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+% $Id: faq-docs.tex,v 1.46 2014/03/04 15:42:45 rf10 Exp rf10 $
+
+\section{Documentation and Help}
+
+\Question[Q-book-lists]{Books relevant to \tex{} and friends}
+
+There are too many books for them all to appear in a single list, so
+the following answers aim to cover ``related'' books, with subject
+matter as follows:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item \Qref*{\tex{} itself and \plaintex{}}{Q-tex-books}
+\item \Qref*{\latex{}}{Q-latex-books}
+\item \Qref*{Books on other \tex{}-related matters}{Q-other-books}
+\item \Qref*{Books on Type}{Q-type-books}
+\end{itemize}
+
+These lists only cover books in English: notices of new books, or
+warnings that books are now out of print are always welcome. However,
+these \acro{FAQ}s do \emph{not} carry reviews of current published
+material.
+\LastEdit*{2011-06-01}
+
+\Question[Q-tex-books]{Books on \TeX{}, \plaintex{} and relations}
+\AliasQuestion{Q-books}
+
+While Knuth's book is the definitive reference for both \TeX{} and
+\plaintex{}, there are many books covering these topics:
+\begin{booklist}
+\item[The \TeX{}book]by Donald Knuth (Addison-Wesley, 1984,
+ \ISBN{0-201-13447-0}, paperback \ISBN{0-201-13448-9})
+\item[A Beginner's Book of \TeX{}]by Raymond Seroul and Silvio Levy,
+ (Springer Verlag, 1992, \ISBN{0-387-97562-4})
+\item[\TeX{} by Example: A Beginner's Guide]by Arvind Borde
+ (Academic Press, 1992, \ISBN{0-12-117650-9}~--- now out of print)
+\item[Introduction to \TeX{}]by Norbert Schwarz (Addison-Wesley,
+ 1989, \ISBN{0-201-51141-X}~--- now out of print)
+\item[A \plaintex{} Primer]by Malcolm Clark (Oxford University
+ Press, 1993, ISBNs~0-198-53724-7 (hardback) and~0-198-53784-0
+ (paperback))
+\item[A \TeX{} Primer for Scientists]by Stanley Sawyer and Steven
+ Krantz (CRC Press, 1994, \ISBN{0-849-37159-7})
+\item[\TeX{} by Topic]by Victor Eijkhout (Addison-Wesley, 1992,
+ \ISBN{0-201-56882-9}~--- now out of print, but see
+ \Qref[question]{online books}{Q-ol-books}; you can also now buy a copy
+ printed, on demand, by Lulu~--- see
+ \url{http://www.lulu.com/content/2555607})
+\item[\TeX{} for the Beginner]by Wynter Snow (Addison-Wesley, 1992,
+ \ISBN{0-201-54799-6})
+\item[\TeX{} for the Impatient]by Paul W.~Abrahams, Karl Berry and
+ Kathryn A.~Hargreaves (Addison-Wesley, 1990,
+ \ISBN{0-201-51375-7}~--- now out of print, but see
+ \Qref[question]{online books}{Q-ol-books})
+\item[\TeX{} in Practice]by Stephan von Bechtolsheim (Springer
+ Verlag, 1993, 4 volumes, \ISBN{3-540-97296-X} for the set, or
+% nos in comments are for German distribution (Springer Verlag, Berlin)
+ Vol.~1: \ISBN{0-387-97595-0}, % (3-540-97595-0)
+ Vol.~2: \ISBN{0-387-97596-9}, % (3-540-97596-9)
+ Vol.~3: \ISBN{0-387-97597-7}, and % (3-540-97597-7)
+ Vol.~4: \ISBN{0-387-97598-5})% (3-540-97598-5)
+\begin{typesetversion}
+\item[\TeX{}: Starting from \sqfbox{1}\,\footnotemark]%
+\footnotetext{That's `Starting from Square One'}%
+\end{typesetversion}
+\begin{htmlversion}
+\item[\TeX{}: Starting from Square One]
+\end{htmlversion}
+ by Michael Doob (Springer
+ Verlag, 1993, \ISBN{3-540-56441-1}~--- now out of print)
+\item[The Joy of \TeX{}]by Michael D.~Spivak (second edition,
+ \acro{AMS}, 1990, \ISBN{0-821-82997-1})
+\item[The Advanced \TeX{}book]by David Salomon (Springer Verlag, 1995,
+ \ISBN{0-387-94556-3})
+\end{booklist}
+A collection of Knuth's publications about typography is also available:
+\begin{booklist}
+\item[Digital Typography]by Donald Knuth (CSLI and Cambridge
+ University Press, 1999, \ISBN{1-57586-011-2}, paperback
+ \ISBN{1-57586-010-4}).
+\end{booklist}
+\nothtml{\noindent}and in late 2000, a ``Millennium Boxed Set'' of all
+5 volumes of Knuth's ``Computers and Typesetting'' series (about
+\TeX{} and \MF{}) was published by Addison Wesley:
+\begin{booklist}
+\item[Computers \& Typesetting, Volumes A--E Boxed Set]by Donald Knuth
+ (Addison-Wesley, 2001, \ISBN{0-201-73416-8}).
+\end{booklist}
+\checked{rf}{2000/02/12 -- http://cseng.aw.com/book/0,3828,0201734168,00.html}
+\LastEdit*{2011-06-01}
+
+\Question[Q-latex-books]{Books on \latex{}}
+
+\begin{booklist}
+\item[\LaTeX{}, a Document Preparation System]by Leslie Lamport
+ (second edition, Addison Wesley, 1994, \ISBN{0-201-52983-1})
+\item[Guide to \LaTeX{}]Helmut Kopka and Patrick W.~Daly (fourth
+ edition, Addison-Wesley, 2004, \ISBN{0-321-17385-6})
+\item[\latex{} Beginner's Guide]by Stefan Kottwitz (Packt Publishing,
+ 2011, \ISBN*{1847199860}{978-1847199867})
+\item[The \LaTeX{} Companion]by Frank Mittelbach, Michel Goossens,
+ Johannes Braams, David Carlisle and Chris Rowley (second edition,
+ Addison-Wesley, 2004, \ISBN*{0-201-36299-6}{978-0-201-36299-2}); the
+ book as also available as a digital download (in \acro{EPUB},
+ \acro{MOBI} and \acro{PDF} formats) from
+ \url{http://www.informit.com/store/latex-companion-9780133387667}
+\item[The \LaTeX{} Graphics Companion:]%
+ \emph{Illustrating documents with \TeX{} and \PS{}} by Michel
+ Goossens, Sebastian Rahtz, Frank Mittelbach, Denis Roegel and
+ Herbert Vo\ss {} (second edition, Addison-Wesley, 2007,
+ \ISBN*{0-321-50892-0}{978-0-321-50892-8})
+\item[The \LaTeX{} Web Companion:]%
+ \emph{Integrating \TeX{}, \acro{HTML} and \acro{XML}} by Michel
+ Goossens and Sebastian Rahtz (Addison-Wesley, 1999, \ISBN{0-201-43311-7})
+\item[\TeX{} Unbound:]%
+ \emph{\LaTeX{} and \TeX{} strategies for fonts, graphics, and more}
+ by Alan Hoenig (Oxford University Press, 1998, \ISBN{0-19-509685-1}
+ hardback, \ISBN{0-19-509686-X} paperback)
+% \item[Math into \LaTeX{}:]\emph{An Introduction to \LaTeX{} and \AMSLaTeX{}}
+% by George Gr\"atzer (third edition Birkh\"auser and Springer Verlag,
+% 2000, \ISBN{0-8176-4431-9}, \ISBN{3-7643-4131-9})
+% \checked{RF}{2001/01/16}
+\item[More Math into \latex{}:]\emph{An Introduction to} \LaTeX{}
+ \emph{and} \AMSLaTeX{} by George Gr\"atzer (fourth edition Springer Verlag,
+ 2007, \ISBN{978-0-387-32289-6}
+%% gr\"atzer's home page
+%% http://www.maths.umanitoba.ca/homepages/gratzer.html/LaTeXBooks.html
+\item[Digital Typography Using \LaTeX{}]Incorporating some
+ multilingual aspects, and use of \Qref*{Omega}{Q-omegaleph}, by
+ Apostolos Syropoulos, Antonis Tsolomitis and Nick Sofroniou
+ (Springer, 2003, \ISBN{0-387-95217-9}).
+% A list of errata for the first printing of Digital Typography Using
+% \LaTeX{} is available from:
+% \URL{http://www.springer-ny.com/catalog/np/jan99np/0-387-98708-8.html}
+% (not any longer)
+\item[First Steps in \LaTeX{}]by George Gr\"atzer (Birkh\"auser, 1999,
+ \ISBN{0-8176-4132-7})
+\item[\LaTeX{}: Line by Line:]%
+ \emph{Tips and Techniques for Document Processing}
+ by Antoni Diller (second edition, John Wiley \& Sons,
+ 1999, \ISBN{0-471-97918-X})
+\item[\LaTeX{} for Linux:]\emph{A Vade Mecum}
+ by Bernice Sacks Lipkin (Springer-Verlag, 1999,
+ \ISBN{0-387-98708-8}, second printing)
+\item[Typesetting Mathematics with \latex{}]by Herbert Vo\ss {} (UIT
+ Cambridge, 2010, \ISBN{978-1-906-86017-2})
+% checked 2011-09-09 http://www.uit.co.uk/BK-TMWL/HomePage
+\item[Typesetting Tables with \latex{}]by Herbert Vo\ss {}, (UIT
+ Cambridge, 2011, \ISBN{978-1-906-86025-7})
+% checked 2011-09-09 http://www.uit.co.uk/BK-TTWL/HomePage
+\item[PSTricks: Graphics and PostScript for \tex{} and \latex{}]by
+ Herbert Vo\ss {}, (UIT Cambridge, 2011, \ISBN{978-1-906-86013-4})
+\end{booklist}
+A sample of George Gr\"atzer's ``Math into \LaTeX{}'', in Adobe
+Acrobat format, and example files
+for the three \LaTeX{} Companions, and for
+Gr\"atzer's ``First Steps in \LaTeX{}'', are all available on
+\acro{CTAN}.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Examples for \nothtml{\upshape}First Steps in \LaTeX{}]\CTANref{gfs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Examples for \nothtml{\upshape}\LaTeX{} Companion]\CTANref{tlc2}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Examples for \nothtml{\upshape}\LaTeX{} Graphics Companion]\CTANref{lgc}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Examples for \nothtml{\upshape}\LaTeX{} Web Companion]\CTANref{lwc}
+%\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Examples for \nothtml{\upshape}\TeX{} in Practice]\CTANref{tip}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Sample of \nothtml{\upshape}Math into \LaTeX{}]\CTANref{mil}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2014-03-14}
+
+\Question[Q-other-books]{Books on other \tex{}-related matters}
+
+There's a nicely-presented list of of ``recommended books'' to be had
+on the web: \URL{http://www.macrotex.net/texbooks/}
+
+The list of \MF{} books is rather short:
+\begin{booklist}
+\item[The \MF{}book]by Donald Knuth (Addison Wesley, 1986,
+ \ISBN{0-201-13445-4}, \ISBN{0-201-52983-1} paperback)
+\end{booklist}
+Alan Hoenig's `\textsl{\TeX{} Unbound}' includes some discussion and
+examples of using \MF{}.
+
+A book covering a wide range of topics (including installation and
+maintenance) is:
+\begin{booklist}
+\item[Making \TeX{} Work]by Norman Walsh (O'Reilly and Associates,
+ Inc, 1994, \ISBN{1-56592-051-1})
+\end{booklist}
+The book is decidedly dated, and is now out of print, but a copy is
+available via \texttt{sourceforge} and on \acro{CTAN},
+and we list it under ``\Qref*{online books}{Q-ol-books}''.
+\LastEdit*{2011-06-01}
+
+\Question[Q-type-books]{Books on Type}
+
+ The following is a partial listing of books on typography in general.
+Of these, Bringhurst seems to be the one most often recommended.
+\begin{booklist}
+\item[The Elements of Typographic Style]by Robert Bringhurst
+ (Hartley \& Marks, 1992, \ISBN{0-88179-033-8})
+\item[Finer Points in the Spacing \& Arrangement of Type]by Geoffrey Dowding
+ (Hartley \& Marks, 1996, \ISBN{0-88179-119-9})
+\item[The Thames \& Hudson Manual of Typography]by Ruari McLean
+ (Thames \& Hudson, 1980, \ISBN{0-500-68022-1})
+\item[The Form of the Book]by Jan Tschichold
+ (Lund Humphries, 1991, \ISBN{0-85331-623-6})
+\item[Type \& Layout]by Colin Wheildon
+ (Strathmore Press, 2006, \ISBN{1-875750-22-3})
+\item[The Design of Books]by Adrian Wilson
+ (Chronicle Books, 1993, \ISBN{0-8118-0304-X})
+\item[Optical Letter Spacing]by David Kindersley and Lida Cardozo Kindersley
+ % ! line break
+ (\href{http://www.kindersleyworkshop.co.uk/}{The Cardozo Kindersley Workshop}
+ 2001, \ISBN{1-874426-139})
+\end{booklist}
+
+ There are many catalogues of type specimens but the following books provide
+a more interesting overall view of types in general and some of their history.
+\begin{booklist}
+\item[Alphabets Old \& New]by Lewis F.~Day
+ (Senate, 1995, \ISBN{1-85958-160-9})
+\item[An Introduction to the History of Printing Types]by Geoffrey Dowding
+ (British Library, 1998, UK \ISBN{0-7123-4563-9}; USA \ISBN{1-884718-44-2})
+\item[The Alphabet Abecedarium]by Richard A.~Firmage
+ (David R.~Godine, 1993, \ISBN{0-87923-998-0})
+\item[The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering]by Frederick Goudy
+ (Dover, 1963, \ISBN{0-486-20792-7})
+\item[Anatomy of a Typeface]by Alexander Lawson
+ (David R.~Godine, 1990, \ISBN{0-87923-338-8})
+\item[A Tally of Types]by Stanley Morison
+ (David R.~Godine, 1999, \ISBN{1-56792-004-7})
+\item[Counterpunch]by Fred Smeijers
+ (Hyphen, 1996, \ISBN{0-907259-06-5})
+\item[Treasury of Alphabets and Lettering]by Jan Tschichold
+ (W.~W.~Norton, 1992, \ISBN{0-393-70197-2})
+\item[A Short History of the Printed Word]by Warren Chappell and
+ Robert Bringhurst (Hartley \& Marks, 1999, \ISBN{0-88179-154-7})
+\end{booklist}
+
+ The above lists are limited to books published in English. Typographic
+styles are somewhat language-dependent, and similarly the `interesting' fonts
+depend on the particular writing system involved.
+\LastEdit{2011-06-01}
+
+\Question[Q-whereFAQ]{Where to find \acro{FAQ}s}
+
+Bobby Bodenheimer's article, from which this \acro{FAQ} was developed, used
+to be posted (nominally monthly) to newsgroup
+\Newsgroup{comp.text.tex}. The (long
+obsolete) last posted copy of that article is kept on \acro{CTAN} for
+auld lang syne.
+
+\begin{pdfversion}
+A version of the \href{http://www.tex.ac.uk/faq}{present \acro{FAQ}}
+may be browsed via the World-Wide Web, and its sources
+\end{pdfversion}
+\begin{dviversion}
+A version of the present \acro{FAQ} may be browsed via the World-Wide Web, at
+\acro{URL} \URL{http://www.tex.ac.uk/faq}, and its sources
+\end{dviversion}
+\begin{htmlversion}
+The sources of the present \acro{FAQ}
+\end{htmlversion}
+are available from \acro{CTAN}.
+
+This \acro{FAQ} and others are regularly mentioned, on
+\Newsgroup{comp.text.tex} and elsewhere, in a ``pointer \acro{FAQ}''
+which is also saved at \URL{http://tug.org/tex-ptr-faq}
+
+A 2006 innovation from Scott Pakin is the ``visual'' \LaTeX{} \acro{FAQ}.
+This is a document with (mostly rubbish) text formatted so as to
+highlight things we discuss here, and providing Acrobat hyper-links to
+the relevant answers in this \acro{FAQ} on the Web. The visual
+\acro{FAQ} is provided in \acro{PDF} format, on \acro{CTAN}; it works
+best using Adobe Acrobat Reader 7 (or later); some features are
+missing with other readers, or with earlier versions of Acrobat Reader
+
+Another excellent information source, available in English, is the
+\href{http://tex.loria.fr}{\AllTeX{} navigator}.
+
+Both the Francophone \TeX{} user group Gutenberg and the Czech/Slovak
+user group CS-TUG have published translations of this \acro{FAQ}, with
+extensions appropriate to their languages.
+
+% Herbert Vo\ss {}'s excellent % beware line break
+% \href{http://texnik.de/}{\LaTeX{} tips and tricks}
+% provides excellent advice on most topics one might imagine (though
+% it's not strictly a \acro{FAQ})~--- highly recommended for most
+% ordinary mortals' use.
+
+The Open Directory Project (\acro{ODP}) maintains a list of sources of
+\AllTeX{} help, including \acro{FAQ}s. View the \TeX{} area at
+\URL{http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Typesetting/TeX/}
+
+Other non-English \acro{FAQ}s are available (off-\acro{CTAN}):
+\begin{booklist}
+\item[German]Posted regularly to \Newsgroup{de.comp.tex}, and archived
+ on \acro{CTAN}; the \acro{FAQ} also appears at
+ \URL{http://www.dante.de/faq/de-tex-faq/}
+\item[French]%
+%% An interactive (full-screen!) FAQ may be found at
+%% \URL{http://www.frenchpro6.com/screen.pdf/FAQscreen.pdf}, and a copy
+%% for printing at \URL{http://frenchle.free.fr/FAQ.pdf};
+ A FAQ used to be posted regularly to
+ \Newsgroup{fr.comp.text.tex}, and is archived on \acro{CTAN}~---
+ sadly, that effort seems to have fallen by the wayside.
+%% \item[Spanish]See \URL{http://apolo.us.es/CervanTeX/FAQ/}
+\item[Czech]See \URL{http://www.fi.muni.cz/cstug/csfaq/}
+\end{booklist}
+
+Resources available on \acro{CTAN} are:
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Dante \acro{FAQ}]\CTANref{dante-faq}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}French \acro{FAQ}]\CTANref{french-faq}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Sources of this \acro{FAQ}]\CTANref{faq}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Obsolete \texttt{comp.text.tex} \acro{FAQ}]%
+ \CTANref{TeX-FAQ}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}The visual \acro{FAQ}]\CTANref{visualFAQ}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2013-07-02}
+
+\Question[Q-gethelp]{Getting help online}
+
+We assume, here, that you have looked at all relevant
+\Qref*{\acro{FAQ} answers}{Q-whereFAQ} you can find, you've looked in
+any \Qref*{books}{Q-book-lists} you have, and scanned relevant
+\Qref*{tutorials}{Q-tutorials*}\dots{} and still you don't know what
+to do.
+
+There are two more steps you can take before formulating a question to
+the \tex{} world at large.
+
+First, (if you are seeking a particular package or program), start by
+looking on your own system: you might already have what you seek~---
+the better \TeX{} distributions provide a wide range of supporting
+material. The \Qref*{\acro{CTAN} Catalogue}{Q-catalogue} can also
+identify packages that might help: you can % ! line break
+\href{http://www.tex.ac.uk/search}{search it}, or you can browse it
+\begin{hyperversion}
+% !!!! line break
+``\href{http://mirrors.ctan.org/help/Catalogue/bytopic.html}{by topic}''.
+\end{hyperversion}
+\begin{flatversion}
+``by topic'' at
+\url{http://mirrors.ctan.org/help/Catalogue/bytopic.html}
+\end{flatversion}
+Each catalogue entry has a brief description of the package, and links to
+known documentation on the net. In fact, a large proportion of
+\acro{CTAN} package directories now include documentation, so it's
+often worth looking at the catalogue entry for a package you're considering
+using (where possible, each package link in the main body of these
+\acro{FAQ}s \hyperflat{has a link to}{shows the \acro{URL} of}
+the relevant catalogue entry).
+
+Failing that, look to see if anyone has solved the problem before;
+places where people ask are:
+\begin{enumerate}
+\item newsgroup \Newsgroup{comp.text.tex}, whose ``historical posts''
+ are accessible via
+ \href{http://groups.google.com/group/comp.text.tex}{Google groups},
+ and
+\item the mailing list \texttt{texhax} via its
+ \href{http://tug.org/pipermail/texhax/}{archive}, or via the `Gmane'
+ newsgroup \Newsgroup{gmane.comp.tex.texhax}, which holds a
+ \emph{very} long history of the list. A long shot would be to
+ search the archives of the mailing list's ancient posts on
+ \acro{CTAN}, which go back to the days when it was a digest: in
+ those days, a question asked in one issue would only ever be
+ answered in the next one.
+\end{enumerate}
+If the ``back question'' searches fail, you must ask the world at
+large.
+
+So, how do you like to ask questions?~--- the three available
+mechanisms are:
+\begin{enumerate}
+\item Mailing lists: there are various specialist mailing lists, but
+ the place for `general' \alltex{} queries is the \texttt{texhax}
+ mailing list. Mail to \mailto{texhax@tug.org} to ask a question,
+ but it's probably better to subscribe to the list
+ (via \URL{http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/texhax}) % ! no ~ allowed
+ first~--- not everyone will answer to you as well as to the list.
+\item Newsgroup: to ask a question on \Newsgroup{comp.text.tex}, you
+ can use your own news client (if you have one), or use the ``+ new
+ post'' button on
+ \URL{http://groups.google.com/group/comp.text.tex}.
+\item Web forum: alternatives are: the % ! line break
+ \href{http://www.latex-community.org/}{``\LaTeX{} community'' site},
+ which offers a variety of `categories' to place your query, and the
+ % the next line will tend to break if you add _anything_ to it!
+ \href{http://tex.stackexchange.com/}{\TeX{}, \LaTeX{} and friends Q\&A site}
+ (``StackExchange'').
+
+ StackExchange has a scheme for voting on the quality of answers (and
+ hence of those who offer support). This arrangement is supposed to
+ enable you to rank any answers that are posted.
+
+ StackExchange offers
+ \href{http://meta.tex.stackexchange.com/questions/1436/welcome-to-tex-sx}{hints about ``good behaviour''},
+ which any user should at least scan before asking for help there.
+ (The hints' principal aim is to maximise the chance that you get useful
+ advice from the first answer; for example, it suggests that you supply a
+ \Qref*{minimal example of your problem}{Q-askquestion}, just as
+ these \acro{FAQ}s do. There are people on the site who can be abrasive
+ to those asking questions, who seem not to be following the
+ guidelines for good behaviour)
+\end{enumerate}
+Do \textbf{not} try mailing the \LaTeX{} project team, the maintainers
+of the \texlive{} or \miktex{} distributions or the maintainers of
+these \acro{FAQ}s for help; while all these addresses reach
+experienced \AllTeX{} users, no small group can possibly have
+expertise in every area of usage so that the ``big'' lists and forums
+are a far better bet.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[texhax \nothtml{\rmfamily}`back copies']\CTANref{texhax}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2014-01-28}
+
+\Question[Q-maillists*]{Specialist mailing lists}
+
+The previous question, ``\Qref*{getting help}{Q-gethelp}'', talked of
+the two major forums in which \AllTeX{}, \MF{} and \MP{} are
+discussed; however, these aren't the only ones available.
+
+The \acro{TUG} web site offers many mailing lists other than just
+\texttt{texhax} via its % ! line break
+\href{http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo}{mail list management page}.
+
+The French national \TeX{} user group, Gutenberg, offers a \MF{} (and,
+de facto, \MP{}) mailing list, \mailto{metafont@ens.fr}: subscribe to
+it by sending a message
+\begin{quote}
+\begin{verbatim}
+subscribe metafont
+\end{verbatim}
+\end{quote}
+to \mailto{sympa@ens.fr}
+
+(Note that there's also a \MP{}-specific mailing list available via the
+\acro{TUG} list server; in fact there's little danger of becoming confused
+by subscribing to both.)
+
+Announcements of \TeX{}-related installations on the \acro{CTAN}
+archives are sent to the mailing list \texttt{ctan-ann}. Subscribe
+to the list via its \ProgName{MailMan} web-site
+\URL{https://lists.dante.de/mailman/listinfo/ctan-ann}; list archives
+are available at the same address. The list archives may also be
+browsed via \URL{http://www.mail-archive.com/ctan-ann@dante.de/}, and
+an \acro{RSS} feed is also available:
+\URL{http://www.mail-archive.com/ctan-ann@dante.de/maillist.xml}
+
+\Question[Q-askquestion]{How to ask a question}
+
+You want help from the community at large; you've decided where you're
+going to \Qref*{ask your question}{Q-gethelp}, but how do you
+phrase it?
+
+Excellent ``general'' advice (how to ask questions of anyone) is
+contained in
+%beware line break
+\href{http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html}{Eric Raymond's article on the topic}.
+Eric's an extremely self-confident person, and this comes through in
+his advice; but his guidelines are very good, even for us in the
+un-self-confident majority. It's important to remember that you don't
+have a right to advice from the world, but that if you express
+yourself well, you will usually find someone who will be pleased to
+help.
+
+So how do you express yourself in the \AllTeX{} world? There aren't
+any comprehensive rules, but a few guidelines may help in the
+application of your own common sense.
+\begin{itemize}
+\item Make sure you're asking the right people. Don't ask in a \TeX{}
+ forum about printer device drivers for the \ProgName{Foobar}
+ operating system. Yes, \TeX{} users need printers, but no, \TeX{}
+ users will typically \emph{not} be \ProgName{Foobar} systems
+ managers.
+
+ Similarly, avoid posing a question in a language that the majority
+ of the group don't use: post in Ruritanian to
+ \Newsgroup{de.comp.text.tex} and you may have a long wait before a
+ German- and Ruritanian-speaking \TeX{} expert notices your
+ question.
+\item If your question is (or may be) \TeX{}-system-specific, report
+ what system you're using, or intend to use: ``I can't install
+ \TeX{}'' is as good as useless, whereas ``I'm trying to install the
+ \ProgName{mumbleTeX} distribution on the \ProgName{Grobble}
+ operating system'' gives all the context a potential respondent
+ might need. Another common situation where this information is
+ important is when you're having trouble installing something new in
+ your system: ``I want to add the \Package{glugtheory} package to my
+ \ProgName{mumbleTeX v12.0} distribution on the \ProgName{Grobble 2024}
+ operating system''.
+\item If you need to know how to do something, make clear what your
+ environment is: ``I want to do \emph{x} in \plaintex{}'', or ``I
+ want to do \emph{y} in \LaTeX{} running the \Class{boggle}
+ class''. If you thought you knew how, but your attempts are
+ failing, tell us what you've tried: ``I've already tried installing
+ the \Package{elephant} in the \Package{minicar} directory, and it
+ didn't work, even after refreshing the filename database''.
+\item If something's going wrong within \AllTeX{}, pretend you're
+ \Qref*{submitting a \LaTeX{} bug report}{Q-latexbug},
+ and try to generate a \Qref*{minimum failing example}{Q-minxampl}.
+ If your example
+ needs your local \Class{xyzthesis} class, or some other resource
+ not generally available, be sure to include a pointer to how the
+ resource can be obtained.
+\item Figures are special, of course. Sometimes the figure itself is
+ \emph{really} needed, but most problems may be demonstrated with a
+ ``figure substitute'' in the form of a
+ \cmdinvoke*{rule}{width}{height} command, for some value of
+ \meta{width} and \meta{height}. If the (real) figure is needed,
+ don't try posting it: far better to put it on the web somewhere.
+\item Be as succinct as possible. Your helpers don't usually need to
+ know \emph{why} you're doing something, just \emph{what} you're
+ doing and where the problem is.
+\end{itemize}
+
+\Question[Q-minxampl]{How to make a ``minimum example''}
+
+\Qref[Question]{Our advice on asking questions}{Q-askquestion}
+suggests that you prepare a ``minimum example'' (also commonly known
+as a ``\emph{minimal} example'') of failing behaviour,
+as a sample to post with your question. If you have a problem in a
+two hundred page document, it may be unclear how to proceed from this
+problem to a succinct demonstration of your problem.
+
+There are two valid approaches to this task: building up, and hacking
+down.
+
+% ! line break
+\latexhtml{The ``building up'' process}{\textbf{\emph{Building up}}} starts
+with a basic document structure
+(for \LaTeX{}, this would have \csx{documentclass},
+\cmdinvoke{begin}{document}, \cmdinvoke{end}{document}) and adds
+things. First to add is a paragraph or so around the actual point
+where the problem occurs. (It may prove difficult to find the actual
+line that's provoking the problem. If the original problem is an
+error, reviewing % ! line break
+\Qref[the answer to question]{``the structure of \TeX{} errors''}{Q-errstruct}
+may help.)
+
+Note that there are things that can go wrong in one part of the
+document as a result of something in another part: the commonest is
+problems in the table of contents (from something in a section title,
+or whatever), or the list of \meta{something} (from something in a
+\csx{caption}). In such a case, include the section title or caption
+(the caption probably needs the \environment{figure} or
+\environment{table} environment around it, but it \emph{doesn't} need
+the figure or table itself).
+
+If this file you've built up shows the problem already, then you're done.
+Otherwise, try adding packages; the optimum is a file with only one
+package in it, but you may find that the guilty package won't even load
+properly unless another package has been loaded. (Another common case
+is that package \Package{A} only fails when package \Package{B} has been
+loaded.)
+
+% ! line break
+\latexhtml{The ``hacking down'' route}{\textbf{\emph{Hacking down}}} starts
+with your entire document, and
+removes bits until the file no longer fails (and then of course
+restores the last thing removed). Don't forget to hack out any
+unnecessary packages, but mostly, the difficulty is choosing what to
+hack out of the body of the document; this is the mirror of the
+problem above, in the ``building up'' route.
+
+If you've added a package (or more than one), add \csx{listfiles} to
+the preamble too: that way, \LaTeX{} will produce a list of the
+packages you've used and their version numbers. This information may
+be useful evidence for people trying to help you.
+
+The process of `building up', and to some extent that of `hacking
+down', can be helped by stuff available on \acro{CTAN}:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item the \Class{minimal} class (part of the \latex{} distribution)
+ does what its name says: it provides nothing more than what is
+ needed to get \latex{} code going, and
+\item the \Package{mwe} bundle provides a number of images in formats
+ that \alltex{} documents can use, and a small package \Package{mwe}
+ which loads other useful packages (such as \Package{blindtext} and
+ \Package{lipsum}, both capable of producing dummy text in a
+ document).
+\end{itemize}
+
+What if none of of these cut-down derivatives of your document will
+show your error? Whatever you do, don't post the whole of the document: if
+you can, it may be useful to make a copy available on the web
+somewhere: people will probably understand if it's impossible~\dots{}\
+or inadvisable, in the case of something confidential.
+
+If the whole document is indeed necessary, it could be that your
+error is an overflow of some sort; the best you can do is to post the
+code ``around'' the error, and (of course) the full text of the error.
+
+It may seem that all this work is rather excessive for preparing a
+simple post. There are two responses to that, both based on the
+relative inefficiency of asking a question on the internet.
+
+First, preparing a minimum document very often leads \emph{you} to the
+answer, without all the fuss of posting and looking for responses.
+
+Second, your prime aim is to get an answer as quickly as possible; a
+well-prepared example stands a good chance of attracting an answer
+``in a single pass'': if the person replying to your post finds she
+needs more information, you have to find that request, post again, and
+wait for your benefactor to produce a second response.
+
+All things considered, a good example file can save you a day, for
+perhaps half an hour's effort invested.
+
+Much of the above advice, differently phrased, may also be read on the
+web at \URL{http://www.minimalbeispiel.de/mini-en.html}; source of
+that article may be found at \URL{http://www.minimalbeispiel.de/}, in
+both German and English.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[blindtext.sty]\CTANref{blindtext}
+\item[lipsum.sty]\CTANref{lipsum}
+\item[minimal.cls]Distributed as part of \CTANref{latex}
+\item[mwe.sty]\CTANref{mwe}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2013-01-09}
+
+\Question[Q-tutorials*]{Tutorials, etc., for \tex{}-based systems}
+
+From a situation where every \AllTeX{} user \emph{had} to buy a book
+if she was not to find herself groping blindly along, we now have what
+almost amounts to an embarrassment of riches of online documentation.
+The following answers attempt to create lists of sources ``by topic''.
+
+First we have introductory manuals, for
+\Qref*{\plaintex{}}{Q-man-tex} and \Qref*{\LaTeX{}}{Q-man-latex}.
+
+Next comes a selection of
+\Qref*{``specialised'' \AllTeX{} tutorials}{Q-tutbitslatex},
+each of which concentrates on a single \LaTeX{} topic.
+
+A small selection of reference documents (it would be good to have
+more) are listed in an \Qref*{answer of their own}{Q-ref-doc}.
+
+Next comes the (somewhat newer) field of % ! line break
+\Qref*{\TeX{}-related WIKIs}{Q-doc-wiki}.
+
+A rather short list gives us a % ! line break
+\Qref*{Typography style tutorial}{Q-typo-style}.
+\LastEdit{2011-09-26}
+
+\Question[Q-man-tex]{Online introductions: \plaintex{}}
+
+Michael Doob's splendid `Gentle Introduction' to \plaintex{}
+(available on \acro{CTAN}) has been stable for a very long time.
+
+Another recommendable document is D. R.~Wilkins' `Getting started with \TeX{}',
+available on the web at \URL{http://www.ntg.nl/doc/wilkins/pllong.pdf}
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Gentle Introduction]\CTANref{gentle}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+
+\Question[Q-man-latex]{Online introductions: \LaTeX{}}
+
+A pleasing little document, ``Getting something out of \LaTeX{}'' is
+designed to give a feel of \LaTeX{} to someone who's never used it at
+all. It's not a tutorial, merely helps the user to decide whether to
+go on to a tutorial, and thence to `real' use of \LaTeX{}.
+
+Tobias Oetiker's `(Not so) Short Introduction to \LaTeXe{}', is
+regularly updated, as people suggest better ways of explaining things,
+etc. The introduction is available on \acro{CTAN}, together with
+translations into a rather large set of languages.
+
+Peter Flynn's ``Beginner's \LaTeX{}'' (which started life as course
+material) is a pleasing read. A complete copy may be found on
+\acro{CTAN}, but it may also be browsed over the web
+(\URL{http://mirrors.ctan.org/info/beginlatex/html/}).
+
+Harvey Greenberg's `Simplified Introduction to \LaTeX{}' was written
+for a lecture course, and is also available on \acro{CTAN} (in \PS{}
+only, unfortunately).
+
+The fourth edition of George Gr\"atzer's book ``Math into \LaTeX{}''
+contains a ``short course'' in \LaTeX{} itself, and that course has
+been made publicly available on \acro{CTAN}.
+
+Philip Hirschhorn's ``Getting up and running with \AMSLaTeX{}'' has a
+brief introduction to \LaTeX{} itself, followed by a substantial
+introduction to the use of the \acro{AMS} classes and the
+\Package{amsmath} package and other things that are potentially of
+interest to those writing documents containing mathematics.
+
+Edith Hodgen's % beware line break
+\href{http://www.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/~david/latex/notes.pdf}{\LaTeX{}, a Braindump}
+starts you from the ground up~--- giving a basic tutorial in the use
+of \ProgName{Linux} to get you going (rather a large file\dots{}).
+Its parent site, David Friggens' % ! line break
+\href{http://www.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/~david/latex/}{documentation page} is a
+useful collection of links in itself.
+
+% ! line break
+\href{http://www.andy-roberts.net/misc/latex/}{Andy Roberts' introductory material}
+is a pleasing short introduction to the use of \AllTeX{}; some of the
+slides for \emph{actual} tutorials are to be found on the page, as
+well.
+
+D. R.~Wilkins' % ! line break
+\href{http://www.maths.tcd.ie/~dwilkins/LaTeXPrimer/}{`Getting started with \latex{}'}
+also looks good (it appears shorter~--- more of a primer~--- than some
+of the other offerings).
+
+Chris Harrison's % ! line break
+\href{http://xoph.co/20111024/latex-tutorial/}{LaTeX tutorial}
+presents basic \LaTeX{} in a rather pleasing and straightforward way.
+
+Nicola Talbot's % ! line break
+\href{http://www.dickimaw-books.com/latex/novices/}{\LaTeX{} for complete novices}
+does what it claims: the author teaches \LaTeX{} at the University of
+East Anglia. The ``Novices'' tutorial is one of several % ! line break
+\href{http://www.dickimaw-books.com/latex/}{introductory tutorials},
+which include exercises (with solutions). Other tutorials include
+those for % ! line break
+\href{http://www.dickimaw-books.com/latex/thesis/}{writing theses/dissertations with \LaTeX{}}, and for % ! line break
+\href{http://www.dickimaw-books.com/latex/admin/}{using \LaTeX{} in administrative work}
+
+Engelbert Buxbaum provides the `slides' for his \latex{} course `The
+\latex{} document preparation system'; this seems to be a departmental
+course at his university.
+
+Mark van Dongen's % line break
+\href{"http://csweb.ucc.ie/~dongen/LaTeX-and-Friends.pdf}{`\latex and friends'}
+appeared as he was writing his book on the subject (soon to be published).
+
+An interesting (and practical) tutorial about what \emph{not} to do is
+\Package{l2tabu}, or ``A list of sins of \LaTeXe{} users'' by Mark
+Trettin, translated into English by J\"urgen Fenn. The
+tutorial is available from \acro{CTAN} as a \acro{PDF} file (though
+the source is also available).
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Beginner's \LaTeX{}]\CTANref{beginlatex-pdf}
+% ! line break
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Getting something out of \latex{}]\CTANref{first-latex-doc}
+% ! line break
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Getting up and running with \AMSLaTeX{}]\CTANref{amslatex-primer}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Slides for \latex{} course]\CTANref{latex-course}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Not so Short Introduction]\CTANref{lshort}
+ (in English, you may browse for sources and other language versions at
+ \CTANref{lshort-parent})
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Simplified \LaTeX{}]\CTANref{simpl-latex}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Short Course in \LaTeX{}]\CTANref{mil-short}
+% ! line break
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}The sins of \LaTeX{} users]Browse
+ \CTANref{l2tabu} for a copy of the document in a language that is
+ convenient for you
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2012-11-29}
+
+\Question[Q-tutbitslatex]{\AllTeX{} tutorials}
+\AliasQuestion{Q-doc-dirs}
+
+The \acro{AMS} publishes a ``Short Math Guide for \LaTeX{}'', which is
+available (in several formats) via
+\URL{http://www.ams.org/tex/amslatex.html} (the ``Additional
+Documentation'' about half-way down the page.
+
+Herbert Vo\ss {} has written an extensive guide to mathematics in
+\LaTeX{}, and a development of it has been % ! line break
+\Qref*{published as a book}{Q-latex-books}.
+
+Two documents written more than ten years apart about font usage in
+\TeX{} are worth reading: % ! line break
+\href{http://www.tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb14-2/tb39rahtz-nfss.pdf}{Essential NFSS}
+by Sebastian Rahtz, and % ! line break
+\href{http://tug.org/pracjourn/2006-1/schmidt/schmidt.pdf}{Font selection in LaTeX},
+cast in the form of an \acro{FAQ}, by Walter Schmidt. A general
+compendium of font information (including the two above) may be found
+on the \href{http://www.tug.org/fonts/}{TUG web site}.
+
+T\acro{UG} India is developing a series of online \LaTeX{} tutorials
+which can be strongly recommended: select single chapters at a time
+from \URL{http://www.tug.org/tutorials/tugindia}\nobreakspace--- there
+are 17~chapters in the series, two of which are mostly introductory.
+
+Peter Smith's
+\begin{narrowversion}
+ ``\LaTeX{} for Logicians''
+ (\URL{http://www.logicmatters.net/latex-for-logicians/})
+\end{narrowversion}
+\begin{wideversion}
+ % ! line break
+ ``\href{http://www.logicmatters.net/latex-for-logicians/}{\LaTeX{} for Logicians}''
+\end{wideversion}
+page covers a rather smaller subject area, but is similarly comprehensive
+(mostly by links to documents on relevant topics, rather than as a
+monolithic document).
+
+Keith Reckdahl's ``Using Imported Graphics in \LaTeXe{}''
+(\Package{epslatex}) is an
+excellent introduction to graphics use. It's available on
+\acro{CTAN}, but not in the \texlive{} or miktex{} distributions, for
+lack of sources.
+
+Stefan Kottwitz manages a web site devoted to the use of the drawing
+packages % ! line break
+\Qref*{\acro{PGF} and \acro{T}ik\acro{Z}}{Q-drawing}, % ! line break
+\url{http://www.texample.net/}
+
+Included is % ! line break
+ \href{http://www.texample.net/tikz/examples/}{examples catalogue}
+includes examples (with output) from the package documentation as well
+as code written by the original site maintainer (Kjell Magne Fauske)
+and others.
+
+The compendious \acro{PGF}/\acro{T}ik\acro{Z} manual is clear, but is
+bewildering for some beginners. The % ! line break
+\href{http://cremeronline.com/LaTeX/minimaltikz.pdf}{`minimal' introduction}
+has helped at least the present author.
+
+Vincent Zoonekynd provides a set of excellent (and graphic) tutorials
+on the programming of % !line breaks, ...
+\href{http://zoonek.free.fr/LaTeX/LaTeX_samples_title/0.html}{title page styles},
+\href{http://zoonek.free.fr/LaTeX/LaTeX_samples_chapter/0.html}{chapter heading styles}
+and
+\href{http://zoonek.free.fr/LaTeX/LaTeX_samples_section/0.html}{section heading styles}.
+In each file, there is a selection of graphics representing an output
+style, and for each style, the code that produces it is shown.
+
+An invaluable step-by-step setup guide for establishing a ``work
+flow'' through your \AllTeX{} system, so that output appears at the
+correct size and position on standard-sized paper, and that the print
+quality is satisfactory, is Mike Shell's \Package{testflow}. The
+tutorial consists of a large plain text document, and there is a
+supporting \LaTeX{} file together with correct output, both in \PS{} and
+\acro{PDF}, for each of \acro{A}4 and ``letter'' paper sizes. The
+complete kit is available on \acro{CTAN} (distributed with the
+author's macros for papers submitted for \acro{IEEE} publications).
+The issues are also covered in a later % ! line break
+\Qref{\acro{FAQ} answer}{Q-dvips-pdf}.
+
+Documentation of Japanese \ensuremath{\Omega{}} use appears in
+Haruhiko Okumura's page
+% ! line break
+\href{http://oku.edu.mie-u.ac.jp/~okumura/texfaq/japanese/}{typesetting Japanese with Omega}
+(the parent page is in Japanese, so out of the scope of this
+\acro{FAQ} list).
+
+Some university departments make their local documentation available
+on the web. Most straightforwardly, there's the simple translation of
+existing documentation into \acro{HTML}, for example the \acro{INFO}
+documentation of the \AllTeX{} installation, of which a sample is the
+\LaTeX{} documentation available at
+\URL{http://www.tac.dk/cgi-bin/info2www?(latex)}
+
+More ambitiously, some university departments have enthusiastic
+documenters who
+make public record of their \AllTeX{} support. For example, Tim Love
+(of Cambridge University Engineering Department) maintains his
+department's pages at
+\URL{http://www-h.eng.cam.ac.uk/help/tpl/textprocessing/}
+%% and Mimi
+%% Burbank (of the School of Computer Science \& Information Technology
+%% at the University of Florida) manages her department's at
+%% \URL{http://www.csit.fsu.edu/~mimi/tex/}\nobreakspace--- both sets are fine
+%% examples of good practice.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Graphics in \LaTeXe{}]\CTANref{epslatex}
+\item[testflow]\CTANref{testflow}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Herbert Vo\ss {}'s Maths tutorial]\CTANref{voss-mathmode}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+
+\Question[Q-ref-doc]{Reference documents}
+
+For \TeX{} primitive commands a rather nice % ! line break
+\href{http://www.nmt.edu/tcc/help/pubs/texcrib.pdf}{quick reference booklet},
+by John W.~Shipman, is available; it's arranged in the same way as the
+\TeX{}book. By contrast, you can view David Bausum's % ! line break
+\href{http://www.tug.org/utilities/plain/cseq.html}{list of \TeX{} primitives}
+alphabetically or arranged by ``family''. Either way, the list has a
+link for each control sequence, that leads you to a detailed
+description, which includes page references to the \TeX{}book.
+
+There doesn't seem to be a reference that takes in \plaintex{} as
+well as the primitive commands.
+
+An interesting \LaTeX{} ``cheat sheet'' is available from \acro{CTAN}:
+it's a list of (more or less) everything you `ought to' remember, for
+basic \LaTeX{} use. % line break
+(It's laid out very compactly for printing on N.\ American `letter';
+printed on \acro{ISO} \acro{A}4, using Adobe Acrobat's ``shrink to
+fit'', it strains aged eyes\dots{})
+
+For command organised references to \LaTeX{}, Karl Berry (et
+al)'s % !line break
+\href{http://home.gna.org/latexrefman}{LaTeX reference manual} is (to
+an extent) work in progress, but is generally reliable (source is
+available on the.archive as well).
+
+Martin Scharrer's ``List of internal \latex{} macros'' is a help to
+those aiming to write a class or package.
+
+The reference provided by the Emerson Center of Emory
+University), % ! line break
+\href{http://www.emerson.emory.edu/services/latex/latex2e/latex2e_toc.html}{LaTeXe help}
+also looks good.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Cheat sheet]\CTANref{latexcheat}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}LaTeX reference manual]\CTANref{latex2e-help-texinfo}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}LaTeX internal macros]\CTANref{macros2e}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2012-02-16}
+
+\Question[Q-doc-wiki]{\acro{WIKI} books for \TeX{} and friends}
+
+The \emph{\acro{WIKI}} concept can be a boon to everyone, if used sensibly.
+The ``general'' \acro{WIKI} allows \emph{anyone} to add stuff, or to edit
+stuff that someone else has added: while there is obvious potential
+for chaos, there is evidence that a strong user community can keep a
+\acro{WIKI} under control.
+
+Following the encouraging performance of the % ! line break
+\href{http://contextgarden.net/}{\CONTeXT{} \acro{WIKI}}, valiant
+efforts have been made generating ``\acro{WIKI} books'' for \AllTeX{}
+users. Thus we have % ! line break
+\href{http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/TeX}{(Plain) \TeX{} \acro{WIKI} book} and
+\href{http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX}{\LaTeX{} \acro{WIKI} book}~---
+both well established. Both are highly rated as reference sources,
+and even as introductory texts.
+\LastEdit{2012-07-25}
+
+\Question[Q-typo-style]{Typography tutorials}
+
+Peter Wilson's article \Package{memdesign} has a lengthy introductory
+section on typographic considerations, which is a fine tutorial,
+written by someone who is aware of the issues as they apply to
+\AllTeX{} users. (\Package{Memdesign} now distributed separately from
+the manual for his \Class{memoir} class, but was originally part of
+that manual)
+
+There's also (at least one) typographic style tutorial available on
+the Web, the excellent % ! line break
+``\href*{http://www.nbcs.rutgers.edu/~hedrick/typography/typography.janson-syntax.107514.pdf}{Guidelines for Typography in NBCS}''.
+In fact, its % !!
+\href*{http://www.nbcs.rutgers.edu/~hedrick/typography/index.html}{parent page}
+is also worth a read: among other things, it provides copies of the
+``guidelines'' document in a wide variety of primary fonts, for
+comparison purposes. The author is careful to explain that he has no
+ambition to supplant such excellent books as
+\Qref*{Bringhurst's}{Q-type-books}, but the document (though it does
+contain its Rutgers-local matter) is a fine introduction to the issues
+of producing readable documents.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[memdesign]\CTANref{memdesign}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+
+\Question[Q-ol-books]{Freely available \AllTeX{} books}
+
+People have long argued for \AllTeX{} books to be made available on
+the web, and until relatively recently this demand went un-answered.
+
+The first to appear was Victor Eijkhout's excellent ``\TeX{} by
+Topic'' in 2001 (it had been published by Addison-Wesley, but was long
+out of print). The book is now available on \acro{CTAN}; it's not a
+beginner's tutorial but it's a fine reference. It's also available,
+as a printed copy, via the on-line publishers
+\href{http://www.lulu.com/content/2555607/}{Lulu} (not quite free, of
+course, but not a \emph{bad} deal\dots{}).
+
+Addison-Wesley have also released the copyright of ``\TeX{} for the
+Impatient'' by Paul W.~Abrahams, Karl Berry and Kathryn A.~Hargreaves,
+another book whose unavailability many have lamented. The authors
+have re-released the book under the \acro{GNU} Free Documentation
+Licence, and it is available from \acro{CTAN}.
+
+Norm Walsh's ``Making \TeX{} Work'' (originally published by O'Reilly)
+is also available (free) on the Web, at
+\URL{http://makingtexwork.sourceforge.net/mtw/}; the sources of the
+Web page are on \acro{CTAN}. The book was an excellent resource in
+its day, but while it is now somewhat dated, it still has its uses,
+and is a welcome addition to the list of on-line resources. A project
+to update it is believed to be under way.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Making \TeX{} Work]\CTANref{mtw}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}\TeX{} by Topic]\CTANref{texbytopic}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}\TeX{} for the Impatient]\CTANref{TftI}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2011-06-29}
+
+\Question[Q-pkgdoc]{Documentation of packages}
+
+These \acro{FAQ}s regularly suggest packages that will ``solve''
+particular problems. In some cases, the answer provides a recipe for
+the job. In other cases, or when the solution needs elaborating, how
+is the poor user to find out what to do?
+
+If you're lucky, the package you need is already in your installation.
+If you're particularly lucky, you're using a distribution that gives
+access to package documentation and the documentation is available in
+a form that can easily be shown.
+
+On \texlive{}-based distributions, help should be available from the
+\ProgName{texdoc} command, as in:
+\begin{quote}
+\begin{verbatim}
+texdoc footmisc
+\end{verbatim}
+\end{quote}
+which opens a window showing documentation of the \Package{footmisc}
+package. (The window is tailored to the file type, in the way normal
+for the system.)
+
+If \ProgName{texdoc} can't find any documentation, it may launch a Web
+browser to look at the package's entry in the \acro{CTAN} catalogue.
+The catalogue has an entry for package documentation, and most authors
+respond to the \acro{CTAN} team's request for documentation of
+packages, you will more often than not find documentation that way.
+
+On \miktex{} systems, the same function is provided by the
+\ProgName{mthelp}.
+
+Note that the site \url{texdoc.net} provides access to the
+documentation you \emph{would} have if you had a \emph{full}
+installation of \texlive{}; on the site you can simply ask for a
+package (as you would ask \ProgName{texdoc}, or you can use the site's
+index of documentation to find what you want. (This is helpful for
+some of us: many people don't have a full \alltex{} installation on
+their mobile phone~\dots{} yet.)
+
+If your luck (as defined above) doesn't hold out, you've got to find
+documentation by other means. That is, you have to find the
+documentation for yourself. The rest of this answer offers a range of
+possible techniques.
+
+The commonest form of documentation of \LaTeX{} add-ons is within the
+\extension{dtx} file in which the code is distributed (see
+\Qref[answer]{documented \LaTeX{} sources}{Q-dtx}). Such files
+are supposedly processable by \LaTeX{} itself, but there are
+occasional hiccups on the way to readable documentation. Common
+problems are that the package itself is needed to process its own
+documentation (so must be unpacked before processing), and that the
+\extension{dtx} file will \emph{not} in fact process with \LaTeX{}. In the
+latter case, the \extension{ins} file will usually produce a
+\extension{drv} (or similarly-named) file, which you process with
+\LaTeX{} instead. (Sometimes the package author even thinks to
+mention this wrinkle in a package \texttt{README} file.)
+
+Another common form is the separate documentation file; particularly
+if a package is ``conceptually large'' (and therefore needs a lot of
+documentation), the documentation would prove a cumbersome extension
+to the \extension{dtx} file. Examples of such cases are the \Class{memoir}
+class, the \Class{KOMA-script} bundle
+(whose developers take the trouble to produce detailed documentation
+in both German and English), the \Package{pgf} documentation (which
+would make a substantial book in its own right)
+and the \Package{fancyhdr} package (whose
+documentation derives from a definitive tutorial in a mathematical
+journal). Even if the documentation is not separately identified in a
+\texttt{README} file, it should not be too difficult to recognise its
+existence.
+
+Documentation within the package itself is the third common form.
+Such documentation ordinarily appears in comments at the head of the
+file, though at least one eminent author regularly places it after the
+\csx{endinput} command in the package. (This is desirable, since
+\csx{endinput} is a `logical' end-of-file, and \AllTeX{} doesn't read
+beyond it: thus such documentation does not `cost' any package loading time.)
+
+The above suggestions cover most possible ways of finding
+documentation. If, despite your best efforts, you can't find
+it in any of the above places, there's the awful possibility that the
+author didn't bother to document his package (on the ``if it was hard
+to write, it should be hard to use'' philosophy). Most ordinary
+mortals will seek support from some more experienced user at this
+stage, though it \emph{is} possible to proceed in the way that the original
+author apparently expected\dots{}by reading his code.
+\LastEdit{2012-11-09}
+
+\Question[Q-writecls]{Learning to write \LaTeX{} classes and packages}
+
+There's nothing particularly magic about the commands you use when
+writing a package, so you can simply bundle up a set of \LaTeX{}
+\csx{(re)newcommand} and \csx{(re)newenvironment} commands, put them in
+a file \File{package.sty} and you have a package.
+
+However, any but the most trivial package will require rather more
+sophistication. Some details of \LaTeX{} commands for the job are to
+be found in `\LaTeXe{} for class and package writers'
+(\File{clsguide}, part of the \LaTeX{} documentation distribution).
+Beyond this, a good knowledge of \TeX{} itself is valuable: thus books
+such as the \Qref*{\TeX{}book}{Q-tex-books} or % ! line break
+\Qref*{\TeX{} by topic}{Q-ol-books} are relevant. With good \TeX{}
+knowledge it is possible to use the documented source of \LaTeX{} as
+reference material (dedicated authors will acquaint themselves with the
+source as a matter of course). A complete set of the documented
+source of \LaTeX{} may be prepared by processing the file
+\File{source2e.tex} in the \LaTeX{} distribution. Such processing is
+noticeably tedious, but Heiko Oberdiek has prepared a well-linked
+\acro{PDF} version, which is in the file \File{base.tds.zip} of his
+\ProgName{latex-tds} distribution. Individual files in the \LaTeX{}
+distribution may be processed separately with \LaTeX{}, like any
+well-constructed \Qref*{\extension{dtx} file}{Q-dtx}.
+
+Writing good classes is not easy; it's a good idea to read some
+established ones (\File{classes.dtx}, for example, is the documented
+source of the standard classes other than \Class{Letter}, and may
+itself be formatted with \LaTeX{}). Classes that are not part of the
+distribution are commonly based on ones that are, and start by loading
+the standard class with \csx{LoadClass}~--- an example of this
+technique may be seen in \Package{ltxguide.cls}
+
+An % !! line break
+\href{http://tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb28-1/tb88flynn.pdf}{annotated version of \Class{article}},
+as it appears in \File{classes.dtx}, was published in
+\TUGboat{} 28(1). The article, by Peter Flynn, is a good guide to
+understanding \File{classes.dtx}
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[classes.dtx]\CTANref{latex-classes}
+\item[clsguide.pdf]\CTANref{clsguide}
+\item[latex-tds \nothtml{rmfamily}collection]\CTANref{latex-tds}
+\item[ltxguide.cls]\CTANref{ltxguide}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}\LaTeX{} documentation]\CTANref{latexdoc}
+\item[source2e.tex]\CTANref{latex-source}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2011-07-19}
+
+\Question[Q-latex3-prog]{\latex{}3 programming}
+As yet, there is no book ``Programming in \latex{}3'', and even if
+such a thing existed there would be lots of gaps. So there is no
+\emph{comprehensive} support.
+
+However, there are some `resources':
+\begin{itemize}
+\item The ``introduction to \latex{}3 ideas'' in the \Package{expl3}
+ documentation gives a broad-brush overview of the concepts.
+\item Joseph Wright has written a short series of % !line break
+ \href{http://www.texdev.net/index.php?s=programming+latex3}{blog posts},
+ which may help.
+\item There is also a complete command reference in the
+ \Package{interface3} document.
+\end{itemize}
+
+The documents are still subject to development; some of the broader
+design issues are discussed on the \latex{} mailing list
+\texttt{latex-l}~--- you may subscribe to that list by sending a
+message by sending a message
+\begin{quote}
+ `\texttt{subscribe latex-l <\emph{your name}>}'
+\end{quote}
+to \mailto{listserv@urz.Uni-Heidelberg.de}
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[expl3.pdf]\CTANref{expl3-doc}
+\item[interface3.pdf]\CTANref{interface3-doc}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit*{2012-11-29}
+
+\Question[Q-mfptutorials]{\MF{} and \MP{} Tutorials}
+
+Apart from Knuth's book, there seems to be only one publicly-available
+\href{http://metafont.tutorial.free.fr/}{tutorial for \MF{}}, by
+Christophe Grandsire (a copy in \acro{PDF} form may be downloaded).
+Geoffrey Tobin's \textit{\MF{} for Beginners} % !! line break
+(see \Qref[question]{using \MF{}}{Q-useMF}) describes how the \MF{}
+system works and how to avoid some of the potential pitfalls.
+
+Peter Wilson's experience of running both \MF{} and \MP{} (the
+programs), \textit{Some Experiences in Running \MF{} and \MP{}}
+(available on \ctan{}) offers the benefit of Peter's experience (he
+has designed a
+number of `historical' fonts using \MF{}). For \MF{} the article is
+geared towards testing and installing new \MF{} fonts, while its \MP{}
+section describes how to use \MP{} illustrations in \LaTeX{} and
+\PDFLaTeX{} documents, with an emphasis on how to use appropriate
+fonts for any text or mathematics.
+
+Hans Hagen (of \CONTeXT{} fame) offers a \MP{} tutorial called
+MetaFun (which admittedly concentrates on the use of \MP{} within
+\CONTeXT{}). It may be found on his company's % ! line break
+\href{http://www.pragma-ade.com/general/manuals/metafun-p.pdf}{`manuals' page}.
+
+Another \MP{} tutorial in English is: % ! line breaks
+\url{http://www.tlhiv.org/MetaPost/tutorial/} by Urs Oswald.
+One in French (listed here because it's clearly enough written
+that even this author understands it),
+\url{http://pauillac.inria.fr/~cheno/metapost/metapost.pdf}
+by Laurent Ch\'eno.
+
+Urs Oswald's tutorial uses Troy Henderson's tool
+(\URL{http://www.tlhiv.org/mppreview}) for testing little bits of
+\MP{}; it is an invaluable aid to the learner:
+\URL{http://www.tlhiv.org/mppreview}
+
+A three-part introduction, by Mari Voipio, was published in
+\href{http://tug.org/TUGboat/intromp/tb106voipio-grid.pdf}{\TUGboat34(1) (Entry-level \MP{}: On the grid)},
+\TUGboat34(2)
+\href{http://tug.org/TUGboat/intromp/tb107voipio-moveit.pdf}{(Entry-level \MP{}: Move it!\@)}, and
+\href{http://tug.org/TUGboat/intromp/tb108voipio-color.pdf}{\TUGboat34(2) (Entry-level \MP{}: Color)}.
+
+Vincent Zoonekynd's massive set of example \MP{} files is available on
+\acro{CTAN}; the set includes a \ProgName{Perl} script to convert the
+set to html, and the set may be % beware line break
+\href{http://zoonek.free.fr/LaTeX/Metapost/metapost.html}{viewed on the web}.
+While these examples don't exactly constitute a ``tutorial'', they're
+most certainly valuable learning material. Urs Oswald presents a
+\href{http://www.ursoswald.ch/metapost/tutorial.pdf}{similar document},
+written more as a document, and presented in \acro{PDF}.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Beginners' guide]\CTANref{mf-beginners}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Peter Wilson's ``experiences'']\CTANref{metafp-pdf}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Vincent Zoonekynd's examples]\CTANref{zoon-mp-eg}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2014-02-18}
+
+\Question[Q-BibTeXing]{\bibtex{} Documentation}
+
+\bibtex{}, a program originally designed to produce bibliographies in
+conjunction with \LaTeX{}, is explained in Section~4.3 and Appendix~B
+of Leslie Lamport's \LaTeX{} manual.
+The document ``\bibtex{}ing'', in the \bibtex{} distribution (look for
+\File{btxdoc}),
+expands on the chapter in Lamport's book. \emph{The \LaTeX{} Companion}
+also has information on \bibtex{} and writing \bibtex{} style files.
+(See \Qref[question]{\latex{} books}{Q-latex-books} for details of both
+books.)
+
+The web site ``\href{http://www.bibtex.org}{Your \bibtex{} resource}''
+offers a solid introduction, but doesn't go into very great detail.
+
+The document ``Designing \bibtex{} Styles'', also in the \bibtex{}
+distribution (look for
+\File{btxhak}), explains the postfix stack-based language used to
+write \bibtex{} styles (\File{.bst} files). The file\File{btxbst.doc},
+also in the \bibtex{} distribution,
+is the template for the four standard styles (\Package{plain},
+\Package{abbrv}, \Package{alpha}, and \Package{unsrt}); it also
+contains their documentation.
+
+A useful tutorial of the whole process of using \bibtex{} is Nicolas
+Markey's ``\emph{Tame the BeaST (The B to X of \bibtex{})}'', which
+may also be found on \acro{CTAN}. A summary and \acro{FAQ} by Michael
+Shell and David Hoadley, is also to be recommended.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}\bibtex{} distribution]\CTANref{bibtex}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Shell and Hoadley's FAQ]\CTANref{bibtex-faq}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Tame the BeaST]\CTANref{ttb-pdf}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2013-10-15}
+
+\Question[Q-symbols]{Where can I find the symbol for\,\dots{}}
+\keywords{assignment circular integral degrees diagonal dots Fourier transform}
+\keywords{Laplace greater less complex integer natural real}
+\keywords{cent euro}
+
+There is a wide range of symbols available for use with \TeX{}, most
+of which are not shown (or even mentioned) in \AllTeX{} books.
+\emph{The Comprehensive \LaTeX{} Symbol List} (by Scott Pakin
+% beware line wrap
+\emph{et al.}\@) illustrates over 2000 symbols, and details the
+commands and the \LaTeX{} packages needed to produce them.
+
+However, while the symbol list is a wonderful resource, it is never
+easy to find a particular symbol there. A graphical % ! line break
+\href{http://detexify.kirelabs.org/classify.html}{symbol search} is
+available on the web. The site provides you a scratch area on which
+you draw the symbol you're thinking of, with your mouse; when you've
+finished drawing, the classifier tries to match your sketch with
+symbols it knows about. The matching process is pretty good, even for
+the sketches of a \emph{really} poor draughtsman (such as the present
+author), and it's often worth trying more than once. `Detexify apps'
+are available for both Android and iPhone devices, you can use them to
+draw the symbol with your fingertip~--- a less challenging procedure
+than using your workstation's mouse, by all accounts!
+
+If you are using Unicode maths in \xetex{} or \luatex{}, your own
+distribution ought to provide the Unicode maths symbol table
+\File{unimath-symbols.pdf}; this lists the things available in the
+commonly-used mathematics fonts. (If the file isn't already available
+on your system, you can download it from \acro{CTAN}, where it live
+with the \Package{unicode-math} package.
+
+Other questions in this \acro{FAQ} offer specific help on kinds of
+symbols:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item \Qref*{Script fonts for mathematics}{Q-scriptfonts}
+\item \Qref*{Fonts for the number sets}{Q-numbersets}
+\item \Qref*{Typesetting the principal value integral}{Q-prinvalint}
+\end{itemize}
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Symbol List]Browse \CTANref{symbols}; there
+ are processed versions \acro{PDF} form for both A4 and letter paper.
+\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}Unicode maths symbols]Distributed as part of
+ \CTANref{unicode-math}
+\end{ctanrefs}
+\LastEdit{2012-09-03}
+
+\Question[Q-docpictex]{The \pictex{} manual}
+
+\pictex{} is a set of macros by Michael Wichura for drawing diagrams
+and pictures. The
+macros are freely available; however, the
+\pictex{} manual itself is not free.
+Unfortunately, \acro{TUG} is no longer able to supply copies of the
+manual (as it once did), and it is now available only through Personal
+\TeX{} Inc, the vendors of PC\TeX{} (\URL{http://www.pctex.com/}). The
+manual is \emph{not} available electronically.
+
+However, there \emph{is} a summary of \pictex{} commands available on
+\acro{CTAN}, which is a great aide-memoire for those who basically
+know the package to start with.
+\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[\pictex{}]\CTANref{pictex}
+\item[\pictex{} summary]\CTANref{pictex-summary}
+\end{ctanrefs}