KNOW HOW LyX Workshop
LyX Workshop, Part 1
Taking it Easy
LyX provides comfortable word processing features for the LaTeX typesetting system allowing even beginners to create
high-quality documents. BY ANDREAS KNEIB
yX roots reach back way down was exactly what Knuth was aiming for. and creates a DVI file as a result. If you
through the years of computer The typesetting package provided the have installed the LaTex package, you
Lhistory. In March 1978 Donald E. author with the potential to add will normally find an introductory file on
Knuth [1] wrote the first lines of a commands to the text to produce an this subject, called l2kurz.dvi on your
typesetting program called TeX. This attractive appearance. hard disk.
program was actually designed to Unfortunately, the commands The macro command set developed by
improve the layout of his book  The Art involved are complex, and can prove to Leslie Lamport may have simplified
of Programming , as the layout was a be too much of a challenge to the working on the text itself but the user
source of concern to the esthete, Knuth. average writer [3]. This motivated Leslie still needed to be familiar with LaTeX
The name of the layout system itself Lamport to create the TeX add-on LaTeX syntax. In 1995, ten years after Lamport
indicates the author s desire for in 1985. Like HTML, LaTex instructions created his add-on, Matthias Ettrich
perfection and art within a program. TeX comprise a markup language  that is a produced a frontend that enhanced the
represents the Greek letters Tau Epsilon descriptive language that shows the user-friendliness of the layout program,
Chi, and is thus pronounced tech and not interpreter how to portray a document. and LyX was born.
the expected tecks [2]. In contrast to HTML, the interpreter is Matthias Ettrich originally designed
The ancient Greeks, and Aristotle in not a browser in this case, but Donald this program within the context of a
particular, understood  techne as Knuth s layout system, that formats the student project. At first sight, LyX looks
artistry and applied knowledge, and this text on the guidelines of LaTeX macros, like yet another editor with its menu bar,
48 November 2002 www.linux-magazine.com
LyX Workshop KNOW HOW
Figure 1: A document in the DVI preview Figure 2: The document from Figure 1 in the WYSIWYM view of the editor
but on closer inspection you will see that behavior of other editors. For example, if need a mouse to use. Additional features
Ettrich has managed to combine the ease you want to know what your document worthy of note include allowing you to
of use of a modern word processor with will look like in the finished version, you incorporate and scale postscript graphics
the perfection of TeX layouts  and that will have to view the DVI. to and in your documents and provide
is no mean feat. In 1997, working with These limitations are at the same time the author with almost unlimited
Matthias Kalle Dalheimer [4], Ettrich the program s greatest advantages: Undo/Redo functionality.
ported his program to the KDE environ- While you are writing you can
Documentation and Help
ment, and decided to name this branch, concentrate entirely on the content of
Klyx. Ever since then work on the your document, leaving the typographic Before we take our first look at the user
program code for LyX has been the niceties of paragraphs, headlines or interface, let s first take a moment to
responsibility of Lars Gullik Bjłnnes. footnotes to your computer system. You investigate the Help button at the end of
The primary difference between LyX only need to tell the editor what the menu bar. The Help option provides
and Klyx is the user interface. While LyX paragraphs to indent, or format as access to a wide range of LyX
is based on the GUI toolkit Xforms, Klyx footnotes or lists. So there are no documents. The help texts start with an
uses the QT library. Both versions are headaches as regards the layout. introduction, includes a tutorial with
widely compatible to one another. If you If you tell the frontend what part of the exercises, and culminate with a
are interested in downloading the latest text you would like to format as reference manual.
version of LyX, try http://www.lyx.org. numbered headline, it will then choose Life is made easier by the Content
the correct font, typeface, and number. menu, which allows you to perform
LyX the Editor
Complicated manual text formating searches in the documentation. If you
You will discover all the options a procedures, such as  bold, 16 point, would prefer to start with an
traditional text editor offers you in LyX. centered , are a thing of the past. introduction, you might like to try the
For example, you can search and replace And this is why Matthias Ettrich refers Introduction, Tutorial and FAQ section.
words, insert tables, perform spell to his program as a WYSIWYM editor.
The Interface
checking or cut and paste with your WYSIWYM is the acronym for  What
mouse. But there are many features of you see is what you mean . That is, you When you launch the program for the
programs, such as Microsoft Word & Co, will not see an exact representation of first time, a menu with the items File,
that you will not need when working your text as the printer will output it. Edit and Help appears  not many items
with the LaTeX frontend. What you will see is the logical structure so far. But after creating a document by
For example, the program does not use of the document as you intended it, with choosing File/New, additional menu
tabs or additional newlines to increase highlighting, headings, or lists. items are added to the list, such as
the whitespace between words and LyX also includes a whole range of
paragraphs respectively. The editor does additional features, allowing you not
GLOSSARY
not show line or page wrapping and will only to view the current document in
DVI: DVI: (Device Independent).The con-
not try to influence you with regard to DVI format, but also to convert it to
tent of this file is composed in a device
hyphenation. either ASCII or HTML. The program also
independent language.You will need a
LyX is a visual word processor, that allows you to create tables of content as
program like xdvi or kdvi to display the file.
uses LaTeX as a print system, and is thus well as glossaries.
WYSIWYG: WYSIWYG:What You See Is
restricted to the limitations of the macro For authors who use mathematical
What You Get  i.e. the printer will output
package. This is one of the reasons why expressions, LyX offers a WYSIWYM
what you see in the program window.
you should not expect the WYSIWYG style formula editor that you will not
www.linux-magazine.com November 2002 49
KNOW HOW LyX Workshop
Insert, Layout, Display, Navigate browser. If a document has been modi-
and Documents. fied, it is reloaded by the viewer. The
The File menu provides exactly what Table of Contents menu is also quite
you would expect: various items that useful, and provides you with an
allow you to create, open and save files. overview of the images, content,
The Version control item is new, and algorithms, or tables in your document.
allows you to identify and select several The next option in the menu bar
versions of the same document. The allows you to navigate your document.
Import and Export items are used to You can navigate the body of your text,
convert ASCII, LaTeX, or PDF documents the notes it contains or the errors. As we
to and from LyX format. LyX documents have already paid a visit to the LyX help
are easily identified by the .lyx file suffix. menu, our last port of call is the
However, the editor will not convert Document menu. This provides quick
documents itself, preferring to delgate access to the documents that you
that task to external programs. currently have opened, allowing you to
The Edit menu also provides most of toggle the current document. Figure 3: The Layout/Document Window
the functionality you would expect from The toolbar underneath the menu bar
a normal text editor. One exception is the allows you to call commonly used [Ctrl+Return] to use this format.
Table item that allows you to edit tables. functions with just a single click. A small If your letterhead contains more than
The Math Panel popup contains the bubble help window shows you the title the three lines allotted in the template,
whole gamut of non-standard characters of the button when you move the mouse you can adapt it to suit your needs. After
from Greek letters to root signs; just click over it. Several key functions, such as completing the letter you can now
on a symbol to easily insert it into your Print, Select or the Math Editor can be preview the finished item. To do so, use
new document. found here. the View, as previously described. If you
You can select Spellchecker to let the The pull-down box at the left end of are satisfied with the results, and would
Ispell program loose on your document, the toolbar allows you to select like to keep this document as a template
and use Floats & Insets to open and close paragraph environment types. The for future letter writing, the right place to
footnotes, margin notes, and tables. The environment list depends on the docu- save templates of your own making is in
last two items in this menu, Preferences ment class defined in Layout/Document. the ~/.lyx/templates directory. Make
and Reconfigure are used to define For example, if you choose the article sure that you use a descriptive name that
settings the editor s preferences file, class, you have access to paragraph will allow you to find the template easily
which is normally stored in ~/.lyx/lyxrc. formats for the title, headings, and in the future.
The Inset button provides access to a author that are not available in the letter
Quo vadis?
list of text markers that you can add to class. Instead the letter comprises entries
your document, allowing you to insert for the address, telephone number, and In part two of this workshop we will be
margin notes, images, and whole files. references, that are not available for taking a closer look at the configuration
The Layout menu is somewhat more articles. We will taking an in-depth look file, ~/.lyx/lyxrc, getting to grips with
advanced. You can use Fonts to specify at paragraph environments in the next paragraph environments and text
the typeface and emphasis of the part of our workshop. classes, and looking into command
selected text. The Paragraph Layout shortcuts. Additionally, we will be
Templates
popup is used to select the alignment of answering a few questions, such as
the text or specify page breaks. You can The /usr/share/lyx/templates directory  How do I create a table of contents? ,
use the Document option to define the contains a range of LyX files that you can and  What are margin notes, references,
appearance of the whole docment. Five use as templates. The quickest way to or footnotes? %
registers are available for use in this access a template is to choose File/New
section, allowing you to specify the doc- from template. This is your opportunity
INFO
ument class (various classes are to test what you have learnt about word
[1]http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/U
available, ranging from letter to book), processing with LyX so far. Start by
~knuth/index.htm
the language for automatic hyphenation selecting the dinletter.lyx template from
[2] Donald E. Knuth.Tau Epsilon Chi, a system
or the paper size. the templates directory.
for technical text
View opens a menu that allows you to A sample letter appears in the editing
view your text as a PDF document, in area of the program. Use data of your
[3]http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/packages/U
Postscript or HTML format. This menu own to replace the default text, including
TeX/info/german/texbuch/
also allows you to launch the DVI the angled brackets. The arrows at the
[4]http://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgabe/U
viewer, which will show you what the end of the first lines in the Letterhead
1998/06/KLyx/klyx.html
printed version of your document will and Address environments indicate two
[5]http://www.linux-user.de/ausgabe/U
look like. The Update function does what paragraphs without any vertical
2000/10/085-klyx/klyx.html
you would expect from a WWW whitespace between them. Press
50 November 2002 www.linux-magazine.com