.org/tex/amslatex.html}{\texttt{http://www.ams.org/tex/amslatex.html}}\\
under the ``Additional Documentation'' section towards the bottom of the page.

\subsection{Common \LaTeX{} Math Symbols}
There are a multitude of mathematical symbols available for \LaTeX{} and it would take a great effort to learn the commands for them all. The most common ones you are likely to use are shown on this page:\\
\href{http://www.sunilpatel.co.uk/latexsymbols.html}{\texttt{http://www.sunilpatel.co.uk/latexsymbols.html}}

You can use this page as a reference or crib sheet, the symbols are rendered as large, high quality images so you can quickly find the \LaTeX{} command for the symbol you need.



\subsection{Figures}

There will hopefully be many figures in your thesis (that should be placed in the `Figures' folder). The way to insert figures into your thesis is to use a code template like this:
\begin{verbatim}
\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering
    \includegraphics[width = 1.5in]{./Figures/uet_logo.pdf}
    \rule{35em}{0.5pt}
  \caption{The UET Laore logo.}
  \label{fig:uet_logo}
\end{figure}
\end{verbatim}
Also look in the source file. Putting this code into the source file produces the picture of the UET logo that you can see in the figure below.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width = 1.5in]{./Figures/uet_logo.pdf}
		\rule{35em}{0.5pt}
	\caption{The UET Laore logo.}
	\label{fig:uet_logo}
\end{figure}

Sometimes figures don't always appear where you write them in the source. The placement depends on how much space there is on the page for the figure. Sometimes there is not enough room to fit a figure directly where it should go (in relation to the text) and so \LaTeX{} puts it at the top of the next page. Positioning figures is the job of \LaTeX{} and so you should only worry about making them look good!

Figures usually should have labels just in case you need to refer to them (such as in figure \ref{fig:uet_logo}). The `$\backslash$\texttt{caption}' command contains two parts, the first part, inside the square brackets is the title that will appear in the `List of Figures', and so should be short. The second part in the curly brackets should contain the longer and more descriptive caption text.

The `$\backslash$\texttt{rule}' command is optional and simply puts an aesthetic horizontal line below the image. If you do this for one image, do it for all of them.

The \LaTeX{} Thesis Template is able to use figures that are either in the PDF or JPEG file format. It is recommended that you read this short guide on how to get the best out of figures in \LaTeX{}, available here:\\
\href{http://www.sunilpatel.co.uk/texhelp5.html}{\texttt{http://www.sunilpatel.co.uk/texhelp5.html}}

Though it is geared more towards users of Mac and OS X systems, much of the advice applies to creating and using figures in general. It also explains why the PDF file format is preferred in figures over JPEG.
\subsection{Tables in \LaTeX{}}
We have adapted the following table from \cite{barrass2002scientists} to show the utilization of tables and references:

\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{l|l} \hline
Introduction/Aim  & What did you do and why? \\
Materials and Methods & How did you do it? \\
Observations/Results & What did you find? \\
Discussion & What do your results mean to you and why? \\
Conclusions & What new knowledge is extracted from experiment? \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
%\caption{Flow in the logic}
\label{tab:logic_flow}
\end{table}

\subsection{References in \LaTeX{}}
There are a number of guiding documents e.g. \cite{murray2006write}, \cite{evans2003write}, as well as some documents available online, which can be helpful in writing the thesis. Two such documents outlining some general guidelines are \cite{howtothesis}, \cite{getthesis}.

Finally here is a list of words that you should try avoid while writing the thesis: ``very much", ``interesting", ``good", ``fun", ``exciting", ``very", ``too much".

\subsection{Typesetting mathematics}

If your thesis is going to contain heavy mathematical content, be sure that \LaTeX{} will make it look beautiful, even though it won't be able to solve the equations for you.

The ``Not So Short Introduction to \LaTeX{}'' (available \href{http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf}{here}) should tell you everything you need to know for most cases of typesetting mathematics. If you need more information, a much more thorough mathematical guide is available from the AMS called, ``A Short Math Guide to \LaTeX{}'' and can be downloaded from:\\
\href{ftp://ftp.ams.org/pub/tex/doc/amsmath/short-math-guide.pdf}{\texttt{ftp://ftp.ams.org/pub/tex/doc/amsmath/short-math-guide.pdf}}

There are many different \LaTeX{} symbols to remember, luckily you can find the most common symbols \href{http://www.sunilpatel.co.uk/latexsymbols.html}{here}. You can use the web page as a quick reference or crib sheet and because the symbols are grouped and rendered as high quality images (each with a downloadable PDF), finding the symbol you need is quick and easy.

You can write an equation, which is automatically given an equation number by \LaTeX{} like this:
\begin{verbatim}
\begin{equation}
E = mc^{2}
  \label{eqn:Einstein}
\end{equation}
\end{verbatim}

This will produce Einstein's famous energy-matter equivalence equation:
\begin{equation}
E = mc^{2}
\label{eqn:Einstein}
\end{equation}

All equations you write (which are not in the middle of paragraph text) are automatically given equation numbers by \LaTeX{}. If you don't want a particular equation numbered, just put the command, `$\backslash$\texttt{nonumber}' immediately after the equation.


\section{Sectioning and Subsectioning}

You should break your synopsis up into nice, bite-sized sections and subsections. \LaTeX{} automatically builds a table of Contents by looking at all the `$\backslash$\texttt{section}$\{\}$' and `$\backslash$\texttt{subsection}$\{\}$' commands you write in the source.

The table of Contents should only list the sections to three (3) levels in this template. A `$\backslash$\texttt{section}$\{\}$' is level one (1) and so a `$\backslash$\texttt{subsection}$\{\}$' is level two (2). In your thesis it is likely that you will even use a `$\backslash$\texttt{subsubsection}$\{\}$', which is level three (3). Adding all these will create an unnecessarily cluttered table of Contents and so you should use the `$\backslash$\texttt{subsubsection$^{*}\{\}$}' command instead (note the asterisk). The asterisk ($^{*}$) tells \LaTeX{} to omit listing the subsubsection in the Contents, keeping it clean and tidy.

